“Take a fresh one, Jim,” said the Colonel, opening a bureau drawer.
Mr. Maker took two.
“Say, Colonel,” he demanded, “what's this bill that went into the judiciary this morning?”
“What bill?” asked the Colonel, blandly.
“So you think I ain't on?” Mr. Maker inquired.
The Colonel laughed.
“Where have you been, Jim?”
“I've been up to the city, seem' my wife—that's where I've been.”
The Colonel smiled, as at a harmless fiction.
“Well, if you weren't here, I don't see what right you've got to complain. I never leave my good Democratic friends on the outside, do I?”