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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15278-8.txt b/15278-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0b981b --- /dev/null +++ b/15278-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12387 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ramrodders, by Holman Day + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Ramrodders + A Novel + +Author: Holman Day + +Release Date: March 7, 2005 [EBook #15278] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAMRODDERS *** + + + + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + THE RAMRODDERS + + BY HOLMAN DAY + + AUTHOR OF KING SPRUCE, ETC. + + 1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAP. + + I. THE BAITING OF THE ANCIENT LION + + II. THE LINE-UP OF THE FIGHT + + III. DENNIS KAVANAGH'S GIRL + + IV. THE DUKE AT BAY + + V. A CAUCUS, AS IT WAS PLANNED + + VI. A CAUCUS, AND HOW IT WAS RUN + + VII. WITH THE KAVANAGH AT HOME + + VIII. THE MANTLE OF THELISMER THORNTON + + IX. IN THE CENTRE OF THE BIG STATE WEB + + X. A POLITICAL CONVERT + + XI. A MAN FROM THE SHADOWS + + XII. DEALS AND IDEALS + + XIII. THE DUKE'S DOUBLE CAMPAIGN + + XIV. THE BEES AND THE WOULD-BES + + XV. SITTING IN FOR THE DEAL + + XVI. THE HANDS ARE DEALT + + XVII. THE ODD TRICK + + XVIII. THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP + + XIX. THE RAMRODDERS RAMPANT + + XX. A GIRL'S HEART + + XXI. STARTING A MULE TEAM + + XXII. FROM THE MOUTH OF A MAID + + XXIII. A TRUCE + + XXIV. A GOVERNOR AND A MAID + + XXV. WOMEN, AND ONE WOMAN + + XXVI. THE WAY OF A MAID WITH A MAID + + XXVII. THE EVERLASTING PROBLEM + + XXVIII. ONE PROBLEM SOLVED + + + + +THE RAMRODDERS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BAITING OF THE ANCIENT LION + + +War and Peace had swapped corners that morning in the village of Fort +Canibas. War was muttering at the end where two meeting-houses placidly +faced each other across the street. Peace brooded over the ancient +blockhouse, relic of the "Bloodless War," and upon the structure that +Thelismer Thornton had converted from officers' barracks to his own uses +as a dwelling. + +At dawn a telegraph messenger jangled the bell in the dim hall of "The +Barracks." It was an urgent cry from the chairman of the Republican +State Committee. It announced his coming, and warned the autocrat of the +North Country of the plot. The chairman knew. The plotters had been +betrayed to him, and from his distance he enjoyed a perspective which is +helpful in making political estimates. But Thelismer Thornton only +chuckled over Luke Presson's fears. He went back to bed for another nap. + +When he came down and ate breakfast alone in the big mess-room, which he +had not allowed the carpenters to narrow by an inch, he was still amused +by the chairman's panic. As a politician older than any of them, a man +who had served his district fifty years in the legislature, he refused +to believe--intrenched there in his fortress in the north--that there +was danger abroad in the State. + +"Reformers, eh?" He sneered the word aloud in the big room of echoes. +"Well, I can show them one up here. There's Ivus Niles!" + +And at that moment Ivus Niles was marching into the village from the Jo +Quacca hills, torch for the tinder that had been prepared. It is said +that a cow kicked over a lantern that started the conflagration of its +generation. In times when political tinder is dry there have been great +men who have underestimated reform torches. + +It was a bland June morning. The Hon. Thelismer Thornton was bland, too, +in agreement with the weather. A good politician always agrees with what +cannot be helped. + +He stood in the door of "The Barracks" and gazed out upon the rolling +St. John hills--a lofty, ponderous hulk of a man, thatched with white +hair, his big, round face cherubic still in spite of its wrinkles. He +lighted a cigar, and gazed up into the cloudless sky with the mental +endorsement that it was good caucus weather. Then he trudged out across +the grass-plot and climbed into his favorite seat. It was an arm-chair +set high in the tangle of the roots of an overturned spruce-tree. The +politicians of the county called that seat "The Throne," and for a +quarter of a century the Hon. Thelismer Thornton had been nicknamed "The +Duke of Fort Canibas." Add that the nicknames were not ill bestowed. +Such was the Hon. Thelismer Thornton. + +He had brought newspapers in his pockets. He set his eyeglasses on his +bulging nose, and began to read. + +In the highway below him teams went jogging into the village. There +were fuzzy Canadian horses pulling buckboards sagging under the weight +of all the men who could cling on. There were top carriages and even a +hayrack well loaded with men. + +Occasionally the old man lifted his gaze from his reading and eyed the +dusty wayfarers benignantly. He liked to know that the boys were turning +out to the caucus. His perch was a lofty one. He could see that the one +long street of Fort Canibas was well gridironed with teams--horses +munching at hitching-posts, wagons thrusting their tails into the +roadway. + +It was quiet at Thornton's end of the village. There was merely twitter +of birds in the silver poplar that shaded his seat, busy chatter of +swallows, who were plastering up their mud nests under the eaves of the +old blockhouse across the road from him. It was so quiet that he could +hear a tumult at the other end of the village; it _was_ a tumult for +calm Fort Canibas. A raucous voice bellowed oratory of some sort, and +yells and laughter and cheers punctuated the speech. Thornton knew the +voice, even at that distance, for the voice of "War Eagle" Niles. He +grinned, reading his paper. The sound of that voice salted the article +that he was skimming: + +"--and the fight is beginning early this year. The reform leaders say +they find the sentiment of the people to be with them, and so the +reformers propose to do their effective work at the caucuses instead of +waiting to lock horns with a legislature and lobby controlled by the old +politicians of the State. There is a contest on even in that impregnable +fortress of the old regime, the 'Duchy of Canibas.' It is said that the +whole strength of the State reform movement is quietly behind the attempt +to destroy Thelismer Thornton's control in the north country. His is one +of the earliest caucuses, and the moral effect of the defeat of that +ancient autocrat will be incalculable." + +Still more broadly did Thornton smile. "War Eagle" Niles, down there, +was a reformer. For forty years he had been bellowing against despots +and existing order, and, for the Duke of Fort Canibas, he typified +"Reform!" Visionary, windy, snarling, impracticable attempts to smash +the machine! + +Therefore, in his serene confidence--the confidence of an old man who +has founded and knows the solidity of the foundations--Thelismer +Thornton smoked peacefully at one end of the village of Fort Canibas, +and allowed rebellion to roar at its pleasure in the other end. + +Then he saw them coming, heard the growing murmur of many voices, the +cackle of occasional laughter, and took especial note of "War Eagle" +Ivus Niles, who led the parade. A fuzzy and ancient silk hat topped his +head, a rusty frock-coat flapped about his legs, and he tugged along at +the end of a cord a dirty buck sheep. A big crowd followed; but when +they shuffled into the yard of "The Barracks" most of the men were +grinning, as though they had come merely to look on at a show. The old +man in his aureole of roots gazed at them with composure, and noted no +hostility. + +Niles and his buck sheep stood forth alone. The others were grouped in a +half circle. Even upon the "War Eagle," Thornton gazed tolerantly. There +was the glint of fun in his eyes when Niles formally removed his silk +hat, balanced it, crown up, in the hook of his elbow, and prepared to +deliver his message. + +"The dynasty of the house of Thornton must end to-day!" boomed Niles, in +his best orotund. + +Thornton found eyes in the crowd that blinked appreciation. Quizzical +wrinkles deepened in his broad face. He plucked a cigar from his +waistcoat-pocket and held it down toward Mr. Niles. + +"No, sir!" roared that irreconcilable. "I ain't holding out my porringer +to Power--never again!" + +"Power," repulsed, lighted the cigar from the one he was smoking, and +snapped the butt at the sheep. + +"I'm a lover of good oratory, Ivus," he said, placidly, "and I know +you've come here loaded. Fire!" He clasped his upcocked knee with his +big hands, fingers interlaced, and leaned back. + +The crowd exchanged elbow-thrusts and winks. But the ripple of laughter +behind did not take the edge off Mr. Niles's earnestness. + +"Honorable Thornton, I do not mind your sneers and slurs. When I see my +duty I go for it. I'm here before you to-day as Protest walking erect, +man-fashion, on two legs, and with a visible emblem that talks plainer +than words can talk. The people need visible emblems to remind them. +Like I'm leading this sheep, so you have been leading the voters of this +legislative district. The ring has been in here"--Mr. Niles savagely +pinched the cartilage of his nose--"and you have held the end of the +cord. That's the way you've been led, you people!" The orator whirled +and included his concourse of listeners as objects of arraignment. +"Here's the picture of you as voters right before your eyes. Do you +propose to be sheep any longer?" He put his hat on his head, and shook a +hairy fist at the Duke of Fort Canibas. "This ain't a dynasty, and you +can't make it into one. I call on you to take note of the signs and act +accordingly; for the people are awake and arming for the fray. And when +the people are once awake they can't any more be bamboozled by a +political despot than the war eagle, screaming across the blue dome of +the everlasting heavens, will turn tail when he hears the twittering of +a pewee!" Mr. Niles closed, as he always closed a speech, with the +metaphor that had given him his sobriquet. + +"That is real oratory, Ivus," stated Mr. Thornton, serenely; "I know it +is, because a man who is listening to real oratory never understands +what the orator is driving at." + +The Hon. Thelismer Thornton usually spoke with a slow, dry, +half-quizzical drawl. That drawl was effective now. He came down from +his chair, carefully stepping on the roots, and loomed above Mr. Niles, +amiable, tolerant, serene. His wrinkled crash suit, in whose ample folds +his mighty frame bulked, contrasted oddly with the dusty, rusty black in +which Mr. Niles defied the heat of the summer day. + +"Now I am down where I can talk business, Ivus. What's the matter with +you?" + +"Look into the depths of your own soul, if you've got the moral eyesight +to look through mud," declaimed Mr. Niles, refusing to descend from +polemics to plain business, "and you'll see what is the matter. You have +made yourself the voice by which this district has spoken in the halls +of state for fifty years, and that voice is not the voice of the +people!" He stood on tiptoe and roared the charge. + +"It is certainly not your voice that I take down to the State House with +me," broke in their representative. "Freight charges on it would more +than eat up my mileage allowance. Now let's call off this bass-drum solo +business. Pull down your kite. To business!" He snapped his fingers +under Mr. Niles's nose. + +One of those in the throng who had not smiled stepped forth and spoke +before the disconcerted "War Eagle" had recovered his voice. + +"Since I am no orator, perhaps I can talk business to you, +Representative Thornton." He was a grave, repressed, earnest man, whose +sunburned face, bowed shoulders, work-stained hands, and general air +proclaimed the farmer. "We've come here on a matter of business, sir." + +"Led by a buck sheep and a human windmill, eh?" + +"Mr. Niles's notions of tactics are his own. I'm sorry to see him handle +this thing as he has. It was coming up in the caucus this afternoon in +the right way." Thornton was listening with interest, and the man went +on with the boldness the humble often display after long and earnest +pondering has made duty plain. "When I saw Niles pass through the street +and the crowd following, I was afraid that a matter that's very serious +to some of us would be turned into horseplay, and so I came along, too. +But I am not led by a buck sheep, Mr. Thornton, nor are those who +believe with me." + +"Believe what?" + +"That, after fifty years of honors at our hands, you should be willing +to step aside." + +The Hon. Thelismer Thornton dragged up his huge figure into the +stiffness of resentment. He ran searching eyes over the faces before +him. All were grave now, for the sounding of the first note of revolt in +a half century makes for gravity. The Duke of Fort Canibas could not +distinguish adherents from foes at that moment, when all faces were +masked with deep attention. His eyes came back to the stubborn +spokesman. + +"Walt Davis," he said, "your grandfather put my name before the caucus +that nominated me for the legislature fifty years ago, and your father +and you have voted for me ever since. You and every other voter in this +district know that I do not intend to run again. I have announced it. +What do you mean, then, by coming here in this fashion?" + +"You have given out that you are going to make your grandson our next +representative." + +"And this ain't a dynasty!" roared Mr. Niles. + +"Is there anything the matter with my grandson?" But Davis did not +retreat before the bent brows of the district god. + +"The trouble with him is, that he's your grandson." + +"And what fault do you find with me after all these years?" There was +wrathful wonderment in the tone. + +"If you're going to retire from office," returned Mr. Davis, doggedly, +"there's no need of raking the thing over to make trouble and hard +feelings. I've voted for you, like my folks did before me. You're +welcome to all those votes, Representative Thornton, but neither you nor +your grandson is going to get any more. And as I say, so say many others +in this district." + +"No crowned heads, no rings in the noses of the people," declared Niles, +yanking the cord and producing a bleat of fury from his emblematic +captive. + +"I don't stand for Niles and his monkey business," protested Davis. "I'm +on a different platform. All is, we propose to be represented from now +on; not _mis_-represented!" + +Something like stupefaction succeeded the anger in the countenance of +the Duke of Fort Canibas. Again he made careful scrutiny of the faces of +his constituents. Then he turned his back on them and climbed up the +twisted roots to his chair, sat down, faced them, caught his breath, and +ejaculated, "Well, I'll be eternally d----d!" + +He studied their faces for some time. But he was too good a politician +to put much value on those human documents upraised to him. There were +grins, subtle or humorous. There were a few scowls. One or two, +tittering while they did it, urged the "War Eagle" on to fresh tirade. +It was a mob that hardly knew its own mind, that was plain. But revolt +was there. He felt it. It was one of those queer rebellions, starting +with a joke for an excuse, but ready to settle into something serious. +It was not so much hostility that he saw at that moment as something +more dangerous--lack of respect. + +"Look here, boys, I've been hearing that some of those cheap suckers +from down State have been sneaking around this district. But I've never +insulted you by believing you took any stock in that kind of cattle. +We're neighbors here together. What's the matter with me? Out with your +real grouch!" + +"Look at this emblem I've brought," began Niles, oracularly, but +Thornton was no longer in the mood that humored cranks. He jumped down, +yanked the cord away from Niles, kicked the sheep and sent it scampering +off with frightened bleats. + +"If you fellows want an emblem, there's one," declared their indignant +leader. "I'm all right for a joke--but the joke has got to stop when it +has gone far enough." + +He had sobered them. His disgusted glance swept their faces, and grins +were gone. He went among them. + +"Get around me, boys," he invited. "This isn't any stump speech. I'm +going to talk business." + +They did crowd around him, most of them, but Mr. Niles was still +intractable. "You're right, it was your emblem just now! It has always +been a kick from you and the rest of the high and mighty ones when you +didn't want our wool." + +"You're an infernal old liar and meddler, torched on by some one else!" +retorted the Duke. "Now, boys, I see into this thing better than you do. +Any time when I haven't used my district right, when I've betrayed you, +or my word of advice isn't worth anything, I'll step out--and it won't +need any bee of this kind to come around and serve notice on me. But I +understand just what this shivaree means. Sneaks have come in here and +lied behind my back and fooled some of you. Fools need to be saved from +themselves. There are men in this State who would peel to their +political shirts if they could lick Thelismer Thornton in his own +district just now when the legislative caucuses are beginning. But I +won't let you be fooled that way!" + +"The name of 'Duke' fits you all right," piped Niles from a safe +distance. "This is a dynasty and I've said it was, and now you're +showing the cloven foot!" + +Thornton disdained to reply. He continued to walk about among them. +"They're trying to work you, boys," he went on. "I heard they were +conniving to do business in this district, but I haven't insulted you by +paying any attention to rumors. I want you to go down to that caucus +this afternoon and vote for Harlan. You all know him. I'm an old man, +and I want to see him started right before I get done. You all know what +the Thorntons have done for you--and what they can do. I don't propose +to see you swap horses while you're crossing the river." + +But they did not rally in the good old way. There was something the +matter with them. Those who dared to meet his gaze scowled. Those who +looked away from him kept their eyes averted as though they were afraid +to show their new faith. They had dared to march up to him behind Niles +and his buck sheep, masking revolt under their grins. But Thornton +realized that whoever had infected them had used the poison well. They +had come to laugh; they remained to sulk. And they who had baited him +with the unspeakable Niles understood their business when dealing with +such an old lion as he. + +"You need a guardian, you fellows," he said, contemptuously. "Your +mutton marshal just fits you. But I'm going to keep you from buying the +gold brick in politics you're reaching for now." + +"Wouldn't it be a good idea, Squire Thornton, to let us run our own +business awhile? You've done it for fifty years." It was still another +of the rebels that spoke. + +"If you had come to me like men, instead of playing hoodlums behind a +lunatic and a sheep, I would have talked to you as men. But I say again +you need a guardian." + +"We won't vote for you nor none you name. We've been woke up." + +The old man threw up both his hands and cracked his fingers into his +palms. "And you're ready to take pap and paregoric from the first that +come along, you infants!" + +"You're showing yourself now, Duke Thornton!" shouted Niles. "You've +used us like you'd use school-boys for fifty years, but you ain't dared +to brag of it till now!" + +Thornton strode out from among them. He tossed his big arms as though +ridding himself of annoying insects. He had been stung out of +self-control. It was not that he felt contempt for his people. He had +always felt for them that sense of protection one assumes who has taken +office from voters' hands for many years, has begged appropriations from +the State treasury for them, has taken in hand their public affairs and +administered them without bothering to ask advice. He realized all at +once that jealousy and ingratitude must have been in their hearts for a +long time. Now some influence had made them bold enough to display their +feelings. Thornton had seen that sort of revolt many times before in the +case of his friends in the public service. He had always felt pride in +the belief that his own people were different--that his hold on them was +that of the patriarch whom they loved and trusted. + +The shock of it! He kept his face from them as he toiled up the steps of +the old house. Tears sparkled in his eyes, sudden tears that astonished +him. For a moment he felt old and broken and childish, and was not +surprised that they had detected the weakness of a failing old man. He +would have gone into "The Barracks" without showing them his face, but +on the porch he was forced to turn. Some one had arrived, and arrived +tempestuously. It was the Hon. Luke Presson, Chairman of the State +Committee. He stepped down out of his automobile and walked around the +crowd, spatting his gloved hands together, and looking them over +critically. So he came to Thelismer Thornton, waiting on the steps, and +shook his hand. + +Mr. Presson was short and fat and rubicund, and, just now, plainly +worried. + +"This was the last place I expected to have to jump into, Thelismer," he +complained. "I know the bunch has been wanting to get at you, but I +didn't believe they'd try. I see that you and your boys here realize +that you're up against a fight!" + +He shuttled glances from face to face, and the general gloom impressed +him. But it was plain that he did not understand that he was facing +declared rebels. + +"They've slipped five thousand dollars in here, Thelismer," he went on, +speaking low. "They'd rather lug off this caucus than any fifty +districts in the State." + +"I don't believe there's men here that'll take money to vote against +me," insisted Thornton. "But they've been lied to--that much I'll +admit." + +"You've been king here too long, Thelismer. You take too much for +granted. They're bunching their hits here, I tell you. There are fifty +thousand straddlers in this State ready to jump into the camp of the men +that can lick the Duke of Fort Canibas--it gives a h----l of a line on +futures! I thought you had your eye out better." + +The deeper guile had masked itself behind such characters as Ivus Niles, +and now Thornton realized it, and realized, too, to what a pass his +trustful serenity, builded on the loyalty of the years, had brought him. + +That strained, strange look of grieved surprise went out of his face. He +lighted a cigar, gazing at his constituents over his scooped hands that +held the match. + +They stared at him, for his old poise had returned. + +"This is the chairman of our State Committee, boys," he said, "come up +to look over the field. He says there's a rumor going that Thornton +can't carry his caucus this year." The Duke dropped into his quizzical +drawl now. "I was just telling my friend Luke that it's queer how rumors +get started." He walked to the porch-rail and leaned over it, his shaggy +head dominating them. And then he threw the challenge at them. "The +caucus is going to be held in the other end of the village--not here in +my front dooryard. You'd better get over there. I don't need any such +clutter here. Get there quick. There may be some people that you'll want +to warn. Tell 'em old Thornton hasn't lost his grip." + +He took Presson by the arm, and swung him hospitably in at the big door +of "The Barracks." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE LINE-UP OF THE FIGHT + + +"That's too rough--too rough, that kind of talk, Thelismer," protested +the State chairman. + +Thornton swung away from him and went to the window of the living-room +and gazed out on his constituents. + +"You can't handle voters the way you used to--you've got to hair-oil 'em +these days." + +Presson was no stranger in "The Barracks." But he walked around the big +living-room with the fresh interest he always felt in the quaint place. +Thornton stayed at the window, silent. The crowd had not left the +yard--an additional insult to him. They were gathering around Niles and +his sheep, and Niles was declaiming again. + +The broad room was low, its time-stained woods were dark, and the +chairman wandered in its shadowy recesses like an uneasy ghost. + +"It isn't best to tongue-lash the boys that are for you," advised +Presson, fretfully, "not this year, when reformers have got 'em filled +up with a lot of skittish notions. Humor those that are _for_ you." + +"_For_ me?" snarled "the Duke," over his shoulder, and then he turned on +Presson. "That bunch of mangy pups out there for _me?_ Why, Luke, that's +opposition. And it's nasty, sneering, insulting opposition. I ought to +go out there and blow them full of buckshot." + +He shook his fists at the gun-rack beside the moose head which flung +its wide antlers above the fireplace. + +"Where's the crowd that's backing you--your own boys?" + +"Luke, I swear I don't know. I knew there was some growling in this +district--there always is in a district. A man like Ivus Niles would +growl about John the Baptist, if he came back to earth and went in for +politics. But this thing, here, gets me!" He turned to the window once +more. "There's men out there I thought I could reckon on like I'd tie to +my own grandson, and they're standing with their mouths open, whooping +on that old blatherskite." + +Chairman Presson went and stood with him at the window, hands in +trousers pockets, chinking loose silver and staring gloomily through the +dusty panes. + +"It's hell to pave this State, and no hot pitch ready," he observed. +"I've known it was bad. I knew they meant you. I warned you they were +going to get in early and hit hard in this district--but I didn't +realize it was as bad as this. They're calling it reform, but I tell +you, Thelismer, there's big money and big men sitting back in the dark +and rubbing the ears of these prohibition pussies and tom-cats. It's a +State overturn that they're playing for!" + +He began to stride around the big room. In two of the corners stuffed +black bears reared and grinned at each other. In opposite corners +loup-cerviers stared with unwinking eyes of glass, lips drawn over their +teeth. "I'm running across something just as savage-looking in every +political corner of this State," he muttered, "and the trouble is those +outside of here are pretty blame much alive." + +Niles was shouting without, and men were cheering his harangue. + +"There used to be some sensible politics in this State," went on the +disgusted chairman. "But it's got so now that a State committee is +called on to consult a lot of cranks before drawing up the convention +platform. Even a fellow in the legislature can't do what he wants to for +the boys; cranks howling at him from home all the time. Candidates +pumped for ante-election pledges, petitions rammed in ahead of every +roll-call, lobby committees from the farmers' associations tramping +around the State House in their cowhide boots, and a good government +angel peeking in at every committee-room keyhole! Jeemsrollickins! Jim +Blaine, himself, couldn't play the game these days." + +If Thornton listened, he gave no sign. He had his elbows on the +window-sill and was glowering on his constituents. They seemed +determined to keep up the hateful serenade. It was hard for the old man +to understand. But he did understand human nature--how dependence breeds +resentment, how favors bestowed hatch sullen ingratitude, how jealousy +turns and rends as soon as Democracy hisses, "At him!" + +There was a dingy wall map beside him between the windows. A red line +surrounded a section of it: two towns, a dozen plantations, and a score +of unorganized townships--a thousand square miles of territory that +composed his political barony. And on that section double red lines +marked off half a million acres of timber-land, mountain, plain, and +lake that Thelismer Thornton owned. + +Chairman Presson, walking off his indignation, came and stood in front +of the map. + +"Between you and me, Thelismer, they've got quite a lot to grumble +about, the farmers have. You wild-land fellows have grabbed a good deal, +and you don't pay much taxes on it. You ought to have loosened a little +earlier." + +"You feel the cold water on your feet and you lay it to me rocking the +boat, hey?" returned the Duke. "This is no time to begin to call names, +Luke. But I want to tell you that where there's one man in this State +grumbling about wild-land taxes, there are a hundred up and howling +against you and the rest of the gilt-edged hotel-keepers that are +selling rum and running bars just as though there wasn't any prohibitory +law in our constitution." He had turned from the window. "You're looking +at that map, eh? You think I've stolen land, do you? Look here! I came +down that river out there on a raft--just married--my wife and a few +poor little housekeeping traps on it. We never had a comfort till we got +to the age where most folks die. I've had to live to be eighty-five to +get a little something out of life. And she worked herself to death in +spite of all I could say to stop her. Why, when the bill of sale fell +due on the first pair of oxen I owned, she gave me the three hundred +old-fashioned cents that she--don't get me to talking, Presson! But, by +the Jehovah, I've earned that land up there! Dollars don't pay up a man +and a woman for being pioneers. I'm not twitting you nor some of the +rest of the men in this State in regard to how you got your money--but +you know how you did get it!" + +"We've stood by you on the tax question." + +"And I've stood by you against the prohibition ramrodders, who were +foolish enough to think that rumshops ought to be shut up because the +law said so; and I've stood with the corporations and I've stood with +the politicians, and played the game according to the rules. From the +minute you came into my dooryard to-day you've acted as though you +thought I'd stirred this whole uproar in the State." + +"Did you ever know a man to get anywhere in politics if he didn't play +the game--honesty or no honesty?" + +"Yes, a few--they got there, but they didn't stay there long," replied +the Duke, a flicker of humor in his wistfulness. + +"You bet they didn't," agreed the chairman. "Thelismer, I'm just as +honest as the world will let me be and succeed! But when a man gets to +be perfectly honest in politics, and tries to lead his crowd at the same +time, they turn around and swat him. I reckon he makes human nature +ashamed of itself, and folks want to get him out of sight." + +"I know," agreed the old man, and he looked out again on Niles and his +audience. "The tough part of it is, Presson, those men out there are +right--at bottom. They're playing traitor to me and acting like infernal +fools, and I wouldn't let them know that I thought them anything else. +But I'd like to step out there, Luke, and say, 'Boys, you're right. I've +been working you. I've done you a lot of favors, I've brought a lot of +benefits home to this district, but I've been looking after myself, and +standing in with the bunch that has got the best things of the State +tied up in a small bundle. I've only done what every successful +politician has done--played the game. But you're right. Now go ahead and +clean the State.'" + +"You don't mean to say you'd do that?" demanded Presson, looking his old +friend over pityingly. + +"Luke, _I mean_ that--but I don't intend to _do_ it, not by a blame +sight! I don't believe you ever realized that I was really honest deep +down. I have told you something from the bottom of my heart. But"--he +held out his big hands and closed and unclosed them--"if I should ever +let them loose that way they'd be picked up before they'd gone forty +feet by some other fellow that might be hollering reform and not be half +as honest as I am." + +He shoved his hands in his pockets and squinted shrewdly, and spoke with +his satiric drawl. + +"There was old Lem Ferguson. Lem got to reading books about soul +transmigration or something of the kind, and turned to and let all his +critters loose. Said that one living being didn't have any right to +enslave another living being. Told them to go and be free. And somebody +put his steers in the pound, and vealed two calves and sold 'em, and +milked his cows, and stole his sheep, and ripped the tags out of their +ears and sheared 'em for what wool they had. Luke, I'm no relative of +Lem Ferguson's when it comes to practical politics. I know just as well +as you do who's trying to steal this State, a hunk at a time. They've +had the nerve to tackle my district. But if they think that I'm going to +ungrip and let them grab it they've got a wrong line on old Thornton's +sheepfold." + +"What do you need in the way of help?" asked the State chairman. + +"Nothing." Thornton turned again to survey his unruly flock. It was +plain that they were baiting their overlord. Presson's acumen in +politics enlightened him. An angry man may be made to antagonize the +neutrals and even to insult his friends--and Thelismer Thornton was not +patient when provoked. There was shrewd management behind this revolt. + +Suddenly the yard was full of men, new arrivals. It was an orderly +little army, woodsmen with meal-sack packs, an incoming crew on its +march to the woods. A big man plodded ahead and marshalled them. +Thornton hastened out upon the porch, and the chairman followed. The big +man halted his crew, and leaned his elbows on the porch rail. + +"Thought I'd walk 'em early in the cool of the day," he explained, "and +lay off here for dinner and a rest. Pretty good lot of gash-fiddlers, +there, Mr. Thornton. I picked the market for you." + +"And I'll sample 'em right now," said the Duke, grimly. "Ben, tell 'em +to drop those duffel-bags and rush that gang of steers out of my yard." +He pointed at the flock of constituents. Niles had begun fresh harangue +in regard to despots, addressing the new arrivals. They did not seem to +be especially interested. There were a few long-legged Prince Edward +Islanders, but most of them were wiry little French Canadians, who did +not seem to understand much of the orator's tumultuous speech. + +"If you've got a crew that's any good on a log-landing, we'll find it +out," added the Duke. "Get at 'em!" + +"Good gaddlemighty!" gasped Presson, "you ain't going to do anything +like that!" + +"You watch." + +"Politics?" queried the big boss, swinging about to go to his crew. He +grinned. It was evident that he considered that anything under that +general head was in the Duke's supreme control, and that his employer's +orders absolved him. + +"It's just what they've been trying to prod into you--it's their game," +adjured Presson, beating expostulating palms upon Thornton's breast. + +"Then it has worked," the old man replied, calmly. He pushed the +chairman aside. "Rush'em, Ben, and, if they don't go easy, toss 'em over +the fence." + +The big boss sauntered among his crew and growled a few crisp commands. +The smile he wore gave the affair the appearance of a lark, and the +woodsmen took it in that spirit. But the mob was sullen. Those who were +not active rebels had been stung by the contempt that their leader now +displayed. Some resisted when the woodsmen pushed them half playfully. A +burly fellow stood his ground. Ivus Niles lurked at his back. + +"The folks up in the Jo Quacca Mountains will snicker in good shape when +I tell 'em that Fightin' MacCracken let himself be dumped out of Duke +Thornton's dooryard by a pack of lard-eating Quedaws," he sneered in +the giant's ear. + +MacCracken swept away the first three men with swinging cuffs. He was +thinking of his reputation at home. The taunt pricked him. + +"Call 'em off--call 'em off, sir," pleaded Davis. "I've been trying to +get these men out of your yard. I don't approve of Niles. Let's have our +politics clean, Mr. Thornton. I'm willing to argue with you. But don't +let's have it said outside that Fort Canibas' politics is run by +plug-uglies." + +"He's right, Thelismer; you're letting them score a point on you," +protested Presson. + +But Thornton had been too grievously wounded that day to be able to +listen to peace measures. He strode down off the porch, shouting +commands. His men were willing, and MacCracken's defiance gave them the +provocation they wanted. + +"If it's fight you're looking for, you spike-horn stag," announced the +boss, bursting through the press to reach the Jo Quacca champion, "we +can open a full assortment, and no trouble to show goods." + +He knocked MacCracken flat, reaching over the heads of the smaller men, +and the next moment the Canadians swarmed on the fallen gladiator like +flies, lifted him and tossed him into the road. The rest of the mob +escaped. Niles's emblematic buck sheep, cropping the grass in the fence +corner, was tossed out behind the fugitives. + +"I was hoping there'd be a little more cayenne in it," complained the +big boss, scrubbing his knuckles against his belted jacket. + +"Come out in the road where it ain't private ground owned by the old +land-grabber," pleaded MacCracken. "I'll meet you somewhere, Ben Kyle, +where it'll have to be a fair stand-up." But Kyle gave him no further +attention. + +"Take the boys into the ram pasture," directed his employer. He pointed +to a long, low addition in the rear of "The Barracks," the shelter that +served for the housing of the Thorntons' crews, migratory to or from the +big woods. "I'll bring out a present. I guess you've got a good, able +crew there, Ben." + +Chairman Presson followed the old man back into the mansion. He was +angry, and made his sentiment known, but Thornton was stubborn. + +"There may be another way of running this district just at this time, +Luke, but this is _my_ way of running it, and I'm going to control that +caucus. So what are you growling about?" He was opening a closet in the +wall. + +"But you're starting a scandal--and they'll get so stirred up that +they'll put an independent ticket into the field. You'll have to fight +'em all over again at the polls. You're rasping them too hard." + +"Luke, there are a lot of things you know about down-country politics, +and perhaps you know more than I do about politics in general. But +there's a rule in seafaring that holds good in politics. If you're +trying to ratch off a lee shore it's no time to be pulling down your +canvas." + +He took a jug out of the closet, and went to the low building. The +chairman followed along, not comforted. + +The woodsmen had piled their duffel-bags in corners and were waiting. +There were long tables up and down the centre of the room. They were +flanked by benches. The tables were furnished with tin plates, tin +pannikins, knives, and two-tined forks. The big boss had already given +his orders. He and his crew had been expected. Men were hustling food +onto the tables. There were great pans heaped with steaming baked beans, +dark with molasses sweetening, gobbets of white pork flecking the +mounds. Truncated cones of brownbread smoked here and there on platters. +Cubes of gingerbread were heaped high in wooden bowls, and men went +along the tables filling the pannikins with hot tea. The kitchen was in +a leanto, and the cook was pulling tins of hot biscuits from the oven. +There was not a woman in sight about "The Barracks." There had been none +for years. Those men in the dirty canvas aprons were maids, cooks, and +housekeepers. + +It was hospitality rude and lavish. That low, dark room with its tiers +of bunks along the four sides, its heaped tables, its air of +uncalculated plenty, housed the recrudescence of feudalism in Yankee +surroundings. And the lord of the manor set his jug at one end of the +table and ordered the big boss to pipe all hands to grog. + +"A pretty good lot, Ben," he commented as they crowded around. "And this +here is something in the way of appreciation." + +"Mr. Harlan coming out here to meet me, or am I going in and hunt him +up?" inquired Kyle. "I suppose he has located most of the operations for +next season." + +"You'll take them in. Harlan won't be out for a while." He turned and +walked away, the chairman with him. + +"Your grandson seems to be as much in love with the woods as ever," +commented Presson. "But I shouldn't think you'd want him to associate +with this kind of cattle all his life, herding Canuck goats on a logging +operation. You've got money enough, the two of you. He ought to get out +into the world, find an up-to-date girl for a wife, and get married." + +Thornton had led the way out into the sunshine, and was strolling about +the yard, hands behind his back. + +"Luke," he confided after a few moments, "you've just tapped me where +I'm tender. Look here, if it was just me and me only that this hoorah +here to-day was hitting, I'd tell 'em to take their damnation nomination +and make it a cock-horse for any reformer that wants to ride. I'd do +it, party or no party! But the minute it leaked out that I was putting +Harlan up for the caucus they turned on me. And now I propose to show +'em." + +The chairman stopped and stared at his friend. That piece of news had +not reached him till then. + +"You don't mean to tell me," he demanded, "that you're going to take +this time of all others to swap horses? Why, Harlan Thornton can't play +politics! He doesn't know--" + +"He don't need to. I'll play it for him. Between you and me, Luke, he +doesn't even know yet that he's going to run for the legislature. I'm +keeping him up in the woods so that he won't know. He's one of those +stiff-necked young colts that wants to do only what he wants to do in a +good many things." He added the last with a growl of disgust. "And he +won't allow that any old man can tell him a few things that he doesn't +know." + +"Now, Thelismer," protested the chairman, "I don't know anything about +what's going on in your family, here, and I don't care. I know your +grandson is a straight and square young chap, a worker, and a good +business man, but he's no politician. I'm not going to stand for his +butting in at this stage of the game." + +"He isn't butting in. I'm throwing him in, like I'd train a puppy to +swim," retorted the old man, calmly. "And, furthermore, what business of +yours is it, anyway?" + +"I'm chairman of the State committee." + +"And I'm the boss of this legislative district. Now, hold on, Luke." He +bent over and planted his two big hands on the chairman's shoulders. +"Harlan is all I've got. He's always been a steady, hustling boy. But to +get him out of these woods and smoothed up like I want him smoothed up +has been worse than rooting up old Katahdin. I've been pioneer enough +for both of us. I don't propose to have him spend the rest of his life +here. First off, he thought it was his duty to me to take the business +burden off my shoulders. Now he's got into the life, and won't stand for +anything else. And the only thing I care for under God's heavens at my +age is to have him be something in this State. He's got the looks and +the brains and the money! And he's going to be something! And I'm going +to see him started on the way. God knows where I'll be two years from +now. You can't reckon on much after eighty. To-day I'm feeling pretty +healthy." There was a bite in his tone. "And I'm going to nominate +Harlan for the legislature, and then I'm going to elect him. I'm going +to see him started right before I die." + +"And he doesn't want to go, and the voters don't want him to go," +lamented Presson. "You're only trying to bull through a political +slack-wire exhibition for your own amusement--and this whole State on +the hair-trigger! By the mighty, it isn't right. I won't stand for it!" + +The Duke started for the front of the mansion. + +"And, furthermore, Thelismer, if you're willing to run a chance of +tipping over the politics of this State for the sake of giving your +grandson a course of sprouts, you're losing your mind in your old age, +and ought to be taken care of." + +Thornton turned and bestowed a grim smile on his angry friend. + +"Presson, I've stood by the machine a good many years. Now, if I can't +stand for a little business of my own without a riot, bring on your +riot. I'll lick you in that caucus with one hand while I'm licking that +dirty bunch of rebels with the other. I've got my reasons for what I'm +doing." + +"Give me a good reason, then," begged the chairman. "Killing off your +friends for the sake of giving Harlan Thornton a liberal education +doesn't appeal to me." + +"My real reason wouldn't, either--not just now," returned the Duke, +enigmatically. + +At that moment half a dozen gaunt hounds raced around the corner of "The +Barracks." They leaped at Thornton playfully, daubing his crash suit +with their dusty paws. He seemed to recognize them. He cursed them and +kicked them away savagely. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DENNIS KAVANAGH'S GIRL + + +A rangy roan horse followed the dogs, galloping so wildly that when his +rider halted him his hoofs tore up the turf as he slid. A girl rode him. +She was mounted astride, and Presson had to look twice at her to make +sure she was a girl, for she wore knickerbockers and gaiters, and her +copper-red hair curled so crisply that it seemed as short as a boy's. