It was all done so quickly that the visitors scarcely had time to get their bearings. Hiram Blake, who had been looking after the vanishing machine like a man in a stupor, was the first to speak:
"Who is that man?" he demanded.
"That," answered Barry, proudly, "is the President of the United States!"
"I thought so," commented Mr. Smithers; "he had the air of a man of authority."
"Yes," remarked Postmaster Ford, "I was sure it was he, and he looks just like his pictures."
An hour later the members were taking their lunch at the hotel in Washington, and before dusk that evening, they had started on their return trip to Cleverly.
"Good-bye," cried Congressman Carlton, who was on the station platform as they boarded the train, "I will promise to do the best I can with that bill."
Mr. Smithers, who was the last one to get on the train, thought of the incident at Mount Vernon, and replied significantly:
"I am sure you won't fail us—not when you have the assistance of such a bright boy as Barry Wynn."