"Why, of co'se it is. Ah yo' as blind as that o' ah yo' foolin' with me?" questioned Telfer, suspiciously. "Seems to me yo' ought to know more about that end of it than a fellah clear from th' gulf."
"Certainly, certainly," mumbled Haines, impatiently, as he endeavored to associate coherently, intelligently, in his mind those startling new revelations of Telfer with certain incidents he had previously noted in the operations of the committee on naval affairs.
Then he looked across at the Mayor and smiled. Apparently he had heard nothing to amaze him.
"Colonel," he returned calmly, dropping into a voice that sounded of pity for the gray hairs of the lobbyist, "about fifty men a day come to me with propositions like that. There is nothing doing, Colonel. I couldn't possibly interest Senator Langdon, because he has the faculty of judging for himself, and he would be prejudiced against either town that came out with such, a proposition."
"Lan' speculation is legitimate," protested, the Colonel, cunningly.
Haines agreed.
"Certainly—by outsiders. But it's d—d thievery when engaged in by any one connected with putting a bill through. If I were to tell Senator Langdon what you have told me it would decide him unalterably in favor of Altacoola. Senator Langdon, sir, is one of the few men in Washington who would rather be thought a fool than a grafter if it came down to that."
The Mayor of Gulf City jumped to his feet, his face blazing in rage, not in shame.
"Seems to me yo're mighty fresh, young man," he blustered. "What kind of politics is Langdon playin'?"
"Not fresh, Colonel; only friendly. I'm just tipping you off how not to be a friend to Altacoola. As to his politics, the Senator will answer you himself."