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Duke," she called. "Is Harlan down from the woods +yet?" + +The old man turned to march off after a scornful glance at her. He +kicked away another dog. Then he whirled and stepped back toward her. It +was anger and not courtesy that impelled him. + +"He isn't here, and he won't be here. And how many times more have I got +to tell you not to be impertinent to me?" + +"How, Mr. Duke?" + +"By that infernal nickname," he stormed. "Young woman, I've told you to +stay on your side of the river, and you--" + +"Really you ought to be called 'Duke' if you order folks off the earth +that way," she cried, saucily. "But I did not come to see you, Mr. Duke. +I came to see Harlan. Has he got home yet?" + +She swung sideways on her horse and nursed her slender ankle across her +knee. It was plain that she had expected this reception, and knew how to +meet it. She gazed at him serenely from big, gray eyes. She smiled and +held her head a little to one side, her nose tiptilted a bit, giving her +an aggravatingly teasing expression. + +"I tell you he's not here, and he won't be here." + +"Oh yes, he will. For"--she smiled more broadly, and there was malice in +her eyes--"I sent word to him to come, and he's coming." + +"You sent word to him, you red-headed Irish cat? What do you mean?" + +The lord of Fort Canibas strode close to her, passion on his face. +Presson could see that this was no suddenly evoked quarrel between the +two. It was hostility reawakened. + +"I mean that I'm looking out for the interests of Harlan when those at +home are plotting against him. I hear the news. I listen to news for +him, when he's away in the big woods. And I'm not going to let you send +him off down to any old prison of a legislature, where he'll be spoiled +for his friends up here. And he doesn't want to go. And he'll be here, +Mr. Duke, to see that you don't trade him off into your politics." + +She delivered her little speech resolutely, and gave him back his +blistering gaze without winking. + +"Oh, my God, if you were--were only Ivus Niles, or Beelzebub himself +sitting there on that horse," Thornton gasped. "You--you--" he turned +away from her maddening smile and stamped about on the turf. The hounds +still played around him, persistent in their attentions. He kicked at +them. + +"It suits me to be just Clare Kavanagh, Mr. Duke--and I'm not afraid of +you!" + +"Kyle--ho there, Kyle!" The big boss came out of the "ram pasture," +wiping food fragments from his beard. "Get a rifle and shoot these +dogs. Clean 'em out! Take two men and ride this Irish imp across the +river where she belongs." + +Kyle balked. His face showed it. + +Presson had never seen his old friend in such a fury. He menaced the +girl with his fists as though about to forget that she was a woman. But +she did not retreat. The picture was that of the kitten and the mastiff. +Her sparkling eyes followed him. The scarlet of an anger as ready as his +own leaped to the soft curves of her cheeks. + +"You've got my orders, Kyle. I stand behind them." + +Without taking her eyes off Thornton, the girl reached behind her and +jerked a revolver from its holster. + +"You shoot my dogs, Kyle, and I'll shoot you." In her tones there was +none of the hysteria that usually spices feminine threats. She was +angry, but her voice was grimly level. She had the poise of one who had +learned to depend on her own resolute spirit. But she displayed +something more than that. It was recklessness that was bravado. In the +eyes of the State chairman, friend of Thornton, and accustomed to a +milder form of femininity, it was impudence. Yet her beauty made its +appeal to him. The old man lunged toward her, but the politician seized +his arm. + +"Thelismer," he protested, "you are going too far. I don't know the +girl, or what the main trouble is, but you're acting like a +ten-year-old." + +Thelismer Thornton knew it, and the knowledge added to his helpless +rage. He pulled himself out of Presson's grasp. + +He began to revile the girl in language that made Presson set his little +eyes open and purse his round mouth. + +"Damn it, you don't understand," roared the Duke, whirling on his +friend. Presson had faced him at last with protest that stung. "I know +it's no kind of talk to use to any one. I'm no ruffian. I'm ashamed to +have to use it. But the other kind don't work--not with her. Land-pirate +Kavanagh is welcome to the ten thousand acres of timber-land that he +stole from me; but when his red-head daughter proposes to steal my +grandson, and laugh at me to my face while she's doing it, she'll take +what I have to give her if she wants to stay and listen. Look at her, +Presson! Look at her! Is that the kind of a girl for any young chap? A +rattlebrained imp with a horse between her knees from daylight to dark, +riding the country wild, insulting old age, and laughing at me and +putting the devil into the head of my grandson! Kyle, get your men and +run her across the river into her Canuck country! She isn't even an +American citizen, Luke. Do you hear me, Kyle?" + +Presson saw that the girl was not looking at her enemy then. From the +back of her horse she could see farther up the road than they. She had +spied a horseman coming. She recognized him. She uttered a shrill call +that he understood, for he forced his horse into a gallop, and came into +the yard before Thornton had gathered himself to continue his tirade. +The Duke had seen his grandson almost as soon as she, and the passion +went out of his face. He looked suddenly old and tired and troubled. + +There was appeal in the gaze he turned on his grandson. He stepped +forward. + +"Don't let her make any more trouble between us, Harlan, not till you +understand how she--" + +But the girl forestalled him. She had fought her battle alone until he +came. She slid off her horse and ran across the yard, sobbing like a +child. And now Presson saw how young she was. On her horse, defiant +almost to the point of impudence, she had a manner that belied her +years. But when she fled to her champion, she was revealed as only a +little girl with a child's impulsiveness in speech and action. The +young man slipped his foot from a stirrup and held his hand to her. She +sprang to him, standing in the stirrup. + +"He called me wicked names, Harlan! I was only trying to help you. I +wanted you to come, for I thought you ought to know! You've come. I knew +you'd come. You won't let him send you away. You'll not let him call me +those names ever again!" + +He gently swung her down, alighted and faced his grandfather. He had the +stalwart frame of Thelismer Thornton, and with it the poise of youth, +clean-limbed, bronzed, and erect. He flashed a pair of indignant brown +eyes at the old man. The Duke recognized the Thornton challenge to +battle in the sparkle of those eyes. + +"Let's talk this over by ourselves, Harlan," he advised. "Send the girl +along about her business. She has messed things between us badly enough +as it is." + +"Have you been talking to this poor little girl as she tells me you have +talked?" demanded young Thornton, narrowing his eyes. + +"That isn't the tone to use to me, boy," warned the Duke. There had been +appeal in his face and his voice at the beginning. But this disloyalty +in the presence of the girl pricked him. She was still in the hook of +Harlan's arm, and from that vantage-point flung a glance of childishly +ingenuous triumph at him. "Not that tone from grandson to grandfather." + +"It's man to man just now, sir. You know how I feel toward this little +friend of mine. If you have abused our friendship here at our home, +you'll apologize, grandfather or no grandfather--and that's the first +disrespectful word I ever gave you, sir. But this is a case where I have +the right to speak." + +The Duke stiffened and his face was gray. + +"I talked to her the way Land-pirate Kavanagh's daughter ought to be +talked to when she comes here mocking me. Now, Harlan, if you want this +in the open instead of in private, where it ought to be, I'll give it to +you straight from the shoulder. You're not going to marry that girl. She +shan't steal you and spoil you. I've told you so before. I give it to +you now before witnesses." + +The girl ran toward him. She was furious. It was evident that shame as +well as anger possessed her. + +"Have I ever said I wanted to marry your grandson? Has he ever said he +wanted to marry me? Is it because you have such a wicked old mind that +you think we cannot always be the true friends we have been? I do not +want a husband. But I have a friend, and you shall not take him away +from me!" + +"You have heard, sir. Do you realize how you have insulted both of us? +You shall apologize, Grandfather Thornton!" + +For reply the old man walked up to him, snapped the fingers of both +hands under his nose, and walked away. "Give me ten words more of that +talk and I'll take you across my knee," he called over his shoulder. +"There are some men that never grow old enough to get beyond the +spanking age." + +Presson, interested spectator, looked for the natural outburst of youth +at that point. But he stared at the young man, and decided that he truly +had inherited the Thornton grit and self-restraint which the Duke seemed +now to have lost all at once after all the years. + +Harlan gazed after his grandfather, lips tightening. He was an +embodiment of wholesome young manhood, as he stood there, struggling +with the passion that prompted him to unfilial reproaches. Then he +turned to the girl. He had a wistful smile for her. + +"I'm sorry, little Clare," he said, softly. She slipped her hands under +the belt of his corduroy jacket and gazed up at him tearfully. + +"He had no right to say that I--that I--oh, he doesn't understand +friendship!" she cried. + +"No, and we'll not try to explain--not now! But I have some serious +matters to talk over with my grandfather. Ride home, dear; I'll see you +before I go back to the woods again." + +"And you _are_ going back to the woods? You are not going to let them +send you away where you'll forget your best friends?" + +"I never shall forget my friends. And I can't believe that you heard +right, little girl. My grandfather will not put me in politics. Don't +worry. I'll straighten it all out before I leave." + +He lifted her to her horse and sent her away with a pat. She went +unprotesting, with a trustful smile. The hounds raced wildly after her. + +"Woof!" remarked the Hon. Luke Presson to himself, "there's a kitten +that's been fed on plenty of raw meat!" And as he always compared all +women with his daughter, reigning beauty of the State capital, he added: +"I'd like to have Madeleine get a glimpse of that. She'd be glad that +it's the style to bring girls up on a cream diet." + +He hurried away behind Harlan, who had given him rather curt greeting, +and had followed the Duke around to the front of the house. The old man +was tramping the porch from end to end. + +The boarding creaked under him as he strode, his gait a lurch that moved +one side of his body at a time. The smoke from his cigar streamed past +his ears. + +It was silent at the front of the big house, and in that silence the +three of them could hear the occasional shouts that greeted demagogic +oratory down in the village. The comment of the lord of Canibas was the +anathema that he growled to himself. + +His grandson faced him twice on his turns along the porch, protest in +his demeanor. But the old man brushed past. + +"Grandfather, I want a word with you," Harlan ventured at last. + +"You talk girl to me just now, young fellow, and you won't find it +safe!" + +He marched on, and the grandson resolutely waited his return. + +"I'm going to talk business, sir. I want this thing understood. Is it +true what I hear? Do you propose to put my name before that caucus? I +want to say--" + +But the old man strode away from him again. + +"He says he's going to do it, and it's fool business," confided Presson. +"You've got to stop him. There's no reason in it." + +"I've got _my_ reasons. If you don't know enough to see 'em, it isn't my +fault," snapped the Duke, passing them and overhearing. + +"Then I've got this to say." The young man stopped his grandfather--as +big, as determined, as passionate--Thornton against Thornton. "I'll not +go to the legislature." + +The old man shouted his reply. + +"I don't know as you will, you tote-road mule, you! But, by the +suffering Herod, they'll have to show _me_ first!" + +He elbowed his grandson aside and kept on pacing the porch. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE DUKE AT BAY + + +After that outburst Presson went away by himself to sulk. Young Thornton +made no further protest. He stared at his grandfather, trying to +comprehend what it meant--this bitterness, this savage resentment, this +arbitrary authority that took no heed of his own wishes. He had always +known a calm, kindly, sometimes caustic, but never impatient Thelismer +Thornton. This old man, surly, domineering, and unreasonable, was new to +him. And after a little while, worried and saddened, he went away. His +presence seemed to stir even more rancor as the moments passed. + +Presson understood better, but could not forgive the bullheadedness that +seemed to be wrecking their political plans. His own political training +had taught him the benefits of compromise. He was angry at this old man +who proposed to go down fighting among the fallen props of a lifetime of +power. And even though Presson now understood better some of the motives +that prompted the Duke to force young Harlan out into the world, his +political sensibilities were more acute than his sympathy. + +Therefore the beleaguered lord of Canibas was left to fight it out +alone. + +He stood at the end of the porch and listened to the menacing sounds of +the village. + +He glared down the long street and grunted, "Grinding their knives, +eh?" + +Evidently the centrifugal motion of the political machine down there was +violent enough to throw off one lively spark. A man came up the road at +a brisk gait, stamped across the yard, and went direct to the Duke, who +waited for him at the far end of the porch. He did not glance at Presson +or at Harlan Thornton. + +"Did you ever _see_ anything like it, did you ever _hear_ anything like +it, Honor'ble?" the new arrival demanded with heat. "They're goin' to +make a caucus out of it--a _caucus_!" + +The man had a lower jaw edged with a roll of black whisker, a jaw that +protruded like a bulldog's. With the familiarity of the long-time +lieutenant, he pecked with thumb and forefinger at the end of a cigar +protruding from his chief's waistcoat-pocket. He wrenched off the tip +between snaggy teeth. He spat the tip far. + +"Yes, sir, by jehoshaphat, a caucus!" + +Chairman Presson's ear had caught the sound of politics. He felt that he +was entitled, ex officio, to be present at any conference. He hurried to +the end of the porch. + +"We ain't had a caucus in this district for more'n forty years," stated +the new arrival, accepting the chairman as a friend of the cause. +"Except as the chairman catches the seckertery somewhere and then +hollers for some one to come in from the street and renominate the +Honor'ble Thornton. But, dammit, this is going to be a _caucus_." The +word seemed suddenly to have acquired novel meaning for him. "They must +have been pussy-footin' for a month. You could have knocked me down with +your cigar-butt, Squire, when I got in here to-day and found how she +stood. If it hadn't been for War Eagle Ivus and his buck sheep breakin' +out, they'd have ambuscaded ye, surer'n palm-leaf fans can't cool the +kitchen o' hell. But even as it is--hoot and holler now, and +tag-gool-I-see-ye, they say they've got you licked, and licked in the +open--that's what they say!" The man's tone was that of one announcing +the blotting-out of the stars. + +"Walt Davis bragged about it," said the old man, outwardly calm, but +eyes ablaze. "It must be a pretty sure thing when he's got the courage +to crawl out from under the wagon and yap." + +"Good God!" blurted the chairman of the State Committee, "you don't mean +to tell _me_!" + +"It's the ramrodders! They've been up here, one or two of the old cock +ones, workin' under cover," stated the unswerving one. "About once in so +often the people are ripe to be picked. They've mebbe had drought, +chilblains, lost a new milch cow, and had a note come due--and some one +that's paid to do it tells 'em that it's all due to the political +ring--and then they begin to club the tree! But standing here spittin' +froth about it ain't convertin' the heathern nor cooperin' them that +imagine vain things. Now here's what _I've_ done, grabbin' in so's to +lose no time. I--" + +"No, just tell me what the _other_ side has done," commanded the Duke. + +"First place, they've got names in black and white of enough Republicans +to down you in caucus. They've got 'em, them ramrodders have! I've +hairpinned the truth out o' the cracks! They've been sayin' that you've +only wanted your office so as to dicker and trade, and make yourself and +them in your political bunch richer; they're showin' figgers to prove +that much; sayin' you brag you carry our district in your vest-pocket; +sayin' everything to stir up the bile that's in every man when you know +how to stir for it. Furthermore, Squire, the fact that you're gettin' +out yourself and proposin' to put your grandson in gives 'em their +chance to say a lot. Next place, this is goin' to be a _caucus_. It +ain't any imitation. They're goin' to use a marked check-list." + +"_What?_" roared the Honorable Thelismer, jarred out of his baleful +calm. + +"Yes, sir! They've pulled the town clerk into camp and have had him mark +a list. And you can imagine who they picked out as Republican voters in +this town! And they'll stand and challenge every one else till their +throats are sore. You and me has cut up a few little innocent tricks in +politics in our time, Squire, but we never framed anything quite as tidy +as this for a steal. If your friend, here, is in politics, he--" + +"I'm Presson, chairman of the State Committee," explained that +gentleman. The Duke of Fort Canibas was too much absorbed to make +presentations. + +"Hell! That so?" ripped out the other, frankly astonished. "Well, I'm +glad you're here. You ought to be able to help us out." + +Presson was not cheerful or helpful. "They're slashing this whole State +open from one end to the other with their devilish reform hullabaloo," +he said. + +"I hear there _is_ quite a stir outside," agreed the agitator, blandly. +He looked the chairman up and down with interest. "You may call me +Sylvester--Talleyrand Sylvester. Yankee dickerer! Buy and sell +everything from a clap o' thunder to a second-hand gravestone. It brings +me round the country up here, and so I've been the Squire's right-hand +man in the political game, such as there's been of it." He turned his +back on the pondering Duke and continued, sotto voce: "I reckon if he'd +stayed in himself, Colonel, they wouldn't have had the courage to tackle +him. They might have hit him with that whole stockin'ful of mud they've +been collectin', and he wouldn't have staggered. But when they go to hit +the young feller, there, with it, he's down and out." + +"Eh!" barked the magnate of Canibas, catching the last words. "I am? +Not by a--" He broke off, ashamed of wasting effort in mere boasts. +"Presson," he went on, evidently now intent on proceeding according to +the plan that he had been meditating, "you've got your own interest in +seeing me keep this district in line, haven't you?" + +"You're the head of our row of bricks," bleated the chairman. "We've got +to keep you standing--got to do it." + +"Then we'll get busy." The old man threw back his shoulders. "Carrying a +caucus the way we've probably got to carry this one at the last gasp +isn't going to be a genteel entertainment." He tapped a stubby finger on +the honorable chairman's shirt-front. "I'm going to raise some very +particular hell." He turned to his lieutenant. "The boys right in the +village, here, our own bunch, are all right, of course, Sylvester?" + +"Stickin' to you like pitch in a spruce crack, as usual. It's the +outsiders from the other sections in the district. They hadn't known +what a caucus was till them ramrodders got after 'em." + +"Can't they be handled now that they're in here?" + +"Have been lied to already too skilful and thorough. Me and Whisperin' +Urban and a few others of the boys blew the haydust out of their ears, +and tried to inject the usual--but they can't hold any more. They've got +to be unloaded first--and there ain't time to do it." + +"And you're pretty sure they can swing the organization when the caucus +is called?" demanded the Duke. + +"Two to one--and our men ain't got a smell on that check-list they've +doctored. Why, they've even got _me_ marked 'Socialist.' You can imagine +what they've done to the rest of the boys. It's one o'clock now." (He +had looked at four watches, one after the other, a part of his +dickerer's stock-in-trade.) "In an hour and fifteen minutes they'll be +organized and votin' by check-list. I ain't a man to give up easy, +Squire, but I swear it looks as though they had us headed so far on the +homestretch that we ain't near enough to trip 'em or bust a sulky wheel +on 'em." + +"You've got more than an hour's leeway." It was a soft lisp of sound +that startled the group. The man had come by devious ways through the +gullies of the Thornton field, around the corner of "The Barracks," and +upon the porch. Those who knew him declared that "Whispering Urban" Cobb +never walked by the straight way when there was a crooked one by which +he could dodge around. + +"No, they can't get a-goin' at no two o'clock," he assured them. A +drooping gray mustache curtained his mouth, drooping gray eyebrows +shaded his eyes, and he crowded very close to them and whispered, "I've +stole the call for the caucus, and they'll hunt for it about half an +hour, and then they'll have to round the committee up and get 'em to +sign another, and have constables swear that the other call was +posted--and, well, they won't get going much before four." + +The Duke looked at him indulgently. + +"I took it on myself to do it. I reckoned you might need the extra time, +seein' that they was tryin' to spring a trap on you." + +He took the cigar that the Duke offered him in lieu of praise. + +"Bein' sure of that much time--if you'll see to it that they're regular +about the call!" Mr. Cobb cocked inquiring eye at the old man. + +"I'll see to it," stated Thornton, grimly. + +"Well, then, bein' sure of that time, I'll--Mr. Thornton, would you +object if I was to start in this afternoon on the contract of clearing +up that slash where you operated on Jo Quacca last winter? Of course, +this ain't just the best kind of weather for bonfires, but--the fire +will certainly burn!" His whispering voice gave the suggestion ominous +significance. + +The Hon. Thelismer Thornton stared for a moment at Cobb, and then looked +up at the heights that shimmered in the beating sun. + +"You may start in, Cobb," he said at last. His perception of what the +man meant came instantly. He had hesitated while he figured chances. +"Take fifty of those men out behind there," his thumb jerked over his +shoulder. "Give every man a shovel, and see that it doesn't get away +from you. More smoke than fire, see!" + +Mr. Cobb hastened away. + +The duller comprehension of the chairman of the State Committee had not +grasped the significance of the conversation. + +"I'd let business wait till politics are finished, Thelismer," he +chided. + +"There is such a thing as running the two on a double track," returned +Mr. Thornton, serene but non-committal. He whirled on Sylvester, his +mien that of the commander-in-chief disposing his forces in the face of +the enemy: "Talleyrand, you'll find fifty more quedaws out there after +Cobb takes his pick. Take them down to Aunt Charette's and have her set +out her best. And keep 'em well bunched and handy!" + +He reached through an open window and filled the pockets of his crash +suit with cigars from a box on a stand. + +"Now, Luke," he invited, blandly, "let's go to a legislative district +caucus. I haven't bothered to attend one for a good many years, but this +one on the docket now gives signs of being interesting." + +They walked down the dusty road toward the village. The State chairman +was silent, with the air of a man pondering matters he does not +understand; but the Hon. Thelismer Thornton beamed upon all he met. +Having a certainty to deal with, and a tangible enemy in sight, he +seemed at ease. He felt like one who has recovered from dizzying blows +and is on trail of the enemy who dealt them. He was himself again. + +A few of those he met he greeted with especial cordiality. To some he +gave cigars, not with the air of one seeking favor, not with the cheap +generosity of the professional politician, but with the manner of one +taking paternal interest in the conduct of a good child. It was an act +that seemed to go with his handclasp and smile. He caught the State +chairman looking at him rather doubtfully on one of these occasions. + +"The folks understand this thing up here," he said. "When those chaps +were young ones I used to give them a stick of candy. Now that they are +grown up I hand 'em a cigar--got into the habit and can't stop. Or else +I send 'em around to Aunt Charette's and have it put on my account. +Wicked performance, I suppose, and so the old ladies tell me. But I was +born in the old rum-and-molasses times, Luke, when the liquor thing sort +of run itself, and didn't give so many cheap snoozers a job on one side +or the other." + +"What's this Aunt Charette's you're talking about?" asked the chairman. + +"An institution!" The Duke enjoyed the puzzled stare the little man +rolled up at him. "I reckon you think you've solved the liquor question +in this prohibition State at that hotel bar of yours, Luke. I've solved +it in my own way up here. Aunt Charette's is an institution that I've +founded. Come and look at it." + +He led the way off the main street. There was a cottage at the end of a +lane, tree-embowered, neat with fresh white paint and blinds of vivid +green. An old man sat in an arm-chair under one of the trees. He wore +gold earrings and an old-style coat with brass buttons. + +"Uncle Charette," explained the Duke, as they passed him. "Simply a lawn +ornament." + +He led the way into the house without knocking. + +"And this is Aunt Charette," he volunteered. In the centre of the +spotless fore-room a ponderous woman rocked in her huge chair and +knitted placidly. She was a picture of peaceful prosperity in black silk +gown and gold-bowed spectacles. + +"And here's the nature of Aunt Charette's institution." He pointed to an +open cupboard in which there were many bottles. + +"Oh! your local liquor agency," hazarded the chairman. + +"No, sir! Aunt Charette's own dispensary for the ills of the mind and +fatigues of the body, and run according to my own notions. It beats your +bar and white jackets, Luke, or that solemn farce of cheap liquors and +robber prices of the State agency system. You come in here, if you are +not a drunkard or a minor or a pauper--and Aunt Charette knows 'em +all--and you go to the cupboard and get your drink, or you go out there +in the store-room and get your bottle, and hand the change to Aunt +Charette and walk away. No other rumshop tolerated in the section, and +pocket peddlers run out of town on a rail! No treating, no foolishness, +no fraud. Pays her fine twice a year without going to court, the same as +you. And no extras!" He smiled at the chairman significantly. + +"No extras, eh!" mused Mr. Presson, enviously. "You must have a +different crowd of county officers than we've got down our way." + +"Perhaps so," admitted the old man, and then he allowed himself a bit of +a boast; "but the secret is, you see, this little institution is +something I've taken under my own wing." + +It was an ill-starred moment for that honest boast. There came a +thumping of feet in the hall. The man who burst in was flushed and +sweating and excited. + +"I'm glad you're here, Squire," he panted. "You're just in the nick o' +time. They're going to jump on the old lady." + +"Who's going to jump?" + +"High Sheriff Niles and his posse. They ain't more'n ten rods behind, +jigger wagon and all." + +The Duke of Fort Canibas stared a moment at the herald. Aunt Charette +raised her eyes to her protector with the air of one secure under the +wings of a patron saint, and went on knitting. + +"Gad!" hissed the State chairman. "They certainly do mean you this time, +Thelismer! Discrediting your pull in county politics an hour before your +caucus! Some one is showing brains!" + +Thornton did not answer. + +"How in blazes have they pulled over the sheriff?" demanded Presson. But +the old man merely stared at the door. + +High Sheriff Niles entered at that moment. He stood on the threshold and +scowled. He was a stocky man, who had been a butcher. His face was +blotched by ruddiness resembling that of raw meat. Behind his cockaded +silk hat pressed the faces of his aids. The little yard was filled with +men who peered in at the windows. A big truck wagon was creaking as its +horses backed it to the door. + +"What are you after here, Niles?" demanded Thornton. "After this stock +of rum." + +The Duke took another swing across the room, licked his lips, and set +his extinguished cigar hard between his teeth. He was striving to +control the wrath that came boiling up into his purple face and blazing +eyes. + +"There's the warrant!" The sheriff clapped the paper across his palm. +"Take the stuff, boys!" He waved his hand at the cupboard. + +"But the most of it's in the cellar," shrilled the voice of a tattler in +the hallway. "There's where she keeps it!" + +"I don't need any advice," growled the sheriff. His men trudged into the +room and made for the cupboard. + +Now at last Aunt Charette understood that her stores were threatened. +She did not leave her chair. She fumbled frantically at her big bag that +hung at her waist. + +"Non, non!" she cried. "Yo' may not to'ch! I have pay! I have pay for +nex' sax month." + +She flapped a paper at the sheriff. He took it perfunctorily. "That's +all right, old woman, but it hasn't got anything to do with my business +here. I'm after your stuff on a warrant." He gave back the paper and +started for the stairs leading to the cellar. + +"But I have pay," she vociferated. "You tell them I have pay, M'sieu' +Thornton! You' told me if I have pay twice in ye'r I have de +privilege--de privilege!" + +The sheriff turned and grinned over his shoulder into the convulsed face +of the Honorable Thelismer. + +"There's a lot of bargains in politics, marm," he stated, dryly, "that +takes more'n two to put 'em through when the pinch comes." He enjoyed +the discomfiture that her artless confession brought to the Duke. The +old man looked him up and down. That this Niles whom he himself had +helped into office, who had been taking private toll from the liquor +interests of the county as his predecessors had before him, a procedure +condoned by the party leaders of whom the Honorable Thelismer was +one--that this person should whirl on him in such fashion was a +performance that Thornton could not yet fully understand. But there was +the fact to contend with. A man he had helped to elevate was engaged in +humiliating him in the frankly wondering gaze of his own community. + +Those who peeped in at doors and windows were not, all of them, enemies. +There were friends who sympathized and were astonished. Their murmurings +told that. + +"You infernal Hereford bull!" roared Thornton; "don't you dare to slur +me before my people. You're making this raid because I haven't buttered +you with ten-dollar bills to keep your hands off. You've taken 'em from +all the other rumsellers--but this isn't one of your regular +rumshops." + +"That's right, Squire. Give it to him," muttered men at door and +windows. + +"We all know how the sheriff's office is run in this county." This +statement was made by Talleyrand Sylvester, who came thrusting through +the jam of the hall into the fore-room. "Squire," he whispered, +hoarsely, "I've brought down them quedaws as you told me to. They're +outside. Say the word and we'll light on that old steer in the +plug-hat!" + +For an instant there was a glint in the old man's eyes which hinted that +the word would be given. But the impulse was merely the first reckless +one of retaliation. Assault on law, even as represented by such an +unworthy executive as he knew Niles to be, would make too wicked a story +for slander to handle. Slander would be busy enough as it was. + +He pushed the eager Sylvester to one side. + +"Let me see your warrant, Niles," he requested. The officer passed it +over, with a touch of sudden humility in his demeanor. "I'm only doing +my duty as it's laid out by the statutes," he muttered. He quailed under +the old man's eyes. He did not like the sound of the mumbling at the +windows nor relish the looks of the men who had just come flocking into +the yard at the heels of Sylvester. + +"'Twas sworn out and passed to me," stated the sheriff. + +"Sworn out on complaint of Tom Willy." He looked above the document and +saw in the doorway the man who had cried information regarding the +liquor in the cellar. "Tom Willy, the cheapest drunkard we've got in the +town, taking sneaking revenge because he has been shut off from +privileges here that decent men haven't abused! But I tell you, +gentlemen, even Tom Willy isn't as cheap as the men who have sneaked +behind him and prodded him on to do this. There's some one behind him, +for Tom Willy hasn't got brains enough nor sprawl enough to do this all +by himself." + +He gave the warrant back to the sheriff. He had recovered his +self-possession. He was again their Duke of Fort Canibas, who could +retire with dignity even from such a position as this. "Go ahead and +train with your crowd, Sheriff Niles," he drawled, sarcastically--"Tom +Willy, and whoever they are behind him that are too ashamed to show +themselves!" + +He started for the door, Luke Presson at his heels. Aunt Charette, not +exactly understanding, realized that the protecting aegis was departing. + +"But I have pay!" she wailed. "You have de power, M'sieu' Thornton! They +take my properties!" + +He patted the shiny silk of the old woman's shoulder as he passed her. + +"Keep your sitting, Aunt Charette," he advised, "and let them take it. +It will be a good investment for you--leave it to me." + +He lighted a fresh cigar out-of-doors. + +"Luke," he declared quietly between puffs, "this is developing into +quite a caucus day--take all trimmings. I'm glad you are here to look +on!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A CAUCUS, AS IT WAS PLANNED + + +The town house of Fort Canibas needed no guide-board that day. All roads +led to it. Thelismer Thornton walked down the main street, his following +at his heels. His hands were behind his back, and he sauntered along +like one who was at peace with the world. His face was serene once more. +He seemed to have recovered all the genial good-nature that men +associated with Thelismer Thornton. The chairman trotted on short legs +at his side, looking up at him sourly. Thornton smiled down at him. + +"Finding your old State campaign sicker than you thought for, hey, +Luke?" + +He was now as Presson had always known him, but the little man did not +seem to be consoled thereby. + +"I'd like to know what's come over you to-day?" he complained. "Giving a +helpless little girl hell-an'-repeat, and then standing for what you did +back there right now!" + +"Luke, both of us have seen a great many men lose their dignity fighting +hornets. But I've come to myself, and I've stopped running and swatting. +Well, Briggs, what is it?" + +The man who had brought the alarm to Aunt Charette's was crowding close, +plainly with something to say. + +"I only wanted to tell you, Squire, that Sheriff Niles brought in word +to the boys that high-uppers was back of him." + +"Thinks he's running with the pack, eh? Well, Briggs, that's hardly +news about Bart Niles." + +"Thought I'd warn you, Squire. He says things ain't goin' on runnin' in +this State the way they have been runnin'. Way he talks, him and them +back of him think they've got you layin' with all four paws in the air. +But we in the village here, that's behind you, don't understand it that +way. Nor we can't figger what started it." + +"Don't bother your heads about it to-day, Briggs. Simply stand by and be +ready to grab in, you and the boys. That's all." + +The post-office was in the lower story of the town house. The walls were +brick to the second story. This upper part was a barn-like structure +propped on the lower walls. Broad outside stairs led up to it. + +Thornton and Presson were obliged to push their way through a crowd to +reach the foot of the stairway. They were stopped there by an +obstruction. Some men were lifting off a low wagon a cripple in a +wheel-chair. He had an in-door pallor that made him seem corpselike. A +man in a frock-coat and with a ministerial white tie was bossing the +job. + +The Duke stopped and gazed on the work amiably. The man of the white tie +scowled. + +"Raising a few reliable Republicans from the dead, are you, elder?" +inquired the Duke, pleasantly. + +The elder did not reply until he had started the cripple's chair bumping +up the stairs. Then he turned on Thornton. He was not amiable. + +"It's time some of the voters with honest convictions got a chance to +attend a caucus in this district, even if they have to be brought from +beds of pain." + +Thelismer Thornton did not lose his smile. + +"I'd like to have you meet the Rev. Enoch Dudley, evangelist, Luke. This +is Mr. Presson, chairman of the State Committee, elder. Now that you're +getting into politics you'd ought to be acquainted with your chief +priest." + +But Rev. Mr. Dudley, not approving the company that the State chairman +was keeping, did not warm up. + +"I thank you for your pleasantries, Mr. Thornton," he returned, stiffly. +"I hope your sneers may make you as many votes to-day as they have in +the past." + +"Well, they won't," blurted a voice from a knot of men at the foot of +the stairs. "We're getting woke up in this district. And it ain't going +to be an empire any longer." + +"I'm rather too humble a man, sir, to associate with the high lords of +politics," Mr. Dudley remarked to the chairman. "The Honorable Thornton +has always been up there. I'm simply one of the plain people." + +"And it's time for the plain people to have their innings," declared +another in the crowd. + +"The pack is off!" muttered the Duke in Presson's ear. + +"Why don't you introduce him right," called another. "Reverend Dudley is +the next representative from this district, Mr. Chairman. And we know +where _he_ stands!" + +"An humble little platform is mine," stated the minister. "But it's down +where all can step aboard with me. That's all I can say." + +There was a growl of approval in chorus from the larger group at the +foot of the stairs. Thornton's men were at one side and looked troubled. + +"War Eagle" Ivus Niles stepped forth then. He had recovered his buck +sheep. He was hoarse, but still full of zeal. + +"I want to ask you this, Tyrant Thornton: You ain't quite so sure that +you're Lord Gull, monarch of all you survey, since my brother +Bartholomew showed you the power of the law triumphant, are you?" But +the taunt did not alter the tolerant smile on the Duke's face. + +"Go ahead and get in all your yelps," he said, under his breath. "A +hound loves company." + +"When we start in to purify, we propose to purify in good shape!" cried +another. "And a reverend elder ain't a mite too good for us as +representative to the legislature." + +"Some people think they are purifying when they burn a rag," observed +the Duke, serenely. He lighted another cigar, beaming through the smoke +on the glowering minister. + +"Don't take that wrong, elder. I respect decency in politics. I respect +men who are trying to clean things up. But before I'll let you disinfect +_me_, I'll have to see your license and know what system you're using." + +"You've got to fight the devil with fire!" roared the War Eagle. + +"You mustn't steal my own plan of campaigning, Ivus. I've got a +copyright on that." + +He had been studying the situation there outside the town hall while he +talked. Two men from the shire town, wearing the nickel badges of deputy +sheriffs, stood at the foot of the stairs. A group of men that he knew +to be his loyal supporters from his own village were standing at one +side. He strolled over to them. + +"Squire Thornton," said one, "we're barred out of this caucus. They +won't let us up." + +And still their leader was imperturbable. He turned inquiring gaze on +the Reverend Dudley, and that gentleman declared himself with suspicious +haste. + +"This is going to be a strictly Republican caucus, and the check-list +has been marked," he said. "We don't propose to have Democrats come in +and run our affairs for us." + +It was a challenge thrown down in good earnest. + +In spite of the warning that his scout had brought to him, the Duke had +hardly believed that amateur politicians would go to this extreme. More +than ever he realized that unscrupulous men higher up were using these +tools. And it was plain that the instruments had been tutored to believe +that the end justified the means. What Ivus Niles said about the devil +and fire betrayed them. + +The Duke walked over to the minister, and took him by the lapels of his +coat. + +"Elder," he protested, "I don't like to see a good man used for tongs in +politics. There's a lot you don't know about this game. You're in +wrong." + +"You're not the right man to tell me so, Mr. Thornton. I represent +reform. It's time we had it. And _your_ gospel in politics isn't _my_ +gospel." + +"You've got the revised version, Parson Dudley, if you find a text in it +about splitting a caucus at the door of the hall." + +"The sheep shall be divided from the goats, sir." + +"You've got this caucus and the Judgment Day mixed, elder." He released +the minister and stepped back. "I never yet talked rough to a parson. +But you've cut loose from common sense. When you get down on a level +with me at a caucus door you're no parson--you're a politician, and +you'll have to let me say that you're a blasted poor one. You're Enoch +Dudley, now. And I want to tell you, Enoch, that neither you nor any +bunch of steers you happen to be teaming can keep legal voters out of +that hall. As to whether this or that man can vote in the caucus, that +will be settled when we get in there. But these men of mine are going +in. It's up to you to decide whether they shall go in as lions or +lambs." + +"Violence shall rest on your own head!" cried the minister. "I'll see +that the world knows about it." + +"We'll see whose case shows up best when the report is made," retorted +the Duke. "But I'm done arguing. Pull off those deputies." Sheriff +Niles appeared at that moment. He had left his subalterns to store the +confiscated liquors. + +"Niles, pull your men off the door, here," commanded the Duke. "Your +county politics hasn't any business at our caucus here to-day." + +"I've been asked to keep this caucus regular, and I'm going to do it," +insisted the sheriff. + +"So am I," agreed Thornton. "So when the story goes out it will have to +be said that you and I were working together to keep politics pure." The +faithful Sylvester was hovering on the outskirts of the crowd. Thornton +beckoned to him and he came. The Duke had probed the scheme and +understood the stubbornness of the opposition. He was ready to act now. + +"Sylvester, you're a constable of this town. Take those fifty woodsmen +over there as a special posse. I'm going to stand here at the foot of +these stairs, and see to it that this caucus isn't packed. If you see +hand laid on me or on a respectable voter going up these stairs, you +pile in with those men. Go ahead up, boys, one and all!" He stepped +between the deputies and beckoned to the voters. He stood there like a +lighthouse marking safe channel. He challenged both the sheriff and the +minister with his gaze. "We've got peace in stock and fight on tap, +gentlemen," he declared. "Full assortment, and no trouble to show +goods." + +The village loyalists trooped forward promptly and flocked up. The +deputies made no effort to stop them. Niles did not issue orders. +Threats and badges might cow voters. But he knew woodsmen. He was not +prepared to fight fifty of them. + +The opposition hurried up also. Men streamed past on both sides of the +old man, looming there in his wrinkled suit of crash. + +"Let 'em go. We've got him licked in the caucus anyway," growled Niles +to one of his deputies. "The back districts are here two to one against +his village crowd." + +Chairman Presson stood at one side and waited. Harlan Thornton came to +him, leading his horse through the crowd. + +"You have influence with my grandfather, Mr. Presson. You have told me +yourself that it's folly to try to send me to the legislature. I'm not +fitted for such duties. I am interested only in our business. You have +had a chance to talk with him since you left the house. Haven't you made +him change his mind?" + +"I don't know," confessed Mr. Presson. "He's got my opinion, but he +doesn't seem to think it's worth much." + +"Well, there's only one thing to do." stated Harlan, resolutely. "I'll +stand up here and let the voters of this district know how I feel about +it. I've got my own rights in this thing, grandfather or no +grandfather." + +"Harlan, my boy!" The State chairman laid his hand protestingly on the +young man's arm. "You've got my sympathy in regard to your going to the +legislature in this fashion. But let me say something to you. Thelismer +Thornton is standing here to-day putting up as pretty a political fight +as I ever looked on. I hope he'll change his mind about sending you. +I'll talk with him again. But if you lift one finger now when he's got +his back against the wall you'll be a disgrace to your family. Take that +from me. You'd better hop on your horse and ride off where the air is +better." + +After a moment of sombre reflection the young man swung himself to the +back of his horse and galloped away. The look that he got from his +grandfather when he departed did not enlighten or reassure him. + +The little square of the town house was pretty well cleared by this +time. The voters had crowded into the hall. One of the last men to pass +the Duke hesitated on the stairs and came back. He was a short, chunky, +very much troubled gentleman. He had slunk rather than walked past. He +came back with the air known as "meeching." + +"I'm afraid you're going to misunderstand me, Mr. Thornton." + +The Duke offered no opinion. + +"I hardly know how to go to work to explain myself in this matter," +faltered the apologist. + +"Considering that I got your appropriation for your seminary doubled +last session in the stingiest year since the grasshoppers ate up Egypt, +I should think you'd find it just a little troublesome convincing me +that Enoch Dudley has got any claim over my interests so far's you're +concerned. What's the matter with you, Professor?" + +He invited the State chairman toward them by a toss of his head. His +tone had been severe, but there was humor in his eyes. + +"This is Principal Tute, of the Canibas Seminary, Luke. You remember the +cussing I got from the Finance Committee for holding up the bill till I +got the Professor's appropriation doubled. He's trying to tell me how +much obliged he is." + +Mr. Tute looked very miserable. + +"I've always said you were the best man this district ever had in the +legislature. I've stood up and said that in the open, Mr. Thornton. +You're an institution down to the capitol. When there was talk of a +change for the sake of reform--and you know I'm teaching reform +principles in my school, Mr. Thornton," he hastened on desperately; "I'm +teaching sociological principles in accordance with the advanced +movement, and if I don't practice what I preach I'm false to my pupils, +and--" + +"You're going to vote against me to-day, are you, Tute?" + +"I've said right along we ought to bear with you so long as you lived +and wanted to be elected." + +"Like the seven years' itch, eh?" + +"But you are trying to make us mere serfs in politics by dictating our +choice, and what I teach of the principles of democracy--" + +Thornton tapped the little man on the shoulder. + +"What they've done, Tute, is come up here with a dose to fit the palate +of every one of you fellows, and you don't know enough to understand +that you're being handled. You're going to vote against me, are you?" + +"I call on this gentleman to witness that I say you're the best man for +the place. You're able, you're efficient, and you have done an immense +amount of good for your constituents, and you--" + +"But you won't vote for me to-day, eh?" reiterated the old man, +pitilessly. + +Mr. Tute started again on his line of fulsome praise, but the Duke +checked him brusquely. + +"That will do, Professor Tute. I like cake. I like it frosted. But I'll +be d--d if I want it all frosting. Run up into the hall. Come along, +Luke. We'll miss the text if we don't get in." + +The last of the stragglers followed them up the stairs. