Sunset came, and still the fight went on; the gas was lit, the crowd in

the galleries began to thin, but the contest continued; the crowd

returned, by and by, with hunger and thirst appeased, and aggravated the

hungry and thirsty House by looking contented and comfortable; but still

the wrangle lost nothing of its bitterness. Recesses were moved

plaintively by the opposition, and invariably voted down by the

University army.

At midnight the House presented a spectacle calculated to interest a

stranger. The great galleries were still thronged--though only with men,

now; the bright colors that had made them look like hanging gardens were

gone, with the ladies. The reporters' gallery, was merely occupied by

one or two watchful sentinels of the quill-driving guild; the main body

cared nothing for a debate that had dwindled to a mere vaporing of dull

speakers and now and then a brief quarrel over a point of order; but

there was an unusually large attendance of journalists in the reporters'

waiting-room, chatting, smoking, and keeping on the 'qui vive' for the

general irruption of the Congressional volcano that must come when the

time was ripe for it. Senator Dilworthy and Philip were in the

Diplomatic Gallery; Washington sat in the public gallery, and Col.

Sellers was, not far away. The Colonel had been flying about the

corridors and button-holing Congressmen all the evening, and believed

that he had accomplished a world of valuable service; but fatigue was

telling upon him, now, and he was quiet and speechless--for once. Below,

a few Senators lounged upon the sofas set apart for visitors, and talked

with idle Congressmen. A dreary member was speaking; the presiding

479

The Gilded Age