At any rate a little of it must henceforth go a long way with you.
A sermon?
Yes.

But, since it's a good one, I know you'll forgive me; for it is preached in love, my dear boy, and accompanied with the hearty and insistent hope that you'll write to me.
Affectionately, WALTER PAGE.
This last letter apparently anticipates the story.

A few weeks before it was written President Wilson had succeeded in carrying out his determination to make Page an important part of his Administration.

One morning Page's telephone rang and Colonel House's well-known and well-modulated voice came over the wire.
"Good morning, Your Excellency," was his greeting.
"What the devil are you talking about ?" asked Page.
Then Colonel House explained himself.

The night before, he said, he had dined at the White House.