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A CAUCUS, AND HOW IT WAS RUN + + +The earlier arrivals had pushed the settees of the Fort Canibas town +hall to one side. They were piled against an end wall. There were not +enough of them to furnish seats for that mob. For that matter, voters +seemed to have no inclination to sit down that day. There was barely +enough standing-room when all had entered the hall. + +Through them, friends and foes jostling each other, the Duke took his +leisurely way. Presson was close behind him. + +The rostrum, elevated a few feet above the main floor, was enclosed by +boarding that came almost to the shoulders of those who stood within. +Thornton, arrived at the front of the hall, put his shoulders against +the boarding, shoved his hands into his trousers pockets, and gazed into +the faces of his constituents. He was still amiable. But Presson sulked. +It was hot in there, and the proletariat was unkempt and smoked rank +tobacco. + +"It's worth your while just the same, Luke," advised Thornton, in an +undertone. He was conscious of the chairman's disgust, and it amused +him. "They're going to have real caucuses in this State this year, they +tell me. And this seems to be a nice little working model of the real +thing. Better study it. It'll give you points on 'popular unrest,' as +the newspapers are calling it." + +The men in the pen above them were having an animated discussion. They +were the members of the town committee. Thornton craned his neck and +looked up at them. One of his loyal friends was there. + +"What's the matter, Tom? Why not call to order?" + +The man gave him a cautious wink before replying. + +"There don't seem to be any copy of the call here, Squire. Some of 'em +says we'll waive the reading of it. I say no. I say we don't want any +holler to go out that this caucus wasn't run regular." + +"It's only a 'technetical' point, anyway," protested one of the +disputants. + +"Well, I wouldn't allow too many of those 'technetical' points to get by +in a caucus that you're ready to advertise under your reform headlines," +advised the Duke. He settled himself against the boarding again. "Better +give us straight work, boys." + +It was not a threat. But it operated as effectually. A member of the +town committee rapped for silence, and explained the situation rather +shamefacedly. He asked the voters to be patient until the call could be +prepared in the regular way. + +"And now comes War Eagle Niles to help us kill time," observed Thornton. +The agitator was pushing toward them. Men were urging him forward. It +was evident that baiting their autocrat had become the favorite +diversion of Fort Canibas' voters that day. + +"Perhaps it was all right once for politicians to lead people by the +nose, but it ain't all right now," stated Niles, as soon as he had +squirmed into a favorable position for attack. "People didn't know, +once. They didn't have newspapers, nor grange discussions, nor +lecturers, nor anything to keep 'em posted. They let themselves be led." + +"Don't let yourself be led, Ivus. You're more interesting as you are +now, bolting with your head and tail up. But I wonder whether you know +just what it was you shied at?" + +"Know? You bet I know!" shouted the demagogue. "How about taxes? I'm +paying more to-day on my little farm out back there than you're paying +on a whole township of your wild lands. And don't you suppose I know how +it's all arranged?" + +"Why, Ivus, I suppose the chaps that have paid you to go around this +district shooting your mouth off about 'tyrants' have supplied you with +plenty of ammunition. Go ahead! I'd like to know how it was arranged, +according to their notions." + +"Who was that man that drove up to your house this morning in his devil +machine, that cost more than my whole stand of farm buildings twice +over--that man that's standing there beside you now, sneering at the +voters of this State that he's been teaming? That's the Honor'ble +Presson. He's chairman of the State Committee. He runs the big hotel +down to the capital city. And where does he get money to buy automobiles +with? I know. It's out of selling rum over his bar--and there's a law in +the State constitution that makes selling rum a jail offence. But you +don't see him in jail, do you?" + +Astonishment that changed to fury nearly paralyzed the honorable +chairman's tongue while Niles proceeded that far. When he did find his +voice to protest, the War Eagle turned from him to the Duke like one who +finds a weapon in each hand and becomes reckless. + +"And no one sees you coming up and paying taxes on what you're really +worth. It's all: 'You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours!' among the +big fellows in this State. You can break all the laws you want to if +you're in the right ring. And it's going to have a stop put to it!" + +"Go ahead, Ivus!" encouraged his object of attack. + +"If she's as sick as all that, she needs medicine quick. Get out your +dose." + +"The people is going to be reckoned with now," declaimed Niles, banging +his knotted fist against the boarding. + +"You mean of course The People--spelled with a capital T and a capital +P, the same as you see it in those reform newspapers you've mentioned! +Now, boys, I want you all to listen to me just one moment. You know I'm +no hand to make speeches. But just let's talk this over. It'll take only +a jiffy. There's a little time to kill while we're getting this caucus +started _regular_. Now, some of these newspaper editors, who never get +anywhere out of their offices except home to dinner, are writing a lot +just now about THE PEOPLE--in capital letters, understand! Talking about +'em like as though they were a great force in politics--always organized +and ready to support reform. Only needed to be called on. Fellows like +Ivus here, that read and read and never bump up next to real things +outside, get to think that The People make up an angel band that's all +ready to march right up to the ballot-box and vote for just the right +thing. Only have to be called on!" + +The voters were crowding closer and listening. There was a half-smile on +his face while he talked. He was not patronizing. But he took them into +his confidence with simple directness. + +"Boys, I don't know where you'll go to find that angel band!" + +"The people of this State are gettin' woke up enough to know!" cried a +voice. The man stepped forward. It was Davis. "I say to you again, Mr. +Thornton, don't put us all on the plane of Ivus Niles." + +The Duke was not ruffled by the interruption. + +"Walt, I've been in politics a good many years. I was in the House in +this State when Jim Blaine was there reporting for his newspaper. I +want to tell you that when you get next to the real thing in politics +you'll find that this people thing--the capital-letter idea--is a dream. +Yes, it is, now! Don't undertake to dispute me! Here in one town you'll +find a man or a set of men handling a bunch. A county clique handles +another one. Some especial local interest makes this crowd vote one way; +same thing will make another bunch in another town mad and they'll vote +against it. It's all factions and self-interest, and you can't make it +over into anything different. That's practical politics. Get out and +you'll see it for yourself. You can swap and steer--that's politics. But +as for uniting 'em into The People--well, try to weld a cat's tail and a +tallow candle, and see how you get along!" + +"It's high time we had less politics, then," cried Davis, "when politics +lets the picked and chosen get rich selling rum or dodging taxes, and +takes a poor man and pestles his head into the mortar till every cent is +banged out of his pocket!" + +"Davis, I'm patient with ramrodders when they're having an acute attack +like you're having. It's the chronic cases I get after, the ones who are +in it for profit, and have been poking you fellows up because they're +paid for doing it. All of a sudden all of you are yapping at me because +I've played the game. I'm talking business with you now. I suppose I +might spread-eagle to you about our grand old State, and the call of +duty and the noble principles of reform; I might fly up on this fence +here and crow just as loud as any of those reform roosters, and not have +any more sense in what I was saying than they do. I see you've got +hungry for that revival hoorah. But I'm not going to perch and crow for +the sake of getting three cheers! I'm going to stay right down here on +the gravel with you, boys, and scratch a few times, and show you a few +kernels, and cluck a little business talk. This district--you and your +folks before you--has been sending me to the legislature for a good many +years. I'm an ordinary man, and I've been against ordinary men down +there at the State House. I should have played the game different with +angels, but I couldn't find the angels." + +He pointed through a window to a large building that occupied a hilltop +just outside the village. + +"Half the counties in the State were after that training seminary," he +went on. "I beat the lobby, and got it. How much money do you and your +neighbors make boarding the scholars? I have pulled out State money for +more than a thousand miles of State roads in this county. I got the +State to pay every cent of the expense of that iron bridge across the +river. I lugged off bigger appropriations for my district than any other +man who has been in the House--because I know the ropes and have the +pull. I could have played angel, and not brought home a plum. Would that +suit you?" + +"I ain't detracting from what you got for us. But while you was dipping +with your right hand for us, you was dipping with your left hand for +yourself and them that trained with you," retorted Davis. + +"And I wasn't to take any ordinary, human, business precautions about +looking out for myself in any way, then?" + +"You wasn't supposed to be representing yourself down there." + +"For one hundred and fifty dollars every two years, and my mileage, I +was to give up all my own business and my interests, and play statesman, +pure and holy, for you up here? Refuse to help those men down there who +helped me when I wanted something, and go down in the rotunda twice a +day and thumb my nose at the portraits of the fathers of the State +because they played politics in their time? That what you wanted me to +do?" + +"I've only got this to say," retorted Mr. Davis, afraid to argue: +"You're proposing to jam your grandson down our throats, now that you've +made your pile and got tired. You're going to have a man from this +district that will do what you say and keep on flimflamming the people. +I and them with me say no, and we'll show you as much in the caucus +to-day." + +"For the sake of having your own stubborn way--like most of the others +that are howling about 'The People' in this State just now--you are +ready to tip over this district's apple-cart, are you? Is that what you +are trying to do? You take what I have given you, legislation and money +that I've paid for labor in this section, and then propose to kick my +pride in the tenderest place? I'll show you, Davis!" + +"Well, show! We ain't a mite scared." + +For some moments the throng in the town hall had shown waning interest +in this discussion. There seemed to be matters outside that distracted +the attention of those near the windows. + +"There's a fire up Jo Quacca way!" called some one. The windows of town +hall were high and uncurtained. All could see. Smoke, ominous and +yellow, ballooned in huge volumes across the blue sky of the June day. + +"There ain't no bonfire in that, gents," declared a man. "That fire has +got a start, and if it's in that slash from that logging operation, it +ain't going to be put out with no pint dipperful." + +There was sudden hush in the big room. All men were gazing at the +mounting masses that rolled into the heavens and blossomed bodefully +over the wooded hills. Fat clouds of the smoke hung high and motionless. +From the earth went up to them whirls and spirals and billowing +discharges like smoke from noiseless artillery. + +A man had climbed upon a window-sill of the hall in order to see more +clearly. + +"I tell you, boys," he shouted, "that's a racin' fire, and it's in that +Jo Quacca slash! I, for one, have got a stand of buildin's in front of +that fire." + +He jumped down and started for the door. Several men followed him. + +The chairman of the town committee began to shake a paper above his +head. + +"It's no time to be leaving a caucus," he pleaded. "We've fixed up a new +call. We'll get down to business now." + +"I know where my business is just this minute!" shouted the man who was +leading the first volunteers. "And it ain't in politics." + +The chairman tried to put a motion to adjourn, but at that moment the +meeting-house bell began to clang its alarm. + +"Save your property, you Jo Quacca fellows!" some one cried, and the +crowd stampeded. + +Thornton remained in his place in front of the rostrum. He noted who +were running away. The deserters were the back-district voters--the +opposition among whom his enemies had prevailed. The villagers remained. +Here and there among them walked Talleyrand Sylvester. He was +unobtrusive and he spoke low, but he was earnest. + +When at last the chairman made his voice heard, Ivus Niles was shouting +for recognition. That stern patriot had remained on guard. + +"Maybe my house is burning, gents, but I ain't going to desert my post +of duty till a square deal has been given. I call on you to adjourn this +caucus till evening." + +"Question!" was the chorus that assailed the chairman. The villagers +crowded around the rostrum. + +The motion to adjourn was voted down with a viva voce vote there was no +disputing. + +"It ain't just nor right!" squalled the War Eagle. "I'm here to +protest! You ain't giving the voters a show! This thing shan't be bulled +through this way!" + +But that caucus was out of the hands of Mr. Niles and such as he, though +some of the staunchest of Thornton's opposition had remained to fight. + +Sylvester elbowed his way to the front, his followers at his back. + +"I move, Mr. Chairman, that the check-list be dispensed with. It ain't +ever been used in this caucus, anyway. And I'm in favor of hustling this +thing so that we can all get up there and fight that fire. I don't +believe in staying here caucusing, and let folks' property burn up." + +The opposition howled their wrath. They understood all the hypocrisy of +this bland assertion, but protest amounted to nothing. The voters were +behind Sylvester. That gentleman promptly put in nomination the name of +Harlan Thornton for representative to the legislature from the Canibas +class of towns and plantations, and the choice was affirmed by a yell +that made the protesting chorus seem only a feeble chirp. And then the +caucus adjourned tumultuously. + +Through it all Thelismer Thornton stood with shoulders against the +boarding, that quizzical half-smile on his face. He walked out of the +hall past the outraged Ivus Niles without losing that smile, though the +demagogue followed him to the door with frantic threats and taunts. + +The meeting-house bell still chattered its alarm, an excited ringer +rolling the wheel over and over. + +Chairman Presson, who had found speech inadequate for some time, +followed the Duke to the stairway outside, and stood beside him, gazing +up at the conflagration. Smoke masked the hills. Fire-flashes, pallid in +the afternoon light, shot up here and there in the yellow billows +rolling nearest the ground. + +"I tell you, Thelismer, you'll never get across with this! It's too +devilish rank!" + +Elder Dudley marched past, leading the last stragglers of his following +from the hall. His face was flushed with passion, but he had neither +word nor look for the Duke. Even Niles was silent, bringing up the rear +of the retreat, pumped dry of invective. + +"You'll be up against Dudley, there, at the polls, running on an +independent ticket. He's sure to do it!" went on Presson, watching them +out of sight. + +"You don't know the district," said Thornton, serenely. "And what's more +important, I've got almost three months to meet that possibility in. I +had only three hours to-day. You needn't worry about the election, +Luke." + +With his eyes still on the seething smoke vomiting up from the Jo Quacca +hills he lighted a fresh cigar. + +"There's something up there that's worrying me more. Cobb has got fire +enough to break up a State convention." + +Certain columns of smoke shot up, bearing knobs like hideous mushrooms. +The knobs were black with cinders and spangled with sparks. The menace +they bore could be descried even at that distance. A breeze wrenched off +one of those knobs, and carried it out from the main conflagration. The +roof of a barn half-way down the hillside began to smoke. Sparks had +dropped there. After a time the two men could see trickles of fire +running up the shingles. + +"There goes one stand of buildings," announced Thornton. + +"I swear, you take this thing cool enough!" + +"Well, I'm not a rain-storm or a pipe-line, Luke. There's nothing more I +can do. When Sylvester gets there with his crowd I'll have a hundred men +or so of my own fighting it. And if a man sets fire on his land the law +makes him pay the neighbors if the fire gets away and damages them. I'm +prepared to settle without beating down prices. Let's go over to The +Barracks." + +Presson went along grumbling. + +"You ought to have stayed in this fight this year for yourself, +Thelismer. There was no need of all this uproar in ticklish times. A +proposition like this makes the general campaign all the harder." He +kept casting apprehensive glances behind at the swelling smoke-clouds. + +"I'm paying the freight, Luke." + +"There'd have been no fight to it if you'd stayed in yourself. Even your +old whooping cyclone of a Niles, there, said that much. You've gone to +work and got your grandson nominated, but between him and the bunch and +that fire up there it looks to me as though your troubles were just +beginning. Say, look here, Thelismer, honest to gad, you're using our +politics just to grind your own axes with!" + +"And you never heard of anybody except patriots in politics, eh?" + +"When you prejudice a State campaign in order to break up a +spooning-match and to give your grandson a course of sprouts outside a +lumbering operation, you're making it a little too personal--and a +little too expensive for all concerned." + +The State chairman had his eyes on the fire again. + +"As far as my business goes--that's _my_ business," said the Duke, +placidly. "As for the expense--well, I never got a great deal of fun out +of anything except politics, and politics is always more or less +expensive. When the bills get in for what has happened to-day I reckon +I'll find the job was worth the price. You needn't worry about me, +Luke--not about my failing to get my money's worth. For when I walk +across the lobby of the State House, and they can say behind my back, +'There's old Thornton--a gone-by. Got licked in his district!' When they +can say that, Luke, life won't be worth living, not if I've got +thousand-dollar bills enough to wad a forty-foot driving-crew quilt!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +WITH THE KAVANAGH AT HOME + + +When Harlan Thornton rode away out of the yard of the town house he was +the bitterest rebel in the Duke's dominions. But he realized fully the +futility of standing there in public and wrangling with his grandfather. + +He understood pretty well the ambitious motive his grandfather had in +forcing his will; Thelismer Thornton had urged the matter in the past. +It had been the only question in dispute between them. And the young man +had never resented the urgings. He appreciated what his grandfather +hoped to accomplish for the only one who bore his name. But this +high-handed attempt to shanghai him into politics outraged his +independence. His protests had been unheeded. The old man had not even +granted him an interview in private, where he could plead his own case. +In business matters they had been co-workers, intimate on the level of +partnership, with the grandfather asking for and obeying the suggestions +the grandson made. On a sudden Harlan felt that he hardly knew this old +man, who had shown himself contemptuous, harsh, and domineering. And +then he thought of the girl who had been so grievously insulted in his +presence, and he rode to find her. + +His way took him across the long bridge that spanned the river. The +river marked the boundary-line of his country. After that day's taste of +the politics of his native land he felt a queer sense of relief when he +found himself on foreign soil. + +Beyond the little church and its burying-ground, with the tall cross in +its centre, the road led up the river hill to the edge of the forest. +Here was set Dennis Kavanagh's house, its back to the black growth, +staring sullenly with its little windows out across the cleared farms of +the river valley. + +To one who knew Kavanagh it seemed to typify his attitude toward the +world. He had seen other men clutching and grabbing. He had clutched and +grabbed with the best of them. When one deals with squatter claims, tax +titles, forgotten land grants and other complications that tie up the +public domain, it often happens that the man who waits for the right to +prevail finds the more unscrupulous and impetuous rival in possession, +and claiming rather more than the allowed nine points at that. So Dennis +Kavanagh had played the game as the others had played it. When one +looked up at the house, with its back against the woods, staring with +its surly window-eyes, one saw the resoluteness of the intrenched +Kavanagh put into visible form. + +The dogs came racing to meet Harlan. They knew him as their mistress's +friend. + +She was sitting on the broad porch-rail when he rode up, and he swung +his horse close and patted her cheek as one greets a child. She smiled +wistfully at him. + +"Am I impudent, and all the things your grandfather said? I've been +thinking it all over, Big Boy, as I was riding home." + +"You're only a little girl, and he talked to you as he'd talk to one of +our lumber-jacks," he burst out, angrily. "It was shameful, Clare. I +never saw my grandfather as he was to-day. He has used me just as +shamefully." + +"I suppose I haven't had the bringing up a girl ought to have," she +confessed. "I haven't thought much about it before. There was nothing +ever happened to make me think about it. I was just Dennis Kavanagh's +girl, without any mother to tell me better. I suppose it has been wrong +for me to ride about with you. But you didn't have any mother and I +didn't have any mother, and it--it sort of seemed to make us--I don't +know how to say it, Big Boy! But it seemed to make us related--just as +though I had a brother to keep me company. I suppose it has been wrong +when you look at it the way girls have to look at such things." + +He gazed on her compassionately. A few ruthless words had broken the +spell of childhood. + +There was shame in her eyes as she gazed up at him. He had seen the +flush of youth and joy in her cheeks before--he had seen the happy color +come and go as they had met and parted. But this hue that crept up over +cheeks and brow made pity grow in him. + +"He said--but you know what he said! And it isn't true. You know it +isn't true. He shamed and insulted me because I'm a girl--and can't a +girl have a friend that's tender and good to her?" + +"A girl can," he said, gravely, "because I'm that friend, Clare. Perhaps +my grandfather cannot understand. But I'll see that he does. We are to +have some very serious talk together, he and I. I'm here to tell you, +little girl, that I'm grateful because you sent that message into the +woods to me. I'm not going to allow myself to be made a fool of in any +such fashion; I'm not going to be sent to the legislature." + +"Oh, I've been thinking--thinking how it sounded--all that I said," she +mourned. "It all came to me as I was riding home--after what your +grandfather said. I didn't realize what kind of a girl I must seem to +folks that didn't know. But you know. It sounded as though I was +claiming you for myself, when I didn't want you to go away. I'm +ashamed--ashamed!" She averted her eyes from him. The crimson in her +cheeks was deeper. It was a vandal hand that had wrecked the little +shrine of her childhood. His indignation against Thelismer Thornton +blazed higher. + +But Dennis Kavanagh knew how to be even more brutal, for that was Dennis +Kavanagh's style of attack. He came out upon the porch, a broad, stocky +chunk of a man, with eyebrows sticking up like the horns on a snail, and +the eyes beneath them keen with humor of the grim and pitiless sort. + +"And how do you do to-day, Harlan Thornton?" he asked. "And how is that +old gorilla of a grandfather of yours? Though you needn't tell me, for I +don't want to know--not unless you can lighten me up a bit by telling me +that he's enjoying his last sickness. But right now while I think of it, +I have something to say to you, young Thornton, sir." + +The young man stared hard at him. It was an unwonted tone for Kavanagh +to employ. Clare's father, till now, had not included Harlan in his feud +with the grandfather. He had always treated him with a brusqueness that +had a sort of good-humor beneath it. His discourse with the young man +had been curt and satiric and infrequent, and consisted usually in mock +messages of defiance which he asked to have delivered by word of mouth +to the grandfather. But his tone now was crisp and it had a straight +business ring. + +"My girl will be sixteen to-morrow. She is done with childhood to-day. +Children may ride cock-horse and play ring-around-a-rosy. I haven't +drawn any particular line on playfellows up to now. But there isn't +going to be any playing at love, sir." + +"I never have played at love with your daughter!" cried Harlan, shocked +and indignant at this sudden attack. + +"Well, I'm fixing it so you won't. We won't argue about what has +happened, nor we won't discuss what might happen. All is, I don't +propose to have any grandson of old Thornton mixed up in my family. I +don't like the breed. You take that word back to him. I hear he's been +making talk. He made some talk to-day. You needn't look at Clare, young +man. She didn't tell me. But it came across to me mighty sudden. Others +heard, too. What I ought to do is go over there and stripe his old +Yankee hide with a horsewhip. But you tell him for me that that would be +taking too much stock in anything that a politician in your +politics-ridden States could say. That's all. You've got it, blunt and +straight. And, by-the-way, I understand he's making a politician out of +you, too, to-day? I'm taking this thing just in time!" + +The young man and the girl looked at each other. It was a pitiful, +appealing glance that they exchanged. Shame surged in both of them. In +that gaze, also, was mutual apology for the ruthless ones who had dealt +such insult that day in their hearing; there was hopelessness that any +words from them to each other, just then, could help the situation. And +in that gaze, too, there was proud denial, from one to the other, that +anything except friendship, the true, honest comradeship of youth, had +drawn them together. + +Kavanagh eyed them with grim relish. The thought that he was harrying +one of the Thorntons overbore any consideration he felt for his +daughter, even if he stopped to think that her affection was anything +except the silliness of childhood. + +"Politics seems to be a good side-line for the Thornton family," +Kavanagh remarked, maliciously. "If you can start where your grandfather +is leaving off, you ought to be something big over in your country +before you die!" + +"I'm not interested in politics, Mr. Kavanagh, nor in my grandfather's +quarrels with you." + +"I am, though! Interested enough to advise you to keep to your own side +of that river!" + +"I'll admit that you have the right to advise your daughter about the +friends she makes. But I don't grant you the privilege of insulting me +before her face and eyes by putting wrong constructions on our +friendship." + +"Meaning that you're going to keep up this dilly-dally business whether +I allow you to or not?" + +It was a cruel question at that moment. The girl was looking at him with +her heart in her eyes. He had understood her pledge of loyalty given a +moment before. Youth is not philosophic. She would misunderstand +anything except loyalty in return. + +"Going to court my daughter, are you, according to the Thornton style of +grabbing anything in sight that they want?" + +"Say, look here, Mr. Kavanagh," declared the young man, hotly, "I'm not +going to answer any such questions. But I'm going to tell you something, +and I'm going to tell it to you straight and right here where your +daughter can hear me. I'm not the kind that goes around making love to +any father's daughter behind his back. I've never made love to your +daughter. Why, man she's only a child! And don't you give me any more +sneers about it. That's man to man--understand? And I'm not going to let +you nor my grandfather or any one else break up the innocent friendship +between my little playmate here and myself. Now I hope you'll take that +in the way I mean it. If you don't, it's your fault." He had spoken to +answer the appeal in her eyes. + +He had backed his horse away so that he could face Kavanagh on the steps +of the porch. The girl leaped down from the rail, her face alight, and +ran to him and patted his hand. + +"By Saint Mike, do you think you'll tell me how to run my house?" +demanded Kavanagh. He came down the steps. "I'll build a coffin for you +and a cage for her before that!" + +"You stay where you are, father!" She faced him with spirit. "You have +insulted me worse than you've insulted Harlan. You needn't worry about +my going behind your back to make love to any one. But you shall not +break up the dearest friendship I ever had." + +This was the Clare Kavanagh who had bearded even Thelismer Thornton that +day--the imperious young beauty that the country-side knew. Her father +had often tested that spirit before, and had allowed her to dominate, +secretly proud that she was truly his own in violence of temper and in +determination to have her own way. But just now he was lacking that +tolerantly humorous mood which usually gave in to her. + +"To the devil with your fiddle-de-dee friendship!" he shouted. "You're +sixteen, you young Jezebel; and you--you're old enough to know better, +Thornton. I know what it's leading to, and it ain't going further. I'll +not stand here and argue with you. But if you come meddling in my family +after what I've said, you'll get hurt, young man." + +"That's right--we won't argue the question," Thornton retorted. "There's +nothing to argue. You know where I stand in the matter, little girl. +That's all there is to it, so far as we're concerned. I'm going now. I +think I'm ready for that talk with my grandfather." + +He took leave of her with a frank handclasp. Kavanagh glowered, but did +not comment. + +When Harlan whirled his horse he saw the conflagration on the Jo Quacca +hills. + +He gasped something like an oath. "There goes the slash on our +operation!" he said, aloud. + +"Your grandfather must have got you into politics in good shape by this +time," observed Kavanagh, sarcastically. "At any rate, he seems to be +celebrating with a good big bonfire." + +At that moment the three of them beheld the farm buildings burst into +flame. + +"Offering up sacrifices, too!" commented the satirist. "Seems to me, +Thornton, you ought to be there. They'll be calling for three cheers and +a speech!" + +In one heartsick moment Thornton realized that this raging fire had +something to do with the political affairs of that day. He had seen +"Whispering" Urban Cobb at "The Barracks" in the forenoon, and knew that +he had led away a crowd of woodsmen for some purpose of his own. Just +what a dangerous conflagration on the Jo Quacca hills could accomplish +in relation to that caucus, Harlan did not stop to ponder. He could see +that a fire was rioting over his lands, and destroying the property of +others. His horse had already begun to leap for the highway, but the +girl cried after him so beseechingly that he reined the animal back. + +"Just one moment, Harlan! A little instant! I haven't unsaddled Zero +yet. Wait!" She whistled, and the horse came cantering. The hounds, +seeing him, leaped and gave tongue understandingly. "I'm going with +you," she declared, swinging to her saddle. + +Her father came down off the steps, running at her. "No, you're not, you +wild banshee. What did I just tell you?" + +"You told me that children may ride cock-horse--and I'm not sixteen till +to-morrow!" she cried, jumping her horse just as her father's clutching +fingers touched his bridle. She was out in the road before Harlan's +horse had picked up his heels. She swung her little whip above her head. + +"Come on, Big Boy!" she urged at the top of her voice, crying above the +clamor of the racing dogs. "We're playfellows to-day, and I can't fall +in love till to-morrow!" The last words she lilted mockingly, flashing a +look backward at Dennis Kavanagh. + +The old man did not shift his attitude, fingers curved to clutch, arms +extended, until he heard the tattoo of their horses' hoofs on the long +bridge. + +"Maybe Brian Boru might have been proud of her for a daughter," he +muttered, as he trudged back up the steps, "but I'll be dammed if I know +whether I am or not!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MANTLE OF THELISMER THORNTON + + +The fire on the Jo Quacca hills was checked at nightfall. Two hundred +beaters and trenchers managed to fight it back and hold it in leash to +feed on the slash of the timber operation. But, like a tiger confined in +its cage, it had reached out through its bars and claimed victims. Three +stands of farm buildings were in ruins. + +Harlan Thornton, sooty and weary, left the fire-line as soon as he knew +that the monster had been subdued. He rode about to reassure the owners +that their losses would be made up by himself and his grandfather. + +"Keep away from the lawyers," he counselled the losers. "They'll get +half the money out of you if you hire them. We'll settle after +appraisal." + +The men that he talked to seemed sullen in spite of his assurances. They +seemed to be repressing taunts or reproaches merely in consideration of +the fact that he was holding the purse-strings. He noted this demeanor, +and feared to ask questions. + +Clare Kavanagh rode with him; she had not left his side, even when he +led his crews into perilous places and entreated her to keep back. + +And they rode away together down the long stretch of highway from the +hills to the village. Behind them, against the dusk, glowed the red, +last signals of the dying fires: tree-trunks upraised like smouldering +torches, the timbers of the falling buildings tumbling from their props +and sending up showers of sparks. A pale sliver of new moon made the red +of the fires even more baleful, and the two who rode together looked +back and felt the obsession of something they had never experienced +before. + +"I am unhappy, Big Boy," sighed the girl. "We have never come back from +our rides like this." + +"It has been a wicked day for both of us, child." + +"And you cannot call me child after to-day--so my father says." Her +voice was still plaintive, but there was a hint of the old mischief +there. "I'll be sixteen to-morrow--and I didn't know until to-day that +I'd be so sorry that it is so. Ever since I was ten I've been wishing I +could be eighteen without waiting for the years. But I don't know, now, +Harlan. It seemed as though I'd be getting more out of living. I thought +so." Tears were in her voice now. "It seems as though I'd grown up all +of a sudden; and things aren't beautiful and happy and--and as they used +to be--not any more! I've lost something, Harlan. And if growing up is +losing so much, I don't want to grow up." + +He listened indulgently and understood this protest of the child. Their +horses walked slowly side by side, and the tired hounds trailed after +them. + +"The grown-ups do lose a lot of things out of life, little girl--things +that mean a great deal in childhood. But keep your heart open, and other +things will come." + +"Perhaps when I get to be twenty-four years old and as big as you are I +can talk that way, and believe it, too. But just now I'm only a girl +that doesn't believe she's grown up, even if they do tell her so, and +tell her she mustn't be a playmate any longer. And you are not to ride +with me any more, and you are not to come to my house nor may I come to +yours. That's what they say. What are we to do, then?" + +She cried her question passionately. He had no answer ready. Platitudes +would not do for this child, he reflected, and to lecture her then even +on the A B C's of the social code would be wounding her ingenuous faith. + +"If this is the way it all turns out, and I can't have your friendship +any longer, what is it that you're going to do or I'm going to do?" she +insisted. "That's losing too much, just because one is grown up." + +Tenderness surged in his heart toward this motherless girl--tenderness +in which there was a new quality. But he had no answer for her just +then. He did not understand his own emotions. He was as unsophisticated +as she in the affairs of the heart. His man's life of the woods had kept +him free from women. His friendship with this child, their rides, their +companionship, had been almost on the plane of boy with boy; her +character invited that kind of intimacy. + +And so he wondered what to say; for her demand had been explicit, and +she demanded candor in return. + +At that moment he welcomed the appearance of even Ivus Niles. That sooty +prophet of ill appeared around a bend in the road ahead. The twilight +shrouded him, but there was no mistaking his stove-pipe hat and his +frock-coat. He was leading his buck sheep, and the hounds rushed forward +clamorously. Niles stopped in the middle of the road, and let them +frolic about him and his emblematic captive. + +"The dogs won't hurt you, Niles," Harlan assured him, spurring forward. + +"I ain't afraid of dogs, I ain't afraid of wolves, not after what I've +been through with the political Bengal tigers I've been up against +to-day," Niles assured him, sourly. "And your grandfather is the old he +one of the pack. You tell him--" + +"You can take your own messages to my grandfather, Niles." He swung his +horse to pass, the girl at his side, but the War Eagle threw up his hand +commandingly. + +"I've got a message for you, yourself, then, and you stay here and take +it. He stole our caucus for you to-day, your grandfather did--" + +"You don't mean to say I was nominated!" + +"That's too polite a word, Mr. Harlan Thornton. I gave you the right one +the first time. He stampeded our caucus by having that fire set on the +Jo Quacca hills. Three sets of farm buildings offered up to the gods of +rotten politics! That's a nice kind of sacrifice, Thornton's grandson! +It goes well with the crowd you're in with. It will smell well in the +nostrils of the people of this State. You ought to be proud of being +made a lawmaker in that way." + +It was not reproach--it was insult, sneered in the agitator's bitterest +tone. + +"The property of three poor toilers of the soil laid flat in ashes, a +town terrified by danger rushing down through the heavens like the +flight of the war eagle," shouted Niles, declaiming after his accustomed +manner, "and all to put you into a seat in the State House, where you +can keep stealing the few things that your grandfather ain't had time or +strength to steal! You've had your bonfire and your celebration--now go +down and hoist the Star-Spangled Banner over 'The Barracks'--but you'd +better hoist it Union down!" + +Harlan dropped off his horse and strode to Niles. He seized him by the +shoulder and shook him roughly, for the man had begun his oratory once +more. + +"Enough of that, Niles! Was I chosen in the caucus to-day? I want yes or +no." + +"Yes--and after three-quarters of the voters had been stampeded to fight +that fire that was sweeping down on their property! And you--" + +Harlan pushed him to one side, leaped upon his horse, and rode away. +The girl jumped her roan to his side. + +"It's wicked, Harlan," she gasped, "wicked! I heard him! What are you +going to do?" + +That was another of her questions that he found it hard to answer. "I'm +going to find my grandfather, Clare, and I'm going in a great hurry. +Come, I can't talk now, little girl!" + +They galloped down the long hill to the bridge, their horses neck and +neck. + +"The last ride as playmates!" she cried, as they started. Her voice +broke, pathetically. He did not reply. He was too furiously angry to +trust himself in conversation at that moment, and he rode like a madman, +knowing that she could keep pace with him. + +They drew rein at the end of the bridge. + +"It's only a bit of a run for you now, little girl. I'll keep on home." + +She put her hand out to him and held him for a moment. + +"I'm afraid you'll go away to be a big man, after all, Harlan," she +said, dolefully. + +"Go in this way? What are you talking about, child?" he demanded, +choking, his fury getting possession of him. "I've been +disgraced--abused. I'll--but I mustn't talk to you now--the wicked words +might slip out." + +But she would not loose his hand just then. + +"I sent for you to come home because I heard father say that politics is +wicked business. But I didn't know it was as wicked as this. It's no +wonder they can't get the good men like you to go into it. If they could +it would be better, wouldn't it?" + +Even in his distress it occurred to him that out of the mouth of this +child was proceeding quaint and unconscious wisdom. + +"I wish it wasn't wicked," she went on, wistfully. "I've been thinking +as I rode along that I've been selfish. I'd like to see you a big man +like some of those I've read about. It was selfish of me to say I didn't +want you to get out of the woods and be a big man." + +"I couldn't be one," he protested. + +"Even a foolish little girl up here in the woods has got faith that you +can--and men who are really big don't forget their old friends. I don't +want you mixed up in any wicked thing, Harlan, but I wouldn't want you +to go away from me thinking I was selfish and jealous. That isn't the +right kind of a friend for any one to have. I've been thinking it over." + +He stared at her through the dusk. This sudden flash of worldly wisdom, +this unselfish loyalty in one so young, rather startled him. + +"That's real grown-up talk, child," he blurted. + +"Is it?" The wan little flicker of a smile that she mustered brought +tears to his eyes. "Maybe it's because I'll be sixteen to-morrow. +Good-night, Big Boy!" This new, womanly seriousness was full of infinite +pathos. She had not released his hand. She bent forward suddenly, +leaning from her saddle, and kissed his cheek. "And good-bye, my +playmate!" she whispered. While his fingers still throbbed with the last +pressure of her hand, the black mouth of the big bridge swallowed her. +He listened to the ringing hoof-beats of her horse till sudden silence +told him she had reached the soft soil on the other shore. + +He did not gallop to meet his grandfather. He walked his horse for the +long mile past the scattered houses of the village till he came to "The +Barracks." + +When he was still some distance away he saw in the gloom of the porch +the red coal of the Duke's cigar. Even then he did not rush forward to +protest and denounce. + +He slipped off his horse, and led him toward the porch. But before he +could speak his grandfather hailed him. + +"Run in to your supper, bub. The boys are holding it hot for you. Luke +and I were too hungry to wait." + +"I can't eat now--not with what's on _my_ mind." + +"Oh, bub--bub! Run along with you! There's plenty of time for talk. I'll +be here when you come out. Get something to eat, now! That's a good +boy!" + +Somehow he couldn't begin the attack just then. That tone was too +affectionate, too matter-of-fact. And even then his hand seemed to feel +the pressure of the little fingers that had released him at the bridge, +and the choking feeling was still in his throat. + +He gave his horse over to the hostler, and went into the house. + +The lamp in the old mess-room thrust its beams only a little way into +the gloom. It shone over the table and left the corners dark. The cookee +brought the food from the kitchen, poured the tea, and then wiped his +hands briskly on his canvas apron. + +"I want to shake with you, Mr. Harlan!" He put out his hand, so frankly +confident that he was doing the proper thing that the young man grasped +it. "It was done to 'em good and proper. They tried to pull too hot a +kittle out of the bean-hole that time--sure they did! I congratulate +you! I knowed you'd get into politics some day." + +Harlan pulled his hand away, and began to eat. + +"Served up hot to 'em--that mess was," chuckled the cookee, on the easy +terms of the familiar in the household. "Nothing like a rousin' fire if +you're going to make the political pot bile in good shape." + +He chuckled significantly. + +The man pushed the food nearer, for Harlan did not seem to be taking +much interest in his supper. + +"I suppose you'll be boardin' at Mr. Presson's hotel when you get down +to the legislature. I had a meal there once. They certainly do put it up +fine. Say, Mr. Harlan, what do you say? Can't you use your pull, and get +me a job as waiter or something down there for the session? Excuse me +for gettin' at it so quick, but I thought I'd hop in ahead of the +rush--they'll all be after you for something, now that you're +nominated." + +The young man could not discuss with this cheerful suppliant his +indignant resolve not to be a legislator. + +"You'll have to stay home here and look after Grandfather Thornton, +Bob," he hedged. + +"Oh, thunder! He's goin' right down to spend the winter with you. Was +tellin' Mr. Presson so when they et just now. Said you'd be needin' a +steerin' committee of just his bigness!" + +Harlan got up and kicked his chair from under him. It went over with a +clatter. To his infinite relief he had suddenly recovered some of that +wrathful determination that Ivus Niles's sneers had given him earlier in +the evening. + +Thelismer Thornton heard him coming. + +"Pretty heavy on his heels, the boy is!" he observed to the State +chairman. "He's been licking his dander around in a circle till he's +got it rearing." + +The young man halted, erect before his grandfather, but again the old +man got in the first word. + +"I'm going to give you all the time to talk in you want, bub. I was a +little short with you to-day, when I was stirred up, but no more of +that! Say all you want to. And I'm going to give you a little advice +about starting in. Now--now--now! Hold on. I know just how you feel. I +don't blame you for feeling that way. But it had to be done just as I +did it--all of it! Now you ought to start in with me just the way Sol +Lurchin was advised to when he wanted to tackle Cola Jordan, who had +done him on a horse-trade. Sol went to old Squire Bain, and says he to +the Squire, 'I want to stay inside the law in this. I don't want him to +get no legal hold on me. But I want to talk to him. Now, what'll I say +so's to give him what's comin' and still be legal?' 