 Chapter 57 of The Gilded Age, this is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Jen McKay. The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. Chapter 57. The momentous day was at hand. A day that promised to make or mar the fortunes of Hawkins family for all time. Washington Hawkins and Colonel Sellers were both up early for neither of them could sleep. Congress was expiring and was passing bill after bill as if they were gasps and each likely to be its last. The University was on file for its third reading this day and tomorrow Washington would be a millionaire and Sellers no longer impugnious but this day also or at farthest the next the jury in Laura's case would come to a decision of some kind or other. They would find her guilty Washington secretly feared and then the care and trouble would all come back again and these will be wearing months of besieging judges for new trials. On this day also the re-election of Mr. Dilworthy to the Senate would take place. So Washington's mind was in a state of turmoil. There were more interest at stake than it could handle with serenity. He exalted when he thought of his millions. He was filled with dread when he thought of Laura. The Sellers was excited and happy. He said everything is going right. Everything's going perfectly right. Pretty soon the telegrams will begin to rattle in and then you'll see my boy. Let the jury do what they please. What difference is it going to make? Tomorrow we can send a million to New York and set the lawyers at work on the judges. Bless your heart. They will go before judge after judge and exhort and beseech and pray and shed tears. They always do and they always win too and they will win this time. They will get a rift of habeas corpus and a stay of proceedings and a supercidious and a new trial and a noley prosaicri and there you are. That's the routine and it's no trick at all to a New York lawyer. That's the regular routine. Everything's red tape and routine in the law you see. It's all great to you of course but to a man who is acquainted with these things it's mere. I'll explain it to you sometime. Everything's going to glide right along easy and comfortable now. You'll see Washington. You'll see how it will be and then let me think. Still worthy will be elected today and by day after tomorrow night he will be in New York ready to put his shovel and you haven't lived in Washington all this time not to know that the people who walk right by a senator whose term is up without hardly seeing him will be down at the depot to say welcome back and God bless you senator. I'm glad to see you sir when he comes along back re-elected you know. Well you see his influence was naturally running low when he left here but now he has got a new six-year start and his suggestions will simply just weigh a couple of tons of peace day after tomorrow. Lord bless you he could rattle through that habeas corpus and supersedus and all those things for Laura all by himself if he wanted to when he gets back. I thought of that said Washington brightening but it is so. A newly elected senator is a power I know that. Yes indeed he is. Why it is just human nature. Look at me when we first came here I was Mr. Sellers and major Sellers Captain Sellers but nobody could ever get it right somehow but the minute our bill went through the house I was Colonel Sellers every time and nobody could do enough for me and whatever I said was wonderful sir it was wonderful I never seemed to say any flat things at all it was Colonel once you come and dine with us and Colonel why don't we ever see you at our house and the Colonel says this and the Colonel says that and we know such and such is so and so because my husband her Colonel Sellers say so don't you see well the Senate adjourned and left our bill high and dry and I'll be hanged if it weren't old sellers from that day till our bill passed the house again last week now I'm Colonel again and if I were to eat all the dinners I'm invited to I reckon that wear my teeth down level with my gums in a couple of weeks well I wonder what you will be tomorrow Colonel after the president signs the bill general sir general without a doubt yes sir tomorrow it will be general let me congratulate you sir general you've done great work sir you've done a great work for the Negro gentlemen allow me the honor to introduce my friend General Sellers the humane friend of the Negro Lord bless me you'll see the newspapers say general Sellers and servants arrived in the city last night and is stopping at the Fifth Avenue and general Sellers has accepted a reception and banquet by the Cosmopolitan Club you'll see the general's opinions quoted to and what the general has to say about the propriety of a new trial and a habeas corpus for unfortunate Mrs. Hawkins will not be without weight in influential quarters I can tell you and I want to be the first to shake your faithful old hand and salute you with your new honors and I want to do it now general said Washington suiting the action to the word and accompanying it with all the meaning that a cordial grasp and the eloquent eyes could give it the Colonel was touched he was pleased and proud to his face answered for that not very long after breakfast the telegrams begin to arrive the first was for Brian and read this we feel certain the verdict will be rendered today be it good or bad let it find us ready to make the next move instantly whatever it may be that's the right talks and Sellers that Brahms a wonderful man he was the only man there who really understood me he told me so himself afterwards the next telegram was for Mr. Dilworthy I have not only brought over the great invincible but through him a dozen more of the opposition shall be reelected today by an overwhelming majority good again said the Colonel that man's talent for organization is something marvelous he wanted me to go there and engineer that thing but I said no Mr. Dilworthy I must be on hand here both on Laura's account and the bills but you've no trifling genius for organization yourself said I and I was right you go ahead said I you can fix it and so he has but I claim no credit for that if I stiffened up my his backbone a little I simply put him in the way to make his flight didn't undertake it myself he has captured the novel I consider that a splendid plea piece of diplomacy splendid sir by and by came another dispatch from New York jury still out Laura calm and firm as a statue the report that the jury has brought her in guilty is false and premature premature gas Washington turning white then they all expect that sort of a verdict when it comes in and so did he but he had not had the courage enough to put it into words he had been preparing himself for the worst but after all his preparation the bare suggestion of the possibility of such a verdict struck him cold as death the friends grew impatient now the telegrams did not come fast enough even the lightning could not keep up with their anxieties they walks the floor disjointedly and listening for the doorbell telegram after telegram came still no result by and by there was one which contained a single line court now coming in after brief recess to hear verdict jury ready oh I wish they would finish said Washington this suspense is killing me by inches then came another telegram another hitch somewhere jury want a little more time and farther instructions well well well this is trying said the colonel and after a pause no dispatch from Dillworthy for two hours now even a dispatch from him would be better than nothing just to vary this thing they waited 20 minutes it seemed 20 hours come said Washington I can wait for the telegraph boy to come all the way up here let's go down to newspaper row meet him on the way well they were passing along the avenue they saw someone putting up a great display sheet on the bulletin board of a newspaper office and an eager crowd of men was collecting about the place Washington and the colonel ran to the spot and read this tremendous sensation startling news from Saints rest on first ballot for us senator when voting was about to begin mr. noble rose in his place and drew forth the package walked forward and laid it on the speaker's desk saying this contains 7000 in bank bills and was giving me by senator Dillworthy in his bed chamber at midnight last night to buy my vote for him I wish the speaker to count the money and retain it to pay the expense of prosecuting this infamous trader for bribery the whole legislature was stricken speechless with dismay and astonishment noble further said that there were 50 members present with money in their pockets placed there by Dillworthy to buy their votes amidst unparalleled excitement the ballot was now taken and JW Smith elected us senator Dillworthy receiving not one vote noble promises damaging exposures concerning Dillworthy and certain measures of his now pending in congress good heavens and earth exclaimed the colonel to the capitol said Washington fly and they did fly long before they got there the newsboys were running ahead of them with extras hopped from the press announcing the astounding news arrived in the gallery of the senate the friends saw a curious spectacle very senator held an extra in his hand and looked as interested as if it contained news of the destruction of earth not a single member was paying the least attention to the business of the hour the secretary in a loud voice was just beginning to read the title of a bill house bill number four two three one an act to found and incorporate the knobs industrial university read first and second time considered in committee of the whole ordered engrossed and passed to third reading and final passage the president third reading of the bill the two friends shook in their shoes senators threw down their extras and snatched a word or two with each other in whispers then the gavel wrapped to command silence while their names were called on the eyes and the nays washington grew peller and peller weaker and weaker while the lagging list progressed and when it was finished his head fell helplessly forward in his arms the fight was fought the long struggle was over and he was a popper not a man had voted for the bill colonel sellers was bewildered and was nigh paralyzed himself but no man could long consider his own troubles in the presence of such suffering as washington's he got him up and supported him almost carried him indeed out of the building and into a carriage all the way home washington lay his face against the colonel's shoulder and merely groaned and wet the colonel tried as well as he could under the dreary circumstances to harden him a little but it was no use washington was past all hope of cheer now he only said oh it is all over it is all over for good colonel we must beg our bread now we never can get up again it was our last chance and it is gone they will hang laura my god they will hang her nothing can save that poor girl now so i wish with all my soul they would hang me instead arrived at home washington fell into a chair and buried his face in his hands and gave full way to his misery the colonel did not know where to turn or what to do the servant made knocked at the door and passed the telegram saying it had come while they were gone the colonel tore it open and read with the voice of a man of wars broadside verdict of jury not guilty and laura is free end of chapter 57 recording by jen mckay feralon virginia chapter 58 of the gilded age this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org the gilded