I  remember  well  an  old-fashioned  picture  puzzle  in  one  of
my  boyhood  books.  The  scene  depicted  was  to  all  appear-
ances a  sylvan,  peaceful  one,  with  two  happy  lovers  seated
on  a  log  beside  a  brook ;  but  presently,  as  one  gazed  at  the
picture,  the  head  of  an  animal  stood  forth  among  the  branches,
and  then  the  body ;  more  animals  began  to  appear,  bit  by  bit ;
a  tiger,  a  bear,  a  lion,  a  jackal,  a  fox,  —  until  at  last,  when-
ever I  looked  at  the  page,  I  did  not  see  the  sylvan  scene  at
all,  but  only  the  predatory  beasts  of  the  forest.  So,  one
by  one,  the  figures  of  the  real  rulers  of  the  city  superimposed
themselves  for  me  upon  the  simple  and  democratic  design  i
of  Mayor,  Council,  Board  of  Aldermen,  Police  Force,  etc.,
that  filled  the  eye  of  a  naive  and  trusting  electorate  which
fondly  imagined  that  it  had  something  to  say  in  government.