'Well,' says old +Squire, rubbing his hands together, 'you've got to start easy, you know. +You want to start easy, so's to make the climax worth something. Now, +let's see! Well, suppose you walk up to him and say, "You spawn of the +pike-eyed sneak that Herod hired to kill babies, you low-down, +contemptible son of a body-snatcher, you was born a murderer, but lacked +the courage and became a horse-thief!" There, Sol, start in easy like +that and gradually work up to a climax, and you'll have him going--and +all inside the law. Two dollars, please!'" + +The Duke leaned back in his chair and nested his head in his big hands. +He gazed up meekly at his chafing grandson. + +"Start in easy, bub, like that, and work up to your climax. I know just +how you feel!" + +But just at that moment the chairman of the State Committee was laughing +too loudly for any dignified protest to be heard. + +"For some reason, grandfather, you seem all at once to have taken me as +a subject for a practical joke," said the young man, stiffly. The +interlude had taken the sharp edge off his indignation, but he was still +bitter. "It may seem a joke to you. To me it seems insult and +persecution. I have attended to business, I've worked hard and made +money for both of us. To-day you've held me up before this section to be +laughed at by some and hated by the rest. I'm glad I've had half an hour +to think it over since I first heard about what happened in that caucus. +I won't say the things to you I intended to say. I'll simply say this: +I'm going to write a letter declining this nomination. I'm going to +publish that letter. And I'm going to say in that letter that I will +not take any office that isn't come at honestly." + +"Harlan, sit down." His feet had been in one of the porch chairs. He +pushed it toward his grandson. The young man sat down. + +"You don't know much about the practical end of politics, do you?" + +"I do not." + +"You'll allow that I do?" + +"You seem to, if that's what you call this sort of business that has +been going on here to-day." + +"Bub, look at the thing from my standpoint for just one moment. I'll +consider it from yours, too--you needn't worry. I want you to be +something in this world besides a lumber-jack. You've got the right +stuff in you. I tried argument with you. You'll have to own up that I +did. It didn't work--now, did it?" + +"I told you I didn't want to get into politics. I don't want to get in. +I don't like the company." + +"Politics is all right, Harlan, when the right men are in. You are the +kind the people are calling for these days. You're clean, straight, +open-minded, and--" + +"Clean and straight! And the people are calling for me!" The young man +broke in wrathfully. "You say that to me after the sort of a caucus you +sprung to-day? If that's what you consider a call from the people, I +don't want to be called that way." + +"It was a call, but it had to be _shaded_ by _politics_ a little," +returned the Duke, serenely. + +"If a good man is going into politics, he can go in square." + +"Sometimes. But not when the opposition is out to do him with every +dirty trick that's laid down in the back of the political almanac." + +"If you wanted to start me, and start me fair and right, why didn't you +let my name go before that caucus to-day, and then hold off your hands?" + +"Because if I had you'd have stood about the same chance as a worsted +dog chasing an asbestos cat through hell. Look here, bub, I wish I had +the time; I'd like to tell you how most of the good men I know got their +start in politics. You can be a statesman after you've got your head up +where the sun can shine on it, but you've got to be touching ground to +keep your head up. And if you're touching ground in politics, you'll +find that your shoes are muddy--and you can't help it." + +The grandson did not reply. Thornton relighted his cigar. The flare of +the match showed disgust and stubbornness in the features opposite. + +"You know Enoch Dudley as well as I do, Harlan. That's the man they put +up. And a man that has let two of his sons be bound out and has turned +back his wife for her own people to support can't hide behind any white +necktie, so far's I'm concerned. Luke and I know where the money came +from that they've been putting in here. We know the men behind, and what +their object is. We know what they are trying to do in the next +legislature. You'll see it all for yourself when the time comes, Harlan. +You'll be up against them. You understand men. I'll only be wasting time +in telling you what you'll see for yourself. Do you want to see a man +like Enoch Dudley representing this district? If you do, go ahead and +write that letter!" + +"You'll not do that, Harlan," stated the chairman, with decision. "As it +stands now, whatever they say about this caucus will be simply the +whinings of a licked opposition. We know how to handle that kind of +talk. There isn't a man on our side, from Sylvester to Urban Cobb, who +will open his mouth, even if the thumb-screws are put to him. Harlan, +are you the kind of a fellow that would hold your grandfather up before +the people of this State in any such light? Of course you are not!" + +"No, I don't suppose I am," acknowledged the young man. "But I can +decline to run." + +The State chairman pulled his chair close, and tapped emphasis on the +candidate's knee. + +"No, you can't. It would give 'em the one fact that they need for a +foundation to build their case on. What you've got to do, Harlan, is +accept this nomination, just as it is handed to you. Stand up and fight +for your election like a man. The thing may look rank to you. Politics +usually looks rank to a beginner, who has to get down and fight on the +level of the other fellow. But you'll understand things better after you +get along a little further. If you back out now you're leaving your +grandfather open to attack. Those dogs can only bark, now. If you let +'em past you they'll have a chance to set their teeth in. Harlan, you +think too much of your grandfather to do such a thing as that, don't +you?" + +The three of them sat in silence for a while. + +"I hate to say anything just now, my boy," said the old man, at last. He +leaned forward, his elbows on the arms of his chair. "Luke has put it to +you a little stronger than I should have done. I don't want to beg you +or coax you. If you think it's too much of a sacrifice to stand by +me--if you want to quit, and can't look at it in any other way, go +ahead. I can fight it out alone. I've had a good many lone fights. I'm +good for one more. But before you say what you're going to say, I've got +a last word to drop in. You know how I've dealt with men in business +matters, my boy." + +"But why can't you do the same in politics?" demanded his grandson, +bitterly. + +"It's just on that point that I want to put you right. I know pretty +well why you haven't hankered to get into politics, Harlan. You've heard +some of the sneers, slurs, and the gossip. You didn't know much about +it, but you sort of felt ashamed of me on account of politics. Hold on! +I know. It has been a kind of shame and pity mixed, like one feels for a +drunkard in the family. This caucus seemed to you like a spree--and you +got mixed into it, and you're angry with me. Listen: there are people in +this world who won't allow that a man is honest in politics unless he +goes about hunting for all the measures that might help him personally +and kills 'em. And the same yellow-skins that howl because he doesn't do +that would turn around and cuss him for seventeen kinds of a fool if he +did, and ruined himself by doing it. I haven't stolen, boy. I've given +my time and my energies to developing this State. I've seen it prosper +and grow big. And I've shared in the prosperity by seeing that my own +interests got their rights along with the rest. I'm where I can look +back. And I can't see where the reputation of being a saint who cut off +his own fingers for a sacrifice would help me get endorsers at the bank +or find friends I could borrow money from. Harlan, boy, I'm an old man. +I can't live much longer. A little reputation of some kind or another +will live after me. I want you to know the right of it. And the only way +for you to find out is to be what I have been. Hearing about it won't +inform you. I want you to meet the men and play the game. I want you to +realize that when I say I've done the best I could, I'm telling you the +truth. Harlan, stand up here with me. Give me your hand. Say that you'll +stand by the old man in this one thing--the biggest he ever has asked of +you. It's a matter between the Thorntons, boy!" + +There had been an appeal in his voice that was near wistfulness. And +while he talked the wisdom that had come from the mouth of a child that +evening threaded its own quaint appeal into the argument of the +grandfather. Resentment and obstinacy, if they be tempered with youth, +cannot fight long against affection and the ties of blood. + +Harlan took his grandfather's hand. + +"That's my boy!" cried the Duke, heartily, and he slipped his arm about +his grandson's shoulders and patted him. + +"It straightens things out a good deal," observed Presson, with the +practicality of the politician. "Harlan, you're going to find a winter +at the State House worth while. With your grandfather to set you going +right and post you up, you ought to make good." + +"I'd like to have a little light on one point," remarked the young man, +curtly. He felt again the irritating prick of resentment. "What am I to +be down to that legislature--myself, or Thelismer Thornton's grandson?" + +"You can't afford to throw good advice over your shoulder," protested +the chairman--"not when it comes from a man that's had fifty years of +experience." + +"Hold on, Luke, don't set the boy off on the wrong track. I know how he +feels. Harlan, you're going down there just as I said you're going--with +an open mind, clean hands, good, straight American spirit to do right +just so far as a man in politics can do right! I want you to see for +yourself. If you want my help in anything you shall have it. But it'll +be Gramp advising his boy--not a boss, hectoring. Believe that!" + +"You needn't be afraid of the city fellows," advised Presson. + +Harlan stood up before them, earnest, intense, determined. + +"A fellow placed as I have been has this much advantage over city chaps, +and I'm going to take courage from it," he said: "I've had a chance to +read. There are long evenings in the woods, and I haven't been able or +obliged to kill time at clubs and parties. I have read, Mr. Presson. I +don't know how much good it has done me. That remains to be found out. +Perhaps a fellow who reads and hasn't real experience gets a wrong +viewpoint. But this much I do believe: a man can be honest, himself, in +politics, and can find enough honest men to stand with him. I'm going to +try, at any rate. For if there's any dependence to be put in what I read +there's something serious the matter in public affairs." + +"Going to start a reform party, young man?" chuckled the State chairman. +He had seen and tested youthful ideals before in his political +experience. + +"I didn't mean it that way. I wasn't talking about myself. I'll be only +a little spoke in the wheel, sir. But I mean to say that when I get to +the State House I'm going to hunt up the men who believe in a square +deal, and I'm going to train with 'em." He spoke a bit defiantly. It was +youth declaring itself. It was a spark from the fire that Ivus Niles had +kindled by his sneers. + +"Boy," said the old man, cheerfully, "you're prancing just a bit now. +But you needn't be afraid of me, because I said I'd help you. The first +thing I'll do will be to take you around and introduce you to the men +down in the legislature who are proposing to reform the State. So you +see I mean right!" + +The State chairman seemed much amused. He chuckled. + +The Duke walked to the end of the porch and gazed up at the Jo Quacca +hills, where the dim, red glow still shone against the sky. + +"So it took down three stands of buildings, did it, Harlan?" he called. +"Did you tell the boys we'd settle promptly, and for them to keep away +from the lawyers?" + +"I arranged it the best I could and got their promise. But they seem to +know the fire was set on purpose, and are pretty gruff about it." + +"Of course the fire was set on purpose--and I have a right to clear my +own land when I want to. But I know how to settle, bub, so as to turn +their vinegar to cream. For when I square a political debt, whether it's +pay or collect, there's no scaling down! Full value--and then a little +over!" + +He came back and as he passed he tweaked Harlan's ear. + +"It's been a hard day, boy! Come on, let's all three go to bed." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +IN THE CENTRE OF THE BIG STATE WEB + + +Chairman Presson, going his way next morning, had to confess to himself +that he did not have much to do with the workings of the Fort Canibas +caucus. But it was worth while to see it. It revealed the character of +the opposition throughout the State. And he did a notable job in the +publicity line immediately. That was his opportunity of "rallying to the +flag." The Duke had got his blow in first; the chairman of the State +Committee got his news in first--for the State machine controlled the +principal newspapers. + +First news, put right, wins. The caucus in Fort Canibas exposed the +methods of "so-called reformers"--as the report of it was set forth in +print. And that news was a tocsin for town committeemen who had been +dozing. + +Thelismer Thornton, House leader, party boss, knight of the old regime, +and representative of all that the reformers had been inveighing +against, still controlled his district. That fact was impressed upon +all. And the more vociferous the resulting complaints of the opposition, +the more apparent it became that it was no mere skirmish party that had +been sent out against him; he had whipped the generals themselves. His +methods were mentioned discreetly; his results were made known to all +men. + +The fact that it was his grandson who had been nominated was not +emphasized as an item of general knowledge. That "Thornton had been +nominated" was. It was the essential point. + +It was accepted as a tip by the many who were waiting and wondering just +what this reform movement would accomplish in actual results--and that +means ability to own and distribute plums. It shifted the complexion of +many caucuses, or rather fixed that complexion, without any one being +the wiser; for the managers of districts had been waiting for tips +without saying anything in regard to their uncertainty. That's an +essential in practical politics--being able to wait without letting any +one know of the waiting. It gives a man his chance to cheer with the +winner and declare himself an "original." The convert is never half as +precious in politics as an "original." It is in heaven that the joy over +the sinner who repenteth is comforting and extreme. In politics the +first men on the band-wagon get the hand and what's in it. + +And yet, as the tide of caucuses swelled and reports of results flowed +into State headquarters, Chairman Presson and his lieutenants found +themselves unable to mark men with the old certitude of touch. There was +a queer kind of slipperiness everywhere. It was evident that the Canibas +result had stiffened backbones in many quarters, but more new men than +usual were coming forward with nominations in their fists. Many of these +men were not telling any one how they felt on the big questions that +were agitating the State. Some announced themselves with the usual +grandiloquent generalities. It is easy enough to say that one believes +in reform and good citizenship, for one can construe that later to suit +circumstances. + +The reformers were making a great deal of noise, mostly threats. They +were passing to candidates specific questions as to their stand on the +larger issues. Many candidates who had subscribed and declared +themselves dodged up to headquarters on the sly and assured the State +chairman that they had pledged their positions because it seemed to be a +reform year, and they had to do something to shut up the yawp of the +reformers. When they privately assured Presson that they would be found +on the right side just the same after election, he took heart for a +moment, and then was downcast after they were gone; it was tabulating +liars--an uncertain job. Presson listened and took what courage he +could, but the asterisks in his lists confessed his doubts. + +"There's a line of stars down those lists that would puzzle the man who +invented political astronomy," he told his intimates. "But I don't dare +to go looking for the trouble right now. It'll be like a man looking for +measles in his family of thirteen; it'll break out if it's there--he +won't have to hunt for it." + +The Republican State Convention was called for late June. The party +managers believed that it would clarify the situation somewhat; "it +would afford an opportunity for conference and free debate on the big +questions where division of opinion existed," so the party organs +assured their readers day by day. Chairman Presson asked them to drum +this idea into the heads of the people. + +But what he told himself and the secret council was that there needed to +be a round-up where some of the wild steers could be thrown and branded +before they should succeed in stampeding the main herd. It was a +situation that called for one of the good, old-fashioned "nights +before." For a practical politician knows that speeches and band music +do not make a convention; they merely ratify the real convention; the +real convention is held "the night before," behind closed doors at the +headquarters hotel. + +There were two candidates for the gubernatorial nomination. The natural +legatee of the old regime in his party was in line, of course. He had +been in line for ten years, as his predecessors had waited before him. +He had served apprenticeship after the usual fashion: had given his +money and his time; he had won the valuable title which only he who has +suffered and has been bled can win, that of "the logical candidate." + +But that seemed not the halcyon year for "the logical candidate." + +The inevitable had happened in the matter of political succession. There +had been too long a line of successors. The machine had become too close +a corporation. A machine, over-long in power, by the approved process of +making itself strong makes itself weak. It must pass around the +offices. When it picks the best men it makes enemies of all those it +disappoints. That includes principals and followers. For a time these +"best men" have enough of a personal following to repel boarders. But +party "best men" must make enemies in fortifying themselves and their +friends. + +Every time a matter is decided between factions, or a political seeker +wins a subordinate job, a rival and his friends are sent away to sulk. +And so at last, in the process of making the fortress impregnable, the +big wall falls and "the unders" come into the citadel. + +Chairman Presson would not allow that the situation in that year of +reform unrest was as bad as the "unders" seemed to think. But he was +worried because he was finding all men liars. And when men are lying and +marking time in politics and glancing over their shoulders, look out for +the stampede! + +In a stampede "a logical candidate" is the first one to be trampled on. +This one was threatened in earnest. + +His opponent in his own party was Protest walking on two legs and +thundering anathema through a mat of mustaches that made him a marked +figure in any throng. His enemies called him "Fog-horn" Spinney; his +admirers considered him a silver-tongued orator. As a professional +organizer of leagues, clubs, orders, and societies he knew by their +first names men enough to elect him if he could be nominated. And Arba +Spinney's methods may be known from the fact that once he got enough +votes to make him a State Senator by asking his auditors at each rally +to feel of the lumps in the corners of their ready-made vests. A man who +is fingering the sheddings of shoddy feels like voting for the candidate +who declares that he will make a sheep a respectable member of society +once more. + +As "a logical candidate," David Everett, ending his four years as a +member of the Governor's executive council, was the refinement of +political grooming. And he was "safe." A well-organized political +machine has no use for any other sort! + +Arba Spinney, vociferous, rank outsider, apostrophizing the "tramp of +the cowhide boots," reckless in his denunciation of every man who held +office, promising everything that would catch a vote, urging overturn +for the sake of overturn and a new deal, marked the other extreme. For +the mass, Change, labelled Reform, seems wholly desirable. Political +sagacity saw trouble ahead. And no one in the State was politically more +sagacious than Thelismer Thornton, who had seen men come and seen men +go, and knew all their moods and fancies. + +On the morning that the State chairman hurried out of Fort Canibas he +discussed the matter of the rival candidates with the old man--that is +to say, he talked and Thornton listened. And the more the chairman +talked, the more his own declarations convinced him. + +"Why, the old bull fiddle can't fool the convention, Thelismer. He's +running around the State now, and they're listening to him like they'd +listen to a steam calliope, but what he says don't amount to anything +for an argument. It's the pledged delegates that count." + +The old man drew a fat, black wallet from his hip pocket, and leisurely +extracted a packet of newspaper clippings. + +"I've been watching the lists of delegates as they've been chosen, Luke. +But I fail to see where you're getting pledged delegations." + +"They don't need to be pledged, not the men our town committees are +picking." + +"Your town committees may be picking the men for delegates, but it is +the caucus that does the pledging. And the delegates are being sent out +without labels. You don't dare to insist on the pledges--now, do you?" + +"You know as well as I do, Thelismer, there's no need of shaking the red +rag this year. We're making a different play. We've been having our +newspapers drum hard on the tune: 'Leave it out to the people.' It'll be +Everett all right in the convention, but we don't want to seem to be +prying open their jaws and jamming him down their throats." + +Thornton fingered his clippings. + +"Luke, I thought you realized yesterday after that caucus of mine was +over just how sick your State campaign is. But you've started in +hollering now to try to convince yourself that it isn't so. You can't +afford to do that. I've been in this thing longer than you have. I've +seen the symptoms before. I recognize the signs of a stampede. That +convention will be ripe for one. And you know what will happen to Dave +Everett, once they get started! You and I know there ain't a thing that +can be said for him except that he's the residuary legatee of all the +machine politics that's been played in this State for the last +twenty-five years. That's between us, and you and I might as well talk +the thing as it is. She's balancing, Luke. She's right up on end. And +there'll be enough old wind-bags in that convention to get up a devil of +a breeze. They'll blow her over." + +The State chairman had started to leave, after his declaration. His +automobile was purring at the foot of the steps. But he turned his back +on the expectant chauffeur, and tramped onto the porch. + +"You don't mean to tell me that 'Fog-horn' Spinney is a dangerous +candidate, do you?" + +"No, but Everett _is_! It happens once in so often, Luke--a situation +like this. Everett is lugging too much. Last fire we had in the village +here Ed Stilson tried to lug an old-fashioned bureau on his back and a +feather tick in his teeth, but he couldn't get through the door." + +"Thelismer, why have you waited till now before saying this? I'd rather +have your judgment in political futures than that of any other man in +this State. But this is a damnation poor time to be getting around to me +with it." + +"We had a caucus here yesterday, Luke, I'd only been suspecting till +then. In politics I'm quite a fellow to judge the whole piece in the web +by a sample. And I tell you Everett is going to make a dangerous +proposition for us!" + +Presson stared at him for a full minute, blinking, thinking, knotting +his brows, and chewing fiercely on a piece of gum. + +"Pull him out--that what you mean? Well, it can be done. There are +plenty of men in the party that are all safe and right, but haven't been +identified with the machine." + +"And what will you say to Dave Everett and his friends, all of whom +you'll need at the polls?" + +"It's a party exigency, isn't it?" + +"It can be called that--and you can call a skunk 'Kitty' on your way +home from the club, but that fact won't change your wife's opinion of +you when you come in. You walk up to Dave Everett now with your +political exigency in your hand, Luke, and it would turn to a political +_ax_egency, and you'd have a pack of rebels on your back that would down +you sure! No, sir! You can't afford to smash a man that way." + +"Then we'll ram him through the convention, reformers or no reformers!" + +"You haven't got your crowd." + +"Thelismer, you're right! I wouldn't have admitted it yesterday, but +after seeing how they came roaring up against you, I'm scared. I'm going +to pull Everett out of the fight and set up another man--one of the +young and liberal fellows. I'll do it within twenty-four hours!" + +The Duke replaced his clippings and shoved the big wallet into his +pocket. + +"Sudden remedies are sometimes good in extreme cases, Luke," he drawled, +"but administering knockout drops to a sick party is not to be +recommended." + +The chairman's patience left him then. + +"What kind of a trick is this, standing up here at the eleventh hour and +putting the knife into your party?" he demanded, wrathfully. + +"I had a dog once, Luke, that was snapping at flies in general as he was +lying on the porch here, and he snapped at a brown hackle fly that was +hitched onto a fish-line. And he ran off down the road with a hook in +his mouth and sixty yards of line and a pole following him. You'd better +spit out that last fly, Luke. Now will you take a little advice from me, +on the condition that I'll follow up that advice with some practical +help?" + +"That's what I'm waiting for." + +"Then you get back onto your job, and leave Everett just where he +is--not one word to him or his friends. That's the advice part. The help +will come when I've got a few things straightened out a little more." + +"The convention is less than three weeks off. What's your plan? I want +to know it now." + +"Well, you won't." + +"Do you think for a moment that I, the chairman of the Republican State +Committee, am going into a convention with blinders on?" + +"You can go in any way you want to," retorted the Duke, calmly. "But +that's all you're going to hear from me to-day, Luke. Faith without +works is no good. You furnish the faith, and I'll furnish the works." + +"I never heard of any such devilish campaign management as this," +grumbled the chairman. "You're talking to me as though I didn't know any +more politics than a village hog-reeve." + +"Well, I'm the doctor in this case, providing I'm called," said the old +man. "Just now I'm feeling of the pulse and making the diagnosis, and am +getting ready to prescribe the dose. I'll call you into consultation, +Luke, when the right time comes, and I'll guarantee that nothing will +leak out to wound your pride or your political reputation. But I want to +say that if you stand here to-day waiting to hear any more about what I +intend to do, you'd better shut off that automobile. You won't be +leaving for quite a spell." + +The chairman knew his man. He trotted down the steps and got into his +car. + +"When you get ready to let me know how you're running this campaign, +you'll find me at headquarters," he said, wrathfully, by way of +farewell. Then he departed, with the news of how Thelismer Thornton was +still boss of the northern principality--but that Thelismer Thornton, +Nestor of State politicians, had calmly arrogated to himself the sole +handling of the biggest question in State politics, the chairman kept to +himself. He was in too desperate straits to rebel at that time. +Furthermore, he knew that Thelismer Thornton in the years past had +served as kedge for many a political craft that a lee shore threatened. +He was measurably contented, after reflection, to have the old man take +the thing into his own hands in that masterful fashion. + +The Duke pulled his chair to the end of the porch, where he could look +across to the far hills beyond the river. He lighted one of his long +cigars, put his feet on the rail, and began to smoke, squinting +thoughtfully, pondering deeply. + +To all practical intents and purposes he was holding there on the porch +of "The Barracks" the next State convention of the Republican party. The +birds were busy about the old blockhouse opposite, coming and going. He +seemed to be studying their movements through his half-open eyes, as +though they were prospective delegates. And at last a grim smile of +satisfaction fixed itself upon his face. + +His grandson found him in this amiable mood when he came with the losers +by the Jo Quacca fire. Each man submitted his list rather defiantly. +They sat down and scowled while Harlan told what he had discovered in +his investigation of the circumstances. + +"I have not tried to beat them down," he concluded. "I even reminded +them of a few items they had overlooked. What happened yesterday was +enough to make almost any man forget things." + +He was inclined to be a little defiant, too, fighting the battles of the +property owners, even though his own pocket must suffer by the +settlement. + +But the Duke preserved his unruffled demeanor. He slowly made some +figures on the bottoms of the papers and passed the sheets to his +grandson. + +"Fill in the checks and bring them out here and I'll sign 'em," he +directed. And as Harlan bent over him, he whispered: "You're playing +good politics now, boy. Stand up for the under dog. I see you're +remembering that you're a candidate." + +"I'm only doing what's right," protested the young man. + +"When you can be right and still play politics, you're getting ahead +fast," murmured the Duke. "Fill in the checks!" + +"But you've increased their own appraisal! You're giving them more than +they've asked for!" Harlan was careless of the presence of the three +farmers. + +"Well, wasn't it your own suggestion that we use these men right?" +demanded his grandfather. He gazed benignantly on the claimants. "I'm +square, myself, when it comes to my debts, boys. You all know that. But +Harlan argued your case last night in a way that's worth the extra +money. If he can do that here at home, first crack out of the box, when +it's our own money at stake, don't you think he'll do a pretty good job +for you down at the State House, where it'll be a case of the public +money?" + +His grandson had gone into the house. He had found himself at a loss for +words, suddenly. + +"Harlan is as straight as a stilya'd, and allus has been," admitted one +of the men, gratefully. He was wondering how much the Duke had added to +the amount. + +"All of you think now that a fellow like that will make a pretty good +sort of a representative, don't you?" + +They muttered assent. + +"Well, why did you back-district chaps come in here yesterday and try to +lick him in the caucus?" + +They had no answer ready. They looked at the porch floor, and rasped +their hard hands together and cracked their knuckles in embarrassment. +The old man kept his complacency. + +"I'll tell you how it was, boys. You got fooled, now, didn't you? You +let 'em use you like old Samson used the foxes. Now, the next time one +of those disturber fellows ties a blazing pine knot to your tail, you +sit right down and gnaw the string in two before you start to run. +Because a man holds office it's no sign he's a renegade. You'll usually +find the renegades standing outside and slandering him and trying to get +his office away for their own use. They got you going, didn't they, when +they went around telling that I thought I owned you in this district, +body and soul? Got you jealous and suspicious and mad? Can you afford to +be jealous and mad when you've got a fellow like Harlan Thornton willing +to go down to the legislature and work for you? Do you want one of those +blatherskites to represent you? Now tell me!" + +"Poor men that have to work all the time don't have the chance to look +into public things as much as they ought to," said one of the men, +apologetically. "And sometimes when a fellow comes around who can talk +smooth we get fooled." + +"You've bought a lot of fake things from travelling agents in this +county. Now don't buy fake politics," He took the checks from his +grandson's hand. Harlan had brought them, and a pen. He cocked his knee +and scrawled his signature. They came to him and took their checks. Each +stood there, holding the slip of paper awkwardly pinched between thumb +and forefinger. The Duke waited. + +"I want to say this," stammered the spokesman. "You get fooled +sometimes. Most often in politics. But no one can fool us again--not +about the Thornton family." + +"Pass that word around the district, boys," advised the Duke, +complacently. "There's an election coming, you know." + +They departed, three new and promising evangelists. + +"Campaign expenses, bub," broke in the old man, when Harlan began; +"campaign expenses! It's a soggy lump of dough out back there. That kind +of yeast will lighten it." + +He looked across at the hills, squinting reflectively again, and at last +glanced up at his grandson, who stood regarding him with thoughtful +hesitation. + +"Say it, boy!" he counselled. "A little more bile left over from +yesterday?" + +"No, sir! Not that. But I think I'll send Ben Kyle in with the crews and +let him locate the new camps." + +"I didn't intend to have you go back--not if you'd listen to me. We've +got men enough to attend to that sort of work, Harlan. I want you with +me for a while. I've got some plans for you." + +"And I've got a few plans for myself. Now that I'm in this, I propose to +be in it in earnest." + +"You wouldn't be a Thornton if you didn't get at it all over," commended +the Duke. "You see, I understood you, boy!" + +"I'm going to call on every man in this district and tell him where I +stand. I'm going to tell him that if there are honest men in that +legislature I propose to be counted in with them. I may be a very humble +helper, but I'm going to lift with all my strength, grandfather, on the +square-deal end of every proposition that I find to lay hold of." + +"Good politics, boy, all good politics!" declared the old man. With +humor that had a little malicious fun in it he avoided endorsing this +impulsive zeal as anything except shrewd playing of his own game. But +his eyes told the young man what his lips did not utter. There was pride +in them, encouragement, joy that would not be hidden--and something +else: wistful regret, perhaps; it seemed to be that--the regret that age +feels when it has lost its illusions and beholds them springing again in +the heart of fervent youth; regret conscious that in its turn this new +faith in things present and things to come will be dead and cold, too. + +"I don't think we have to worry much about the election, Harlan. Go out +and tackle the boys. You'll make good. Take two days. That'll be time +enough. And then I want you." + +Harlan's eyes questioned him. + +"You know I opened up a little to you last night, bub. You're all I've +got, you know. I've not been much of a hand to talk. I don't believe +you've realized just how I've felt. But we'll let it stand as it is. +I've got plans for you, boy, better than the little pancake politics of +this district. I know a few things in politics. I'm old enough to +understand how to put you in right. It's one thing to know how, and it's +another thing to find occasion just ripe and ready." + +He rolled his cigar to the centre of his mouth and lifted the corners in +an illuminating grin. + +"Bub, in two days be ready to come with me. I'm going to put you in +right!