age by mark twain and charles dudley warner chapter 58 the courtroom was packed on the morning on which the verdict of the jury was expected as it had been every day of the trial and by the same spectators who had followed its progress with such intense interest there is a delicious moment of excitement which the frequenter of trials well knows and which he would not miss for the world it is that instant when the four men of the jury stands up to give the verdict and before he has opened his fateful lips the court assembled and waited it was an obstinate jury it even had another question this intelligent jury to ask the judge this morning the question was this were the doctors clear that the deceased had no disease which might soon have carried him off if he had not been shot there was evidently one jury man who didn't want to waste life and was willing to stake a general average as the jury always does in the civil case deciding not according to the evidence but reaching the verdict by some occult mental process during the delay the spectators exhibited unexampled patients finding amusement and relief in the slightest movements of the court the prisoner and the lawyers mr. bram divided with laura the attention of the house vets were made by the sheriff's deputies on the verdict with large odds in favor of a disagreement it was afternoon when it was announced that the jury was coming in the reporters took their places and were all attention the judge and lawyers were in their seats the crowd swayed and pushed in eager expectancy as the jury walked in and stood up in silence judge gentleman have you agreed upon your verdict foreman we have judge what is it foreman not guilty a shout went up from the entire room and a tumult of cheering which the court in vain attempted to quell for a few moments all order was lost the spectators crowded within the bar and surrounded laura who calmer than anyone else was supporting her aged mother who had almost fainted from excess of joy and now occurred one of those beautiful incidents which no fiction writer would dare to imagine a scene of touching pathos creditable to our fallen humanity in the eyes of the women of the audience mr. bram was the hero of the occasion he had saved the life of the prisoner and besides he was such a handsome man the women could not restrain their lung pent up emotions they threw themselves upon mr. bram in a transport of gratitude they kissed him again and again the young as well as the advanced in years the married as well as the ardent single women they improved the opportunity with a touching self-sacrifice in the words of a newspaper of the day they lavished him with kisses it was something sweet to do and it would be sweet for a woman to remember in after years that she had kissed bram mr. bram himself received these fond assaults with the gallantry of his nation enduring the ugly and heartily paying back beauty in its own coin this beautiful scene is still known in new york as the kissing of bram when the tumult of congratulation had a little spent itself and order was restored judge o'Shaughnessy said that it now became his duty to provide for the proper custody and treatment of the acquitted the verdict of the jury having left no doubt that the woman was of an unsound mind with a kind of insanity dangerous to the safety of the community she could not be permitted to go at large in accordance with the directions of the law in such cases said the judge and in obedience to the dictates of a wise humanity i hereby commit laura hawkins to the care of the superintendent of the state hospital for insane criminals to be held in confinement until the state commissioners on insanity shall order her discharge mr. sheriff you will attend it once to the execution of this decree laura was overwhelmed and terror-stricken she had expected to walk forth in freedom in a few moments the revulsion was terrible her mother appeared like one shaken with an ague fit laura insane and about to be locked up with mad men she had never contemplated this mr. Graham said he should move at once for a writ of habeas corpus but the judge could not do less than his duty the law must have its way as in the stupor of a sudden calamity and not fully comprehending it mrs. Hawkins saw laura led away by the officer with little space for thought she was rapidly driven to the railway station and conveyed to the hospital for lunatic criminals it was only when she was within this vast and grim abode of madness that she realized the horror of her situation it was only when she was received by the kind physician and read pity in his eyes and saw his look of hopeless incredulity when she attempted to tell him that she was not insane it was only when she passed through the ward to which she was consigned and saw the horrible creatures the victims of a double calamity whose dreadful faces she was hereafter to see daily and was locked into the small bare room that was to be her home that all her fortitude forsook her she sank upon the bed as soon as she was left alone she had been searched by the matron and tried to think but her brain was in a whirl she recalled bram's speech she recalled the testimony regarding her lunacy she wondered if she were not mad she felt that she soon should be among these loathsome creatures better almost to have died than to slowly go mad in this confinement we beg the reader's pardon this is not history which has just been written it is really what would have occurred if this were a novel if this were a work of fiction we should not dare to dispose of laura otherwise true art and any attention to dramatic properties required it the novelist who would turn loose upon society and insane murderess could not escape condemnation besides the safety of society the decencies of criminal procedure what we call our modern civilization all would demand that laura should be disposed of in the manner we have described foreigners who read this sad story will be unable to understand any other termination of it but this is history and not fiction there is no such law or custom as that to which his honor is supposed to have referred jhajoshanasi would not probably pay any attention to it if there were there is no hospital for insane criminals there is no state commission of lunacy what actually occurred when the tumult in the courtroom had subsided the sagacious reader will now learn laura left the courtroom accompanied by her mother and other friends amid the congratulations of those assembled and was cheered as she entered a carriage and drove away how sweet was the sunlight how exhilarating the sense of freedom were not these following cheers the expression of popular approval and affection was she not the heroine of the hour it was with a feeling of triumph that laura reached her hotel a scornful feeling of victory over society with its own weapons mrs. hawkins shared not at all in this feeling she was broken with the disgrace and the long anxiety thank god laura she said it is over now we will go away from this hateful city let us go home at once mother replied laura speaking with some tenderness i cannot go with you there don't cry i cannot go back to that life mrs. hawkins was sobbing this was more cruel than anything else for she had a dim notion of what it would be to leave laura to herself no mother you have been everything to me you know how dearly i love you but i cannot go back a boy brought in a telegraphic dispatch laura took it and read the bill is lost for a moment the words swam before her eyes the next her eyes flashed fire as she handed the dispatch to her mother and bitterly said the world is against me well let it be let it i am against it this is a cruel disappointment said mrs. hawkins to whom one grief more or less did not much matter now to you and washington but we must humbly bear it bear it replied laura scornfully i've all my life born it and fate has thwarted me at every step a servant came to the door to say that there was a gentleman below who wished to speak with mrs. hawkins jay adulph a griller was the name laura read on the card i do not know such a person he probably comes from washington send him up mr. griller entered he was a small man slovenly in dress his tone confidential his manner holy void of animation all his features below the forehead protruding particularly the apple of his throat hair without a kink in it a hand with no grip amic hang dog countenance a falsehood done in flesh and blood for while every visible sign about him proclaimed him a poor witless useless weakling the truth was that he had the brains to plan great enterprises and the pluck to carry them through that was his reputation and it was a deserved one he softly said i called to see you on business mrs. hawkins you have my card laura bowed mr. griller continued to purr as softly as before i will proceed to business i am a businessman i am a lecture agent miss hawkins and as soon as i saw that you were acquitted it occurred to me that an early interview would be mutually beneficial i don't understand you sir said laura coldly no you see miss hawkins this is your opportunity if you will enter the lecture field under good auspices you will carry everything before you but sir i never lectured i haven't any lecture i don't know anything about it i'm a dam that makes no difference no real difference it is not necessary to be able to lecture in order to go into the lecture tour if one's name is celebrated all over the land especially and if she is also beautiful she is certain to draw large audiences but what would i lecture about asked laura beginning in spite of herself to be a little interested as well as amused oh why woman anything about woman i should say the marriage relation woman's fate anything of that sort call it the revelations of a woman's life now there's a good title i wouldn't want any better title than that i'm prepared to make you an offer miss hawkins a liberal offer 12 000 for 30 nights laura thought she hesitated why not it would give her employment money she must do something i will think of it and let you know soon but still there is very little likelihood that i however we will not discuss it further now remember that the sooner we get to work the better miss hawkins public curiosity is so fickle good day madame the close of the trial released mr harry brierley and left him free to depart upon his long talk of pacific coast mission he was very mysterious about it even to philip it's confidential old boy he said a little scheme we have hatched up i don't mind telling you that it's a good deal bigger thing than that in missouri and a sure thing i wouldn't take half a million just for my share and it will open something for you phil you will hear from me philip did hear from harry a few months afterward everything promised splendidly but there was a little delay could phil let him have a hundred say for 90 days philip himself hastened to philadelphia and as soon as the spring opened to the mine at illiam and began transforming the loan he had received from squire montague into laborers wages he was haunted with many anxieties in the first place ruth was overtaxing her strength in her hospital laborers and philip felt as if he must move heaven and earth to save her from such toil and suffering his increased pecuniary obligation oppressed him it seemed to him also that he had been one cause of the misfortune to the bolton family and that he was dragging into loss and ruin everybody who associated with him he worked on day after day and week after week with a