Of all this Uncle Billy was as much a layman spectator as any tramp
who crept into the gallery for a few hours out of the cold. The hurry
and seethe of the racing sea touched him not at all, except to
bewilderment, while he was carried with it, unknowing, toward the
breakers. The shout of those breakers was already in the ears of many,
for the crisis of the session was coming. This was the fight that was
to be made on Hurlbut's "Railroad Bill," which was, indeed, but in
another sense, known as the "Breaker."

Uncle Billy had heard of the "Breaker." He couldn't have helped
that. He had heard a dozen say: "Then's when it's going to be warm
times, when that 'Breaker' comes up!" or, "Look out for that
'Breaker.' We're going to have big trouble." He knew, too, that
Hurlbut was interested in the "Breaker," but upon which side he was
for a long time ignorant.

* * * * *

Hurlbut always nodded to the old man, now, as he came down the aisle
to his own desk. He had begun that, the day after the _Constellation_
item. Uncle Billy never failed to be in his seat early in the
morning, waiting for the nod. He answered it with his usual "Howdy-do,
sir," then stroked his beard and gazed profoundly at the row of fat
volumes in front of him, swallowing painfully once or twice.

This was all that really happened for Uncle Billy during the turmoil
and scramble that went on about him all the day long. He had not been
forced to discover a way to meet an offer of $1,500, without hurting
the putative giver's feelings. No lobbyist had the faintest idea of