The other day we interviewed an Indian--whether untaxed or enrolled at the receipt of custom we didn’t ascertain. Smith asked him whether he was for Cox or Harding, and the rightful heir to all the territory in sight, interpreting our courteous inquiry in a restricted tribal rather than a national spirit replied, “No whisk.” He thought we were deputy sheriffs looking for boot-leggers. Even at that, Smith held “no whisk” to be the most intelligent answer he had as yet received to his question. Smith nearly upset the canoe one morning as he turned suddenly to demand fiercely: “What’s this campaign all about anyhow?” This was a dismaying question, but it precipitated a fortnight of reminiscences of the changing fortunes of parties and of battles long ago, with the usual profitless palaver as to whether the giants of other days were really bigger and nobler than those of the present. We decided, of course, that they were, having arrived at that time of life when pygmies loom large in the twilight shades of vanishing perspectives. The recuperative power of parties kept us interested through several evenings. It seemed a miracle that the Democratic party survived the Civil War. We talked much of Cleveland, speaking of him wistfully, as the habit now is--of his courage and bluff honesty. In generous mood we agreed that Mr. Bryan had at times rendered meritorious service to his country, and that it was a good thing to encourage such evangelists occasionally to give the kettle a vigorous stirring up. The brilliant qualities as well as the many irritating characteristics of Colonel Roosevelt were dwelt upon, and we readily and amiably concluded that many pages of American history would be dull without him. He knew what America is all about, and that is something. We lamented the disheartening circumstance that in the very nature of our system of political management there must always be men of first-rate capacity who can never hope to win the highest place--men, for example, of indubitable wisdom, character, and genius, like George F. Edmunds, Elihu Root, and Judge Gray of Delaware. “When I’ve got a place to fill in my business,” said Smith, “I pick out a man I’m dead sure can handle it; I can’t afford to experiment with fakers and amateurs. But when it comes to choosing a mayor in my town or a President of the United States, I’ve got to take what I can get.”