feverish anxiety it would be wicked thought philip and impious to pray for luck he felt that perhaps he ought not to ask a blessing upon the sort of labor that was only a venture but yet in that daily petition which this very faulty and not very consistent young christian gentleman put up he prayed earnestly enough for ruth and for the bolton's and for those whom he loved and who trusted in him and that his life might not be a misfortune to them and a failure to himself since this young fellow went out into the world from his new england home he had done some things that he would rather his mother should not know things maybe that he would shrink from telling ruth at a certain green age young gentleman are sometimes afraid of being called milk sops and philip's associates had not always been the most select such as these historians would have chosen for him or whom at a later period he would have chosen for himself it seemed inexplicable for instance that his life should have been thrown so much with his college acquaintance henry brierly yet this was true of philip that in whatever company he had been he had never been ashamed to stand up for the principles he learned from his mother and neither railery nor looks of wonder turned him from that daily habit he had learned at his mother's knees even flippant harry respected this and perhaps it was one of the reasons why harry and all who knew philip trusted him implicitly and yet it must be confessed that philip did not convey the impression to the world of a very serious young man or of a man who might not rather easily fall into temptation one looking for a real hero would have to go elsewhere the parting between laura and her mother was exceedingly painful to both it was as if two friends parted on a wide plane the one to journey towards the setting and the other towards the rising sun each comprehending that every step henceforth must separate their lives wider and wider end of chapter 58 chapter 59 of the gilded age this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Piper Hayes the gilded age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner chapter 59 when mr. nobles bombshell fell in senator dillworthy's camp the statesman was disconcerted for a moment that was all the next moment he was calmly up and doing from the center of our country to its circumference nothing was talked of but mr. nobles terrible revelation and the people were furious mind they were not furious because bribery was uncommon in our public life but merely because here was another case perhaps it did not occur to the nation of good and worthy people that while they continued to sit comfortably at home and leave the true source of our political power the primaries in the hands of saloon keepers dog fanciers and hot carriers they could go on expecting another case of this kind and even dozens and hundreds of them and never be disappointed however they may have thought that to sit at home and grumble would someday write the evil yes the nation was excited but senator dillworthy was calm what was left of him after the explosion of the shell calm and up and doing what did he do first what would you do first after you had tomahawked your mother at the breakfast table for putting too much sugar in your coffee you would ask for a suspension of public opinion that is what senator dillworthy did it is the custom he got the usual amount of suspension far and wide he was called a thief a briber a promoter of steamship subsidies railway swindles robberies of the government in all possible forms and fashions newspapers and everybody else called him a pious hypocrite a sleek oily fraud a reptile who manipulated temperance movements prayer meetings sunday schools public charities missionary enterprises all for his private benefit and as these charges were backed up by what seemed to be good and sufficient evidence they were believed with national unanimity then mr. dillworthy made another move he moved instantly to washington and demanded an investigation even this could not pass without comment many papers used language to this effect senator dillworthy's remains have demanded an investigation this sounds fine and bold and innocent but when we reflect that they demanded at the hands of the senate of the united states it simply becomes a matter for derision one might as well set the gentleman detained in the public prisons to trying each other this investigation is likely to be like all other senatorial investigations amusing but not useful query why does the senate still stick to this pompous word investigation one does not blindfold oneself in order to investigate an object mr. dillworthy appeared in his place in the senate and offered a resolution appointing a committee to investigate his case it carried of course and the committee was appointed straight away the newspaper said under the guise of appointing a committee to investigate the late mr. dillworthy the senate yesterday appointed a committee to investigate his accuser mr. noble this is the exact spirit and meaning of the resolution and the committee cannot try anybody but mr. noble without overstepping its authority that dillworthy had the effrontery to offer such a resolution will surprise no one and that the senate could entertain it without blushing and pass it without shame will surprise no one we are now reminded of a note which we have received from the notorious burglar murphy in which he finds fault with the statement of ours to the effect that he had served one term in the penitentiary and also one in the u.s. senate he says the latter statement is untrue and does me great injustice after an unconscious sarcasm like that further comment is unnecessary and yet the senate was roused by the dillworthy trouble many speeches were made one senator who was accused in the public prints of selling his chances of reelection to his opponent for fifty thousand dollars and had not yet denied the charge said that the presence in the capital of such a creature as this man noble to testify against a brother member of their body was an insult to the senate another senator said let the investigation go on and let it make an example of this man noble let it teach him and men like him that they could not attack the reputation of a united state senator with impunity another said he was glad the investigation was to be had for it was high time that the senate should crush some curl like this man noble and thus show his kind that it was able and resolved to uphold its ancient dignity a bystander laughed at this finally delivered peroration and said why this is the senator who franked his baggage home through the males last week registered at that however perhaps he was merely engaged in upholding the ancient dignity of the senate then nope the modern dignity of it said another bystander it don't resemble its ancient dignity but it fits its modern style like a glove there being no law against making offensive remarks about us senators this conversation and others like it continued without let or hindrance but our business is with the investigating committee mr noble appeared before the committee of the senate and testified to the following effect he said that he was a member of the state legislature of the happy land of canaan that on the blank day of blank he assembled himself together at the city of saints rest the capital of the state along with his brother legislators that he was known to be a political enemy of mr deal worthy and bitterly opposed to his reelection that mr deal worthy came to saints rest and reported to be buying pledges of votes with money that the said deal worthy sent for him to come to his room in the hotel at night and he went was introduced to mr deal worthy call two or three times afterward at deal worthy's request usually after midnight mr deal worthy urged him to vote for him noble declined deal worthy argued said he was bound to be elected and could then ruin him noble if he voted no said he had every railway and every public office and stronghold of political power in the state under his thumb and could set up or pull down any man he chose gave instances showing where and how he had used this power if noble would vote for him he would make him a representative in congress noble still declined to vote and said he did not believe deal worthy was going to be elected deal worthy showed a list of men who would vote for him a majority of the legislature gave further proofs of his power by telling noble everything the opposing party had done or said in secret caucus claimed that his spies reported everything to him and that here a member of the committee objected that this evidence was irrelevant and also in opposition to the spirit of the committee's instructions because if these things reflected upon anyone it was upon mr deal worthy the chairman said let the person proceed with his statement the committee could exclude evidence that did not bear upon the case mr noble continued he said that his party would cast him out if he voted for mr deal worthy deal worthy said that that would adhere to his benefit because he would then be a recognized friend of his deal worthy's and he could consistently exalt him politically and make his fortune noble said he was poor and it was hard to tempt him so deal worthy said he would fix that he said tell me what you want and say you will vote for me noble could not say deal worthy said i will give you five thousand dollars a committee man said impatiently that this stuff was all outside the case and valuable time was being wasted this was all a plain reflection upon a brother senator the chairman said it was the quickest way to proceed and the evidence need have no weight mr noble continued he said he told deal worthy that five thousand dollars was not much to pay for a man's honor character and everything that was worth having deal worthy said he was surprised he considered five thousand dollars of fortune for some men asked what noble's figure was noble said he could not think ten thousand dollars too little deal worthy said it was a great deal too much he would not do it for any other man but he had conceived a liking for noble and where he liked a man his heart yearned to help him he was aware that noble was poor and had a family to support and that he bore an unblemished reputation at home for such a man and such a man's influence he could do much and feel that to help such a man would be an act that would have its reward the struggles of the poor always touched him he believed that noble would make a good use of this money and that it would cheer many a sad heart and needy home he would give the ten thousand dollars all he desired in return was that when the balloting began noble should cast his vote for him and should explain to the legislature that upon looking into the charges against mr deal worthy of bribery corruption and forwarding stealing measures in congress he had found them to be base calamities upon a man whose motives were pure and whose character was stainless he then took from his pocket two thousand dollars in bank bills and handed them to noble and got another package containing five thousand dollars out of his trunk and gave to him also he a committee man jumped up and said at last mr chairman this shameless person has arrived at the point this is sufficient and conclusive by his own confession he has received a bribe and did it deliberately this is a grave offense and cannot be passed over in silence sir by the terms of our instructions we can now proceed to meet out to him