"Why should they put a brute like this in charge of the poor?"
"That's a large question, sir, at this time," said the doctor, politely, "and now that you have asked it, I have some things I've been longing for an opportunity to say to you."
"Be seated, sir," the old Commoner answered, "I shall be glad to hear them."
Elsie's heart leaped with joy over the possible outcome of this appeal, and she left the room with a smile for the doctor.
"First, allow me," said the Southerner, pleasantly, "to express my sorrow at your long illness, and my pleasure at seeing you so well. Your children have won the love of all our people and have had our deepest sympathy in your illness."
Stoneman muttered an inaudible reply, and the doctor went on:
"Your question brings up, at once, the problem of the misery and degradation into which our country has sunk under Negro rule"
Stoneman smiled coldly and interrupted:
"Of course, you understand my position in politics, Doctor Cameron—I am a Radical Republican."
"So much the better," was the response. "I have been longing for months to get your ear. Your word will be all the more powerful if raised in our behalf. The Negro is the master of our state, county, city, and town governments. Every school, college, hospital, asylum, and poorhouse is his prey. What you have seen is but a sample.
