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Claudia
Carlstadt
--
the
instrument
of
the
Honorable
Chaffee
's
undoing
--
was
blonde
,
slender
,
notably
fresh
as
yet
,
being
only
twenty-six
,
and
as
ruthless
and
unconsciously
cruel
as
only
the
avaricious
and
unthinking
type
--
unthinking
in
the
larger
philosophic
meaning
of
the
word
--
can
be
.
To
grasp
the
reason
for
her
being
,
one
would
have
had
to
see
the
spiritless
South
Halstead
Street
world
from
which
she
had
sprung
--
one
of
those
neighborhoods
of
old
,
cracked
,
and
battered
houses
where
slatterns
trudge
to
and
fro
with
beer-cans
and
shutters
swing
on
broken
hinges
.
In
her
youth
Claudia
had
been
made
to
"
rush
the
growler
,
"
to
sell
newspapers
at
the
corner
of
Halstead
and
Harrison
streets
,
and
to
buy
cocaine
at
the
nearest
drug
store
.
Her
little
dresses
and
underclothing
had
always
been
of
the
poorest
and
shabbiest
material
--
torn
and
dirty
,
her
ragged
stockings
frequently
showed
the
white
flesh
of
her
thin
little
legs
,
and
her
shoes
were
worn
and
cracked
,
letting
the
water
and
snow
seep
through
in
winter
.
Her
companions
were
wretched
little
street
boys
of
her
own
neighborhood
,
from
whom
she
learned
to
swear
and
to
understand
and
indulge
in
vile
practices
,
though
,
as
is
often
the
case
with
children
,
she
was
not
utterly
depraved
thereby
,
at
that
.
At
eleven
,
when
her
mother
died
,
she
ran
away
from
the
wretched
children
's
home
to
which
she
had
been
committed
,
and
by
putting
up
a
piteous
tale
she
was
harbored
on
the
West
Side
by
an
Irish
family
whose
two
daughters
were
clerks
in
a
large
retail
store
.
Through
these
Claudia
became
a
cash-girl
.
Thereafter
followed
an
individual
career
as
strange
and
checkered
as
anything
that
had
gone
before
.
Sufficient
to
say
that
Claudia
's
native
intelligence
was
considerable
.
At
the
age
of
twenty
she
had
managed
--
through
her
connections
with
the
son
of
a
shoe
manufacturer
and
with
a
rich
jeweler
--
to
amass
a
little
cash
and
an
extended
wardrobe
.
It
was
then
that
a
handsome
young
Western
Congressman
,
newly
elected
,
invited
her
to
Washington
to
take
a
position
in
a
government
bureau
.
This
necessitated
a
knowledge
of
stenography
and
typewriting
,
which
she
soon
acquired
.
Later
she
was
introduced
by
a
Western
Senator
into
that
form
of
secret
service
which
has
no
connection
with
legitimate
government
,
but
which
is
profitable
.
She
was
used
to
extract
secrets
by
flattery
and
cajolery
where
ordinary
bribery
would
not
avail
.
A
matter
of
tracing
the
secret
financial
connections
of
an
Illinois
Congressman
finally
brought
her
back
to
Chicago
,
and
here
young
Stimson
encountered
her
.
From
him
she
learned
of
the
political
and
financial
conspiracy
against
Cowperwood
,
and
was
in
an
odd
manner
fascinated
.
From
her
Congressmen
friends
she
already
knew
something
of
Sluss
.
Stimson
indicated
that
it
would
be
worth
two
or
three
thousand
dollars
and
expenses
if
the
mayor
were
successfully
compromised
.
Thus
Claudia
Carlstadt
was
gently
navigated
into
Mr.
Sluss
's
glowing
life
.
The
matter
was
not
so
difficult
of
accomplishment
.
Through
the
Hon.
Joel
Avery
,
Marchbanks
secured
a
letter
from
a
political
friend
of
Mr.
Sluss
in
behalf
of
a
young
widow
--
temporarily
embarrassed
,
a
competent
stenographer
,
and
the
like
--
who
wished
a
place
under
the
new
administration
.
Thus
equipped
,
Claudia
presented
herself
at
the
mayor
's
office
armed
for
the
fray
,
as
it
were
,
in
a
fetching
black
silk
of
a
strangely
heavy
grain
,
her
throat
and
fingers
ornamented
with
simple
pearls
,
her
yellow
hair
arranged
about
her
temples
in
exquisite
curls
.
Mr.
Sluss
was
very
busy
,
but
made
an
appointment
.
The
next
time
she
appeared
a
yellow
and
red
velvet
rose
had
been
added
to
her
corsage
.
She
was
a
shapely
,
full-bosomed
young
woman
who
had
acquired
the
art
of
walking
,
sitting
,
standing
,
and
bending
after
the
most
approved
theories
of
the
Washington
cocotte
.
Mr.
Sluss
was
interested
at
once
,
but
circumspect
and
careful
.
He
was
now
mayor
of
a
great
city
,
the
cynosure
of
all
eyes
.
It
seemed
to
him
he
remembered
having
already
met
Mrs.
Brandon
,
as
the
lady
styled
herself
,
and
she
reminded
him
where
.
It
had
been
two
years
before
in
the
grill
of
the
Richelieu
.
He
immediately
recalled
details
of
the
interesting
occasion
.
"
Ah
,
yes
,
and
since
then
,
as
I
understand
it
,
you
married
and
your
husband
died
.
Most
unfortunate
.
"
Mr.
Sluss
had
a
large
international
manner
suited
,
as
he
thought
,
to
a
man
in
so
exalted
a
position
.
Mrs.
Brandon
nodded
resignedly
.
Her
eyebrows
and
lashes
were
carefully
darkened
so
as
to
sweeten
the
lines
of
her
face
,
and
a
dimple
had
been
made
in
one
cheek
by
the
aid
of
an
orange
stick
.
She
was
the
picture
of
delicate
femininity
appealingly
distressful
,
and
yet
to
all
appearance
commercially
competent
.
"
At
the
time
I
met
you
you
were
connected
with
the
government
service
in
Washington
,
I
believe
.
"
"
Yes
,
I
had
a
small
place
in
the
Treasury
Department
,
but
this
new
administration
put
me
out
.
"