such punishment as his meet for one who has maliciously brought disrespect upon a senator of the united states we have no need to hear the rest of his evidence the chairman said it would be better and more regular to proceed with the investigation according to the usual forms a note would be made of mr nobles admission mr noble continued he said that it was now far past midnight that he took his leave and went straight to certain legislators told them everything made them count the money and also told them of the exposure he would make in joint convention he made that exposure as all the world knew the rest of the ten thousand dollars was to be paid the day after dillworthy was elected senator dillworthy was now asked to take the stand and tell what he knew about the man noble the senator wiped his mouth with his hand kerchief adjusted his white cravat and said that but for the fact that public morality required an example for the warning of future nobles he would beg that in christian charity this poor misguided creature might be forgiven and set free he said that it was but too evident that this person had approached him in the hope of obtaining a bribe he had intruded himself time and again and always with moving stories of his poverty mr. dillworthy said that his heart had blood for him in so much that he had several times been on the point of trying to get someone to do something for him some instinct had told him from the beginning that this was a bad man an evil minded man but his inexperience of such had blinded him to his real motives and hence he had never dreamed that his object was to undermine the purity of a united state senator he regretted that it was plain now that such was the man's object and that punishment could not with safety to the senate's honor be with health he grieved to say that one of those mysterious dispensations of an inscrutable providence which are decreed from time to time by his wisdom and for his righteous purposes had given this conspirator's tale a color of plausibility but this would soon disappear under the clear light of truth which would now be thrown upon the case it so happened said the senator that about the time in question a poor young friend of mine living in a distant town of my state wished to establish a bank he asked me to lend him the necessary money i said i had no money just then but would try to borrow it the day before the election a friend said to me that my election expenses must be very large especially my hotel bills and offered to lend me some money remembering my young friend i said i would like a few thousands now and a few more buy and buy where porn he gave me two packages of bills said to contain two thousand dollars and five thousand dollars respectively i did not open the packages or count the money i did not give any note or receipt for the same i made no memorandum of the transaction and neither did my friend that night this evil man noble came troubling me again i could not rid myself of him though my time was very precious he mentioned my young friend and said he was very anxious to have the seven thousand dollars now to begin his banking operations with and could wait a while for the rest noble wished to get the money and take it to him i finally gave him the two packages of bills i took no note or receipt from him and made no memorandum of the matter i no more look for duplicity and deception in another man than i would look for it in myself i never thought of this man again until i was overwhelmed the next day by learning what a shameful use he had made of the confidence i had proposed in him and the money i had entrusted to his care this is all gentlemen to the absolute truth of every detail in my statement i solemnly swear and i call him to witness who is the truth and the loving father of all whose lips of whore fall speaking i pledge my honor as a senator that i have spoken but the truth may god forgive this wicked man as i do mr noble senator dillworthy your bank account shows that up to that day and even on that very day you conducted all your financial business through the medium of checks instead of bills and so kept careful record of every money transaction why did you deal in bank bills on this particular occasion the chairman the gentleman will please to remember that the committee is conducting this investigation mr noble then will the committee ask the question the chairman the committee will when it desires to know mr noble which will not be during this century perhaps the chairman another remark like that sir will procure you the attentions of the sergeant at arms mr noble damn the sergeant at arms in the committee too several committeemen mr chairman this is contempt mr noble contempt of whom of the committee of the senate of the united states mr noble then i am become the acknowledged representative of a nation you know as well as i do that the whole nation hold as much as three fifths of the united states senate in entire contempt three fifths of you are dealworthies the sergeant at arms very soon put a quietess upon the observations of the representative of the nation and convinced him that he was not in the overfree atmosphere of his happy land of canaan the statement of senator dealworthy naturally carried conviction to the minds of the committee it was close logical unanswerable it bore many internal evidences of its truth for instance it is customary in all countries for businessmen to loan large sums of money in bank bills instead of jacks it is customary for the lender to make no memorandum of the transaction it is customary for the borrower to receive the money without making a memorandum of it or giving a note or a receipt for its use the borrower is not likely to die or forget about it it is customary to lend nearly anybody money to start a bank with especially if you have not the money to lend him and have to borrow it for the purpose it is customary to carry large sums of money in bank bills about your person or in your trunk it is customary to handle large share in bank bills to a man you have just been introduced to if he asked you to do it to be conveyed to a distant town and delivered to another party it is not customary to make a memorandum of this transaction it is not customary for the conveyor to give a note or a receipt for the money it is not customary to require that he shall get a note or a receipt from the man he is to convey it to in the distant town it would be at least singular in you to say to the proposed conveyor you might be robbed i will deposit the money in a bank and send a check for it to my friend through the mail very well it being plain that senator dillworthy statement was rigidly true and this fact being strengthened by his adding to it the support of his honor as a senator the committee rendered a verdict of not proven that a bribe had been offered and accepted this in a manner exonerated noble and let him escape the committee made its report to the senate and that body proceeded to consider its acceptance one senator indeed several senators objected that the committee had failed of its duty they had proved this man noble guilty of nothing they had meted out no punishment to him if the report were accepted he would go forth free and scatheless glorying in his crime and it would be a tacit admission that any blackard could insult the senate of the united states and conspire against the sacred reputation of its members with impunity the senate owed it to the upholding of its ancient dignity to make an example of this man noble he should be crushed an elderly senator got up and took another view of the case this was a senator of the worn-out and obsolete pattern a man still lingering among the cobwebs of the past and behind the spirit of the age he said that there seemed to be a curious misunderstanding of the case gentlemen seemed exceedingly anxious to preserve and maintain the honor and dignity of the senate was this to be done by trying an obscure adventurer for attempting to trap a senator into bribing him or would not the truer way be to find out whether the senator was capable of being entrapped into so shameless an act and then try him why of course now the whole idea of the senate seemed to be to shield the senator and turn inquiry away from him the true way to uphold the honor of the senate was to have none but honorable men in its body if this senator had yielded to temptation and had offered a bribe he was a soiled man and ought to be instantly expelled therefore he wanted the senator tried and not in the usual namby pamby way but in good earnest he wanted to know the truth of this matter for himself he believed that the guilt of senator dillworthy was established beyond the shadow of a doubt and he considered that in trifling with his case and shirking it the senate was doing a shameful and cowardly thing a thing which suggested that in its willingness to sit longer in the company of such a man it was acknowledging that it was itself of a kind with him and was therefore not dishonored by his presence he desired that a rigid examination be made into senator dillworthy's case and that it be continued clear into the approaching extra session if need be there was no dodging this thing with a lame excuse of want of time in reply an honorable senator said that he thought it would be as well to drop the matter and accept the committee's report he said with some jocularity that the more when agitated this thing the worse it was for the agitator he was not able to deny that he believed senator dillworthy to be guilty but what then was it such an extraordinary case for his part even allowing the senator to be guilty he did not think his continued presence during the few remaining days of the session would contaminate the senate to a dreadful degree this humorous sally which received with smiling admiration notwithstanding it was not wholly new having originated with the massachusetts general in the house a day or two before upon the occasion of the proposed expulsion of a member for selling his vote for money the senate recognized the fact that it could not be contaminated by sitting a few days longer with senator dillworthy and so it accepted the committee's report and dropped the unimportant matter mr. dillworthy occupied his seat to the last hour of the session he said that his people had reposed a trust in him and it was not for him to desert them he would remain at his post till he perished if need be his voice was lifted up and his vote cast for the last time in support of an ingenious measure contrived by the general from massachusetts whereby the president's salary was proposed to be doubled and every congressman paid several thousand dollars extra for work previously done under an accepted contract and already paid for once and receded for senator dillworthy was offered a grand ovation by his friends at home who said that their affection for him and their confidence in him were in no wise impaired by the persecutions that had pursued him and that he was still good enough for them the seven thousand dollars left by mr. noble with his state legislature was placed in safe keeping to await the claim of the legitimate owner senator dillworthy made one little effort through his protege the embryo banker to recover it but there being no notes of hand or other memoranda to support the claim it failed the moral of which is that when one loans money to start a bank with one ought to take the party's written acknowledgement of the fact end of chapter 59 chapter 60 of the gilded age this