“That question and answer removed the mask and was the end of the plaintiff’s case. The doctor’s usefulness had been destroyed. As the real meaning of the answer reached the presiding judge and filtered through the minds of the jury, the dignity of the court for the time was wholly lost. In thus exposing the ignorance and presumption of his opponent’s chief witness, Kern had employed a means not only expressive of his contempt for so great an impostor, but one also gratifying to his own sense of humor. “He was unselfish and never employed money as a standard in measuring the ability, honor or integrity of men. He earned good fees, but was never able to save, and like many public men of his type and greatness, was seldom free from the worry and anxiety of debt. Had his splendid talents and untiring energies been dominated by greed or open to employment by class interests for corrupt purposes, Kern might have amassed a fortune, instead of ending his life a poor man, but such opportunities never attracted him and his contempt for those who would lend their influence to base purposes because of the profit involved was well known to his friends. Much of his time was devoted without pay to the advancement of party, and this, together with his professional work, made for him a full and busy life. It was a clean, open and honorable one. He threw his entire soul into every engagement and much of his best energies were devoted to the interest of those who had grievances to remedy, but little or no money for compensation. If worthy, and possessing a just cause, this made little difference to Kern, and I have heard him say: ‘I am too busy with the things I believe in and am doing for the betterment of mankind to follow the sordid schemes of the mere money-grabbers, and I am happier that it is so.’ How true this philosophy of Kern, a man developed from the people, and yet how difficult for most men to understand.” CHAPTER XXI AT KERNCLIFFE The moment the burdens of official position fell from his shoulders, Senator Kern’s heart turned to Kerncliffe with a longing to rest with the family to which he was ardently devoted, and from which he had been so long separated in the discharge of his senatorial duties. He had built the house upon the cliff in the hope of frequently joining Mrs. Kern and the children during the sessions of congress, but these visits were infrequent and almost invariably cut short by a telegram summoning him back to Washington. He loved this home in the Blue Ridge, where he could relax, ramble at will over the hills, and sit in the evenings holding the hands of his boys. The story of the making of a home on the cliff is interesting in itself.