Rockwell soon returned, carrying a tray on which was a plate of really fine ham, with rolls and butter and a cup of coffee.
"I guess I'm not too sick to sit up to eat, so long as only you're here," said Merriam, suiting his posture to the word and falling to with appetite.
Rockwell drew up a chair and for several minutes sat smoking in silence. Then he said:
"Did you catch Thompson's parting shot about Tidbits?"
"Yes," Merriam replied, without interrupting operations. "What did he mean?"
Rockwell drew a clipping from his pocket. "Listen," he said, and read the following:
The Senator's Night Off
There was a dance last night at Reiberg's Place on the West Side. Most of our readers do not know Reiberg's. It comprises a dancing floor over a saloon, with a bar attached for the convenience of patrons who may not be willing--or, as the evening advances, able--to go downstairs to the saloon; also certain small rooms where one may drink or otherwise enjoy oneself quite privately. Its patrons, male and female, are chiefly employees in the neighbouring factories.
But last night Reiberg's was honoured, we are credibly informed, by a guest from quite a different sphere--no less than a Senator of the United States. We are not able at present to give his name with certainty, and of course we are not willing to give names in such a case until we have verified our information with scrupulous care. But he certainly announced himself as Senator ----, and he looked the part, and distributed money, presumably from the salary paid to him out of public funds, with lavish abandon.
Having tried to kiss one of the prettier girls and been knocked down by her escort--who evidently knew naught of "senatorial courtesies,"--he emphasised the sincerity of his tipsy apologies by handing the lucky insulted one a fifty-dollar bill.
Later, it is said, he attached himself to another young woman, unaccompanied, it would seem, by any pugnacious swain, with whom he spent several hours, partly on the dancing floor and partly elsewhere.
Finally, with we fear little of his money left about him, he was charitably carried off by the chauffeur of his waiting taxi.
Well, well, after the arduous strain of legislative labours, one doubtless feels the need of a little relaxation. We hope the Senator enjoyed himself.
Rockwell folded up his clipping. "A tolerably close paraphrase of Simpson's story," he remarked. "They have the facts pretty straight."
"What is this Tidbits?" asked Merriam, sitting on his pillow with the tray in his lap. He had stopped eating.