is a liber vox recording all liber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liber vox dot org the gilded age by mark twain and charles dudley warner chapter 60 for some days laura had been a free woman once more during this time she had experienced first two or three days of triumph excitement congratulations a sort of sunburst of gladness after a long night of gloom and anxiety then two or three days of calming down by degrees a receding of tides a quieting of the storm wash to a murmurous surf beat a diminishing of devastating winds to a refrain that bore the spirit of a truce days given to solitude rest self communion and the reasoning of herself into a realization of the fact that she was actually done with bolts and bars prison horrors and impending death then came a day whose hours filed slowly by her each laden with some remnant some remaining fragment of the dreadful time so lately ended a day which closing at last left the past a fading shore behind her and turned her eyes toward the broad sea of the future so speedily do we put the dead away and come back to our place in the ranks to march in the pilgrimage of life again and now the sun rose once more and ushered in the first day of what laura comprehended and accepted as a new life the past had sunk below the horizon and existed no more for her she was done with it for all time she was gazing out over the trackless expanses of the future now with troubled eyes life must be begun again at eight and 20 years of age and where to begin the page was blank and waiting for its first record so this was indeed a moment this day her thoughts drifted back stage by stage over her career as far as the long highway receded over the plane of her life it was lined with the gilded and pillared splendors of her ambition all crumbled to ruin and ivy grown every milestone marked a disaster there was no green spot remaining anywhere in memory of a hope that had found its fruition the unresponsive earth had uttered no voice of flowers in testimony that one who was blessed had gone that road her life had been a failure that was plain she said no more of that she would now look the future in the face she would mark her course upon the chart of life and follow it follow it without swerving through rocks and shoals through storm and calm to a haven of rest and peace or shipwreck let the end be what it might she would mark her course now today and follow it on her table lay six or seven notes they were from lovers from some of the prominent names in the land men whose devotion had survived even the grisly revealments of her character which the courts had uncurtained men who knew her now just as she was and yet pleaded as for their lives for the dear privilege of calling the murderous wife as she read these passionate these worshiping these supplicating missives the woman in her nature confessed itself a strong yearning came upon her to lay her head upon a loyal breast and find rest from the conflict of life solace for her griefs the healing of love for her bruised heart with her forehead resting upon her hand she sat thinking thinking while the unheated moments winged their flight it was one of those mornings in early spring when nature seems just stirring to a half consciousness out of a long exhausting lethargy when the first faint balmy airs go wandering about whispering the secret of the coming change when the abused brown grass newly relieved of snow seems considering whether it can be worth the trouble and worry of contriving its green rain again only to fight the inevitable fight with the implacable winter and be vanquished and buried once more when the sun shines out and a few birds venture forth and lift up a forgotten song when a strange stillness and suspense pervades the waiting air it is a time when one spirit is subdued and sad one knows not why when the past seems a storm swept desolation life a vanity and a burden and the future but a way to death it is a time when one is filled with vague longings when one dreams of flight to peaceful islands in the remote solitudes of the sea or folds his hands and says what is the use of struggling and toiling and worrying anymore let us give it all up it was into such a mood as this that lora had drifted from the musings which the letters of her lovers had called up now she lifted her head and noted with surprise how the day had wasted she thrust the letters aside rose up and went and stood at the window but she was soon thinking again and was only gazing into vacancy by and by she turned her countenance had cleared the dreamy look was gone out of her face all indecision had vanished the poise of her head and the firm set of her lips told that her resolution was formed she moved toward the table with all the old dignity in her carriage and all the old pride in her mean she took up each letter in its turn touched a match to it and watched it slowly consume to ashes then she said I have landed upon a foreign shore and burned my ships behind me these letters were the last thing that held me in sympathy with any remnant or belonging of the old life henceforth that life and all that apportains to it are as dead to me and as far removed from me as if I were become a denizen of another world she said that love was not for her the time that it could have satisfied her heart was gone by and could not return the opportunity was lost nothing could restore it she said there could be no love without respect and she would only despise a man who could content himself with a thing like her love she said was a woman's first necessity love being forfeited there was but one thing left that could give a passing zest to a wasted life and that was fame admiration the applause of the multitude and so her resolution was taken she would turn to that final resort of the disappointed of her sex the lecture platform she would array herself in fine attire she would adorn herself with jewels and stand in her isolated magnificence before masked audiences and enchant them with her eloquence and amaze them with her unapproachable beauty she would move from city to city like a queen of romance leaving marveling multitudes behind her and impatient multitudes awaiting her coming her life during one hour of each day upon the platform would be a rapturous intoxication and when the curtain fell and the lights were out and the people gone to nestle in their homes and forget her she would find and sleep oblivion of her homelessness if she could if not she would brave out the night in solitude and wait for the next day's hour of ecstasy so to take up life and begin again was no great evil she saw her way she would be brave and strong she would make the best of what was left for her among the possibilities she sent for the lecture agent and matters were soon arranged straight away all the papers were filled with her name and all the dead walls flamed with it the papers called down implications upon her head they reviled her without stint they wondered if all sense of decency was dead in this shameless murderous this brazen lobbyist this heartless seducer of the affections of weak and misguided men they implored the people for the sake of their pure wives their sinless daughters for the sake of decency for the sake of public morals to give this wretched creature such a rebuke as should be an all-sufficient evidence to her and to such as her that there was a limit where the flaunting of their foul acts and opinions before the world must stop certain of them with a higher art and to her a finer cruelty a sharper torture uttered no abuse but always spoke of her in terms of mocking eulogy and ironical admiration everybody talked about the new wonder canvassed the theme of her proposed discourse and marveled how she would handle it laura's few friends wrote to her or came and talked with her and pleaded with her to retire while it was yet time and not attempt to face the gathering storm but it was fruitless she was stung to the quick by the comments of the newspapers her spirit was roused her ambition was towering now she was more determined than ever she would show these people what a hunted and persecuted woman could do the eventful night came laura arrived before the great lecture hall in a closed carriage within five minutes of the time set for the lecture to begin when she stepped out of the vehicle her heart beat fast and her eyes flashed with exultation the whole street was packed with people and she could hardly force her way to the hall she reached the ante room threw off her wraps and placed herself before the dressing glass she turned herself this way and that everything was satisfactory her attire was perfect she smoothed her hair rearranged a jewel here and there and all the while her heart sang within her and her face was radiant she had not been so happy for ages and ages it seemed to her oh no she had never been so overwhelmingly grateful and happy in her old life before the lecture agent appeared at the door she waved him away and said do not disturb me i want no introduction and do not fear for me the moment the hand points to eight i will step upon the platform he disappeared she held her watch before her she was so impatient that the second hand seemed whole tedious minutes dragging its way around the circle at last the supreme moment came and with head erect and the bearing of an empress she swept through the door and stood upon the stage her eyes fell only on a vast brilliant emptiness there were not 40 people in the house there were only a handful of coarse men and 10 or 12 still coarser women lolling upon the benches and scattered about singly and in couples her pulses stood still her limbs quaked the gladness went out of her face there was a moment of silence and then a brutal laugh and an explosion of cat calls and hisses saluted her from the audience the clamor grew stronger and louder and insulting speeches were shouted at her a half intoxicated man rose up and threw something which missed her but bespattered a chair at her side and this evoked an outburst of laughter and boisterous admiration she was bewildered her strength was forsaking her she reeled away from the platform reached the anti-room and dropped helpless upon a sofa the lecture agent ran in with a hurried question upon his lips but she put forth her hands and with tears raining from her eyes said oh do not speak take me away please take me away out of this dreadful place oh this is like all my life failure disappointment misery always misery always failure what have I done to be so pursued take me away I beg of you I implore you upon the pavement she was hustled by the mob the surging masses roared her name and accompanied it with every species of insulting epithet they thronged after the carriage hooting jeering cursing and even assailing the vehicle with missiles a stone crushed through a blind wounding Laura's forehead and so stunning her that she hardly knew what further transpired during her flight it was long before her faculties were wholly restored and then she found herself lying on the floor by a sofa in her own sitting room and alone so she supposed she must have sat down upon the sofa and afterward fallen she raised herself up with difficulty for the air was chilly and her limbs were stiff she turned up the gas and sought the glass she hardly knew herself so worn and old she looked and so marred with blood were her features the night was far spent and a dead stillness rained she sat down by her table leaned her elbows upon it and put her face in her hands her thoughts