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A POLITICAL CONVERT + + +For two days Harlan Thornton rode about over the Fort Canibas district. +He talked to men at their doors, in their shops, over the fences of +their fields. He knew that some sneered at him behind his back. Some +even dared to arraign him, boldly and angrily, and flung his motives in +his face, accusing the grandfather of inciting the grandson to this +attempt to catch votes. + +He realized that most of the voters did not understand him aright. They +did not understand sincerity in politics. But his own consciousness of +rectitude supplied his consolation and provided his impetus. Till then +he had employed the Thornton grit only in his business efforts; he +employed it now with just as much vigor in his proselyting. Once in the +fight, he was awake to what it meant. His frank earnestness impressed +those with whom he talked. He did not lose his temper, when men assailed +him and tried to discredit his protestations. Here and there, in +neighborhoods, knots of farmers gathered about him and listened. He +began to win his way, and he knew it. The knowledge that Harlan Thornton +was a square man in business needed no herald in that section. + +That this integrity would extend to his politics grew into belief more +and more as he went about. + +The distrust of him, because of his associations, a suspicion fostered +by the paid agents of the opposition, began to give way before his calm, +earnest young manhood. But in every knot of men he found a few bitter +irreconcilables still. They were those whom change invites, and the +established order offends. One man, unable to provoke him by +vituperation, and in a frenzy of childish rage because Harlan's calm +poise was not disturbed by his outpourings, ran at him and struck him. +He was a little man, and though he leaped when he struck, the blow +landed no higher than the shoulder that Harlan turned to him. And when +he leaped again the young man caught him by the wrist and smiled down on +him, unperturbed. + +"If that's the way you talk politics, Sam, I'll have to adjourn the +debate," he said, quietly. And the story of that went the rounds, +accompanied by much laughter, and the big, sturdy, serene young man who +was master of his own passions met smiles wherever he went. + +Another story preceded him, too. "Fighting" MacCracken, of the Jo Quacca +neighborhood, smarting ever since that day in the yard of "The +Barracks," jealous of his prestige as a man of might, offered obscene +and brutal insult to the name of Thelismer Thornton in the hearing of +his grandson. It had been hinted previously along the border that the +six-foot scion of the Thorntons was a handy man in a scrap, but now his +prowess was surely established. MacCracken went about, a living +advertisement of how effectually righteous anger can back up two good +fists. + +Therefore, respect attended on good-humor and went with, or ahead of, +the candidate. + +He wondered at himself sometimes. He hardly understood the zeal that now +animated him, so sudden a convert. But the zest of youth was in him; the +spirit of the toil of the big woods, of the race with drought when the +drives are going down, the everlasting struggle with nature's forces, +the rivalry between man and man where accomplishment that bulks large in +the eyes of men is the only accomplishment that counts--all these +spurred him to make good, now that he had begun. In the open arena of +life his training had been that of man to man, and the best man taking +the prize. And his reading during the long evenings had been more in the +way of education in public matters than he had realized. As for ideals, +he had followed the masterful men who preached a gospel that appealed to +him, living the life of the open, battling for the weak against the +selfishly strong--so it seemed to the one who studied their achievements +on the printed page. With his own opportunity now thrust upon him, +Harlan Thornton determined to make candor his code, honesty his system. +He entertained no false ideas of his personal importance. But his lack +of experience did not daunt him. He simply made up his mind that he +would go forward, keeping soul and heart open, as well as eyes and ears. +He believed that the square deal could not be hidden from those who +entered public life in that manner. + +He did not discuss all this with his grandfather. If he had, Thelismer +Thornton would have been vastly interested. He might have been amused. +Probably he would have been more amused than interested, for hot youth +and glowing ideals have humorous phases for the man who has lived among +men for more than eighty years. + +But that he had unloosed a bottle imp in his own family would not have +occurred to the old man, even after he had listened, for he still had +the cynical belief that circumstances must control, interest convert, +and personal profit kill the most glowing ardor in reform. + +Lacking the gift of divination, Thelismer Thornton watched the rapid +development of this bottle imp with much complacency. "Whispering" +Urban Cobb brought him reports from the field. Talleyrand Sylvester was +trying to place bets on Harlan Thornton, but there were no takers. It +was even stated that Enoch Dudley was finding it hard work to secure +pledges enough to warrant his running as an independent candidate. + +Harlan Thornton, looking in from the outside, had found politics, as +managed _for_ him, an abhorrent mess. Now, plunged in, he was embracing +his opportunity, and finding good in the contest. + +On the other hand, Harlan Thornton, making his own plea and his own +pledges as a candidate, was embraced by the voters. He was not a mere +legatee forced on them by a boss--he was speaking for himself, and the +sincerity of the young man made itself felt. + +At the end of the appointed two days he knew that his prospects were +safe. One of the other towns in the district and three of the +plantations had endorsed his name in caucus. If Thelismer Thornton had +been responsible for his candidacy, so was his own personality +responsible for this clearing away of difficulties. He felt his +self-respect returning. That cruel wound to his pride was healing. + +He was riding home in the evening of the second day, past the end of the +long bridge, finding comfort in this thought. + +A white figure, framed in the black mouth of the bridge, startled rider +and horse. + +"It's only Clare," she said. "I heard you were up the river to-day, and +I've been waiting for you." + +He rode closer. It was a new and strange Clare who was revealed to him +in the dim light. She was gowned and gloved, and her broad hat hid her +boyish curls. She walked out of the gloom and leaned against the bridge +rail. + +"Ah, the little playmate did ride away from me forever!" he cried, +looking her up and down. "But this young lady--why, she takes my breath +away!" He took off his hat and bowed to the pommel. + +"You needn't make fun of me, Mr. Harlan Thornton," she returned, +crisply. "And a real young lady wouldn't come down in this bridge and +wait for you. I wanted to tell you I'm glad. I hear all about your +success. When I was a little girl I didn't want you to go away and be a +big man. But now that I'm a woman I'm glad you're going. I wanted you to +realize, Mr. Harlan Thornton, that I'm a woman, so if you'll reach down +your hand I'll shake it and congratulate you." + +He took her little hand in both his own. + +"You were a real little woman two days ago right here in this place," he +said, gratefully. "I didn't realize it at that moment, but it was what +you said to me that put some real sense into my head, after all. It set +me to thinking." + +"What kind of laws are you going to make?" she demanded. + +"I don't think I'll have much to do with making laws, Clare. All I can +do is listen and try to be on the right side when the voting comes." + +"Can't you make a law to oblige old men to stop fighting each other," +she demanded, petulantly--"fighting each other, and making all their +folks uncomfortable?" + +"I think it would be a good law, especially in one case I know about. +But sometimes the best laws don't get passed." + +"I'll come down and make a speech for it. You said I talked like old +folks the other evening." + +"A speech from you would convert them all," he returned, indulging her +in this childish banter. "You see, you converted me with only a few +words, and I was a hard case just then." + +"Then I'll come down to your legislature and we'll make it into a law, +and the punishment shall be, if they don't make up and allow their folks +to be comfortable and friends, they must have their old heads bumped +together--bumped harder and harder till they shake hands and make up and +live happy ever after. Old folks haven't any business to stay mad. They +won't get into heaven if they do." + +She withdrew her hand, and went away into the black mouth of the bridge. + +"That's all, Big Boy!" she cried. "It was some business, you see, that I +waited to talk over with you. And a grown-up young lady mustn't stay +after her business is finished." + +"But I'll walk home with you!" he called. + +"No, I'll not be frightened at the dark until I get old enough to be +called an old maid," she said, mischievously. "Good-night!" + +He waited by the side of the river until he saw her white figure safely +through the dark bridge, and on its way up the quiet hillside past the +church. Then he rode to "The Barracks," his mind dwelling a bit more +particularly on the vagaries of womankind than it ever had before. + +He joined his grandfather on the porch after he had eaten his supper +alone. + +"The fences, so I hear, Harlan, will pass the inspection of the most +expert fence-viewers," he chuckled. "So I suppose you'll be ready to +leave with me to-morrow." + +"If you think it's necessary to have me go anywhere with you, +grandfather, I'll go." + +There was silence for a time. The young man was waiting. The old man +smoked placidly. + +"Is there any reason why you can't tell me where we are going?" inquired +Harlan. + +"No especial reason--only I'll be wasting time telling you. You'll see +for yourself. We'll meet a big man or so--that's all!" + +"The man I'd like to meet," began the young man, fervently, "is one that +every young chap in this country can follow and ought to follow, if he's +got red blood and honesty in him. I wish I could meet him now when I'm +starting out, if only to shake his hand." + +"You'd better not meet any man so long as he's wearing a halo, where +you're concerned. You'll find political halos, bub, when you get too +near to 'em, something like restaurant doughnuts--holes surrounded by +poor cooking. Better keep away a spell. That's why I'm not going to tell +you where we're going--not just now. I might go to cracking up the man +too much. I'll let you build your own halo for him--and then maybe you +can eat your own cooking, provided you find the halo a doughnut." + +They left Fort Canibas the next morning, travelling humbly by mail stage +to the railroad terminus. The branch line took them to a populous +junction, and by that time Harlan Thornton began to appreciate that his +grandfather was rather more of a figure in State politics than he had +dreamed. He had made many trips with him through the State in years +past, but never before when men understood, some dimly, some fearfully, +that a political crisis was on. Thelismer Thornton's seat in the train, +his room at the hotel, was besieged by those who respectfully solicited +his opinions. They seemed to realize that some of the wisdom of the +fathers in State politics, of the patriarchs with whom he had trained, +had fallen to him by natural inheritance. But though he listened +patiently, he said but little. Harlan noticed, however, that he did take +especial pains to deprecate some of the suppressive movements advised by +the more hot-headed managers. + +"Let things swing as they're going," he advised. "She'll take care of +herself, give her free run right now. But you can't pinch up a line gale +by putting a clothespin on the nose of the tempest. Let her snort! Brace +the party and face it like a hitching--post! Don't try to choke off Arba +Spinney. Let him froth." + +His grandfather was so insistent on this point that Harlan took notice +of its frequent repetition and the earnestness with which it was +pressed. He began to understand that some plan lay back of his +grandfather's silence to him and to others as to his private reasons for +this appeal. He began to take lively interest in the ramifications of +practical politics as played by the hand of a master. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A MAN FROM THE SHADOWS + + +There was a provoking flavor of mystery about Thelismer Thornton's early +movements the next day. His grandson became still more interested. This +element in politics appealed to him, for he was young. + +They left the city by an early train. The Duke secluded himself and his +grandson in a drawing-room of the car. + +It was an express--train which did not stop at way stations. But when +the conductor came for the tickets the old man inquired whether orders +had been issued to have the train held up at a certain siding. + +"Yes, sir, to leave two passengers," said the conductor. He was +courteous, but he winked at the old politician with the air of one who +thought he understood something. He exhibited his telegram from the +dispatcher. "Can't be much politics there, Mr. Thornton," he remarked, +by way of jest. + +"I'm on a fishing-trip," explained the Duke, blandly. And the conductor, +who knew that the siding had no fishing water within ten miles of it, +went away chuckling in order to applaud the joke of a man of power. + +A few hours later the two were let off at the siding and the train +hurried on. + +There was a farm-house near the railroad. They ate dinner with the +farmer and his wife, who seemed to realize that they were entertaining +some one out of the ordinary, and were much flustered thereby. +Especially did the farmer struggle with his vague memory of +personalities, asking many round-about questions and "supposing" many +possibilities that the Duke placidly neglected to confirm. + +The only definite information the farmer received was that the big +elderly man wanted himself and his companion conveyed to Burnside +Village by wagon, starting in the late afternoon. + +"I'll take you," said the man; "but what sticks me is that you didn't +stay right on board that train. It stops at Burnside regular, and it +don't stop here at all." + +"But it stopped to-day," remarked the Duke. + +"I know it did, and that's what sticks me again." + +The old man rose from the table and smiled down on him. + +"Here's a good cigar, brother. I've often worked out many a puzzle while +having a bang-up smoke." + +He invited Harlan by a nod of the head, and they went out and strolled +in the maple grove behind the house. + +"I suppose you think by this time, bub, that I'm in my second childhood, +and playing dime novel. But there are some things in politics that have +to be done as gentle and careful as picking a rose petal off a +school-ma'am's shoulder." The Duke chuckled and smoked for a time. "When +I've had a job of that sort to do I haven't even talked to myself, +Harlan. So you mustn't think I'm distrustful of you because I don't tell +you what's on." + +"I'm willing to wait," said his grandson. + +"Learn your lesson, Harlan--the one I'm trying to teach you now. I never +knew but one man who could keep his mouth shut under all circumstances +when he felt it was his duty to do so. That was old Ben Holt. He's dead +now. He fell off a bridge on his way to church and didn't holler 'Help!' +for fear of breaking the Sabbath. You don't find any more of that kind +in these days--not in political matters. I'm not distrusting you, I say, +but I'm teaching you the lesson. Keep your mouth shut till it's time to +open it. I'm drawing this thing here strong on you, so as to impress it. +As for the other fellows--if I had got off the train at Burnside to-day +the news would have been in every afternoon paper in the State. They'd +only need that one fact to build fifty stories on--all different. _Most_ +of those stories would have hurt; there'd have been one guess, at least, +that would kill the scheme. Sit down here, and let's take it easy." + +He sat at the foot of a tree, his broad straw hat beside him. He leaned +his head against the trunk, and gazed upward and away from his grandson. +When the question came it was so irrelevant, so astonishing, that the +young man gasped without replying. + +"Harlan, how do you stand with the Kavanagh girl?" + +The old man smoked on in the silence without removing his gaze from the +leaves above his head. + +"I want to confess to you, my boy, that your old grandfather made rather +a disgraceful exhibition of himself the other day. But as I said then, a +man will thrash and swear at a hornet and make an ass of himself, +generally, in the operation. The impudent little fool didn't realize +what a big matter she was trifling with." + +"Grandfather," protested Harlan, manfully, "that's no way to speak of a +young lady. You ask me how I stand? I stand this way--I'll not have the +child mentioned in any such manner--not in my hearing; and that's with +all respect to you, sir." + +"Young lady--child? Well, which is she?" + +"I don't know," confessed Harlan, ingenuously. "And it doesn't make +much difference." + +"Sort of ashamed of me, aren't you?" inquired his grandfather. "A man +that you've seen all the politicians catering to the last day or so, and +small enough to bandy insults with a snippet of a girl! Well, bub, +there's a lot of childishness in human nature. It breaks out once in a +while. Cuss a tack, and grin and bear an amputation! We'll let the girl +alone. I don't seem to get in right when she is mentioned. But I wanted +to have you tell me that you don't intend to marry Dennis Kavanagh's +daughter. You can't afford to do that, boy! Not with your prospects. And +now I'm not saying anything against the girl. We'll leave her out, I +say. It's just that she isn't the kind of a woman--when she gets to be a +woman--that I want to see mated with you." He burst out: "Dammit, +Harlan, I can see where you're going to land in this State if you'll let +your old gramp have free rein! And the right kind of a wife is half the +battle in what you're going into." + +"Have you got that right kind picked out for me--along with the rest? +You talk as though you had." + +It was said almost in the tone of insult. It might have been the +tone--it might have been that the taunt touched upon the truth: +Thelismer Thornton's face flushed. He did not seem to find reply easy. + +"There's only this to say, grandfather. I know you're interested in me +and in seeing me get ahead in the world. You pushed me into politics, +and I'm trying to make good. I'm glad you did it--I'll say that now. I +see opportunities ahead if I stay square and honest. But don't you try +to push me into marriage. I'm going to do my own choosing there. And +that doesn't mean that I'm in love with Clare Kavanagh, or intend to +marry Clare Kavanagh, or want to marry her--or that she wants to marry +me. That's straight, and I don't want to talk about it any more." + +He stood up, and his tone was defiant. + +"You'd better take a walk, bub," commended the Duke, quietly. "I'm going +to nap for a little while. We may be up late to-night." + +He picked up his hat and canted it over his face. "Get back here as +early as five o'clock," he said, from under its brim. + +They were away in the farmer's carryall at that hour, after a supper of +bread-and-milk. + +In the edge of the village of Burnside the Duke ordered a halt, and +stepped down from the carriage. The evening had settled in and it was +dark under the elms. + +"Here's five dollars, brother. You've used us all right, and now so long +to you." + +"But I hain't got you to nowhere yet!" protested the farmer. He had +finally decided in his own mind that these were railroad managers +planning projects, with an eye on his own farm. He wanted to carry them +where he could exhibit them to some one who could inform him. + +But the Duke promptly drew Harlan along into the shadows, and a farmer +hampered with a two-seated carriage is not equipped for the trail. They +heard the complaining squeal of iron against iron as he turned to go +back home. + +"We've come here to call on a man," stated the Duke, after they had +walked for a little time. + +"On ex-Governor Waymouth, I suppose," Harlan suggested, quietly. + +The old man chuckled. + +"How long have you been suspecting that?" + +"Ever since I heard Burnside mentioned, of course." + +"Good! You guessed and kept still about it. You've got the makings of a +politician, and you are learning fast. Now what do you suppose I'm +sneaking up on Varden Waymouth in this way for?" + +"You said I'd see for myself when the time came. I'm in no hurry, +grandfather." + +The Duke patted Harlan's shoulder. "You're one of my kind, that's sure, +boy. I haven't got to put any patent time-lock onto your tongue. And I +can't say that of many chaps in this State. You're a safe man to have +along. Come on!" + +The house was back from the street a bit--a modest mansion of brick, +dignifiedly old. Tall twin columns flanked the front door and supported +the roof of the porch. Harlan had never seen the residence of General +Waymouth before, but that exterior seemed fitted to the man, such as he +knew him to be. + +He admitted them himself, when they had waited a few moments after +sounding alarm with the ancient knocker. Framed in the door, he was a +picturesque figure. His abundant white hair hung straight down over his +ears, and curled outward at the ends; his short beard was snowy, but +there was healthful ruddiness on his face, and though his figure, tall +above the average, stooped a bit, he walked briskly ahead of them into +the library, crying delighted welcome over his shoulder. His meeting +with Thelismer Thornton had been almost an embrace. + +"And this boosting big chap is Harlan--my grand-baby, Vard! Guess you +used to see him at 'The Barracks' when he was smaller. Since then he's +been trying to outgrow one of our spruce-trees." + +The ex-Governor gave Harlan his left hand. The empty sleeve of the right +arm was pinned to the shoulder. + +"The old Yankee stock doesn't need a step-ladder to stand on to light +the moon, so they used to say." + +He rolled chairs close to each other and urged them to sit, with the +anxious hospitality of the old man who has grown to prize the narrowing +circle of his intimates. + +"Smoke, Thelismer," he pleaded. "Stretch out and smoke. I always like to +see you smoke. You take so much comfort. I sometimes wish I'd learned to +smoke. Old age gets lonely once in a while. Perhaps a good cigar might +be a consolation." + +"So you do get lonesome sometimes, Vard?" inquired the Duke. + +"It's a lonesome age when you're eighty, comrade. You probably find it +so yourself. There are so few of one's old friends that live to be +eighty." + +Then they fell into discourse, eager, wistful reminiscences such as come +to the lips of old friends who meet infrequently. The young man, sitting +close in the circle, listened appreciatively. This courtly old soldier, +lawyer, Governor, and kindly gentleman had been to him since boyhood, as +he had to the understanding youth of his State, an ideal knight of the +old régime. And so the hours slipped past, and he sat listening. + +The calm night outside was breathlessly still, except for the drone of +insects at the screens, attracted by the glow of the library lamp. A +steeple clock clanged its ten sonorous strokes, and still the old men +chatted on, and the Duke had not hinted at his errand. + +The General suddenly remembered that he had in the cellar some home-made +wine, and he asked the young man to come with him, as lamp-bearer. + +"The good wife would have thought of that little touch of hospitality +long ago, my son," he said, as they walked down the stairs, "but a +widower's house with grouchy hired help makes old age still more +lonely." + +On their return they found the Duke, feet extended, head tipped back, +eyes on the ceiling. He was deep in thought, and told Harlan to place +his glass on the chair's arm. + +"Varden," he said, "eighty isn't old, not for a man like you; and it +shouldn't be lonely, that age. I'm still older, and I propose to wear +out instead of rust out." + +"I don't feel rusty, exactly," returned the General, smiling into his +glass. "But when I think of all the marches, Thelismer, of the +campaigns, the heartbreaking struggles of the war--of all the cases won +and cases lost, the nights of study and days of labor in the law--the +fuss and fury of politics--of all the years behind me, I feel as though +I'd like to be used as my father used his old boots: Before he took his +bed for the last time he went up into the garret of the old farm-house +and laid his boots there on their sides. 'Let 'em lie down, now, and +rest,' he said. And I've never allowed them to be disturbed." + +The Duke still stared at the ceiling. + +"Varden, you and I have known each other so long that you don't need as +much talk from me as you would from a stranger. When I've asked a thing +from you in the past I didn't have to sit down and talk to you an hour +about the reasons why I wanted it. You understood that I had a good +reason for asking. I'm going to ask just one more thing from you in this +life. I'm going to ask it straight from the shoulder. You and I don't +need to beat about the bush with each other. I want you to say 'yes,' +for if you don't you're abandoning our old State as though she were a +widow headed for the almshouse." + +Thornton leaned forward, grasped his glass and drained it at a gulp, and +then looked the amazed General squarely in the eyes. + +"You're going to be nominated as Governor of this State in the next +convention, and you've got to accept," he declared. "Now hold on! Just +as you understand that I've got good reasons for asking you to do this, +just so I understand all that you're going to say in objection. I +discount all your objections in advance. I know you haven't lost run of +affairs in this State--you know all the mix-up the party is in right +now. They're going to beat Dave Everett in convention, General, just as +sure as the devil can't freeze his own ice. It's going to be +'Seventy-two all over again. People gone crazy for a change and jumping +the wrong way, like grasshoppers in front of a mowing machine. Spinney +means the whole rotten thing over again--State treasury looted, tax rate +reduced to get a popular hoorah, a floating debt that will make us +stagger and keep enterprise out of this State for ten years, petty graft +in every State office, and every strap on the party nag busted from +snaffle to crupper. Now I want to ask you one question: Do you want Arba +Spinney for the next Governor of this State--sitting in the chair that +you honored? You know him! You've heard his mouth go. You understand his +calibre. Do you want him?" + +"No," admitted General Waymouth. + +"Well, you're going to get him if you don't accept that nomination. +You're going to get him, blab-mouth, mob-rule, mortification, and merry +hell--the whole bagful! Do you want that for this State, Vard?" + +"Our State can't afford to have such a man," agreed General Waymouth, +"but--" + +"I'd, myself, rather see a Democrat win at the polls!" shouted Thornton. +"But the Democrat that they've got in line is worse than Spinney. It's a +popocratic year, and they're all playing that game. But they can't +overcome our natural plurality, Varden. It means Spinney if he goes to +the polls! It's up to you to stop him. You've got to do it!" + +The General rose and walked around the room. His shoulders were stooped +a bit more. Then he came and put his hand on Thelismer's shoulder. + +"Your faith in what I am and what I might do is worthy of you, my old +comrade, even if it exalts my poor powers too much. And I thank you, +Thelismer. But I know what I am. I'm only a stranded old man. The +younger generation will not think as you do. Go and find some good man +there. I'm too weary, Thelismer, too old and too weary--and almost +forgotten. Find another man!" + +"What's that? Find a man for Governor of this State, groom him, work him +out, score him down and shove him under the wire of State Convention a +winner inside of two weeks? Varden, you know politics better than that! +_You_ forgotten by the younger generation of this State? Harlan, what +have you to say to that?" + +The young man stood up. He had listened well and listened long that +evening. In the presence of this gracious old knight of the heroic days +of history he had felt his heart swelling as he remembered the record +that all men of his State knew. + +The fervor of his admiration showed so plainly in his glistening eyes +that General Waymouth was touched, and waited indulgently. + +"General, it's only because my grandfather is your old friend and has +commanded me that I dare to speak. I simply have a hope. It has become +dear to me. I'm hoping for a privilege. I honestly believe that outside +of all party preferences there are thousands of young men in this State +who will feel proud to have that same privilege--will esteem it one of +the honors of their lives. Their fathers had the same honor. And that's +to go to the polls and cast a ballot for Gen. Varden Waymouth. It will +make politics seem worth while to us, sir." + +"Good!" ejaculated the Duke. "You're hearing the voice of the young men +of this State now, Varden." He stood up. "Here's my boy for your +service. He'll be in the next legislature. Use him. Depend on him. +You're old--you've earned your rest. I know it. But here's a loud call +for a sacrifice. This boy and such as he can lift a lot of the load. +Varden, give me your hand. Say that you'll do it!" + +"Let's sit down a moment," said the General, solemn gentleness in his +tone. "I have something that it's in my heart to say." + +He drew his chair even closer to them. They waited a few moments for him +to speak. In that room with its dignity of ancient things, with the +silence of the summer night surrounding, that waiting was impressive. +Harlan felt the thrill of it. Even his grandfather was gravely anxious. +The General leaned forward and put his thin hand on the elder Thornton's +knee. + +"Thelismer, you yourself link the past with the present, so far as the +politics of this State go. You link them even more than I do, for you +are active in the present. You have been a strong man--you are strong +to-day. But I want to say to you, and this is as friend to friend, you +haven't always used that strength right. I know what reply you'd make to +that. We've talked it all over many times. You say that you've had to +play the game. That's right. And I've played it myself, too. But in the +years since then, while I've sat at one side of the arena and looked on, +I've had a chance to meditate and a chance to observe. I don't think +matters have been running right in this State--and now I'm not speaking +of Arba Spinney or his ilk. You come to me to-night and you ask me to be +the Governor of this State once more. You want me to come back into the +game. You ask me to appeal to the suffrage of the young men who admire +what little I've accomplished. I want to warn you. I may be putting it +too strong when I call it a warning. I have some ideals to-day. You may +not find them to your liking in politics." + +"I'm willing to trust in your good judgment and your sense of what is +square for all concerned," protested the Duke, stoutly. "In the hot old +days I was hot with the rest, Vard. I've mellowed some since." + +"You may not find me a safe man, Thelismer. I shall come back out of the +shadows with a firm resolve to merit the approval of the young men of +this State--and the young men see more clearly than their fathers did." + +"I'm not here to-night with bridle or bit or halter, Varden. We need +you. The party has got to have you. I know what your name will +accomplish in that convention. You shall be Governor of this State +without making pledge or promise. Will you stand?" + +"I ask you again, Thelismer, if there is no other way?" + +"Any other way means Spinney and mob rule." + +General Waymouth turned to Harlan. "Go out and tell the honest young men +of this State that I will try to satisfy their ideals. That's the only +pledge I'll give. I'm afraid I haven't any promise for the old machine, +Thelismer." He smiled. + +"We don't need any," returned the Duke, briskly. "We know Vard Waymouth. +But there's one pledge I do want from you. This whole thing is to be +left in my hands so far as announcement goes. My plan of campaign makes +that much necessary. We don't want to flush that bunch of birds till we +can give 'em both barrels." + +"I consent. I'll live in the lingering hope that at the last moment +you'll find I won't be needed." + +He rose and gave his hand to each in turn, bringing them to their feet. + +"Now for bed. Of course, you'll remain here the night." + +"No," declared Thornton, decisively. "Out o' here on the midnight! I +want to dodge out of Burnside in the dark. We'll walk down to the +station now. It's settled. I'll keep you posted." + +At the door the General gave Harlan the last word, grasping his hand +again. + +"You brought me a message from the young men that touched me." + +"I spoke for myself, but I believe that all of them would like to have +the same opportunity that I had," faltered Harlan. "I know they would. +Will you let us come to you at the right time and make it plain?" + +"I shall depend upon you in a great many ways in the months to come. You +know it's to be a young man's administration by an old man made young +again. I'm proud of my first volunteer!" + +"He's a good boy, and he's got the makings in him," declared the Duke. + +"I've been too long with men not to appreciate a good chief of staff +when I see him," laughed the General. + +Framed in the big door, with the dim glow of light behind him, he +watched them depart. + +The Duke walked in the far shadows of the station platform in silence, +smoking, until the train whistled. + +"Bub, you remember that I told you I'd put you in right," he said, +climbing the car steps. "Now follow your hand." + +But Harlan Thornton, fresh from that presence, understood that he had +pledged a loyalty deeper than the loyalty of mere politics or +preferment. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DEALS AND IDEALS + + +There was no one in the smoking-room of the car, so the Duke discovered +with relief. It was late, and the passengers were in their berths. There +was no one to spy, ask questions, or guess. + +"Complete!" he grunted, satisfiedly, as he sat down. "We've come through +with the job in good shape, Harlan. It'll have to be a mind-reader that +finds out what I've put up to-day." + +He swung his feet upon the seat opposite and sighed. + +"I'm a pretty old man to be tearing 'round nights in this fashion, bub, +but I feel younger by twenty years just this minute. Now I didn't tell +you my plans this morning. Reckoned I'd wait till I had a clear view +ahead. I've got it now. I'll wire ahead to the junction for our baggage +to be brought from the hotel and put on board this train. We'll stay on. +State capital next. Down to Luke's place. We'll stay there till State +Convention. Finger right on the pulse after this." + +He called the porter and arranged for his berths, and ordered the +telegram sent from the next station. + +He began leisurely to unfasten his necktie and collar. + +"Got to tell Luke, you know. A close corporation of four--that's enough +to know it. Can't trust the rest. We'll let 'em keep their old political +hen sitting on their china egg. We'll hatch the good egg in our own +nest. Then for a glorious old cackle! Vard Waymouth will be the next +Governor of this State! Sure!" + +"And this State will have the right man on the job with him as +Governor!" cried the young man, enthusiastically. "I'm proud of what you +did to-night, grandfather. I don't believe he would have listened to +anyone else." + +"Friendship, comradeship, mean something when you get old, my boy." + +"I hope they'll all know who did it when the time comes right. Some of +the men who have been growling about you behind your back will have +their mouths shut for them." + +"You've been hearing the old man cussed thoroughly and scientifically, +eh?" drawled the Duke. He squinted, quizzically. "Well, a man who stays +in politics fifty years and doesn't make enemies, stays too close to the +ground to be worth anything. Good, healthy, vigorous enemies are a +compliment." + +"I wonder whether his party will say that when General Waymouth starts +out in his reforms." + +"What reforms?" demanded the old man, tugging off his collar. + +"You heard what he said--about what he intended to do--the warning, as +he called it." + +Thornton looked at his grandson serenely and with a glint of humor in +his eyes. + +"You don't have any idea, do you, that Vard Waymouth is going to play +politics with sugar-plums instead of with the chips he finds on the +table? Get your wisdom teeth cut, young chap. That's another branch of +the science for you to learn." + +Harlan protested, his loyalty a bit shocked. + +"I believe that General Waymouth meant what he said." + +"Well, what did he say?" + +"You _know_ what he said. I saw you listening pretty closely, +grandfather. He intends a square deal for this State. I may be young, +and I probably don't understand politics, but I know an honest gentleman +when I see one." + +"My boy, there's no question of dishonesty here. Don't pick up any of +the patter that the demagogues are babbling--and they don't know just +what they mean themselves. He _is_ an honest man. Have I known him all +my life without finding that out? But he isn't going to start out and +clinch any reputation for honesty by turning his back on his own party +and its interests--not for the sake of having the cheap demagogues of +the other side pat him on the back and pick his pockets at the same +time. He knows politics too well. But we won't sit up here to-night and +discuss that. Keep your faith in him. He's worth it." + +With his coat on his arm he started for his berth. + +"The idea is, then, the party is going to make him stand first of all +for things that will help the party, without much regard for what will +help the people of this State as a whole? That's politics according to +the code, is it, grandfather?" + +"That's politics, my boy," stated the Duke with decision. "Once in a +while you find a fellow splitting off and trying to play it different, +but he doesn't last. Why the devil should he? It's his party, isn't it, +that puts him on the job?" + +"It's the majority of the people that do it, if he's elected." + +"Don't get fooled on this 'people' idea, Harlan. The people are no good +without organization--and organization _is_ the party. I don't want to +discourage you, son. You'll see some opportunities where you can grab in +and turn a trick for the general good of all hands. But you can't dump +your friends. You've got to stand by your own party first. You do +anything else, and you'll simply get the reputation of being a kicker +and an insurgent. And then you can't spin a thread. Your own party +doesn't want you and the other side is afraid of you. _Ideals_ are +blasted good in their way, but in politics cut out the _I_ and attend to +the _deals_. It's the only way you'll get anywhere." + +Harlan sat alone for a while and thought. Rebellion seethed in him. But +it was rebellion against something vague--protest that was more instinct +than actual understanding. He still lacked the prick of party +enthusiasm; party, as he had seen its operations, stood for some pretty +sordid actualities. One thing comforted him: he had not lost his faith +in General Waymouth. His grandfather's cynicism had not destroyed that. +He realized that his youth and his lack of experience would make him a +very humble cog in the legislative machinery. But he had youth and high +hopes, and his creed from boyhood had been to do everything that he had +to do resolutely and to the full measure of his ability. + +When he looked at his watch he decided that he would not go to his +berth. The train would reach the State capital shortly after four in the +morning. He dozed in his seat, the grateful breath of the summer night +fanning his face through the screen. The Duke found him there, appearing +as he had departed, his coat on his arm, his collar in his hand. He was +full of the briskness of the dawn in spite of his short rations of +sleep. + +"You mustn't think because you've found sins in the party that you've +been picked out for the atonement, boy," he chided, jocosely. "Get your +sleep--always get your sleep. I wouldn't have been alive to-day if I'd +been kept awake by worry and wonder." + +A cab took their luggage to the hotel. They walked up the hill. It was +the old man's suggestion. + +"It'll do us good. This air beats any cocktail you can get over Luke's +bar--and they serve as good a one as you'll get anywhere, even if this +is a prohibition State." + +"Wasn't it Governor Waymouth who signed the first prohibition bill in +this State?" asked Harlan. + +"Still dwelling on visions of reform, eh?" inquired his grandfather, +smiling broadly. He did not reply immediately. He stepped ahead, for +they were obliged to walk in single file past a man who was sweeping +sawdust across the sidewalk. In the windows that flanked the open doors +of his shop dusty cigar boxes were piled. The shelves within were empty. +Harlan recognized the nature of the establishment. It was a grog-shop in +its partial disguise. He got the odor of stale liquors from the open +door as he passed. + +"I was present when he signed it," said the Duke, as soon as they were +walking side by side once more. "Something had to be done politically +with the Washingtonian movement, you know; it had cut the cranks out of +the main herd. You'd think, nowadays, to hear some of the things that +are said about conditions in the old times, that every man in this State +picked up his rum-bottle and pipe and threw 'em to Tophet and got onto +the wagon. You weren't born then. Let me tell you how it really +happened. It was mostly politics. The disorganized mob of +prohibitionists didn't do it--it was our party. We needed the cranks to +swing the balance of power. They were all herded, ready to follow the +bell. Needed a shepherd. Didn't know which one of the old parties to run +to. It's a crime in politics not to grab in a bunch of the unbranded +when it's that size. We put prohibition into the platform and carried +the election. Then the boys went to the Governor and told him, +privately, that they really didn't mean it, and framed it up that they'd +pass the bill in the legislature all right and then he'd veto it--and +the party would be saved, and he wouldn't be hurt, because every one +knew that he couldn't be accused of acting in the interests of the +rumsellers, but only stood on the constitutional law ground--and there +was great talk those days, son, of personal liberty and inherent rights. +But Vard picked up his pen and told us he wasn't much of a hand for +playing practical jokes on the people. He signed it. And he was a +license man, at that, those days. Guess he is now." + +"I don't see how you can say he has played politics--not after he stood +out like that." + +Thelismer Thornton laughed silently. They were half-way up the long +hill. The bland morning was already growing warm. The old man stopped +for a moment, hat off, under a dewy maple. + +"Bub, do you think Vard Waymouth, lawyer that he is, didn't know just +about how much that act would amount to after it got to operating? About +all it did was to proclaim the rum business contraband. No teeth, no +claws, not much machinery for enforcement--and public sentiment cussing +it, after it began to hit men individually. Reform in politics is +popular just so long as it doesn't hit individuals." + +"There's teeth enough in the law _now_", remarked Harlan. + +"Oh, it's easier to put 'em in than it is to fight the mouths of the +professional ramrodders who come down to the legislature. We put in the +teeth right along and leave off the enforcement muscle. The old thing +can't chaw! Then the ramrodders have got the law to hoorah about and +read over in the parlor, and they'll go right past such a place as we +saw down the street there and not know it's a rumshop. After they get +all the law they ask for, it's a part of their game to say that the +rumshops aren't doing business. They're the kind that believe that just +having the law makes every one good--they don't want to go back on their +own scheme. Come along!" He went out into the sunshine. "I don't like to +get talking prohibition. The play is not to talk it. It runs best when +you don't talk about it. It's running good now. Saloons open, and all +the prohibitory law-frills the old fuss-budgets can crochet and hang +onto the original bush! Both sides satisfied!" + +"It may be good politics--it may seem all right to you, because you were +in the thing from the start and saw how the tricks had to be played," +grumbled the young man. "But I haven't had that kind of training. I've +been brought up in business, grandfather. And a State that will do what +this State is doing now--I'm not saying who's at fault--but the State +that will handle a law in this way is a blackleg. I believe in General +Waymouth. I believe he's got something up his sleeve in the way of real +reform. I believe he meant what he said. I don't want to see you hurt +personally in your plans, grandfather, but I want to tell you frankly +I'm with the other side in this thing." + +The Duke glanced at him inquiringly. + +"I mean, politics or no politics, I want to see a law enforced so long +as it's a law. If a party cannot hold together and keep on top with any +other system, then the party is 'in' wrong. I don't believe General +Waymouth intends to straddle. He'll enforce the law." + +"And kill his party?" inquired the old man, sarcastically. "Oh no, my +boy. The party has looked out for that. It isn't taking any chances with +a man who might get morally rambunctious. The Governor of this State +hasn't anything to do with enforcing the prohibitory law. We've kept all +the clubs out of his hands. When the W. C. T. U. converted old Governor +Levett, he got ambitious and tried it on. And the only thing he found he +could do was to issue a proclamation to the sheriffs 'to do their duty.' +The most of 'em framed it and hung it up in their offices; it was too +good a joke to keep hid." + +They walked on in silence. Harlan did not find it easy to continue that +line of talk. His deameanor did not accord with the fair face of the +morning. But the old man sauntered on under the trees, plainly contented +with the world and all that was in it. + +"Let's see, you haven't met Madeleine, Luke's girl, since she was +little, have you?" he inquired, stealing one of his shrewd side glances +at his grandson. + +Harlan was occupied with his own thoughts and shook his head. + +"I was _thinking_ she'd been away at school whenever you've been down +here with me. Beautiful girl, my boy. Brains, too. Polish up your +thoughts. These college girls are pretty bright, you know." + +"I don't think she will notice whether I've got any thoughts or not," +replied the young man, sourly. "She won't pay much attention to a +woodsman--not that kind of a girl." + +"What kind of a girl?" + +"One that's full of society notions and college airs. I know the kind. +Unless a fellow has wasted about half his life in dancing and loafing +around summer resorts they treat him as though he were a cross between +an Eskimo and a Fiji. Life is too short to play poodle for girls of that +sort." + +"Well, you are certainly on the mourners' bench to-day, front row and an +end seat," said the old man, disgustedly. "You'd better go up and take a +nap till breakfast-time, and use sleep, soap, a razor, and common sense +and smooth yourself off. I reckon I haven't got you out of those woods +any too quick." + +Only the earliest birds of the hostelry roost were about the big house +at that hour. The new arrivals dodged scrub-women and sweepers in the +office and on the stairs, and went to their rooms. The Duke, leaving +his grandson at his bedroom door, suggested a bit stiffly that he would +"call around about eight o'clock and open the den and lead him down to a +little raw meat, unless he smoothed up his manners and his appetite in +the mean time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE DUKE'S DOUBLE CAMPAIGN + + +Presson came in with the Duke at eight o'clock, bringing cordial morning +greetings to Harlan's room. + +The old man found his grandson much improved, both in spirits and garb. +In his fresh, cool, summer gray, erect, stalwart, and clear-eyed, he won +a grunt of approval from his mentor. + +"There's nothing like being young, Luke! I was just telling you that the +boy was getting into the dumps--bound to study all the seams before he +put the coat on. But the world looks better now, doesn't it, son?" + +"It's the fit of the coat that counts in politics," observed the +chairman, sagely. "And the one that was built last night fits like the +paper on the wall. Don't bother with the seams, Harlan. The lining +covers 'em." + +"Presson likes the frame-up, Harlan," said the Duke, smiling broadly. +"He isn't even jealous because I thought of it first." + +"Who else could have pulled it off as you have, Thelismer? It would take +more than straight politics to get Vard Waymouth out of his den. And I +could have offered only politics." + +With an arm about each he pushed them to the door, saying that his wife +and daughter were waiting below. When Harlan turned from his respectful +greeting of the mother, whom he knew, he found Miss Presson looking at +him with frank and smiling interest. He had heard vague reports that +Madeleine Presson had blossomed into beautiful womanhood since he had +seen her. He had been prepared to meet a rather vain and pampered young +lady, conscious of her charms and attainments. He assumed a bit of +reserve as armor for his sensitiveness. But this attitude responded so +ill to her good-humored ease in renewing their acquaintanceship that he +was momentarily embarrassed, remembering what he had said to his +grandfather a few hours before. + +"I think I have a most distinct recollection of Mr. Harlan Thornton. +When I was ten years old you brought me some lumps of spruce-gum in a +birch-bark box and I declined it, saying that young ladies did not chew +gum. But I took it when you looked so sad, and I carried it away to +boarding-school, and I found out that young ladies do chew gum--when no +one is watching them. That gift made me very popular, sir, and now I +thank you. I fear I did not thank you then." + +"It's worth waiting