Before anyone had a chance to reply, Barry was escorting the stranger towards the delegation from Cleverly. He presented each of them in their turn, but he was so flustered that no one caught the name of the newcomer. Mr. Smithers and Postmaster Ford, however, looked at the stranger very curiously and there was something very much like reverence in their eyes. He chatted very amiably for a few moments and spoke about the historic importance of the ground on which they were standing. "By the by," he said, turning to Barry, "you're a page boy; do you know Mr. John Carlton?" "He's the member that had me appointed," replied Barry, proudly. "Good," was the cordial response, "I'm glad to hear it. Carlton is an able man and," half musingly, "he's a coming man, too; a coming man." The members of the delegation looked at one another significantly. It was a pleasure to them to hear anyone commend their Congressman. Presently the stranger prepared to depart. "I am very glad to have seen you gentlemen here," he said. "I think that every man who has the opportunity to pay a pilgrimage to Mount Vernon should do so." They agreed with him, and presently, after some more talk, he turned and said: "Where's that little page boy?" Barry was pushed to the front, and the stranger shook hands with him very cordially. "It does me good to shake hands with you," he said. "I like all boys, but I have a special liking for boys who are bright and ambitious." The next moment he had stepped into the automobile with his friends, and as the machine puffed out of the gateway, he turned in his seat and waved his hand, exclaiming: "Good-bye, and good luck to you all." It was all done so quickly that the visitors scarcely had time to get their bearings. Hiram Blake, who had been looking after the vanishing machine like a man in a stupor, was the first to speak: "Who is that man?" he demanded. "That," answered Barry, proudly, "is the President of the United States!" "I thought so," commented Mr. Smithers; "he had the air of a man of authority." "Yes," remarked Postmaster Ford, "I was sure it was he, and he looks just like his pictures." An hour later the members were taking their lunch at the hotel in Washington, and before dusk that evening, they had started on their return trip to Cleverly. "Good-bye," cried Congressman Carlton, who was on the station platform as they boarded the train, "I will promise to do the best I can with that bill." Mr. Smithers, who was the last one to get on the train, thought of the incident at Mount Vernon, and replied significantly: "I am sure you won't fail us--not when you have the assistance of such a bright boy as Barry Wynn." CHAPTER XIV BARRY FALLS A SECOND TIME