wandered back over her old life again and her tears flowed unrestrained her pride was humbled her spirit was broken her memory found but one resting place it lingered about her young girlhood with a caressing regret it dwelt upon it as the one brief interval of her life that bore no curse she saw herself again in the budding grace of her 12 years decked in her dainty pride of ribbons consorting with the bees and the butterflies believing in fairies holding confidential converse with the flowers visiting herself all day with airy tribals that were as weighty to her as the affairs that tax the brains of diplomats and emperors she was without sin then and unacquainted with grief the world was full of sunshine and her heart was full of music from that to this if i could only die she said if i could only go back and be as i was then for one hour and hold my father's hand in mine again and see all the household about me as in that old innocent time and then die my god i am humbled my pride is all gone my stubborn heart repents have pity when the spring morning dawn the form still sat there the elbows resting upon the table and the face upon the hands all day long the figure sat there the sunshine enriching its costly rain and flashing from its jewels twilight came and presently the stars but still the figure remained the moon found it there still and framed the picture with the shadow of the window sash and flooded it with mellow light by and by the darkness swallowed it up and later the gray dawn revealed it again the new day grew toward its prime and still the forlorn presence was undisturbed but now the keepers of the house had become uneasy their periodical knockings still finding no response they burst open the door the jury of inquest found that death had resulted from heart disease and was instant and painless that was all merely heart disease end of chapter 60 chapter 61 of the gilded age this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org the gilded age by mark twain and charles dudley warner chapter 61 clay hawkins ears gone by had yielded after many a struggle to the migratory and speculative instinct of our age and our people and had wandered further and further westward upon trading ventures settling finally in melbourne australia he ceased to roam became a steady going substantial merchant and prospered greatly his life lay beyond the theater of this tale his remittances had supported the hawkins family entirely from the time of his father's death until laterly when laura by her efforts in washington had been able to assist in this work clay was away on a long absence in some of the eastward islands when laura's troubles began trying and almost in vain to arrange certain interests which had become disordered through a dishonest agent and consequently he knew nothing of the murder till he returned and read his letters and papers his natural impulse was to hurry to the states and save his sister if possible for he loved her with a deep and abiding affection his business was so crippled now and so deranged that to leave it would be ruined therefore he sold out at a sacrifice that left him considerably reduced in worldly possessions and began his voyage to san francisco arrived there he proceeded by the newspapers that the trial was near its close at salt lake later telegrams told him of the acquittal and his gratitude was boundless so boundless indeed that sleep was driven from his eyes by the pleasurable excitement almost as effectually as preceding weeks of anxiety had done it he shaped his course straight for hawk eye now and his meeting with his mother and the rest of the household was joyful albeit he had been away so long that he seemed almost a stranger in his own home but the greetings and congratulations were hardly finished when all the journals in the land clamored the news of laura's miserable death mrs. hawkins was prostrated by this last blow and it was well that clay was at her side to stay here with comforting words and take upon himself the ordering of the household with its burdens of labors and cares washington hawkins had scarcely more than entered upon that decade which carries one to the full blossom of manhood which we term the beginning of middle age and yet a brief sojourn at the capital of the nation had made him old his hair was already turning gray when the late session of congress began its sittings it grew grayer still and rapidly after the memorable day that saw laura proclaimed a murderous it waxed grayer and still grayer during the lagging suspense that succeeded it and after the crash which ruined his last hope the failure of his bill in the senate and the destruction of its champion dillworthy a few days later when he stood uncovered while the last pair was pronounced over laura's grave his hair was whiter and his face hardly less old than the venerable ministers whose words were sounding in his ears a week after this he was sitting in the double bedded room in a cheap boarding house in washington with colonel sellers the two had been living together lately and this mutual cavern of theirs the colonel sometimes referred to as their premises and sometimes as their apartments more particularly when conversing with persons outside a canvas covered modern trunk marked with gw h stood on the end by the door strapped and ready for a journey on it lay a small maraco satchel also marked gw h there was another trunk close by a worn and scarred an ancient hair relic with b s wrought in brass nails on its top on it lay a pair of saddlebags that probably knew more about the last century than they could tell washington got up and walked the floor a while in a restless sort of way and finally was about to sit down on the hair trunk stop don't sit down on that exclaimed the colonel there now that's all right the chair is better i couldn't get another trunk like that not another like it in america i reckon i'm afraid not said washington with a faint attempt at a smile no indeed the man is dead that made that trunk and that saddlebags are his great grandchildren still living said washington with levity only in the words not in the tone well i don't know i hadn't thought of that but anyway they can't make trunks and saddlebags like that if they are no man can said the colonel with honest simplicity wife didn't like to see me going off with that trunk she said it was nearly certain to be stolen why why why aren't trunks always being stolen well yes some kinds of trunks are very well then this is some kind of a trunk and an almighty rare kind too yes i believe it is well then why shouldn't a man want to steal it if he got a chance indeed i don't know why should he washington i never heard anybody talk like you suppose you were a thief and that trunk was lying around and nobody watching wouldn't you steal it come now answer fair wouldn't you steal it well now since you corner me i would take it but i wouldn't consider it stealing you wouldn't well that beats me now what would you call stealing why taking property is stealing property now what a way to talk that is what do you suppose that trunk is worth is it in good repair perfect hair rubbed off a little but the main structure is perfectly sound does it leak anywhere leak do you want to carry water in it and what do you mean by does it leak why uh do the clothes fall out of it when it is when it is stationary confounded washington you are trying to make fun of me i don't know what has gotten into you today you act mighty curious what is the matter with you well i'll tell you old friend i am almost happy i am indeed it wasn't clays telegram that hurried me up so and got me ready to start with you it was a letter from the weas good what is it what does she say she says come home her father has consented at last my boy i want to congratulate you i want to shake you by the hand it's a long term that has no lane at the end of it as the proverb says or somehow that way you'll be happy yet and bariah sellers will be there to see thank god i believe it general boswell is pretty nearly a poor man now the railroad that was going to build up hawkeye made short work of him along with the rest he isn't so opposed to a sun in law without a fortune now without a fortune indeed why that tennessee land never mind the tennessee land colonel i am done with that forever and forever well i know you can't mean to say my father a way back yonder years ago bought it for a blessing for his children and indeed he did scihawk and said to me it proved a curse to him as long as he lived and never a curse like it was inflicted upon any man's heirs i'm bound to say there's more or less truth it began to curse me when i was a baby and it has cursed every hour of my life to this day lord lord but it's so time and again my wife i depended on it all through my boyhood and never tried to do an honest stroke of work for my living right again but then you i have chased it years and years as children chase butterflies we might all have been prosperous now we might all have been happy all these heartbreaking years if we had accepted our poverty at first and gone contentedly to work and built up our own wealth by our own toil and sweat it's so it's so blessed my soul how often i've told scihawk and instead of that we have suffered more than the dam themselves suffer i loved my father and i honor his memory and recognize his good intentions but i grieve for his mistaken ideas of conferring happiness upon his children i'm going to begin my life over again and begin it and end it with good solid work i'll leave my children no tennessee land spoken like a man sir spoken like a man your hand again my boy and always remember that when a word of advice from bariah sellers can help it is at your service i'm going to begin again too indeed yes sir i've seen enough to show me where my mistake was the law is what i was born for i shall begin the study of the law heaven's on earth but that bravance a wonderful man a wonderful man sir such a head and such a way with him but i could see that he was jealous of me the little licks i got in in the course of my argument before the jury your argument what you were a witness oh yes to the popular eye to the popular eye but i knew when i was dropping information and when i was letting drive at the court with an insidious argument but the court knew it bless you and weakened every time and brabant knew it i just reminded him of it in a quiet way and its final result and he said in a whisper you did it colonel you did it sir but but keep it mum for my sake and i'll tell you what you do says he you go into the law colonel sellers go into the law sir that's your native element and into the law the subscriber is going there's worlds of money in it whole worlds of money practice first in hawkeye then in jefferson then in st louis then in new york in the metropolis of the western world climb and climb and climb and wind up on the supreme bench baraya sellers chief justice of the supreme court of the united state sir a made man for all time and eternity that's the way i block it out sir and it's as clear as day clear as the rosie mourn washington had heard little of this the first reference to laura's trial had brought the old dejection to his face again and he stood gazing out of the window at nothing lost in reverie there was a knock the postman handed in a letter it was from obit's town east tennessee and was for washington he opened it there was a note saying that enclosed he would please find a bill for the current year's taxes on the 75 000 acres of tennessee