Why is he
here? Why don't they give him a place worthy of him? I've seen many
of our representatives abroad, and I know we cannot afford to waste
men like that." The girl exclaimed indignantly: " He's one of the
most interesting men I've ever met! He's lived everywhere, known
every one. He's a distinguished man, a cultivated man; even I can
see he knows his work, that he's a diplomat, born, trained, that
he's----" The admiral interrupted with a growl.
"You don't have to tell ME about Henry," he protested. "I've known
Henry twenty-five years. If Henry got his deserts," he exclaimed
hotly, "he wouldn't be a consul on this coral reef; he'd be a
minister in Europe. Look at me! We're the same age. We started
together. When Lincoln sent him to Morocco as consul, he signed my
commission as a midshipman. Now I'm an admiral. Henry has twice my
brains and he's been a consul- general, and he's HERE, back at the
foot of the ladder!"
"Why?" demanded the girl.
"Because the navy is a service and the consular service isn't a
service. Men like Senator Hanley use it to pay their debts. While
Henry's been serving his country abroad, he's lost his friends,
lost his 'pull.' Those politicians up at Washington have no use for
him. They don't consider that a consul like Henry can make a
million dollars for his countrymen. He can keep them from shipping
goods where there's no market, show them where there is a market."
The admiral snorted contemptuously.
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