CHAPTER I. AN OPTIMISTIC FORECAST.

As the sun was gently receding in the western horizon on a beautiful summer evening nearly a century ago, a solitary voyageur might have been seen slowly ascending the sinuous stream that stretches from the North Star State to the Gulf of Mexico. He was on a mission of peace and good will to the red men of the distant forest. On nearing the shore of what is now a great city the lonely voyageur was amazed on discovering that the pale face of the white man had many years preceded him. “What, ho!” he muttered to himself; “methinks I see a paleface toying with a dusky maiden. I will have speech with him.” On approaching near where the two were engaged in some weird incantation the voyageur overheard the dusky maiden impart a strange message to the paleface by her side. “From the stars I see in the firmament, the fixed stars that predominate in the configuration, I deduce the future destiny of man. ’Tis with thee. O Robert, to live always. This elixer which I now do administer to thee has been known to our people for countless generations. The possession of it will enable thee to conquer all thine enemies. Thou now beholdest, O Robert, the ground upon which some day a great city will be erected. Thou art destined to become the mighty chief of this great metropolis. Thy reign will be long and uninterrupted. Thou wert born when the conjunction of the planets did augur a life of perfect beatitude. As the years roll away the inhabitants of the city will multiply with great rapidity. Questions of great import regarding the welfare of the people will often come before thee for adjustment. To be successful In thy calling thou must never be guilty of having decided convictions on any subject, as thy friends will sometimes be pitted against each other in the advocacy of their various schemes. Thou must not antagonize either side by espousing the other’s cause, but must always keep the rod and the gun close by thy side, so that when these emergencies arise and thou doth scent danger in the air thou canst quietly withdraw from the scene of action and chase the festive bison over the distant prairies or revel in piscatorial pleasure on the placid waters of a secluded lake until the working majority hath discovered some method of relieving thee of the necessity of committing thyself, and then, O Robert. thou canst return and complacently inform the disappointed party that the result would have been far different had not thou been called suddenly away. Thou canst thus preserve the friendship of all parties, and their votes are more essential to thee than the mere adoption of measures affecting the prosperity of thy people. When the requirements of the people of thy city become too great for thee alone to administer to all their wants, the great family of Okons, the lineal descendants of the sea kings from the bogs of Tipperary, will come to thy aid. Take friendly counsel with them, as to incur their displeasure will mean thy downfall. Let all the ends thou aimest at be to so dispose of the offices within thy gift that the Okons, and the followers of the Okons, will be as fixed in their positions as are the stars in their orbits.”

After delivering this strange astrological exhortation the dusky maiden slowly retreated toward the entrance of a nearby cavern, the paleface meandered forth to survey the ground of his future greatness and the voyageur resumed his lonely journey toward the setting sun.

CHAPTER II. A TERRIBLE REALITY.

After the lapse of more than four score of years the voyageur from the frigid North returned from his philanthropic visit to the red man. A wonderful change met the eye. A transformation as magnificent as it was bewildering had occurred. The same grand old bluffs looked proudly down upon the Father of Water. The same magnificent river pursued its unmolested course toward the boundless ocean. But all else had changed. The hostile warrior no longer impeded the onward march of civilization, and cultivated fields abounded on every side. Steamers were hourly traversing the translucent waters of the great Mississippi; steam and electricity were carrying people with the rapidity of lightning in every direction; gigantic buildings appeared on the earth’s surface, visible in either direction as far as the eye could reach; on every corner was a proud descendant of Erin’s nobility, clad in gorgeous raiment, who had been branded “St. Paul’s finest” before leaving the shores of his native land. In the midst of this great city was a magnificent building, erected by the generosity of its people, in which the paleface, supported on either side by the Okons, was the high and mighty ruler. The Okons and the followers of the Okons were in possession of every office within the gift of the paleface. Floating proudly from the top of this great building was an immense banner, on which was painted in monster letters the talismanic words: “For mayor, 1902, Robert A. Smith,” Verily the prophecy of the dusky maiden had been fulfilled. The paleface had become impregnably intrenched. The Okons could never be dislodged.

With feelings of unutterable anguish at the omnipresence of the Okons, the aged voyageur quietly retraced his footsteps and was never more seen by the helpless and overburdened subjects of the paleface.