land belonging to the estate of sylas hawkins deceased and added that the money must be paid within 60 days or the land would be sold at public auction for the taxes as provided by law the bill was for 180 dollars something more than twice the market value of the land perhaps washington hesitated doubts flitted through his mind the old instinct came upon him to cling to the land just a little longer and give it one more chance he walked the floor favoritily his mind tortured by indecision presently he stopped took out his pocketbook and counted his money 230 it was all he had in the world 180 from 230 he said to himself 50 left it is not enough to get me home shall i do it or shall i not i wish i had somebody to decide for me the pocketbook lay open in his hand with louise's small letter and view his eye fell upon that and it decided him it shall go for taxes he said and never tempt me or mine anymore he opened the window and stood there tearing the tax bill to bits and watching the breeze waft them away till all were gone the spell is broken the lifelong curse has ended he said let us go the baggage wagon had arrived five minutes later the two friends were mounted upon their luggage in it and rattling off toward the station the colonel endeavoring to sing homework bound a song whose words he knew but whose tune as he rendered it was a trial to auditors end of chapter 61 chapter 62 of the gilded age this is a liber vox recording all liber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information on to volunteer please visit libervox.org the gilded age by mark twain and charles dudley warner chapter 62 philip sterling circumstances were becoming straightened the prospect was gloomy his long siege of unproductive labor was beginning to tell upon his spirits but what told still more upon them was the undeniable fact that the promise of ultimate success diminished every day now that is to say the tunnel had reached a point in the hill which was considerably beyond where the coal vein should pass according to all his calculations if there were a coal vein there and so every foot that the tunnel now progressed seemed to carry it further away from the object of the search sometimes he ventured to hope that he had made a mistake in estimating the direction which the vein should naturally take after crossing the valley and entering the hill upon such occasions he would go into the nearest mine on the vein he was hunting for and once more get the bearings of the deposit and mark out its probable course but the result was the same every time his tunnel had manifestly pierced beyond the natural point of junction and then his spirits fell a little lower his men had already lost faith and he had often overheard them saying it was perfectly plain that there was no coal in the hill foremen and laborers from neighboring mines and no end of experienced loafers from the village visited the tunnel from time to time and their verdicts were always the same and always disheartening no coal in that hill now and then philip would sit down and think it all over and wonder what the mystery meant then he would go into the tunnel and ask the men if there were no signs yet none always none he would bring out a piece of rock and examine it and say to himself it is limestone it has crinoids and corals in it the rock is right then he would throw it down or the sign say but that is nothing where coal is limestone with these fossils in it is pretty certain to lie against its foot casing but it does not necessarily follow that where this particular rock is coal must lie above it or beyond it this sign is not sufficient the thought usually followed there is one infallible sign if i could only strike that three or four times in as many weeks he said to himself am i a visionary i must be a visionary everybody is in these days everybody chases butterflies everybody seeks sudden fortune and will not lay one up by a slow toil this is not right i will discharge the men and go at some honest work there is no coal here what a fool i have been i will give it up but he never could do it a half hour of profound thinking always followed and at the end of it he was sure to get up and straighten himself and say there is coal there i will not give it up and coal or no coal i will drive the tunnel clear through the hill i will not surrender while i am alive he never thought of asking mr montague for more money he said there was now but one chance of finding coal against 999 that he would not find it and so it would be wrong in him to make the request and foolish and mr montague to grant it he had been working three shifts of men finally the settling of a weekly account exhausted his means he could not afford to run in debt and therefore he gave them in their discharge they came into his cabin presently where he sat with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands the picture of discouragement and their spokesman said mr sterling when tim was down a week with his fall you kept him on half wages and it was a mighty help to his family whenever any of us was in trouble you've done what you could to help us out you've acted fair and square with us every time and i reckon we are men and know a man when we see him we haven't got any faith in that hill but we have a respect for a man that's got the pluck that you showed you fought a good fight with everybody again you and if we had grub to go on i'm damned if we wouldn't stand by you till the cows come home that is what the boys say now we want to put in one parting blast for luck we want to work three days more if we don't find anything we won't bring in no bill against you that is what we've come to say philip was touched if he had had money enough to buy three days grub he would have accepted the generous offer but as it was he could not consent to be less magnanimous than the men and so he declined in a manly speech shook hands all around and resumed his solitary communings the men went back to the tunnel and put in a parting blast for luck anyhow they did a full day's work and then took their leave they called at his cabin and gave him goodbye but we're not able to tell him their day's effort had given things a more promising look the next day philip sold all the tools but two or three sets he also sold one of the now deserted cabins as old lumber together with its domestic wares and made up his mind that he would buy provisions with the trifle of money thus gained and continue his work alone about the middle of the afternoon he put on his roughest clothes and went to the tunnel he lit a candle and groped his way in presently he heard the sound of a pic or a drill and wondered what it meant a spark of light now appeared in the far end of the tunnel and when he arrived there he found the man tim at work tim said i'm to have a job in a golden briar mine buy and buy in a week or 10 days and i'm going to work here till then a man might as well be at something and besides i consider that i owe you what you paid me when i was laid up philip said oh no he didn't owe anything but tim persisted and then philip said he had a little provision now and would share so for several days philip held the drill and tim did the striking at first philip was impatient to see the result of every blast and was always back and peering among the smoke the moment after the explosion but there was never any encouraging result and therefore he finally lost almost all interest and hardly troubled himself to inspect results at all he simply labored on stubbornly and with little hope tim stayed with him till the last moment and then took up his job at the golden briar apparently as depressed by the continued baroness of their mutual labors as philip was himself after that philip fought his battle alone day after day and slow work it was he could scarcely see that he made any progress late one afternoon he finished drilling a hole which he had been at work at for more than two hours he swapped it out and poured in the powder and inserted the fuse then filled up the rest of the hole with dirt and small fragments of stone tamped it down firmly touched his candle to the fuse and ran by and by the dull report came and he was about to walk back mechanically and see what was accomplished but he halted presently turned on his heel and thought rather than said no this is useless this is absurd if i found anything it would only be one of those little aggravating seams of coal which doesn't mean anything and by this time he was walking out of the tunnel his thought ran on i am conquered i am out of provisions out of money i have got to give it up all this hard work lost but i am not conquered i will go and work for money and come back and have another fight with fate ah me it may be yours it may be yours arrived at the mouth of the tunnel he threw his coat upon the ground sat down on a stone and his eyes sought the western sun and dwelt upon the charming landscape which stretched its woody ridges wave upon wave to the golden horizon something was taking place at his feet which did not attract his attention his reverie continued and its burden grew more and more gloomy presently he rose up and cast a look far away toward the valley and his thoughts took a new direction there it is how good it looks but down there is not up here well i will go home and pack up there is nothing else to do he moved off moodley toward his cabin he had gone some distance had gone some distance before he thought of his coat then he was about to turn back but he smiled at the thought and continued his journey such a coat as that could be of little use in a civilized land a little further on he remembered that there were some papers of value in one of the pockets of the relic and then with a penitent ejaculation he turned back picked up the coat and put it on he made a dozen steps then stopped very suddenly he stood still a moment as one who is trying to believe something and cannot he put a hand up over his shoulder and felt his back and a great thrill shot through him he grasped the skirt of the coat impulsively and another thrill followed he snatched the coat from his back glanced at it threw it from him and flew back to the tunnel he sought the spot where the coat had lain he had to look close for the light was waning then to make sure he put his hand to the ground and a little stream of water swept against his fingers thank god i've struck it at last he lit a candle and ran into the tunnel he picked up a piece of rubbish cast out by the last blast and said this clayy stuff is what i've longed for i know what is behind it he swung his pick with hearty goodwill till long after the darkness had gathered upon the earth and when he trudged home at length he knew he had a colvein and that it was seven feet thick from wall to wall he found a yellow envelope lying on his rickety table and recognized that it was of a family sacred to the transmission of telegrams he opened it read it crushed it in his hand and threw it down it simply said ruth is very ill end of chapter 62 chapter 63 of the gilded age this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the gilded age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner chapter 63 it was evening when Philip took the cars at the ilium station the news of his success had preceded him and while he waited for the train he was the center of a group of eager questioners who asked him a hundred things about the mine and magnified his good fortune there was no mistake this time Philip in luck had become suddenly a person of consideration