"
Notwithstanding his dominant personality and the remarkable capacity
he had for real leadership, Percival was a simple, sensitive soul.
He writhed under the lash of conspicuous adulation, and there was
a good deal of it going on.
The satiric Randolph Fitts, notwithstanding his unquestioned admiration
for the younger man, took an active delight in denouncing what he
was prone to allude to as Percival's political aspirations. It is
only fair to state that Fitts confined his observations to a very
small coterie of friends, chief among whom was the subject himself.
"You are the smartest politician I've ever encountered, and that's
saying a good deal," he remarked one evening as he sat smoking
with a half dozen companions in front of one of the completed huts.
They were ranged in a row, like so many birds, their tired backs
against the "facade" of the cabin, their legs stretched out in front
of them. "You're too deep for me. I don't see just what your game
is, A. A. If there was a chance to graft, I'd say that was it, but
you could graft here for centuries and have nothing to show for it
but fresh air. Even if you were to run for the office of king, or
sultan or shah, you wouldn't get anything but votes,--and you'd
get about all of 'em, I'll say that for you.
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