It was all sordid and gross--not at all in keeping with her first experience of politics, gained in her girlhood, when her father had stood high in the councils of the nation, winning coveted positions without the support of such allies as she had seen cheering her husband's triumph on the floor of the convention.

There had strayed into her hands an envelope of newspaper clippings from an agency that wished to supply her, as, its circular announced, it supplied the wives of many other prominent Americans, with newspaper comments on their husbands.

As a bait for securing a client these examples of what the American press was saying of Morton Bassett were decidedly ill-chosen.

The "Stop, Look, Listen" editorial had suggested to many influential journals a re-indictment of bossism with the Bassett-Thatcher imbroglio as text.

It was disenchanting to find one's husband enrolled in a list of political reprobates whose activities in so many states were a menace to public safety.