whose speech was freighted with meaning whose looks were all significant the words of the proprietor of a rich coal mine have a golden sound and his common sayings are repeated as if they were solid wisdom Philip wished to be alone his good fortune at this moment seemed an empty mockery one of those sarcasms of fate such as that which spreads a dainty banquet for the man who has no appetite he had long for success principally for ruth's sake and perhaps now at this very moment of his triumph she was dying Schust what I said Mr. Sederling the landlord of the ilium hotel kept repeating I told Jake Schmidt he find him there Schust so sure as nothing you ought to have taken a share Mr. Duesenheimer said Philip yes I know but the old woman she say you sticks to your pizzeness so I sticks to him and I makes nothing that Mr. Pryor Lee he don't never come back here no more ain't it why asked Philip well there is so many peers and so many ordered drinks I got them all set down when he comes back it was a long night for Philip and a restless one at any other time the swing of the cars would have lulled him to sleep and the rattle and clank of the wheels and rails the roar of the whirling iron would have only been cheerful reminders of swift and safe travel now they were voices of warning and taunting and instead of going rapidly the train seemed to crawl at a snail's pace and it not only crawled but it frequently stopped and when it stopped it stood dead still and there was an ominous silence was anything the matter he wondered only a station probably perhaps he thought a telegraphic station and then he listened eagerly with the conductor opened the door and asked for Philip Sterling and hand him a fatal dispatch how long they seemed to wait and then slowly beginning to move they were off again shaking pounding screaming through the night he drew his curtain from time to time and looked out there was the lurid skyline of the wooded range along the base of which they were crawling there was the Susquehanna gleaming in the moonlight there was a stretch of level valley with silent farmhouses the occupants all at rest without trouble without anxiety there was a church a graveyard a mill a village and now without pause or fear the train had mounted the trestlework high in the air and was creeping along the top of it while a swift torrent foamed a hundred feet below what would the morning bring even while he was flying to her her gentle spirit might have gone on another flight with her he could not follow her he was full of foreboding he fell at length into a restless dose there was a noise in his ears as of a rushing torrent when a stream is swollen by a fresh it in the spring it was like the breaking up of life he was struggling in the consciousness of coming death when Ruth stood by his side clothed in white with a face like that of an angel radiant smiling pointing to the sky and saying come he awoke with a cry the train was roaring through a bridge and it shot out into daylight when morning came the train was industriously toiling along through the fatlands of Lancaster with its broad farms of corn and wheat its mean houses of stone its vast barns and granaries built as if for storing the riches of heliogabalus then came the smiling fields of chester with their english green and soon the county of philadelphia itself and the increasing signs of the approach to a great city long trains of coal cars laden and unladen stood upon sidings the tracks of other roads were crossed the smoke of other locomotives were seen on parallel lines factories multiplied streets appeared the noise of a busy city began to fill the air and with a slower and slower clank on the connecting rails and interlacing switches the train rolled into the station and stood still it was a hot august morning the broad streets glowed in the sun and the white shuttered houses stared at the hot thoroughfares like closed baker's ovens set along the highway philip was oppressed with the heavy air the sweltering city lay as in a swoon taking a streetcar he rode away to the northern part of the city the newer portion formerly the district of spring garden for in this the boltons now lived in a small brick house befitting their altered fortunes he could scarcely restrain his impatience when he came inside of the house the window shutters were not bowed thank god for that ruth was still living then he ran up the steps and rang mrs bolton met him at the door he is very welcome philip and ruth she is very ill but quieter than she has been and the fever is a little abating the most dangerous time will be when the fever leaves her the doctor fears she will not have the strength enough to rally from it yes they can see her mrs bolton led the way to the little chamber where ruth lay oh said her mother if she were only in her cool and spacious room in our old home she says that seems like heaven mr bolton sat by ruth's bedside and he rose and silently pressed philip's hand the room had but one window that was wide open to admit the air but the air that came in was hot and lifeless upon the table stood a vase of flowers ruth's eyes were closed her cheeks were flushed with fever and she moved her head restlessly as if in pain ruth said her mother bending over her philip is here ruth's eyes unclosed there was a gleam of recognition in them there was an attempt at a smile upon her face and she tried to raise her thin hand as philip touched her forehead with his lips and he heard her murmur dear phil there was nothing to be done but to watch and wait for the cruel fever to burn itself out dr long street told philip that the fever had undoubtedly been contracted in the hospital but it was not malignant and would be little dangerous if ruth were not so worn down with work or if she had a less delicate constitution it is only her indomitable will that has kept her up for weeks and if that should leave her now there will be no hope you can do more for her now sir than i can how asked philip eerily your presence more than anything else will inspire her with a desire to live when the fever turned ruth was in a very critical condition for two days her life was like the fluttering of a lighted candle in the wind philip was constantly by her side and she seemed to be conscious of his presence and to cling to him as one born away by a swift stream clings to a stretched out hand from the shore if he was absent a moment her restless eyes sought something they were disappointed not to find philip so yearned to bring her back to life he willed it so strongly and passionately that his will appeared to affect hers and she seemed slowly to draw life from his after two days of this struggle with the grasping enemy it was evident to dr long street that ruth's will was beginning to issue its orders to her body with some force and that strength was slowly coming back in another day there was a decided improvement as philip sat holding her weak hand and watching the least sign of resolution in her face ruth was able to whisper i still want to live for you phil you will darling you must said philip in a tone of faith encouraged that carried a thrill of determination of command along all her nerves slowly philip drew her back to life slowly she came back as one willing but well-nigh helpless it was new for ruth to feel this dependence on another's nature to consciously draw strength of will from the will of another it was a new but a dear joy to be lifted up and carried back into the happy world which was now all aglow with a light of love to be lifted and carried by the one she loved more than her own life sweetheart she said to philip i would not have cared to come back but for thy love not for thy profession oh thee may be glad enough of that someday when thy cold bed is dug out and thee and father are in the air again when ruth was able to ride she was taken into the country for the pure air was necessary to her speedy recovery the family went with her philip could not be spared from her side and mr bolton had gone up to iliam to look into that wonderful coal mine and to make arrangements for developing it and bringing its wealth to market philip had insisted on reconveying the ilium property to mr bolton retaining only the share originally contemplated for himself and mr bolton therefore once more found himself engaged in business and a person of some consequence in third street the mine turned out even better than was at first hoped and would if judiciously managed be a fortune to them all this also seemed to be the opinion of mr bigler who heard of it as soon as anybody and with the impudence of his class called upon mr bolton for a little aid in a patent carwheel he had bought an interest in that rascal small he said had swindled him out of all he had mr bolton told him he was very sorry and he recommended him to sue small mr small also came with a similar story about mr bigler and mr bolton had the grace to give him like advice and he added if you and bigler will procure the indictment of each other you may have the satisfaction of putting each other in the penitentiary for the forgery of my acceptances bigler and small did not quarrel however they both attacked mr bolton behind his back as a swindler and circulated the story that he had made a fortune by failing in the pure error of the highlands amid the golden glories of ripening september ruth rapidly came back to health how beautiful the world is to an invalid whose senses are all clarified who has been so near the world of spirits that she is sensitive to the finest influences and whose frame responds with a thrill to the subtlest administrations of soothing nature mere life is a luxury and the color of the grass of the flowers of the sky the wind and the trees the outlines of the horizon the forms of clouds all give a pleasure as exquisite as the sweetest music to the ear famished for it the world was all new and fresh to Ruth as if it had just been created for her and love filled it till her heart was overflowing with happiness it was golden september also at fall kill and alice set by the open window in her room at home looking out upon the meadows where the laborers were cutting the second crop of clover the fragrance of it floated to her nostrils perhaps she did not mind it she was thinking she had just been writing to Ruth and on the table before her was a yellow piece of paper with a faded four leaf clover pinned on it only a memory now in her letter to Ruth she had poured out her heartiest blessings upon them both with her dear love forever and forever thank god she said they will never know they never would know and the world never knows how many women there are like alice whose sweet but lonely lives of self-sacrifice gentle faithful loving souls bless it continually she is a dear girl said philip when Ruth showed him the letter yes phil and we can spare a great deal of love for her our own lives are so full end of chapter 63 appendix to the gilded age perhaps some apology to the reader is necessary in view of our failure to find Laura's father we supposed from ease with which lost persons are found in novels that it would not be difficult but it was indeed it was impossible and therefore the portions of the narrative containing the record of the search have been stricken out not because they were not interesting for they were but in as much as the man was not found after all it did not seem wise to harass and excite the reader to no purpose the authors end of the appendix end of the gilded age by mark twain and charles dudley warner