all this time to hear you say that. I'm glad the +gift found appreciation, for I culled the winter pickings of a whole +logging crew for those red nuggets. I've been so distrustful of my good +taste ever since that I've never dared to give anything to a young +lady." + +"I'm afraid you didn't realize what you were doing when you snubbed +him," put in the Duke. "I haven't been able to get him out of the woods +since--till now, and I've had to bring him almost by main force." + +The carriage was at the door. The State chairman led the way to it. He +had a home for his family apart from the big hotel, the mammoth hostelry +of the State--one of his many business ventures. + +"We are on our way home from our morning ride--it's the real jolly part +of the June day, the two hours before breakfast," explained the girl, as +they went down the steps. "When we called here for father you may +imagine how delighted we were to find your grandfather. I know you +understand, Mr. Harlan Thornton, what a dear old man your grandfather +is!" + +"He has been mother, father, brother, and sister and best friend--all +those to me. He has seemed to have some of the elements of all. + +"I know of the good things he has done, and how ungrateful some of the +folks are he has helped. Your grandfather would be a real saint if it +were not for politics. You know we folks at the State capital hear +politics talked all the time. I suppose my good father has the same +wicked things said about him--though, of course, I don't hear them." + +"And I've been too deep in the woods to hear." + +Presson ushered his wife and the young people into the carriage. + +"Thelismer and I would rather walk," he said. "We have some more matters +to talk over." And he sent them away. + +Harlan took his seat opposite the ladies, and now, in this close +proximity, he realized how charming the young girl was. From the close +braids of her brown hair to the tips of her bronze shoes she was womanly +grace and refinement personified. There was a cordial frankness in her +tone and eyes that attracted him, and put him at his ease. Yet there was +no hint of coquetry. He liked her at once and instinctively, because +somehow she seemed to meet him on a manly plane of good-fellowship--and +yet she was so thoroughly and deliciously feminine. There was just a bit +of a drawl in her voice, a suggestion of jocoseness, continual +appreciation of the humor of life and living. And her laugh was an +inspiration. + +He was a little surprised at himself when he found that he was chatting +with her so easily. Later, when he reflected, he understood. She had +almost a masculine breadth of view in addition to her culture. In that +first day of their meeting she gave voice to some of his own unexpressed +views regarding the trend of the times in public matters. She +apologized, half-humorously. "But as I said to you a while ago, we hear +politics talked much at the State capital." + +Following the after-breakfast chat, he walked back to the hotel with his +grandfather. + +"By-the-way, I didn't lie to you any about Luke's girl, did I?" remarked +the old man, casually, and as though the matter had occurred to him in +default of better topic. "But she's too advanced in her ideas for a +woman. She'll be suffragette-ing it next." + +When Harlan began to defend the right of women to interest themselves in +the larger affairs, only a twinkle in the Duke's eye betrayed his +amusement. If Harlan, in his first quick suspicions, had secretly +accused his grandfather of planning a matrimonial campaign in +conjunction with his political one, he was now ashamed of those +suspicions, for they concerned Madeleine Presson. Having met her, he +realized that if he should dare to connect her in his thoughts with +anything that his grandfather might be scheming he was making of himself +a very presumptuous and silly ass. Now that he had seen her, now when he +was spending days of waiting at the State capital and seeing her +frequently, he found that Madeleine Presson's personality eliminated +possible matchmakers. He felt very humble in her presence--and still +ashamed. He had never taken stock of his own deficiencies very +particularly. His environment had not prompted it. He had been superior +to the men he had ruled. He realized now that the little amenities of +life which make for poise and ease must be lived, not simply learned. +In taking thought lest he err he found himself proceeding awkwardly. His +training in the past had led him to set work and achievement ahead of +all the rest. He understood now that those essentials in a life that is +to yield the most appear better as superstructure. Mere achievement may +attract respect. Erected on culture, it wins still more. Respect feeds +only one appetite of ambition. True ambition is hungry for affection and +friends, placing lovers ahead of sycophants. And the finer qualities, +the softer virtues, attract more surely than mere fame. + +These and similar reflections came to young Thornton rather +incoherently. It was not that he desired the affection or the admiration +of Madeleine Presson. But this young woman represented for him a new +phase of the world he was meeting in its broader sense--and he was +ambitious with the zest of youth. Often he was obliged to spur himself +out of diffidence in her serene presence. At other times she put him at +his ease with a tact which made him realize his own shortcomings. And +under those circumstances ambition droops like a plant in a drought. + +He had time to think during the two weeks he was at the State capital +waiting for the big convention. His grandfather made no demands upon +him. + +Thelismer Thornton had quietly appointed himself the dominant figure in +the back room at State headquarters. Under his big hand all the strings +met. Even Luke Presson took subordinate post as a lieutenant. + +The Duke of Fort Canibas _knew_ that he was in control. + +The Hon. David Everett _believed_ that _he_ was. Thornton blandly +cultivated that belief in Everett. When Everett talked he listened. When +Everett counselled he agreed. He invited all the confidence of that +gentleman; he made sure that "the logical candidate" used him as +repository of all his political secrets; he was careful to assure +himself that Everett's strength was entirely in his hands and under his +control--for he intended to shatter that strength so instantly, so +thoroughly, that not one fragment would be left to hamper his own plans. + +And yet day by day, word by word, hint by hint--his eye on the future +loyalty of the Everett faction at the polls--he made the candidate +understand that Arba Spinney was a man to be reckoned with--that the +convention was not an open-and-shut certainty for the machine. Without +realizing how it had come about, Everett found himself discussing +"political exigencies." Without knowing that he had been selected as a +martyr for his party, he committed himself in lofty sentiments regarding +the duty of a man in a crisis. Not that he suspected that his chances +were endangered. He felt that he was truly the man of destiny; he was +urging other men to forget their slights and their disappointments and +rally to him. But the fact remained that--thinking wholly of other +men--he had committed himself, and in a way that he could be reminded of +when the time came. + +The Duke planted that kedge well out, to serve in the stress of weather +at the polls in the fall, should Everett and his men be silly enough to +confound "party exigency" with treachery. + +All men are forgetful. The Duke feared that some men had forgotten the +details of Gen. Varden Waymouth's notable life. The publicity bureau, +obeying crafty suggestions and not understanding just what it was all +about, began in the stress of that campaign to recall stories of the old +days. And no man represented the old days as did Varden Waymouth, hero, +scholar, and statesman. There were giants in the old days, and every +machine newspaper in the State hailed General Waymouth as chief of the +giants. They contrasted the present with the past. General Waymouth's +picture gazed forth in stately benignity from every broadside--his life +story filled the columns of newspapers and the mouths of men. + +With Arba Spinney's activities Thornton was in touch at all times. More +than ever before Mr. Spinney merited his title "Fog-horn." He was +striking the high places in the State, pouring language from under the +mat of his mustache, warning all men off the political shoals of "the +machine." From those shoals he was scooping up mud in both hands, and +spattering all men and all measures. He found plenty of listeners, for +protest was abroad. But the persistent defamer irritates even his +friends. He offends the innate sense of patriotism and loyalty which +slinks even in the breast of the rebel. The Duke noted with satisfaction +the outward symptoms of Mr. Spinney's campaign; he was winning a +following in those days of unrest. Through the columns of his newspapers +the old politician exploited Mr. Spinney, seeing to it that he was well +advertised as a man who persistently branded his own State as a den of +infamy. Thus he made Spinney strong enough to play against Everett and +weak enough to fall far in the estimation of men when the time came for +him to fall. + +And then at last, in the latter days of June, all roads led to Rome. The +Republican Convention was called for the twenty-eighth, in the big hall +of the State's metropolis. + +On the day before, Thelismer Thornton emerged from the back room of +headquarters at the State capital, and with Chairman Presson and Harlan +journeyed to the scene of the conflict. Before their departure the Duke +had been obliged, smilingly, to refuse a request of Mrs. Presson's. + +She had asked that young Mr. Thornton be delegated as squire of dames to +accompany herself and her party to the convention. + +"I'm afraid you haven't realized for a week or so that the boy is in +politics, Lucretia. I've let him run to pasture with a pretty long cord +on him. He'll have to come in under the saddle now. We'll have one of +the young beaus from the Governor's staff on the lookout for you at the +hall. This fellow here"--he patted Harlan's arm--"he hasn't been broken +to the society bridle yet. He was allowing to me the other day that he +didn't propose to be, either." + +Miss Presson had overheard. + +Harlan, remembering, flashed a glance of rebuke and anger at the old +man. It was a shock to him to have his own sentiments thrust back at him +in that manner. + +"We haven't found Mr. Harlan ungallant," protested Mrs. Presson. She +treated the matter in jest, though the young man's face did not indicate +that he especially appreciated the humor. + +"Oh, he's probably just been playing 'possum--practising dissimulation, +getting used to being a politician! You be watching out, Lucretia. He'll +forget himself and make a bolt pretty soon. The test of the thing will +be in seeing whether he holds out or not!" + +In his indignation, Harlan was too confused just then to grasp the fact +that his tormentor was craftily handing him over to the Presson +womenfolk, bound, branded, and supple--unless he proposed to merit his +grandfather's label in their estimation. + +"Now, look here, grandfather"--he began, wrathfully; but the Duke pulled +him away, drowning his protests in a laugh. + +"You have placed me in a ridiculous position, and that's a mighty mild +way to put it," complained the indignant victim, when they were outside. +"I don't understand, grandfather, why you do something to me every now +and then that knocks all the props out from under me. It isn't +decent--it's vulgar--it's shameful, the way you do some things!" + +"Operate in a queer way, do I?" inquired the old man, blandly. + +"You certainly do." + +"Did you ever stop to think, boy, that human nature is a queer thing?" + +"Whose human nature are you referring to--yours or mine?" + +"You know what the old Quaker said to his wife: 'All the world's queer, +dear, except thee and me--and thee's a little queer!'" + +The angry young man would have liked to get a little more light on the +question, but Chairman Presson was ready for them and hustled them into +the carriage. And on the ride to the station, during the journey by +train, at the convention city, there were other matters uppermost +besides a young man's pique. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE BEES AND THE WOULD-BES + + +Men--a swarm of men--a hiveful of men. Lobbies, parlors, corridors, +stairways of the big hotel packed with men. + +Men in knots, in groups, in throngs, pressing together, disintegrating +to form new groups, revolving in the slow mass of the herd, shaking +hands, crying greetings, mumbling confidential asides. An observer who +did not understand would find it all as aimless as the activity of an +ant-heap--as puzzling as the slow writhings of a swarm of bees. Clouds +of cigar smoke over all--voices blended into one continual diapason; +medley, and miasma of close human contact. + +After supper, in the crowded hotel dining-room, Harlan Thornton +accompanied his grandfather through the press of jostling men. + +The night before a State Convention was a new experience for him. He +walked behind the Duke, who made his slow, urbane way here and there, +drawling good-humored replies to salutations. He had quip ready for +jest, handclasp for his intimates, tactful word for the newer men who +were dragged forward to meet him. Even the Governor of the State, a +ponderous dignitary with a banner of beard, did not receive so hearty a +welcome, for the Governor was accorded only the perfunctory adulation +given to one whose reign was passing. + +"Governors come and Governors go, Thornton, but you've got where you're +an institution!" cried one admirer. "I'll be sorry to miss you out of +the legislature this winter." + +"But here's another Thornton--and you can see that he won't rattle +'round in the seat," returned the Duke, his arm affectionately about his +grandson's shoulders. + +As he went about, in this unobtrusive way, varying his manner with +different men, he presented his political heir. + +At that hour there was no surface hint of the factional spirit that +divided the gathering which had flocked from the ends of the State. +Jealousy, spite, apprehension, rivalry were hidden under the gayety of +men meeting after long separation. The political kinship of party men +dominated all else in those early hours. It was a reunion. Food nestled +comfortably under the waistbands. Tobacco--cigars exchanged, lights +borrowed from glowing tips--loaned its solace. Bickerings were in +abeyance. Men were sizing up. Men were trying out each other. Courtesy +invites confidences. The candidates had not "taken their corners." The +suites that they had selected for headquarters were now occupied only by +the lieutenants who were arranging the boxes of cigars and stacking the +literature ready for distribution. + +The Hon. David Everett, serene in the consciousness of approval by his +party machine, held preliminary court in one corner of the spacious +office lobby. The State chairman was with him--his executioner skilfully +disguised. + +Thelismer Thornton forged through the crowd in that direction. He paid +his respects publicly and heartily. In that hour when congratulations +sugared the surface of conditions, after he had pump-handled men until +his arm ached, Everett forgot that he ever had entertained doubts. + +"There's nothing to this!" he had been assuring the State chairman over +and over, catching opportunity for asides. "They're all coming into +line. The sight of you and Thornton backing me has reminded them all +that they can't afford to rip the party open. There's nothing to it!" + +Presson agreed amiably. But studying his men, searching for insincerity, +he saw what Everett closed his eyes to. He exchanged a significant +glance with the Duke as the latter turned to resume his promenade. + +Above the continual, distracting babble one sonorous voice rose +insistently. Laughter and applause broke in upon it occasionally. There +was a din in that corner of the lobby that attracted many of the +curiosity-seekers in that direction. + +"There's Fog-horn Spinney holding forth," Thornton informed Harlan, +ironically. "Come along. We mustn't slight any of the candidates." + +They made way for him. Men grinned up into his face as he passed. They +scented possible entertainment when the big boss met the demagogue. Many +of the men wore badges--long strips of ribbon with this legend printed +thereon, running lengthwise of the ribbon: + +HONEST ARBA + +Candidate Spinney had a thick packet of ribbons in one of his +gesticulating hands. He was flushed, vociferous, and somewhat insolent. +Like Everett, he was not analyzing the acclamation that greeted +everything he said; applause had made him drunk. But under the hilarity +of his listeners there was considerable enthusiasm for the man himself. +The Duke perceived it, for he realized what times had come upon the +State. Spinney's bombast expressed the protest that was abroad. +Rebellion, thirsty, does not seek the cold spring of Reason. It fuddles +itself with hot speech, it riots--it dares not pause to ponder. + +"The men that are running this State to-day are running it for +themselves," he declaimed, as Thornton and his grandson came into the +front rank of his listeners. "They want it all. I brand 'em for what +they are. I could take glue and a hair-brush and make hogs out of every +one of 'em!" + +A shout of laughter! There was more zest for the mob in the point of Mr. +Spinney's remarks, with the Duke of Fort Canibas, lord of the north +country, present to listen. + +"I'm not ashamed of my platform. I'm willing to promulgate it. For I'm +going to stand behind it. It ain't a platform fixed up in a back room of +this hotel the night before convention, sprung at the last minute, and +worded so that it reads the same backward and forward, and doesn't mean +any more than whistling a tune! What kind of a system is it that taxes +the poor man's family dog, the friend of his children, a dollar, and +lets the rich man's wild lands off with two mills on a valuation screwed +down to pinhead size?" + +Applause that indicated that the bystanders owned dogs! + +"If you're hunting for something to tax, pick out bachelors instead of +dogs. Dogs can't earn money. Bachelors can. There are forty thousand old +maids and widows in this State who can't find husbands. Tax the +bachelors. Give the single women a pension. Hunt out the tax-dodgers. +There are things enough to tax instead of the farms and cottages of the +poor men." + +He now fixed the Duke with his gaze. + +"You don't dare to deny, do you, that the system in this State is +screwing the last cent out of the exposed property and letting the +dodgers go free? Tax the necessities of the poor, say you! I say, tax +the luxuries of the rich!" + +"In some countries, I believe, they get quite a revenue by taxing +mustaches," stated the Duke, thus appealed to. + +Spinney indignantly broke in on the laughter. + +"You've carried off oppression so far as a joke, but you can't do it any +longer, Squire Thornton. The people are awake this time. They've got +done electing lawyers and dudes and land-grabbers for Governors. They're +going to have a Governor that will make State officials work for fair +day's wages, as the farmers and artisans work. No more high-salaried +loafers in public office! No more dynasties, Sir Duke of Fort Canibas! +You'll be having a coat of arms next!" + +This last was said in rude jest--the public horseplay of a man anxious +to win his laugh at any cost. + +"I've got a coat of arms, Arba; I won the decoration when I retired from +hard work at the age of fifty. That was about the time you were starting +in life by selling fake mining stock around this State. My coat of arms +is two patches on a homespun background, surrounded by looped galluses. +And I can show you the mile of stone walls I built before you were +born." + +Spinney did not relish the merriment which followed that sally. + +"You've outgrown that coat of arms, then, in these days," he retorted. +"They all know you by a different stripe since you set the other chap at +work, Squire Thornton. And the pendulum of power is swinging the other +way! The people are behind _me_. You'd better get aboard." His style of +humor depended most on its effrontery. He held out one of his badges. +"Better put it on," he advised. "Get aboard with the rush! They're all +for 'Honest Arba.'" + +The Duke stepped forward and presented his breast. + +"Pin it on, Arba. When a man shifts his business and is introducing a +brand-new line of goods, different from what he ever carried before, he +needs all the advertising he can get. Pin it on!" + +But Mr. Spinney did not pin it on. He had been sure that the old man +would indignantly refuse, and his discomfiture was evident. + +"You're showing your regular disposition, I see," he growled. "Grabbing +everything you can get hold of. But a joke is a joke--let this one rest +right here! Thornton, I say it here to your face, where all the boys can +hear me: the people want a change in this State. I am not going behind a +door to talk with you--that's been done too much! I stand in the open +and say it! Open fighting after this--that's my code. I fight for the +people. The people shall be put wise and kept wise to all that's going +on." + +"It's a good plan," counselled the Duke, unperturbed. "I see I can't +tell you anything about advertising." He tapped a badge on the breast of +a man near him. + +"I'm for the people!" shouted Spinney. "The old wagon needs a new +wheel-horse. I don't insist I'm the right one--or the only one. I merely +say I'm willing to take hold and haul, if the people want me to. I offer +myself, if no better one is found." + +The crowd applauded that sentiment generously. + +Thornton did not lose his amiability--his tolerant yet irritating +good-humor. + +"Speaking of wheel-horses, Arba--a man up my way started out to buy a +horse the other day. He found a black one that suited--but the man who +owned that horse was mighty honest, as most of my constituents are. 'You +don't want him,' he told the man. 'He's too blamed slow.' 'That doesn't +hurt him a bit for me,' said the buyer. 'I want him to mate another +black horse to haul my hearse. I'm an undertaker!' 'Then you certainly +don't want him,' insisted the fellow. 'The _living_ can _wait_, but the +_dead_ have got to be _buried_.'" + +The Duke had made his way out of the crowd before the laughter ceased. + +"Apply it to suit, Arba!" he called over his shoulder. + +Arm in arm with his grandson, the Duke traversed the lobby and went up +the broad stairs to the State Committee headquarters--double parlors on +the floor above. The men who were sitting in the main parlor saluted the +old man in the offhand manner of intimates. He drew his grandson into +the privacy of the rear room. + +"Now, my boy, get your hat, take a carriage and meet General Waymouth at +the nine o'clock train. I've had him on the telephone. He's coming here +to-night. Between us, he's grown lukewarm on our proposition. I want you +to talk with him after you meet him. Take your time on the way from the +station." + +"I'm a pretty poor agent to send on such a job as that," said Harlan, +deprecatingly. + +"You're just the one," insisted the old man. "Don't you suppose I knew +what I was doing when I took you with me that night? Talk for the young +men of this State! He's tired of politics and politicians. I am, myself, +sometimes. He's got to dwelling on the political side. Get it out of his +mind. Thank God, you don't know enough politics to talk it to him! You +can talk from your heart, boy. The younger generation in this State does +want a change. I realize it. But that change has got to be tempered with +political wisdom. It must be managed through politics. I'll attend to +that part. It's your task to make Vard Waymouth see that he ought to +stand. You can do it. Begin with him where you left off." + +Harlan hesitated. + +"Well?" inquired the Duke, a bit petulantly. + +"I've been used to talking straight out to you, grandfather. I'm willing +to help as far as it's in my poor power. But I want you to tell me that +I'm not being used as a decoy-duck in this thing." + +"I reckon you'd better explain that, son," said the Duke, stiffly. + +"It's your own fault that I'm saying a word about it. But you did some +talking after we came away from General Waymouth's house. It wasn't so +much what you said; it was what you intimated. I believe in General +Waymouth. But if I'm any judge of what has been framed up, he isn't +going to be allowed to do what he wants to do." + +"Did I say so?" + +"No. But you did say that he would play the game with the chips that are +on the table, not with sugar-plums." + +"And you construe that to mean that I'm pulling him into this thing so +as to be able to work him in the interests of the machine, eh?" inquired +the Duke, putting into brutal speech even more than his grandson's vague +suspicions suggested. "Now, look here! You remember Pod McClintock and +his epileptic fits? You know he fell into a barbed-wire fence in a fit, +and told around afterward how he had been to heaven, and the devil met +him on his way back and clawed him for spite? Well, now don't you go to +imitating Pod. There's more or less barbed wire in politics--any man +gets afoul of it. But don't lay it to the devil. That will be elevating +accidents onto too high a plane. If Vard Waymouth is the next Governor +of this State there'll be some wire fences that he won't be able to sit +on. There'll be too many barbs. We'll put top rails onto all the fences +we can. But you can't make any fence safe for those that are bound to +butt head-first into barbed wire. Waymouth isn't the kind to do any +butting. I'll tell you this, Harlan, and it's straight: if I help to +make Waymouth our next Governor, I'll help to make him a good +one--provided he needs any of my help in that line. Now go and attend +to your business." + +There were few at the railroad station, and those few paid little heed +to General Waymouth when he stepped down from the train. The young man +greeted him with eager respect, and explained why he was there. + +The General took his arm and walked to the carriage. "This is restful. +I'm glad to see you here," he said. "But to-morrow," he added, bitterly, +"if I am fool enough to be dragged back into politics, I'll be met +wherever I go by men that fawn and men that seek--by that crowd I +thought and hoped I had escaped forever. I was very hasty, Mr. Thornton, +when I gave my word to your grandfather. I fear I must hold you +responsible just because you were present." He smiled as the young man +took his seat opposite. "But you constituted a new element in politics. +I had been having my dreams in the peace of my home--and one of those +dreams was to see the young men of this State breaking away from the +political bondage of the fathers. But I'm afraid I am older than I +thought. I have an old man's fears. I have had enough--too much--of the +contact of men. Now this next idea is fanciful--another proof that I'm +old--in my dotage, perhaps." His tone was gently playful. "I told you +the other day that you seemed to typify the young strength of the State. +So I'm going to appeal to you, young man--I cannot very well appeal to +the rest, for they are not in the secret--I'm going to beg of you, Mr. +Second Generation, to release me from my promise. What say you?--and +remember that I'm an old man who has fought the good fight and is very +weary." + +"I've got to confess there isn't much wit and humor in me--there doesn't +seem to be just now," stammered Harlan, after groping some moments for +suitable reply to what he accepted as badinage. + +"Oh, I don't want jest in answer to that, sir," protested the General. +"I am in earnest." But his tone was still a bit whimsical. "You know, +even so great a man as Caesar consulted the oracle and the omens and the +soothsayers. Why should not I practice a little divination? Now answer +me, young man--or I'll say, young _men_ of the State?" + +"Yet I can't think you really mean that, General," protested Harlan, +wholly confused by this persistent banter. + +"Call it in fun, call it in earnest, still I demand my answer." General +Waymouth was serious now. "I came here resolved to tell Thelismer, face +to face, that I could not sacrifice the last strength of my life in the +way he has asked. But when you met me at the station all my ambitions +for this newer generation, as I have dreamed them, came up in me. My +boy, this State of ours is in a bad way. In one respect it is especially +bad. We have one solemn law in our constitution that is made our own +political football and the laughing-stock of the nation. We forbid the +sale of liquor. Look at that saloon we are passing at this moment! It is +a law that affects nearly every person in our State--comes near to every +one, directly or indirectly. The manner of its breaking, publicly and +protected by politics, has bred disrespect for all law in the boys who +are growing up. And they are the ones who will run our State when we +oldsters are gone. I'll not say anything about the other reforms that +conditions are calling for. There's _one_--the big one that flaunts +itself in our faces. I'm of the old school, Mr. Thornton. I don't +believe in the prohibitory principle as applied to the liquor question. +It hasn't the right spirit behind it--it is invoked by bigots and +fanatics who refuse helpful compromise. But it's a law--our law! Every +day that passes under present conditions adds its little to the +damnation of the moral principle in our boys and girls, growing up with +eyes and ears open. God, I wish I were twenty years younger! But I'm old +enough to have fantastic notions; old enough to insist on an answer to +my question, in spite of what you may think of my mental condition. Will +you release me from that promise? I made it to the young men of this +State--in my disgust at conditions, in my passion to do something to +clean out this nest!" + +The lights from the brilliant shop-windows shone into the carriage. +Harlan leaned forward. The General's face was serious. + +"Still, I can't understand it!" he cried. "I'm only--" + +"I tell you, you typify for me at this moment the young men of my State! +I choose to decide in this fashion. Do you feel that an honest Governor +would help your self-respect?" + +"I can answer that question, sir. I believe in you. Ever since you +promised my grandfather that you would accept the nomination I have +depended on that promise. I know what you can do for our State. If you +are not to be our next Governor the heart has gone out of me, and the +young men of this State have lost their best hope." + +The carriage wheels had grated to a standstill against the curb in front +of the big hotel. The buzz of the crowded hive came out to them through +the open windows. General Waymouth glanced that way and frowned. But +when he turned and looked into the glowing face of the young man +opposite, his countenance cleared slowly. His smile returned. There was +a hint of pathos in that smile, but his eyes shone. He put out his hand +and took Harlan's in a firm clasp. + +"That sounds like my call to duty, Mr. Thornton," he declared. "I +listen. I obey!" Then he dropped his earnestness. "Let this little talk +remain a secret between us. These practical politicians wouldn't +understand. A bit of an old man's weakness; perhaps that was it. A +little eccentric, eh?" + +The driver had opened the carriage door. + +"I believe I understand, sir. I do now. And I'm sorry." + +The remark was a bit cryptic, but the General understood. + +"And you'll appreciate better what this means to me when you are as old +as I. But that's the last of talk like this, my boy. There's one more +fight still in me. We'll just go ahead and find out how much honesty is +left in this State--and you shall help me hunt for it, for old eyes need +the help of young ones, and I'm going outside the politicians to find +honesty." + +He led the way across the pavement to a side door of the hotel. + +"We'll go in this way, quietly," he said. "I haven't any appetite for +that kind of a stew just yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SITTING IN FOR THE DEAL + + +On the second floor of the hotel Thelismer Thornton was pacing the +corridor, hands behind his back, puffing his cigar. He was paying no +heed to the men who were streaming past him in both directions, going +and coming from the rooms of the candidates. Everett and Spinney were in +their suites, extending hospitality with questionable cigars and +ice-water. + +Delegates were flocking up from the hotel bar in squads. They were +meeting other delegates, forming new combinations which offered fresh +opportunities for "setting 'em up," and after paying their respects were +hustling back downstairs again to interview the gentlemen in white +jackets. + +Out from open transoms over the doors of sleeping-rooms floated cigar +smoke and voices. There were boys running with ice-water and glasses to +the noisiest rooms. From some of these rooms the familiar bacchanalian +songs were resounding even at that early hour of the evening. The chorus +of "We're here because we're here" mingled with the words of that +reminiscent old carol, "When we fit with Gineral Grant, by gosh." + +The Duke, towering, abstracted, swaying along ponderously, close to the +wall of the corridor, eyes on the head of the stairway, was as +indifferent to the uproar as he was to those who passed. + +A man who was somewhat flushed and a bit uncertain in his gait came out +of the State Committee headquarters. He planted himself in front of +Thornton. + +"Thelismer," he said, familiarly, "I've been trying to get something out +of Luke. He won't say. Now what do you know about it? Is the party going +to be honest? Are we going to get that resubmission plank in the +platform this year?" + +"They haven't asked me to write the platform, Phon." + +"I tell you, the people want a chance to vote on this prohibitory +question. It's been stuck into our constitution where the people can't +get at it. I ain't arguing high license, but I tell you the people want +a chance to vote on the question, and the Democrats are going to offer +'em a chance." + +"That's a Democratic privilege," said the Duke, calmly, preparing to +push past his interlocutor. "The Republican party stands for +prohibition, and hasn't had any trouble in rounding up the votes for the +last twenty-five years." + +But the disputant caught hold of him when he started away. + +"Look here, Thelismer, you ain't so much of a hypocrite as the most of +'em. Why don't you help us make a break in this thing? Damn it, let's be +decent about it! Rum enough running in that bar-room downstairs to drive +the turbine-wheel in my woollen-mill! Half the delegates to this +convention with a drink aboard, and a third of 'em pretty well slewed! I +am myself. But I'm honest about it. They're drinking rum in about every +room in this hotel. And they're going into convention to-morrow and nail +that prohibitory plank into the platform with spikes. By Judas, I'm +honest in my _business_; now I want to have a chance to be honest in my +_politics_!" + +The Duke gazed down on him good-humoredly. He was accustomed to +overlook the little delinquencies of his fellows on such festal +occasions as State Conventions. + +"You're asking too much out of party politics, Phon," he declared. +"There are drawbacks to all the best things; seeing that the National +platform won't let you vote as you think, you can hardly ask the State +platform to be perfect and let you vote as you drink." + +But his friend was not in the mood for jovial rallying. + +"By the gods, if you old bucks that have been running things ain't going +to give us a show--if we ain't going to get our rights from our own +party--I know what I can do! I can vote the Democratic ticket, and I +know of a lot more that will. You're asleep, you managers!" + +"Well, Phon, when you vote as you drink--voting the Democratic +ticket--you'll vote for a popocratic tax on corporations that will make +your woollen-mill look sick. And that's only _one_ thing!" + +"I know what I will do," insisted the rebel. + +The Duke took him by his two shoulders. + +"So do I," he returned. "You'll have a bath, a shave, four hot towels, +and a big bromo-seltzer--all in the morning, and you'll go into the +State Convention and stick by the party, just as you always have done. +But as for to-night--why, Phon, I wouldn't be surprised to see you +pledge yourself to Arba Spinney." + +He gayly shoved the man to one side and went on. + +"Well, even Fog-horn is getting more votes corralled than you old blind +mules realize!" shouted the other after him. "This party is sick! You're +going to find it out, too!" + +"Sick it is, but I reckon here's the doctor," muttered the old man, +hurrying toward the top of the stairs. + +General Waymouth had appeared there, Harlan close behind him. + +The Duke forestalled those who hastened to greet the veteran. Taking +his arm, he marched him promptly across the corridor and into the rear +room of State Committee headquarters. He locked the door behind them +after Harlan had entered. + +"I don't think we're exactly ready for that public reception yet," he +observed with a chuckle, turning from the door. He glanced at the +General, anxious and keen in his scrutiny. + +"Vard!" he cried, heartily, noting the resolution in the countenance, +the light in the old soldier's eyes, "you're looking better, here, than +you sounded over the telephone a few hours ago. You're going to +stand--of _course_ you're going to stand!" + +"I'll take the nomination, Thelismer--that is, providing you want me to +stand as a candidate who will go into office without a single string +hitched to him." + +"I guess the party isn't running into any desperate chances, Vard, with +you in the big chair. Sit down now and take it easy. I'll call Luke in. +After we've had our talk with him, we'll begin to enlarge our circle a +little--it's a pretty close combination up to now." + +The porter at the door summoned the chairman of the State Committee. + +"The Senator is just in from Washington," he announced, after his +enthusiastic greeting of the General. "I took him right up to Room 40, +where the Committee on Resolutions is at work. He wanted to attend to +that first. Then he'll be down here." + +The chairman was referring to the United States Senator who would, by +party custom, preside at the convention next day for the purpose of +tinkering his own fences. + +"Is Senator Pownal dictating the platform?" inquired the General, rather +icily. + +"He's got a few little ideas of his own he wants to work in," affably +explained the chairman. "Nothing drastic. A little endorsement of some +things he's gunning for. It'll be all safe and sane. We backed those +resubmission fellows out of the room." + +"By-the-way, keep a sharp eye out for those chaps, Luke," counselled the +Duke. "I've been hearing around the hotel this evening that they're +going to introduce a resubmission plank from the floor to-morrow." + +"I'll rush an early vote in the convention, providing that all +resolutions shall be presented to the Committee on Resolutions without +argument," stated the chairman. "All that foolishness can be killed +right in the committee-room. We've got trouble enough on hand in the +party this year without letting the convention express itself on the +liquor question, even if the split only amounts to a sliver." + +He pulled his chair to the table, spread some papers there, and +commanded attention by tapping his eyeglasses on the sheets. + +"Here's the programme for the routine: Called to order at ten-thirty by +chairman of State Committee. Call read by secretary. On motion of Davis +Bolton, of Hollis, proceed to effect temporary organization--Senator +Walker Pownal, chairman--and so forth. On motion of Parker Blake, of +Jay, ten minutes' recess declared for county delegations to choose +vice-president, member of State Committee, and member of the Committee +on Resolutions." + +As he read on, Harlan opened his eyes as well as his ears. The +convention of the morrow had been blocked out to the last detail. Every +motion that was to be made, every step that was to be taken, had its man +assigned to it--and that man had already been notified and tagged. +Fifteen hundred men, assembled presumably as free and independent agents +to take counsel for the good of the party, were here bound to the +narrowest routine, with programme cut and dried to such an extent that +one who dared to lift his voice to interrupt would be considered an +interloper. And he knew that even then, from what Presson had said, the +little band of the select were formulating the resolutions that the +committee would take in hand as delivered--accepting that platform as +the dictum of the party, and free speech on the convention floor denied. + +"Now," said the chairman, at the close, "let's fill in the rest, and +finish this thing now. Spinney's name will be presented by Watson, of +his county, and seconded by three other counties. I'm limiting the +seconding speeches to three. And you know the men Everett has picked +out! Of course, I've left the--the big matter in your own hands, +Thelismer." Presson glanced over his glasses at General Waymouth with a +significant smile. "Have you decided? Are you going to let both the +other candidates be put in nomination before you spring the trap?" + +"Sure!" snapped Thornton. "I want that convention to realize how little +good can be said of either of them. By the time that gets through those +fifteen hundred skulls, they'll be in a state of mind to appreciate the +man of the hour!" + +General Waymouth was leaning back in his deep chair, his head on the +rest, his eyes upturned to the ceiling, fingers tapping the chair's arm. +He was offering no comment. + +"Vard," said the Duke, "we've got to let a few more into the case now. +Overnight is short notice, at that, for a man to get his nominating +speech ready. But we're safe. It won't be the speech that will take that +convention off its feet. It'll be your name--and the fact that you're +willing to stand. Who've you got in mind?" + +"No one," replied the General, briefly. + +"Any choice?" + +"No." + +"You're willing to leave it to me?" + +"I am." + +"Then I'll admit I've picked the men in my mind. One is Linton, that +young lawyer that's been taking the lead in the referendum and the +direct primaries campaigns--both of them devilish poor political +policies; but that doesn't prevent him from being the most eloquent +young chap in the State. And he'll tole along the liberals. We'll need +only one other--that's old Colonel Wadsworth. You see the scheme of that +combination, of course! We don't need any more. The convention will be +off its feet before the old Colonel gets half through his seconding +speech. Linton is a delegate, Luke, and I saw to it that the old Colonel +was fixed out with a proxy after I got here. Now, Harlan, you go out and +hunt up those two gentlemen, and bring them here quietly. They're in the +hotel. Come to the private door, there. You say you haven't suggestions, +Vard?" + +"Not now," said the General, not shifting his position. "The time for my +suggestions has not come yet." + +Harlan went out into the throng, searching, asking questions. The first +man of whom he made inquiry recognized him as Thelismer Thornton's +grandson, and invited him to the bar to have a drink. + +"Busy?" he ejaculated when the young man declined. "H--l, there ain't +any one really busy here to-night, except Senator Pownal and Luke +Presson. They're running the convention. The delegates don't have to do +anything--they are just here for a good time. Come on!" + +As Harlan walked away from him, he remembered what Chairman Presson had +just delivered from his papers, and decided that truth often spoke from +the depths of the wine-cup. + +He did not find either of his men in the Hon. David Everett's +headquarters. The rooms were packed. Perspiring delegates were edging in +and oozing out. Everett was industriously shaking hands, his rubicund +face sweat-streaked, his voice hoarse after his hours of constant +chatter in that smoke-drenched atmosphere. Harlan stood a moment, and +looked at him with a sort of shamed pity. The plot seemed unworthy, in +spite of its object. The sordid treachery of politics was turned up to +him, all its seamy side displayed. + +Two men crowded past him, talking low; but in that press their mouths +were near his ear. They were halted by the jam at the door. + +"What did you stab him for--how much?" asked one. + +"Got ten," said his companion--"ten on account. I get fifty for the +caucus." + +"Too many machine Republicans in my town, and he knows it," said the +other. "The best I could do was fool him out of twenty-five. But that's +doing well--in these times. This Spinney stir has made it cost Everett +more than it has cost any candidate for ten years. I really didn't have +the heart to crowd him for any more. He's been jounced down good and +hard as it is." + +Harlan took one more look at the unconscious and fatuous Everett, and +went out of the room. Twenty feet away, as he knew, sat his grandfather, +ready and able to smash the candidate's dreams and chances as a child +bursts a soap-bubble. And the man's money--thrown to the winds when a +word might have held his hand and closed his pocket-book! Harlan, +grandson of Thelismer Thornton, tried to put the thing out of his mind. + +"Politics," said a man in the corridor in his hearing, "has got the pelt +off'm second-story work, as they're running the political game in this +State right now. But it's only petty larceny. And that's why the whole +thing makes me sick." + +"Me too," said his listener. "You could brag some about a political +safe-blowing, but we all have to turn to and hush up this sneak-thief +work." + +Harlan, walking on, wondered whether the coup that was then in process +of elaboration in State Committee headquarters would not be considered +by Everett and his supporters as arising to the proper dignity of +political crime. + +To his surprise Spinney's rooms were practically deserted. The candidate +was there, perched on the edge of a table, nursing his knee in his +clasped hands and talking vigorously to a few of his intimates. The +defection was not bothering him, apparently. Harlan promptly understood +why. As he stood for a moment, making sure that neither Linton nor +Wadsworth was there, he heard the mellow blare of distant band music. +Spinney jumped off the table. + +"The boys are coming!" cried one of his friends, and stepped out through +the window upon a balcony. "Wait till after I call for the cheers, +Arba!" he called back. "Step out when they strike up _Hail to the +Chief_." + +"This will make the Everett bunch sit up and take notice," said a man at +Harlan's elbow. "There'll be a thousand men in line behind that band +when she swings into the square, here! And a Spinney badge on every one +of 'em!" + +He was challenged promptly. The corridor was full of Everett men. + +"Ten dollars to a drink that your man Spinney pays for the band! And +when a band starts up street you can get every yag, vag, and jag in the +city to trail it! You can't fool doubtful delegates that way, Seth! Go +hang your badges on a hickory limb. They're only good to scare crows. +You can't scare us!" + +This speaker heard Harlan making inquiries for his men. + +"The Colonel is down in the office," was his information, "over in the +farther corner, behind one of those palms, telling war stories to +Herbert Linton. Just came past 'em." + +It seemed a rather happy augury to Harlan; that out of that throng his +two men should have paired themselves struck him as an interesting +coincidence. He found them, and quietly delivered his message. + +Colonel Wadsworth stood up, gaunt, straight, twisting his sparse +imperial, and blinking a bit doubtfully at the messenger. But Linton was +not so much at a loss for reasons. He was an earnest young man with +slow, illuminating smile. + +"Has the committee seen new light regarding my two planks, Mr. +Thornton?" he asked; and without waiting for answer, he led the way. The +three were admitted at the private door. + +United States Senator Pownal was there, evidently newly arrived from the +committee-room. + +The band was just coming into the square under their windows. + +Its deafening clamor beat in echoes between the high buildings, the mob +was roaring huzzas. The bedlam blocked conversation. + +Thelismer Thornton pulled down the windows and twitched the curtains +together. + +"Let 'em hoorah," he said. "With Spinney's band on tap, any fellows that +try to listen at our keyholes will be bothered. I'm glad his band is out +there. Now, gentlemen, I have something to say to you." + +They listened to him, all standing. Only General Waymouth kept his seat, +his head tipped back, his finger-tips together. + +The Duke was brief, but he was cogent and he was emphatic. He explained +what he had done and why he had done it. He was frank and free with that +selected few. He delicately made known the General's reluctance, but +stated in his behalf his willingness to step into the breach at this +eleventh hour for the sake of his party. Then Thornton went first to +Colonel Wadsworth, drew him along to Linton, and told them what their +party asked of them. + +Senator Pownal did not wait for this explanation to be finished. He was +the first to reach General Waymouth with congratulations and +endorsement. + +"You cannot understand how immensely relieved I am to know this plan," +he declared. "I have been here only a few hours, but I was just +beginning to realize what the situation had developed into. I hadn't the +proper perspective at Washington. Thornton is right. We're on the edge +of an upheaval in this State; I'm afraid Everett would have plunged us +straight into it." + +Thornton had made no mistake in his selection of advocates. Colonel +Wadsworth rushed to the chair of his old commander, and Linton, with a +young man's loyal zeal, followed. The lawyer came back to Harlan, his +eyes shining. + +"We've got a _man_ to follow now, Mr. Thornton, not a political effigy +nor a howl on two legs! I was down there hiding myself. I hadn't stomach +for either of the others." + +There had been a brief silence outside. Then the band struck up _Hail to +the Chief_, and the uproar broke out once more. + +"That's our tune, and they don't know it yet!" cried the Senator, gayly. +"Let's have the benefit of that to spice our little celebration, now and +here!" He started for the window to open it, but General Waymouth put +out his hand and checked him. He had stood up to receive their +handclasps. + +"One moment, Senator," he entreated. "I have a word to say for myself +now. You have just come from Room 40. Have they finished drafting the +platform?" + +"It's in shape--practically so." + +"Will you send for it?" + +The Duke nodded to Harlan, and the young man arose. "Tell Wasgatt I want +him to come down here with the resolutions," he directed. + +And while he was gone there was no conversation in the parlor. It might +have been because the band was playing too loudly; it might have been +because General Waymouth's visage, grave, stern, almost forbidding, +rather dampened the recent cordiality of the gathering. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE HANDS ARE DEALT + + +When Committeeman Wasgatt came into the room in tow of Harlan Thornton +he found silence prevailing there. It was silence that was marked by a +little restraint. The band outside was quiet now. A human voice was +bellowing. It was Arba Spinney's voice--a voice without words. + +Wasgatt, short, stout, habitually pop-eyed and nervous, clutched his +papers in one hand and held his eyeglasses at arm's-length in the +other. + +The others were in their chairs now, ranged about the sides of the room. +The General, alone, was standing near the table. Wasgatt turned to him +after a rapid scrutiny of the make-up of the party. + +"I'd like to have the resolutions read," remarked the General, quietly. + +"Go ahead, Wasgatt," commanded Presson; and the committeeman advanced to +the table under the chandelier and began to read. + +The preamble was after the usual stereotyped form; the first sections +endorsed the cardinal principles of the party, and Mr. Wasgatt, getting +into the spirit of the thing, began to deliver the rounded periods +sonorously. General Waymouth leaned slightly over the table, propping +himself on the knuckles of his one hand. The light flowed down upon his +silvery hair, his features were set in the intentness of listening. + +"'We view without favor the demagogic attempts to throttle enterprise, +check the proper development of our State, lock up the natural resources +away from the fostering hands of commerce and labor, thereby preventing +the establishment of industries that will extend their beneficent +influence to the workingman, dependent upon his daily wage.'" + +"One moment, Wasgatt!" The General tapped a knuckle on the table, and +the reader waited. + +Waymouth turned his gaze full upon the Senator when he spoke. + +"Gentlemen, understand me aright at the start. I'm not here to try to +dictate. That would be presumptuous in me, for I am not yet your +candidate. To-morrow is not here." + +Wasgatt's pop-eyes protruded still more. He stared from man to man, and +it became necessary for Thelismer Thornton to take one more into the +secret. He did it a bit ungraciously. He had not expected the General to +be so blunt and precipitate. The candidate waited patiently until the +brief explanation was concluded and Wasgatt had pledged fidelity. + +"I want you fully to understand my spirit in this," went on the General. +"We'll be honest with each other; we know that the floor of a convention +is not the place to discuss the platform frankly; I don't want to wash +our linen in public. We'll settle it now between ourselves. That plank, +there, comes out of the platform if you expect me to stand on it." + +The Senator, challenged by his eyes, spoke. + +"You don't take exceptions to honest efforts to develop our State, do +you, General Waymouth?" + +"I do not. But that proposition, no matter how good it sounds, is the +sugar-coated preface to an attempt to steal the undeveloped water-powers +of this State." + +The Senator's fat neck reddened. + +"You may be inclined to modify that rather rash statement, General +Waymouth, when I tell you that I suggested the insertion of that +resolution." + +"I recognized it as yours, Senator. Some time ago my bankers gave me the +personnel of the group behind the Universal Development Company. In +making my statement, I understand perfectly what legislation that +resolution is leading up to." + +"Vard," broke in the Duke, conciliatingly, "don't take so much for +granted. Why, there are folks suspicious enough to accuse Saint Peter of +starting Lent and ticking off Fridays from the meat programme simply +because he was in the fish business. Let's not get to fussing about a +set of convention resolutions. They're mostly wind, anyway." + +But General Waymouth was not appeased. + +"I know what resolutions stand for--how much and how little. I'm taking +this occasion, gentlemen, to set myself right with you. That resolution +will do for a text! I want no taunts later that I led you on into a +trap." + +He struck the table with the flat of his hand. + +"I'm laying my cards face up. Here's my hand! I halt right here on that +resolution. I'm certain I know what it means, no matter how it sounds. +I'm willing to take my hat and walk out right now. But if I stay--if you +promise to nominate me--I propose to have the saying of what kind of a +Governor I shall be!" + +"That's rather blunt talk to make to gentlemen," protested the Senator, +showing a spark of ire. + +"At my age there isn't time to make long speeches to shade the facts," +returned General Waymouth. He was calm but intensely in earnest. + +"Then you are all for reform--one of the new reformers, eh?" inquired +the Senator. He cast a look of reproach at Thornton, as though that +trusted manager had loosed a tiger on their defenceless party. + +The General smiled--smiled so sweetly that he almost disarmed their +resentment. + +"No, the Arba Spinneys of this State are the reformers. I'm not under +salary to run round and make disturbances in settled order. I'm not a +bigot with a single idea, nor a fanatic insisting that the world ought +to follow the diet that my dyspepsia imposes upon me. I'm merely an old +man, gentlemen, who has got past a lot of the follies of youth and the +passions of manhood, and has had a chance to reflect for a few years. I +have not asked to return to public life. But if I do return, if you put +power into my hands, I propose to render unto the people the things that +are the people's, and that term includes every man in this room. It is +not a programme that should alarm honest gentlemen!" + +There was appeal in the tone--there was a hint of rebuke in that final +sentence that troubled the conscience of even Senator Pownal. Thelismer +Thornton was in a chair close to him. + +"Don't let a few little cranky notions about a platform scare you," he +mumbled in the Senator's ear. "You know Vard Waymouth as well as I do. +He's safe and all right. Give him his head. You don't want Spinney, do +you?" + +"But that was devilish insulting," growled Pownal. + +"Tipping backward a little, trying to stand straight, that's all. Blast +it, a Governor can't run the State. What are you afraid of? You've got a +lobby and a legislature, haven't you?" + +If Waymouth noticed this _sotto voce_ conference he gave no sign. + +"General," said Pownal, getting hold of himself manfully, even +desperately, "the resolution is not essential. I fear you misunderstand +what it really means, but we'll not discuss it now. I withdraw it." + +The General bowed acknowledgment, and signed to Wasgatt to resume. + +"'We believe in dividing the burden of taxation equitably and justly, +and will bend our efforts to that end.'" + +"That is simply empty vaporing!" cried the General. "And it has been in +every platform for twenty years without meaning anything. The platform +that I stand on this year must declare for a non-partisan tax +commission, empowered to investigate conditions in this State--wild +lands, corporations, and all--and report as a basis for new +legislation." + +In the silence that ensued they could hear Arba Spinney continuing his +harangue. + +"Gentlemen, you've got to do something in this party to stop the mouths +of him and men like him," declared the General, solemnly. "You may make +up your minds that you've either got to pay in money, or else you'll pay +in votes that mean the bankruptcy of the party." + +"I suppose you have the resolution all drawn," suggested Thelismer +Thornton, dryly. + +"I have, and drawn according to good constitutional law," replied the +General. He drew the paper from his breast-pocket. + +"Incorporate it, Wasgatt, ready for the final draft, and we'll all go +over the thing to-morrow morning." The Duke was grimly laconic. That +resolution whacked his pet interests. + +Senator Pownal gave the proposer of this prompt surrender a glance of +mutual sympathy out of the corner of his eye, but the Duke remained +imperturbable. Wasgatt received the paper and went on. + +"'We reaffirm our belief in the principle of the prohibition of the +liquor traffic, and pledge our earnest efforts to promote temperance.'" + +Across the corridor revellers were bawling over and over in chorus: + + "'Let's take a drink, +Let's take it now, +God only knows how dry I am!'" + +"That's a good thing to reaffirm--I don't mean the song they're singing +in that room across there! It's a good thing to pledge ourselves to +promote temperance," said the General, "but that isn't the point at +issue. I have another plank that I've written for our platform." + +He drew a second paper from his pocket. + +"Gentlemen, some politicians, more than half a century ago, simply to +use a temperance movement for bait in a political campaign, dragged into +our party a moral, social, and economic question that belongs to the +whole people--not merely to us as a party. Let the people, when the +right time comes and they decide the matter differently, make a law that +the majority desires and will stand behind. Just now we have in our +constitution a law that forbids the manufacture and sale of intoxicating +liquors in this State. There is no option in the matter. Just so long as +our party, the dominant political power, uses that option, it is in +disgrace with all decent men. I--" + +There was a knock at the door--the private door. + +Harlan started up, but his grandfather pulled him back into his chair. + +"Go on, General," he said. + +"I have drawn a resolution. Here it is: 'As a party, we deplore the fact +that temperance, through the so-called prohibitory law, has become a +matter of politics, its football to the extent that holders of public +office, sworn to enforce the laws, turn from that enforcement in order +to cater to public opinion which otherwise might deprive them of office. +We declare against this intolerable system of protection of lawbreakers. +Until the people shall repeal the law, we, the dominant party of the +State and in control of enforcement, do pledge ourselves to faithfully +enforce it, employing such law as we now have and invoking new powers +through the legislature to assist us, so long as the prohibitory law +shall remain in our constitution.'" + +It was now Chairman Presson's turn to look uncomfortable. + +"Look here, Vard," exploded Thornton, "I've been pretty patient while +you've been amputating a few fingers and toes of the Republican party of +this State, but I'll be damned if I propose to see you cut its throat." + +There was fresh knocking at the door, but the group within the parlor +had enough to think about just then without entertaining callers. + +"Now you're talking simply about yourselves and your office-holders and +your dirty profits. You're calling that mess of nasty confederacy 'Our +Party,'" declared General Waymouth, passionately. "When honesty kills a +party, let it die--let its men get out and organize another one. But I +tell you, you can't kill it by being honest, Thelismer. The trouble is +you're sitting here and building for to-night--for to-morrow. I'm a +Republican--you can't take that name away from me. But the badge doesn't +belong on men who are using that name to cover up a rum-selling +business." + +Chairman Presson was livid. He leaped from his chair and drove his fist +down on the table, + +"Now you're insulting me personally!" he shouted. + +"I deal in no personalities, sir. So long as I hide myself under the +name of Republican and allow this thing to go on as it's going, I'm in +the traffic myself; and I don't propose to continue in it--not when I +have power placed in my hands." + +"By the eternal gods, you won't have the power placed there!" roared the +chairman of the State Committee. + +Now some one called to them from outside the door, repeating the +rapping. + +"When you say that, you're confessing that the Republican party is a +sneak, Presson," declared the General. + +The Duke came along to the table. He ticked his forefinger against the +paper that Waymouth was holding. + +"Vard, you're pledging yourself in advance of election to the most rabid +of the prohibition fanatics." + +"I'm pledging myself to obey the one State law that occupies the most +space in public attention, causes the most discussion, makes the most +row. It's a damnable bloodsucker to be hitched on to any political +party! But it's on ours, and I'm going to grab it with both hands!" + +"Hold a proxy from the ramrodders, eh?" sneered the State chairman, +thoroughly a rebel. + +"No, nor from the State rumsellers. If the people of his State want to +have rum sold, let 'em vote to have it sold. But as it now stands, they +can't enlist me to head the lawbreakers and shield the lawbreaking. I'm +through playing the hypocrite!" + +"We've got to set ourselves above petty bickerings and personal +differences," interposed the Senator, cracking the party whip. "I'm a +Republican, first of all!" + +"Talk sense, Pownal!" snapped the General, impatiently. "This isn't a +political rally. We're grown men and friends that can talk plain. His +principles make a Republican--or ought to--not his protestations! And +establishing a system of low license and sheriff-made local option under +a prohibitory law is unprincipled, and you know it!" + +Thelismer Thornton, god of that particular machine that was then +grinding so ominously and rattling so badly, felt that he needed a few +moments in which to mend belts and adjust cogs. He wanted an opportunity +to think a little while. He had discovered a new Waymouth all of a +sudden. He wanted to get acquainted with him. He wished to find out +whether he would be really as dangerous as his astonishing threats +indicated. + +The persistent man at the door was now clamorous. The Duke strode that +way and flung it open. Whoever it might be, the interruption would give +him time to think, to plan, to investigate. + +The intruder was the Hon. David Everett. He stepped in, and Thornton +relocked the door after him. + +Mr. Everett was not amiable. His little eyes snapped from face to face +suspiciously. It was immediately and perfectly plain to him that he had +forced admission to a conference that had not expected him, did not want +him, and was embarrassed at finding him present. In the state of mind +they were in, the men in that room would have glowered at any one. +Everett detected something more than mere personal resentment at his +intrusion--he sniffed a plot against him. There was no hand outstretched +to him, no welcome, no explanation offered why these leaders of the +party had met thus without intimation to him that anything was afoot. +Choleric red suffused his face--it had been gray with passion when he +entered, because a corridor filled with curious men is not a happy arena +for a candidate shut out of committee headquarters. + +He realized that he had been a spectacle inciting interest and some +amusement while he was hammering on the door. + +One object of the Duke had been attained when he admitted Everett--the +wrangling ceased. But the embarrassment was intensified. The situation +was more complex. + +"I beg your pardon, gentlemen, if I am interrupting serious business," +began Everett, intending to force some sort of explanation. + +He waited. No one spoke. The others were waiting, too. + +The candidate looked from one to the other, and then surveyed Wasgatt +and the papers he was clutching. He eyed General Waymouth with much +interest and some surprise. He had not been informed of that gentleman's +presence in the hotel. The General returned the gaze with serenity, +creasing his sheet of manuscript on the table with his thin fingers. + +"I expected to be called in when you were ready to go over the +platform," continued Everett, sourly. "I'm supposed to know as early as +any one, I presume, what it is I'm going to stand on." + +Thelismer Thornton decided that it was up to him to speak. He leaned +against the table, half sitting on it, and swung his foot. + +"You have a perfect right, Dave, to inquire about any platform that +you're going to stand on. And when we get your platform ready for you +we'll call you in and submit it. But allow me to remind you that you +haven't been nominated yet." The band was blaring again outside. "The +convention is yet to be held, and has yet to declare its platform." + +"I don't expect you to call Arba Spinney in here and consult with +him--if that's what your hints mean. But there's no need of your using +that 'round-the-barn talk with me, Thelismer. You know that so far as +the real Republican party is concerned Spinney is an outsider; I'm the +logical candidate, and I demand to be taken into the conference. I don't +recognize that there are two Republican candidates before the +convention." + +"I do," said the Duke, firmly and with significance. He was preparing to +resent this autocratic manner. + +"Well, I _don't_!" cried the State chairman. Secretly he had been +offended by Thornton's high-handed assumption of control, ever since +their talk on the morning after the Fort Canibas caucus. He had promptly +recognized the political sagacity of the old man's plan. In his fear of +the Spinney agitation--in his apprehension lest all control should be +wrested from his faction of the party--he had been eager to compromise +on General Waymouth, hoping that he would prove to be as amenable to +party reason as he knew Everett already was. But this intractable old +Spartan, with his dictation of party principles that meant the loss of +policy, power, and profits, had angered him to his marrow. He was ready +to declare himself now, Thornton or mo Thornton. He turned on the Duke. + +"Perhaps you can lick me--that's the only way you can get it!" he +declared. "But you needn't expect me to stand here and grin and hand it +over." + +Thornton stared at him understandingly, accepting the challenge. + +"There was a man up our way, Luke, who fought two highway robbers a +whole hour, and when they had finally torn his clothes all off him, he +only had two cents in his pockets. He told the robbers, then, that he +hadn't fought to save his two cents, but because he didn't want his +financial condition revealed." + +Candidate Everett was finding this conversation hard to follow. + +"There's something here that isn't on the level, and I suspected it the +minute I came into this room. Presson, is the State Committee behind +me?" + +"It is, and it's behind you to stay," declared the chairman. Again he +turned to Thornton. + +"It's up to you, now, whether Arba Spinney gets the nomination or not. +If you keep on and split us, he gets it; but I shall make it mighty +plain to the boys as to whose fault it was, Thelismer." + +"What's all this about?" demanded Everett. + +Presson hesitated only a moment. + +"There was a movement on inside the party to run General Waymouth as a +compromise candidate. It has been talked over. I declare myself now. +I'm against it. The State Committee stands for you, Everett!" + +The candidate revolved slowly on his heels in order to study the faces +of all of them. He did not find much enthusiasm to back up Presson's +declaration. He realized that he was in the company of those who had +been plotting to shelve him, and he had the wit to understand that only +their quarrel over some issue had availed to save him from being knifed. + +His temper got away from him. + +"You've held your nose up pretty high in this world, General Waymouth! +Do you call a trick to steal my nomination away from me at the last +moment gentlemanly or decent? I've put in my time and my money and my +efforts. I've made a campaign. And I've waited for this!" + +"You needn't insult the General in that fashion, Dave," broke in +Thornton. "Address your talk to me. I'm responsible." + +"I think I'm the one that is responsible at this stage," insisted +General Waymouth. "I'll talk to you, Mr. Everett, if you please. You +addressed me. Any Republican in this State is entitled to seek +nomination as Governor. It is a worthy and proper ambition. It is an +honor that belongs to the people. It isn't a heritage to be passed on +from one bunch of politicians to another. It isn't to be bought and +bartered. I realize that precedent has given you that impression. But +it's a pernicious precedent. It's time to do away with it. That's why +I'm here to-night, dipping into slime that I hoped never to be soiled +with again. I've been frank with these other gentlemen. I'm going to be +frank with you, Mr. Everett. I know you stand for The System. I don't +have to tell you what that is. You propose to continue the nullification +programme, bar-rooms tolerated on payment of fines, tax reform slicked +over, water powers and other State resources peddled out to favorites. +It's useless to deny. We've all been in politics together too many +years." + +Mr. Everett did not deny. It was too intimate a gathering for that. + +"This is not the way I'd like to be called to the Governor's chair of my +State," went on the General, "but it's the way of politics. I've got to +meet you on the politician's level, so far as securing the nomination +goes. But I stand here and tell you, Mr. Everett"--he took two steps +forward and stood close to the other candidate, and his voice +rose--"that I can be a better Governor of this State than you--in the +sort of days that are on us now. This is not egotism--it's truth. I say +it because I know you and the men behind you as well as I know myself." + +"It's a sneak trick, just the same!" shouted Everett. + +"So are many tricks in politics--and, God help me, I'm back in +politics!" returned the General. He looked them over there in the room, +from face to face and eye to eye. "You cannot accuse me of vanity, +self-seeking, or ambition at my age, gentlemen. I've been Governor of +this State once. I didn't enjoy the experience. I'm going into this +thing again simply because I believe that I can put some honesty into +public affairs. This State is calling for it. And that object justifies +me in what I'm doing. I am a candidate!" + +"By ----!" roared Everett, furious, realizing how this candidacy +threatened his hopes, "run if you want to. But I'll see to it that these +delegates know how you're running--cutting under a man that's made an +honest canvass!" He started for the door, tossing his arms above his +head--a politician beginning to run amuck. + +Presson grabbed his arm and held him back. + +"Don't be a lunatic, Dave," he buzzed in his ear. "If you go to +advertising this around the hotel to-night you'll be giving Spinney the +tip and starting Waymouth's boom for him. Damn it, you want to keep your +teeth shut tight and your tongue behind them! There'll be no blabbers go +out of this room--I'll see to that! I'll put a dozen members of the +State Committee at work on the delegates to-night." He was walking +Everett toward the door, getting him out of earshot of the others. +"Weymouth has got a platform there that sounds as though it was drawn up +by the House Committee of Paradise. He's got to be licked--great Judas, +he's _got_ to be licked! I've got five thousand that the liquor crowd +has sent into the State for the campaign, but this is the place to use +it--right here now! And it'll be used. Don't you worry, Dave! And keep +your mouth shut!" + +It was a colloquy that no one else in the room heard--Everett putting in +suggestions as the chairman whispered hoarsely in his ear. Harlan +Thornton, looking on, guessed what it might be. Linton, at his side, +ironically hinted at the possibilities of that hurried conference in the +corner. Senator Pownal walked about the room, chewing his short beard +and incapable of a word--for his re-election came before the next +legislature, and to jump the wrong way now in the gubernatorial matter +was political suicide. + +Thelismer Thornton remained in his place on the corner of the table, +staring reflectively at General Waymouth. + +Presson ended his whispered exhortations with a rather savage reference +to the manner in which the Duke had involved the campaign. Everett shot +a baleful glance at the man who had so cold-bloodedly planned his +undoing. + +"Look here, Thornton," he called out, as he started for the door, "you +and I will have our reckoning later. We use old horses for fox bait up +our way, too, but we always make sure that the horses are dead first." +He went out and slammed the door. + +Thornton did not turn his head. He kept his eyes on Waymouth. + +"Vard," he said, "I reckon I haven't been keeping my political charts up +to date. I had you down as a peninsula, jutting out _some_ from the +Republican party, but still hitched on to it. I find you're an island, +standing all by yourself, and with pretty rocky shores." + +"Perhaps so," admitted the General. + +"This has been a sort of a heart-to-heart meeting here to-night. In the +general honesty I'll be honest myself. I can't support you." + +"Then you lack honesty." + +"No, but your scheme of honesty takes you right into the king-row of the +ramrodders, and I can't train with the bunch that will flock to you. +Your theory is good--but the _practice_ will break your heart just as +sure as God hasn't made humans perfect! You'll be up against it! You're +going to test man to the limit of his professions--and it isn't a safe +operation, if you want to come out with any of your ideals left +unsmashed. If you start on that road you'll have to travel it without +me." + +"Well, there's a little common sense left in the Republican party," +snapped Presson. "General Waymouth, you've had considerable many honors +in your life, and the party gave 'em to you. That calls for some +gratitude. You can show it by keeping your hands off this thing." + +"That would have been an argument once, when I was a wheel-horse with my +political blinders on; it has been an argument that has kept a good many +decent men from doing their duty. It will not work with me now." He put +his folded paper into his pocket, and reached and took the other +document that he had handed to Wasgatt earlier in the evening. "I'll not +disfigure the perfect structure of your platform now, Presson, but I'll +see how these sound from the floor of the convention, in spite of your +resolutions to shut off free speech! Good-night, gentlemen." He turned +to leave, still serene with the poise of one who has experienced all and +is prepared for all. "I used to have pretty good luck playing a lone +hand in our old card-playing days, Thelismer. I'll see what I can do in +politics." + +"General Waymouth, have you a few moments to give me if I come to your +room now?" inquired Harlan Thornton. "I want to offer my services!" + +"I'll join the party too, if I may!" suggested Linton. + +Colonel Wadsworth was twisting his imperial with one hand and fingering +his Loyal Legion button with the other. + +"I'm not the kind that waits for a draft, General," he said. "I didn't +in '61. I volunteer now." + +General Waymouth smiled, bowed the three ahead of him through the door +of the parlor, and softly closed it behind himself and his little party. + +"Well, Thelismer," raved the State chairman, "you can certainly take +rank, at your time of life and after all you've been through, as a +top-notch hell of a politician. You start out to run a State campaign, +and you wind up by not being able to run even your grandson!" + +"What I started running seems to be still running," said the old man, +undisturbed by the attack. + +"And it's costing the Republican party something, this mix-up," Presson +went on. + +"You think it looks expensive, taking the thing right now at apparent +face value?" + +"Look here! I don't relish humor--not now! I'm not in a humorous mood. +You can see what it's costing--blast that infernal band!" + +Mr. Spinney's serenaders had not had their fill of music. There was din +outside. The tune, "A Hot Time in the Old Town To-night," won a grunt +of approval from Mr. Wasgatt, still holding his documents, more pop-eyed +than ever. + +"Pretty expensive, eh?" said the Duke, lifting his knee between his +hands and leaning back on the table. "You heard about--" + +"I don't want any more of your cussed stories! Not to-night!" Presson +rushed out. He went into the main parlor, where the members of the State +Committee were in informal session. + +Wasgatt was left with the Duke, and the latter fixed him with benevolent +gaze. + +"Old Zavanna Dodge, up our way, got to courting two old maids, trying to +make up his mind which he'd take--and the one he didn't take sued him +for breach o' promise. After Zavanna put in his evidence in court, he +sat across from the court-house in the tavern window, waiting for the +arguments to be made and the case to be decided. Toward night Squire +Enfield, his lawyer, came across. 'How did she end out?' says Zavanna. +'Agin ye--for eight hundred,' says the Squire. 'Pretty expensive, Zav!' +Zavanna tucked a spill of whisker between his lips and chewed on it and +rocked for a little while. 'Unh huh!' says he, figuring it over. And +then he spoke up cheerful: 'Well, Squire, I reckon there's that much +difference between the two women.'" + +Wasgatt chuckled. + +"The point to that is--but no matter! It was to Luke that I was going to +show the point." + +The old man got his hat from the window-sill and trudged toward the +private door, saying, partly to Wasgatt, partly to himself: "I reckon +I'll go to bed! Just at this minute the campaign doesn't seem to be +needing my help." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE ODD TRICK + + +Thelismer Thornton was one of the first to stir next morning in the big +hotel. All night roisterers had flanked his room, there had been the +buzz of eager argument overhead, riot of dispute below, and continual +thudding of hurrying feet in the corridors. He had gone to sleep +realizing that the hive was in a state of upheaval extraordinary, but he +slept calmly in spite of it, and woke refreshed. + +He picked his way past cots in the corridors. Men were snoring there. + +His grandson had not returned to their apartments. But the Duke divined +his whereabouts. He had ascertained by the house telephone the number of +Linton's room. He tried the door when he arrived there. It was not +locked. He entered. Linton was asleep on the bed. Harlan was on a cot. +They had taken off only their coats and waistcoats. They did not wake +when he came in. He pulled a chair to the centre of the room and sat +astride it, his arms on its back. In a few moments both sleepers woke, +stirring under his intent regard. They sat up and returned his gaze. + +"Well, my boys, what's the programme?" he inquired, pleasantly. + +Heavy with sleep, perturbed, a bit apprehensive, neither answered. + +"You didn't come back to your room last night, Harlan. You weren't +afraid of this old chap, were you? Didn't think I'd be running around +the room on all fours, eh, or climb the wall, or growl and try to bite +you?" + +"I didn't want to disturb you, and Mr. Linton and I wanted to talk after +we left General Waymouth," said Harlan. + +"It's all right if you weren't afraid of me, my boy. We can't afford to +have politics put us in that state of mind. Now, own up! You thought I'd +pitch in and pull you over to the machine--you were afraid of that, now, +weren't you?" + +"To be perfectly honest, I didn't want any argument with you, +grandfather, but I wasn't afraid you'd convert me. You couldn't do +that." + +"Bub, 'politics before friendship' is all right for a code. I practice +that myself, but it hurts me to have you put politics before +relationship--the kind that's between us." + +"Grandfather," replied the young man, firmly, "you remember that you +told me you were going to put me into politics right. I consider that +you've done so. I'm going to stay where you put me." + +"Oh, you mean one thing and I mean another, my boy, as matters stand +just now. You're in wrong. A man isn't in right when he's playing on the +losing end." + +"I stay where you put me," insisted Harlan, doggedly. "I'm with General +Waymouth." + +"General Waymouth was a winner till he committed hari-kari there last +night. He had Luke's machine, and he had my scheme. He kicked over the +machine, and the scheme won't work now; it could have been _snapped_ +through, but it can't be _bulled_ through--not with the bunch forewarned +and on the lookout. Your political chances with Vard Waymouth, Harlan, +don't amount to that!" He clicked his finger smartly above his head. +"You may as well go back up-country and boss the Quedaws." + +"And yet you know that General Waymouth is right, Mr. Thornton," broke +in Linton, pausing in lacing his shoes. "There's no chance for argument +about that. Why is it the big men of this State--men like you, that have +the influence to set things straight--won't back the man that's honest +and right?" + +"Linton, that's the kind of a question that's asked by the man whose +experience in practical politics is limited to a term on the School +Board and the ownership of a subscription edition of _American +Statesmen_, bound in half morocco. I'll tell you why we don't: we're +dealing with conditions, not theories. The chap who writes for the +'Kickers' Column' in the newspapers can tell you all about how politics +should be run, but that's the only privilege he ever gets. It's the chap +who keeps still and runs the politics that gets what's to be got out of +it. And that's because mankind wants what it wants, and not what it says +it wants." + +He went to the window, snapped up the shade, and let the morning light +flood the room. + +"Wake up, my boys! Dreams are rosy--I've had 'em myself. But they don't +buy the breakfast next morning. Martyrs get a devil of a reputation +after they're dead. It doesn't do 'em a mite of good, not as human +beings. As long as you're taking the curse that belongs with a human +being, get some of the good, too. I tried to operate on a different plan +long ago--about the time I had the dreams--but I had to give it up if I +was to get anything out of life. Vard Waymouth can't build over the +human nature in this State. I've had to drop him. I hadn't realized he +was in such a bad way. Get aboard with the winners this trip! Then at +least you can be in the swim--you can find some good to do on the side, +and be able to do it. But you won't amount to anything sitting on the +bank and bellowing." + +The vigils of the night had fortified their faith, the loyalty of youth +was in them, and they were the disciples of one who had enlisted their +enthusiasm. Linton, however, was less assertive than Harlan. The Duke +did not lose his patience. + +"Boys," he said, at the end of his exhortations, "I see that you've got +to have your little lesson (I'll have to be going now, for I've a few +things to attend to), and I'll tell you frankly I propose to make that +lesson a lasting one." + +A few hours later the young men went in to breakfast together. The early +trains had brought other delegates and visitors. The great room was +crowded with a chattering throng. The head waiter intercepted them; he +seemed to be waiting for them. They followed obediently, and he led them +to an alcove. + +Here a breakfast-party was already installed. + +Miss Presson was first to greet them, giving a hand to each--radiant, +fresh, and altogether charming in her tailored perfection. + +"We left word at the door," she smiled, "for I wanted to behold you +before the blood and dust of the arena settled over all." + +Mrs. Presson and her ladies were cordial. They did not seem to remark +that the State chairman kept his seat and was brusque in his greeting. +Political abstraction excused general disregard to conventions among the +men-folks that morning. The Duke was there. He patronized them with a +particularly amiable smile. + +"May I?" asked Linton, touching the chair next Madeleine. + +"Yes," said the girl. "You know, Herbert and I are very old friends, Mr. +Thornton." There was a hint of apology to Harlan behind the brilliant +smile she gave him. He had moved toward the chair. He flushed when he +realized that he felt a queer sense of hurt at her choice. It was +another new experience for him who had made the woods his mistress--a +woman had chosen another, slighting him. As he took his seat beside his +grandfather he was angry at himself--at the sudden boyish pique he felt. +He had not been conscious till then that he had been interested +especially in Madeleine Presson. It needed the presence of this other +young man, selected over his head, to make him understand that one may +not draw near beauty with impunity, even though one may be very +certain--telling his own heart--that love is undreamed of. He wondered +whether he might not be afflicted with asinine pride. + +He did not relish the glance that Linton bestowed on him; it seemed +there was just a flash of triumph in it--that bit of a boast one sees in +the eyes of a man who becomes, even briefly, the proprietor of a pretty +woman. + +"We were just talking over the latest news--or, rather, it's a rumor," +said Miss Presson. With quick intuition she felt that something, +somehow, was not just right. She hastened to break the silence. "They +are saying that Mr. Spinney has withdrawn, and that his name will not go +before the convention. Of course, you've heard about it, Herbert--and +Mr. Thornton!" + +They had not heard it. They looked guilty. They had been all the morning +with Colonel Wadsworth, locked away from the throng, finishing matters +of the night before. The expression on their faces was confession of +their ignorance. + +"If you're going to be early political fishermen you'll have to look for +your worms sharp in the morning or you'll fetch up short of bait," +suggested the Duke, maliciously. + +"Three cheers and a snatch of band-music take on a hopeful color when +they're lit up by red fire overnight," remarked the State chairman. "So +do some other things. But a fellow with good eyesight usually comes to +himself in the daylight." + +"Is that true about Spinney?" asked Harlan, scenting mischief and +treachery, and not yet enough of a politician to understand instantly +just what effect this would have on the situation. + +"I don't know anything about it," snapped Presson. "I don't care +anything about it. It isn't important enough. The man's strength was +overrated. It was mostly mouth. Just as soon as the delegates got +together last night and shook themselves down it was plain enough where +Spinney stood." + +"But you yourself and grandfather have been saying all along that +he--" began Harlan. + +"We say a lot of things in politics," broke in the chairman, testily. +"But it's only the final round-up that counts. And be prepared for +sudden changes, as the almanac says! I tell you, I don't know anything +about this Spinney rumor--nor I don't care. But it's probably true. +Everett has got pledged delegates enough to nominate him by +acclamation." + +"But last night--" persisted Harlan. + +His grandfather interrupted this time. + +"Don't you remember that old Brad Dunham wrote to New York one spring +and asked a commission man if he would take a million frogs' legs? +Commission man wrote that he'd take a hundred pairs; and the best old +Brad could do, after wading in the swamp back of his house all day, was +to get a dozen. Wrote to the commission man that he'd been estimating +his frogs by sound and thought he had a million. That's been the way +with Spinney and his delegates, Harlan." + +Mrs. Presson took advantage of the merriment to change the subject from +politics. It was a topic that did not interest her, and she had learned +from her husband's disgusted growlings that morning that there had been +trouble the night before. + +Harlan did not join in the chatter that went about the table. Under +cover of it his grandfather gave him a few words of compassionate +counsel. + +"You'll have to swing in with the new deal, bub. You can't cut party +sirloin too close to the horn, and that's what Vard did. He wants to sit +on the mountain and slam us flat under a rock with the new ten +commandments on it. We can't stand for it. I didn't dream that he had +grown to be so impractical in his old age. No one wants any such deal as +he's framing up for the State. As I told you, he's trying to build human +nature over, and he can't do it. I'm sorry it's turned as it has--he +could have been just a little diplomatic and made us a good Governor. +But Everett will make a good one--you needn't be afraid of him. We'll +put through a few measures that will smooth things down a little. Now +you've got to remember that you're going to the legislature. You might +just as well not be there if you don't stand clever with the +administration. I haven't put you in just as I intended. But get into +line now, quick. I can smooth it all right for you. I've squared myself +with Everett--he needed me!" + +Harlan listened patiently, keeping his eyes on his food. + +"Right after breakfast Luke is going to have a talk with you and +Linton." + +"It will do Mr. Presson no good to talk to me. I'm with General +Waymouth." + +"But General Waymouth has been eliminated, you young idiot. It was the +combination of circumstances that made him a candidate. But those +circumstances have been changed. I can't explain to you how, Harlan--not +here and now. But a brand-new trump has been turned. It had to be done. +You stay behind here with Linton and talk with Luke." + +The ladies were rising from the table. + +Harlan did not reply. He did not remain. He stepped aside and allowed +the ladies to pass, and followed them from the alcove. Presson stared +after him angrily. Linton, obeying his request, sat down after Mrs. +Presson and her party had retired. + +"You've got a fool, there, for a grandson, Thelismer," stated the +chairman with decision. + +"He doesn't seem to be a politician," returned the old man, gazing after +him. "There are a few joints in a man that he ought to be able to bend +in politics, but Harlan seems to be afflicted with a sort of righteous +ossification. He'll have to have his lesson, that's all!" + +The young man was not in the mood to accept Miss Presson's invitation to +accompany them to the hotel parlor. In the corridor he refused so +brusquely that she stood and gazed at him, allowing the others to go on +without her. + +"You seem to be taking politics very seriously, Mr. Harlan Thornton." + +"I'm taking honesty and my pledges seriously, that's all." + +"Then your honesty puts you in opposition to my father, does it, sir?" +It was said with a spark of resentment. "Do you realize how that +sounds?" + +"I do not say so, Miss Presson." + +"But I have heard queer rumors this morning. Take a woman's advice once, +Mr. Thornton: it may be worth something, because I have seen more of +this game than you have. Don't kill your career at the outset by trying +to realize an impossible ideal. It's bad enough in love, but it's much +worse in politics!" She hurried away, joining the others. + +Harlan paced the corridor impatiently, waiting for Linton to come out. +Few men of the hundreds thronging past recognized him, and he was not +accosted. + +He caught fragments of talk. It was evident that the rumor concerning +Spinney had found as many disbelievers as believers. Some charged that +the story was started simply for the purpose of hurting the reform +candidate by decrying his strength and inducing the wavering +opportunists to come over to the winning side. Others said a trade had +been effected, and that the story of it had leaked out prematurely. At +any rate, the buzz of gossip showed that the situation was badly mixed. + +Linton came alone. He had left the Duke and the chairman in conference. +He took Harlan by the arm, and walked to the end of the corridor. They +were alone there. + +"Of course you know how I came to be in on the Waymouth side," he began, +promptly. "Once I was in I didn't propose to quit so long as there was +any hope. I did what mighty few young men in politics would do, Mr. +Thornton--I stood out last night against Presson and your grandfather +when they dropped the General. I just say that to show you I'm not a +cur. But it's hopeless. The thing has turned completely over." + +"You're going to desert the General?" + +"It isn't desertion. That isn't a word that belongs in this situation. +General Waymouth will not call it that after I've talked with him." + +Harlan did not speak. At the breakfast-table he had been ashamed of that +little gnawing feeling of rancor when he looked across at the young +couple who seemed so wholly contented with their conversation. Now he +indulged himself. He began to hate this young man cordially. He excused +the feeling, on the ground that it was proper resentment on behalf of +the General. + +"I don't want you to think that I'm disloyal or a deserter in this +matter, Mr. Thornton. But I'm going to the next legislature, and I'm +interested in certain measures that will help this State if they're +adopted. I can't help General Waymouth now; you can't help him. He has +no one behind him, as the thing has turned." + +"He's got the square deal behind him!" + +"Meaning nothing in a political mix-up such as this is. I can't afford +to dump all my future overboard and kill myself for the next legislature +by an absolutely useless and quixotic splurge in to-day's convention. +The General has made no canvass--he isn't even very much interested +personally in the affair. I hope I stand straight with you now. I'm +going up and tell the General exactly how I feel about the thing. I +advise you to do the same. You'll be very foolish to butt your head +against every political influence in this State that counts for +anything. I told your grandfather--" + +"I don't want your advice in politics," blazed Harlan, letting his +grudge have rein, "and I don't thank you to tell me how to get along +with my own grandfather!" + +He hoped that young Mr. Linton would resent that manner of speech. + +Young Mr. Linton, as stalwart as he, raised his black eyebrows, pursed +his lips, and was not daunted by the outburst. + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Thornton," he said, "but I fear you did not have +enough sleep last night." + +He started for General Waymouth's room, and Harlan followed him. There +seemed to be no other haven for the latter just then. He was hung +between the political sky and earth. He had no hope left that the +General could prevail over the conditions that had so suddenly presented +themselves. But his loyalty was not shaken. Now it had become +unreasoning loyalty, dogged determination to stick to his choice; and as +he looked at Linton's back preceding him along the corridor, he was more +firmly determined than ever. Suddenly he was glad of the fact that this +young man was on the other side, and he did not stop to analyze why he +was glad it was so. + +General Waymouth's parlor was crowded with men. The size of that levee +astonished the two new arrivals. The General was not in sight. He was +closeted with some one in the bedroom. Harlan and Linton noted that the +men in the parlor did not wear the demeanor of ordinary visitors calling +to pay their respects to a "has been." Some of them were talking eagerly +in bunches, some were waiting--all were serious and anxious. + +General Waymouth, coming to his bedroom door to usher out three men and +admit others, saw his young lieutenants. He called them to him. He was +straighter. He was stern. Fires within had given his eyes the flash of +youth. All his usual gentle pensiveness was gone. + +"My boys," he said, earnestly, "a week ago I didn't think I wanted to be +Governor of this State again. But I want that office now with the whole +strength of my soul. The devil is running our State to-day through his +agents. I've got a duty to perform. I haven't time now to tell you what +I've discovered since you left my room. I want you to--" + +"I ask your pardon for interrupting, General," said Linton, manfully, +"but I want to be as square with you as I can. Interests that belong to +others will suffer if I continue with you--things being as they are. I +make haste to speak before you tell me any more. I ask to be released." + +"As a soldier I might question a resignation on the eve of battle, but +as a politician I want no half-heartedness in my ranks. Good-day, Mr. +Linton." He stood very erect, and his air admitted no further +explanation. Linton bowed, and went out of the room. + +"There is no half-heartedness here!" cried Harlan, passionately. "Is +there anything I can do, General Waymouth?" + +"Go and bring Arba Spinney to this room at once. Understand the +situation before you go: I have already sent men for him. He has +refused to come. Tell him this is his last opportunity to save himself +from such deep disgrace that it will drive him from his State. I wish I +could tell you to take him by the collar and lug him here. I venture to +say you have the muscle, young man. But minutes are valuable--bring +him." + +Harlan hurried away. + +Mr. Spinney was not in evidence in the parlor of his suite, but Harlan +heard his tremendous voice in the bedroom--that voice could not be +softened even in an exigency. + +Several men whom Harlan recognized as members of the State Committee +were seated near the door; and when he approached to knock, one of them +informed him that Mr. Spinney was too busy to be seen. + +"But my business is important." + +"What sort of business is it?" + +"Is Mr. Spinney afraid of visitors?" demanded the young man. His mien +impressed the men. They knew that he was Thelismer Thornton's grandson. +They conversed among themselves in whispers. Without waiting, and before +they could stay him, he flung open the door. + +Spinney stopped in his discourse with several men, and faced about +apprehensively. He, too, recognized the young man, and was unable to +decide whether to class him with friends or foes. + +"Mr. Spinney, I have been sent to bring you with me instantly. Will you +come?" + +"Where?" + +"It's a matter for your ear, sir. But you must come." + +The men with Spinney promptly counselled him to remain where he was, but +the candidate was impressed by the young man's determined appearance. +Harlan strode to him, and took him by the arm. He had been used to the +command of men since boyhood. "I have some very positive instructions. +It will be a serious matter for you, Mr. Spinney, if you don't come--and +you can't afford to take the advice of these men here." + +He propelled his man toward the door, and Mr. Spinney went. It is likely +that he concluded that no very serious damage could come to him in the +presence of Thelismer Thornton's grandson. But when they arrived near +the door of General Waymouth's parlor, Spinney recognized what it meant +and resisted. + +"It's a trap!" he gasped. "I thought your grandfather--" + +The State Committeemen were following along the corridor, growling +threats. Now they understood that this was practically an abduction. +They hastened up to the scene of the struggle. But the young man was not +deterred. He was obeying orders without question. With him it was not a +matter of politics; he did not pause to wonder how the affair would be +looked upon. The man to whom all his loyalty had gone out had commanded; +he was obeying. But the others were resolute too. They were about to +interfere. At that moment Thelismer Thornton appeared in the corridor. + +"Let the boy alone," he commanded, thrusting himself among them. + +The diversion gave Harlan his opportunity. Clutching Spinney with one +hand, he threw open the door and pushed him in, followed him, and closed +the door. He locked it, and stood with his back against it. + +In that moment he did not reflect that in obeying General Waymouth so +implicitly he might be playing traitor to his own flesh and blood. But +the Duke, in his cynicism, had never attracted his grandson's political +loyalty. That had seemed a matter apart from the family ties between +them. His grandfather had set him on the trail of decency in politics, +and had given him a leader to follow. + +The frankness with which his grandfather had exposed the code by which +he and his ilk operated in politics, making tricks, subterfuge, and +downright dishonesty an integral part of the game and entitled to +absolution, had divorced Harlan's straightforward sympathies when the +question came to issue between his own relative, complacently +unscrupulous, and General Waymouth, heroically casting off bonds of +friendship and political affiliations, and standing for what was +obviously the right. It was chivalrous. It appealed to the youth in +Harlan. His manhandling of the amazed Spinney was an unheard-of event +among gentlemen at a political convention, but there was more than +impulse behind it. Harlan Thornton was a woodsman. Social conventions +make the muscles subservient, but in the more primitive conditions the +muscles leap ahead of the mind. + +Therefore, he came with Mr. Spinney and tossed him into the presence of +the chief, who had sent for him. + +Then he set his broad shoulders against the door, for fists had begun to +hammer at it. + +It was evident at once that Spinney recognized the nature of the +conference that had assembled in General Waymouth's room, and knew what +the personnel of the group signified. + +He looked around him and started toward the door. + +"I've got witnesses to that assault, and you're going to suffer for it," +he blustered. Harlan did not give way. + +"You can't leave here yet, Mr. Spinney--not until General Waymouth +finishes his business with you." + +The General had viewed Mr. Spinney's headlong arrival with astonishment. +He stepped forward to the centre of the room. There was a note in his +voice that quelled the man as much as had Harlan's resolute demeanor at +the door. + +"Spinney, it will be better for you if you listen." + +The candidate turned to face him, apprehensive and defiant at the same +time. The panels of the door against which Harlan leaned were jarred by +beating fists. Harlan heard the voice of his grandfather outside, +calling to him impatiently. A moment more, and Chairman Presson added a +more wrathful admonition to open. + +"Mr. Thornton, will you kindly inform those people at the door that this +is my room, and that I command them to withdraw?" directed General +Waymouth. + +Harlan flung the door open and filled the space with the bulk of his +body. Both parties stood revealed to each other, the young man dividing +them, and disdaining intrenchments. + +"What kind of a crazy-headed, lumber-jack performance are you +perpetrating here?" demanded the elder Thornton. "You're not handling +Canucks to-day, you young hyena!" + +"This is a scandal--a disgrace to this convention!" thundered Presson. +He started to come in, but Harlan barred the doorway with body and arms. + +"Do you want any of these gentlemen inside, General?" he asked. + +"Neither Mr. Presson, nor Mr. Thornton, nor any of the rest," declared +Waymouth. "And I want that disturbance at my door stopped." + +"You hear that!" cried the defender of the pass. "Now, Mr. Presson, if +you intend to disgrace this convention by a riot, it's up to you to +start it." And then the choler and the hot blood of his youth spoke. He +did not pick his words. His opinion of them was seething within him. He +talked as he would talk to a lumber-crew. "I'm keeping this door, and +I'm man enough for all the pot-bellied politicians you can crowd into +this corridor. And if there's any more hammering here, I'll step out and +show you." + +He slammed the door, locked it, and set his shoulders against the +panels. + +"Luke, keep away," counselled Thelismer. "The boy is just plain +lumber-jack at the present moment, and he's a hard man in a scrap. We +can't afford to have a scene." + +"They're going to turn wrongside-out that wad of cotton batting with two +ounces of brains wrapped in it!" raved the State chairman. But the Duke +pulled the politician away, whispering in his ear. + +Spinney faced the General, blinking, doubtful, sullen. + +The old soldier knew how to attack. He flung his accusation with fierce +directness. "Spinney, you have sold out. You're a traitor. And you're a +thief as well, for you've sold what didn't belong to you. You solicited +honest men, in the name of reform, to put their cause into your hands. +It was a trust. You've sold it." + +"I'll prosecute you for slander!" roared the candidate. He hoped his +defiance would be heard by those outside. + +"You may do so, but I'll give you here and now the facts that you'll go +up against. That's how sure I am of my ground!" + +He shook papers at the man. + +"Last night, or rather this morning at one o'clock, to be exact, you met +Luke Presson and members of the State Committee, and for two thousand +dollars, paid to you in one-hundred-dollar bills, you agreed to pull +out. The secret was to be kept until it should be time for the +nominating speeches to be made on the floor of the convention to-day. I +have here affidavits signed by responsible parties who heard the entire +transaction." It was accusation formal, couched in cold phrases, without +passion. + +Spinney started. The perspiration began to stream down his face. But in +spite of the staggering blow the fight was not out of him. He thought +quickly, reassuring himself by the recollection that his bedroom door +had been locked, and men were on guard in his parlor. There could have +been no eavesdroppers. This must be a bluff. + +"That's a damnation lie!" he shouted. + +"Don't you bellow at me, sir! I'm not trying to extort any confession. +But you're wasting time, denying. I'm sure of my ground, I repeat. +That's why I'm talking now. I'm an old man, and I was in politics in +this State before you were born. And there were tricks and tricksters in +the old days. And I knew them. I played one of those tricks on you, sir, +last night. It's the last one I hope I shall ever play, for tricks are +to be taken out of the politics of this State. The god of good chance +lodged you in 'Traitor's Room,' last night, Mr. Spinney." + +The man stared at him, frightened, not understanding. + +"There's a false door and a slide in the wall of that bedroom, Spinney, +and the old politician who put it there years ago passed the knowledge +on to me. I'm willing every one should know it now. When you go back I +will have it shown to you. It will convince you that these affidavits I +hold in my hand are not guess-work. These men in this room now--for your +own men brought me word that you were hiding from them--made those +affidavits. Look at them, and deny--deny once more, Spinney!" + +But the candidate had no voice now. He glanced furtively from face to +face. + +"Spinney," one declared, bitterly, "we've got you dead to rights. There +ain't any use in squirming. We suspected you when you hid away from us, +and General Waymouth put us in the way of finding out just who was with +you. You might as well give in." + +The General did not wait for Spinney to speak. He was in no mood then +for listening. He was in command. He was issuing orders. The battle was +on, and he was in the saddle. + +"I propose to have your name go before the convention, Spinney. You +must walk out of this room and deny the rumors that are afloat. I +propose to have two of these men go with you and stay with you. And if +you deny half-heartedly, or if you attempt any more sneak tricks, or if +your name is not put into nomination to-day, I'll stand out and declare +what is in these affidavits. If you want to save yourself and the men +who bribed you, obey my orders." + +"I don't understand why you want me to go ahead now," Spinney ventured +to protest. + +"And I don't propose to take you into my confidence enough, sir, to +inform you. I simply instruct you to do as I say, and if you obey, I and +these men here will do all we can to cover up this nasty mess in our +party. It's in your hands whether you go to jail or not." + +The General signalled to Harlan, and the young man opened the door. +Spinney went out with his watchful guardians. + +"Now you ought to be able to hold your men together until we need them, +gentlemen," said the General, addressing those who remained. "But you'd +better get out among them and see that they stay in line. Defend +Spinney! God knows, the words will stick in your throats, but show a +bold front to the other side. Gather in your stragglers." + +They filed out, plain and stolid individuals from the rural sections. + +Harlan was left alone with the General. + +"There go the kind that the demagogues always catch, Mr. Thornton. The +demagogues understand human nature. They prey on the radicals who will +follow the man who promises--sets class against class and eternally +promises! Promises the jealous ascetics to deprive other men of the +indulgences they seem to enjoy--promises to correct things for the great +majority which dimly understands that things are out of joint in their +little affairs, and as dimly hope that laws and rulers can correct those +things and make the income cover the grocery bills. Spinney had them by +the ears, that he did! But the knave was shrewd enough to understand +that the machine would probably whip him in convention. They used my +name to scare him into selling out--threatened to stampede the +convention for me. That's why I'm so angry." + +"Let me ask you something, General. It was Spinney, was it, Spinney and +the kind I've seen training with him in this thing, that stirred up the +opposition in this State--the kind of opposition we found at our Fort +Canibas caucus?" + +"From all reports, yes. I know some of the agents that have been working +in the State. The men behind have hidden themselves pretty well, and I'm +not exactly certain where their money is coming from. But I suppose the +liquor interests are putting in considerable, as usual." + +"The liquor interests! Backing reformers?" + +The General smiled. + +"Remember that I've had better chances to see the inside than you, young +man. I've watched it operate from the start. In case of doubt you'll +find the liquor interests on both sides. It's an evil that prohibition +opens the door to. The saloons are to be tolerated and protected, or +they are to be persecuted--the programme depends on the men who get +control. If they are to be tolerated, the wholesale liquor men have to +stand in right, so that they may have the privilege of doing business +with the retailers. If the saloons are to be closed, the liquor men want +to stand in right, so that they can do business direct with the +consumer; and then there are the increased sales through the legalized +city and town agencies when the saloons are closed--the liquor men need +that business. The liquor is bound to come in anyway, whichever faction +is in control. So the big rumsellers cater to both sides." + +"Isn't there any decency anywhere, in any man, General Waymouth, when he +gets mixed into such things?" + +"Don't lose your faith that way, my boy! You see, I'm even playing a few +political tricks myself. Your grandfather is more than half right--we +have to play the game! But I'm trying a last experiment with human +nature before I die. I haven't the things to lose that a young man has. +I am forcing myself on my party--using some means that disgust me, but I +have to do so in order to prevail. I want to be Governor of this State +again, and I want to be Governor with more powers than I had before. You +and I both know what the party managers want, I'd like to find out if +the people are willing to be governed that way, after they've learned +there's a better system. I want to find out if every man in this State +is willing to pay his own just share of taxes, if the people will wake +up and stand behind a man who shows them how to keep from private greed +what belongs to the people. And most of all, young man, this State is in +a condition of civil war over this infernal liquor question. The +radicals are away off at one side, and the liberals as far away from +them as they can get, and both sides plastering each other with mud. +There's no common ground for a decent and honest man to stand on +between; that is, he's too much disgusted with both sides to join +either. I want to see whether there's good sense enough in this State to +take the thing out of the hands of the fanatics so that we can get +results that decent men can subscribe to--_results_ instead of the ruin +and rottenness we're in now." + +He stopped suddenly with a word of apology. + +"You mustn't think I'm inflicting a rehearsal of my inauguration speech +on you, Mr. Thornton. I talked more than I intended. But my feelings +have been deeply stirred this morning." + +"It's wicked business, General Waymouth! I don't understand how you've +kept so calm through it. But, thank God, you can show 'em all up now, as +they deserve to be shown to the people of this State. I can hardly wait +for that convention to open!" + +The General put his papers into his breast-pocket and buttoned his close +frock-coat. He gazed on the young man's excitement indulgently. + +"My boy, you have yet to learn, I see, that what would make a good scene +in a theatre would be a mighty bad move in politics. This, to-day, is a +convention that a good many thousands of voters are waiting to hear +from. If they should hear the whole truth, I'm thinking that the +Democratic party would win at the polls. So, you see, I must continue to +be a politician. We'll be going along to the hall, now, you and I. It's +near the hour. I want to be the next Governor of this State" (he smiled +wistfully), "so you and I will go out and hunt for enough honest men to +make me Governor." + +The hotel was pretty well deserted as they walked down the stairs and +through the lobby. + +"Ours doesn't seem to be the largest parade of the day, Mr. Thornton," +said the veteran mildly, when they were on the street, "but we'll +see--we'll see!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP + + +Like a beacon marking shoals, Thelismer Thornton stood at the head of +the broad granite steps that led up to the convention hall. An unlighted +cigar was set hard between his teeth. Men flocked past him with +obsequious greetings, but he merely grunted replies. He was watching for +some one. He swore under his breath when he saw his man. General +Waymouth and Harlan came up the steps together. He swung between them, +and went along into the hall. + +From open doors and windows band-music blared, welded with the roar of +two thousand voices, each man shouting his conversation to be heard +above his neighbors. It still lacked ten minutes of the hour set for the +opening of the convention. + +Under the cover of the uproar, as they walked along, the Duke delivered +some very vigorous opinions to his grandson, expressing himself as to +the latter's state of intellect, judgment, and general fitness to be +allowed loose among men. + +Harlan did not retort. He took his cue from the General, who smiled and +listened. + +"I'll tell you what I ought to do with you, boy! I ought to skin you. +I'd find a ready sale for the hide. They could use it to make bindings +for New Testaments. Your're too d--n--d righteous, altogether! I've been +easy and patient with you, but I don't propose to stand at one side +now, and see you ruin yourself politically. Why are you letting the boy +do it, Varden?" he demanded, turning on the General. "You're old enough +to know better. He's no help to you now. I supposed I had a grandson +until you got hold of him!" + +"You've still got a grandson, but you haven't got a political tool to +use in prying open a new governorship deal every fifteen minutes," +declared the young man. "You took me to General Waymouth, you pledged me +to him--I pledged myself to him. I don't propose to discuss this matter +any further. I'm my own man when it comes to politics!" + +"Thelismer, I wouldn't say any more just now," suggested the General. +"You are angry, and I've told you many times in past years that your +judgment is not good when you are angry. But this is no place for +talking these matters!" + +The curious had already begun to throng about them. General Waymouth was +a marked figure in a gathering. It had not become a matter of general +knowledge that he was attending the convention. He had not appeared +frequently in public since his retirement, and men were glad to see him. +The early buzz that greeted his first appearance in the hall grew louder +and louder, and swelled into an uproar as delegates turned in larger +numbers and recognized him. + +The vast body of the auditorium was crowded with men. Posts supporting +huge placards indicated the division of delegates into counties. The +General's own county was nearest the door by which he had entered. At a +call from some one these delegates climbed upon their settees. They gave +three cheers for him. It was a spontaneous tribute to the one great man +of the State--their county's favorite son. + +The word passed rapidly. Other counties came to their feet. The band was +playing, the early enthusiasm of the day was fresh, men had not had +opportunity to exercise their voices till then, and as the General +passed down the side aisle of the hall he was cheered by every +delegation. Harlan followed him closely, and the Duke was at their +heels. Every man in the hall saw the little group. It seemed eminently +fit that Thelismer Thornton should escort General Waymouth. But the Duke +did not realize that the General was shrewdly using that opportunity of +displaying Thornton, the elder, in his retinue. The accident fitted with +some plans of his own. + +Spurred by the excitement of that tumultuous moment, Harlan could not +restrain a bit of a boast. + +"How do you like the sound of that, grandfather?" he flung over his +shoulder. + +"There's no politics in that, you young fool. A hoorah isn't a +nomination." + +But he could not hide from himself the plain fact that Varden Waymouth +was a tremendously strong figure in State affairs. + +There was sincerity behind that outburst. Eyes glistened. Faces glowed +with admiration and respect. The Duke wondered bitterly how much of that +extraordinary tribute was inspired by the publicity work for which the +State Committee had spent its good money. + +The General led the way in at the side door that admitted to the stage. +He was on familiar ground. Behind the stage there were several +anterooms. He appropriated an empty one, hanging his hat on a hook. + +"Not an elaborate lay-out for a candidate, Thelismer," he remarked, +pleasantly, "but headquarters to-day is where we hang up our hat." + +"Vard, you don't mean to tell me--seriously, at this hour--that you mean +to be a candidate?" Thornton had put aside his anger. That had been +bitter and quick ire, because his grandson had seemed so blind to his +own personal interests. There was solicitude now in the old man's air. + +"I got you into this myself," he went on. "I coaxed you in, for the +situation was right and ripe. You kicked it over yourself. I haven't any +compunctions, Vard. I stayed with you just as long as I could stay. But +I'll be dod-jimmed if I'll shove a Governor onto my party that's a +hybrid of Socialist and angel. Now you can't swing this thing. Everett's +got it buttoned. I tell you he has! You're too big a man, to-day, to get +before that convention and be thrown down. I've got a better line on the +situation than you have. Vard, let's not have this come up between us at +our time of life. It's bad--it's bad!" + +"It _is_ bad," returned the General, quietly; "but not for me! And it's +too late to stop. I'm going through with it, Thelismer." + +There was dignity--a finality of decision--that checked further +argument. Thornton shifted gaze from Waymouth to his grandson, started +to say more, snapped his jaws shut, and walked away. + +The door of the anteroom afforded a view across the stage. The hour had +arrived. The secretary of the State Committee appeared from the wings +and waited until the delegates were in their seats and quiet. He read +the call, and then the temporary organization was promptly effected, the +tagged delegates popping up here and there and making the motions that +had been entrusted to them. + +A clergyman invoked Divine blessing, praying fulsomely and long, +beseeching that the delegates would be guided by the higher will in +their deliberations. + +"It's the only prayer I ever find amusing--God pardon me!" whispered the +General at Harlan's side, watching the preliminaries. "To call a State +convention, as the machine runs it, a deliberative body is a sad jest of +some magnitude. The managers intend to hold the real convention the +night before in the State Committee's headquarters at the hotel. But +to-day I hope that prayer proves prophetic." + +He studied the faces on the platform. The United States Senator, smug +and now satisfied that he had chosen aright for his personal interests, +sat in the chairman's central seat, and studied his people from under +eyelids half lowered while the parson prayed. + +After the prayer, the routine proceeded hurriedly. For five minutes the +convention seemed to be in a state of riot. Men were bellowing and +yelping, and standing on settees. The counties were holding simultaneous +caucuses for the purpose of selecting, each its vice-president of +convention, its State committeeman, and member of the Committee on +Resolutions--the resolutions then reposing in the breast-pocket of the +Hon. Luke Presson. + +The secretaries were announced, the temporary organization was made +permanent, and, advancing against a blast of band-music and a salvo of +applause, the Senator-chairman began his address. + +"Now," remarked General Waymouth, grimly, "I am ready to open +headquarters in earnest. My boy, in that anteroom across the stage +you'll find your grandfather and Mr. Presson, and certain members of the +State Committee. David Everett will be there, too. Inform them I send my +urgent request that they meet, at _once,_ the Hon. Arba Spinney and a +delegation in my room here. I think that combination will suggest to +guilty consciences that they'd better hurry. If they show any signs of +hesitating, you may intimate as much to them." + +The plain and stolid men came in just then. They brought Mr. Spinney +through the side door. The unhappy conspirator, jostled by his +body-guard, was near collapse. He was now traitor to both sides. +Circumstances hemmed him in. But more than he feared the recriminations +of Luke Presson and his associates, he feared the papers in the +breast-pocket of Varden Waymouth. + +Harlan went on his errand, crossing the stage behind a backdrop. Senator +Pownal had got well under way, and was setting forth the sturdy +principles of the Republican party with all the power of his lungs. + +Harlan did not knock at the anteroom door; he walked in, and for a +moment he thought that the enraged chairman was about to leap at his +throat. + +"Spinney, eh?" he blazed at the young man's first word. "Explain to me, +Mr. Thornton, what is meant by your assault on a decent and honest +citizen? What do you mean by teaming him from the hotel to this +convention hall with a body-guard to insult men who have business with +him?" + +The question was confession that the chairman had been unable to get at +the political property he had paid dearly for. It indicated that he +suspected but did not realize fully how deeply Spinney was in the toils. + +"Explain!" shouted Presson, standing on tiptoe to thrust features +convulsed with rage into the young man's face. + +"General Waymouth is waiting to explain, sir. He's across the stage, +there! And Mr. Spinney is with him. I'd advise you to hurry." + +"I don't need any of your advice! If you've got him on exhibition at +last where the public can be admitted, I can't get there any too quick." + +He rushed out, charging like a bull, and the others followed. + +The State committeeman who closed file with Harlan did not appreciate +the gravity of the situation. + +"You seem to be introducing new features into a State Convention to-day, +cap'n," he observed, sarcastically. "The way you're handling Brother +Spinney is like the song about + +"'Old Jud Cole, who went by freight To Newry Corner in this State; +Packed him in a crate to get him there, With a two-cent stamp to +pay his fare.'" + +He added, "Spinney is light enough to travel on that tariff, but you're +going to find he's got friends that are heavier." + +Young Thornton waited till all had entered the anteroom, and again took +his post as guard on the inside of the door. + +General Waymouth checked Presson at the first yelp of the outburst with +which he had stormed into the room. Probably there was not another man +in the State who could have prevailed by sheer force of dignity and +carriage in that moment when the passions of his opponents were so +white-hot. But he was, in intellect, birth, breeding, and position, +above them all, and they knew it. There, boxed in that little room, they +faced him, and anger, rancor, spite, itch for revenge gave way before +his stern, cold, inexorable determination to prevail in the name of the +right. + +"Gentlemen, I haven't called you here for the purpose of arguing or +wrangling. You'll waste time by trying to do either. You are here to +listen to what _must_ be done. You represent the warring factions. There +are enough of us to straighten the matter out. There are not so many +that the secret of this shameful mess cannot be kept, and our party +saved at the polls." + +He paused to draw the fateful documents from his pocket. + +In the hush of the little room they heard Senator Pownal declaiming: +"And it is upon these firm principles, bedrock of inalienable rights +guaranteed to the people, upon the broad issues of reform, inculcation +of temperance, and the virtues of civic life, that the Republican party +is founded." + +Harlan, at the door, younger than the rest, found a suggestion of humor +in what the orator was saying compared with what the party managers had +met to hear. But there were no smiles on the faces of the group. The +demeanor of the stricken Spinney, anger fairly distilling in his +sweat-drops, hinted the truth to Presson. Thelismer Thornton tried to +get near Spinney, understanding it all even better than the State +chairman, but the plain and stolid men flanked their captive with +determination. + +"I have here five affidavits from eye-witnesses, swearing that Arba +Spinney was bribed to sell out his faction at the last moment to-day, +leaving only David Everett in the field. I have no time to waste in +giving the details of that transaction to men who know them just as well +as I do. And I want no interruption, sir!" He brandished the papers +under the nose of Presson, who attempted to speak. "I do not propose to +have my intelligence insulted by denials from you or any one else. If +you don't believe I have full proof of what I charge, you walk out of +that door and put the matter to the test! And I hasten to assure you, +sir, that you'll be eternally disgraced!" + +He waited a moment, because a roar of applause that greeted one of +Senator Pownal's utterances resounded even in the remote anteroom. + +"It all means, gentlemen, that I'm to be the nominee of this convention +to-day. It's time for a clean-up, and I'm going to start one. The men +who are running our party are not fit to be in charge of it. The voters +deserve a better show. I've called you here to give you an opportunity +to save yourselves, personally. I'm willing to submit to a little +by-play for that purpose. You are to allow Spinney's name to go before +the convention, according to the regular programme. That's to divert the +attention of the convention and the State-at-large from what otherwise +would seem a split in the recognized management of the party. Spinney +has been only a rank outsider, politically considered. We have to +consider the campaign, gentlemen, and the material we may furnish our +friends, the enemy. Then, you gentlemen of the State Committee, each in +his county delegation, are to start a demonstration in my behalf. This +is no time for me to be mock-modest. On the heels of that demonstration +Everett's name is to be withdrawn with the explanation that such an +apparently spontaneous demand from the voters should be recognized. Mr. +Everett is to declare that under the circumstances he does not wish to +stand in the way of popular choice, and he is to announce that much and +present me to the convention. I assure you, Mr. Everett, that I ask this +last with no intent of wounding your feelings or indulging in cheap +triumph--it is necessary in order that the mouths of political gossips +may be shut." + +A rather stupid silence followed that declaration of programme. The +voice of the Senator rose and fell without. + +The General met their staring eyes calmly. "It may be a rather +surprising development of the convention," he said. "But as soon as the +surprise is over it will commend itself as a perfectly natural and +graceful concession to public opinion--as public opinion can be set in +motion by the members of the State Committee on the floor of the +convention. In fact, the plan commended itself to my friend Thelismer, +here, and Chairman Presson some weeks ago." + +The State chairman was stirred as though galvanically by that statement. +The bitter memory of how he had groomed the dark horse that was now +kicking his master's political brains out rose in him. + +"By the everlasting gods," he shouted, "I'll go down fighting! If the +house has got to come down, I'll go down with it." + +"Samson had two arms. I have only one," returned General Waymouth. "But +I've got that arm around the central pillar of your political roof, +gentlemen--and I've got the strength to handle it! You've stated your +position as a politician, Presson. Now I'll state mine. Rather than see +the Republican temple made any longer a house of political ill-fame I'll +pull it down on you prostitutes." + +It was bitter taunt--an insult delivered with calm determination to +sting. Presson stamped about the room in his wrath. + +"I'm making no pact or promise," went on the General. "I declare that +you are the men who are wrecking our party. Now if you propose to wreck +it completely, we'll go smashing all together in the ruins. It may as +well be wrecked now as later!" + +There was another hush in the room. + +"So I call upon you, men of office, shop, and farm, bone and sinew of +our grand old party," exhorted Senator Pownal from the forum outside, +"to forget the petty bickerings of faction and stand shoulder to +shoulder in your march to the polls. Nail the principles of justice, +truth, and honesty to the flagstaff, and follow behind that banner, +winning the suffrages of those who believe in the right." + +"It sounds as though the Senator might be arriving close to his amen," +suggested General Waymouth, ironically. "You have only a few minutes in +which to decide. I hold the proxy of one of these delegates to the +convention." He pointed to one of the stolid and plain men. "You know +that I can get the ear of that convention--you can't work any gag-rule +on me--I have been listened to too often by the men of this State when +I've had something to say. And you know what effect these affidavits +will have!" + +There was further silence, broken only by the voice of the Senator +without and Presson within, who was scuffling about, babbling disjointed +oaths. + +Suddenly a great outburst of applause signified that the Senator had +concluded. + +"Go ahead out and kill your party!" barked Presson. "Give it your +strychnine! It may as well die right now, in a spasm, as to have a +lingering death later with you at the head of it, Waymouth. You can't +team _me_!" + +"You let me say a word right here!" blustered Everett. "I wash my hands +of any deal with Spinney. I've got the bulk of that convention behind +me. I don't propose to be shunted." + +"I supposed you all remembered the details of what you did last +evening," returned the General, coldly. "Is it necessary for me to +remind you, Mr. Everett, that Chairman Presson turned over to Spinney a +paper in which you agreed to appoint him to a State office? That +transaction was noted along with the rest, sir." + +"I'll have as many witnesses as you," declared Presson, "I'll--" + +"Stop!" It was a tone that cowed the chairman, struggling with his +guilty conscience. "I have warned you that I'm not here to argue this +matter with you. I'll not be drawn into any discussion. What I have, I +have!" He waved his papers above his head. "What I can do that I'll do! +I would remind you, gentlemen, that the convention is waiting." + +Thelismer Thornton caught the secretary of the State Committee by the +arm and propelled him toward the door, ordering Harlan to open it. +"Signal that band! Start it to going!" he directed. "Keep those +delegates easy." He turned on the chairman. "Now, Luke, you're licked. +And it's your own deadfall that's caught you. I know just how you feel, +but here's a laundry-bag that you've got to draw the puckering-strings +on. Shut up! I'm going to save you from yourself. You're running amuck, +now. You're a lunatic, and not responsible." He dragged the defiant +chairman back into the room. He held him in firm grip. "There's a new +bribery law in this State. You haven't forgotten it, have you! It's +State prison!" + +"Look here, gentlemen," he went on, addressing the members of the State +Committee, "you've got just five minutes leeway between a devilish good +political walloping and striped suits. Get out on the floor. Get busy +with those delegations. And the man of all of you who dares to say one +word too much about what's been done here to-day will peek through bars +and wish his tongue had been torn out by the roots before he talked! +Presson, this thing is out of your hands. You shan't cut your own +throat, I say! Get onto that floor, men!" + +They went. It was the rush of men to save themselves. Each man as he +passed out cast a glance upon the papers that General Waymouth clutched, +and a second glance at Harlan, brawny guard, at his side. + +"Take Everett across to the committee-room and call in the men who were +to present him," directed the Duke, releasing the chairman. "And it's up +to you two to give 'em a story that will hold 'em. It's short notice, +but you've got General Waymouth for a text! Look here, Dave," he whirled +on Everett, who was frantically protesting, "your strength was the +strength the boys of the machine put behind you. It hasn't been personal +strength. You can't afford to be a blasted fool now, even if you are +crazy mad. You've been lecturing considerably the past few weeks on +'party exigencies.' This is one. It's an exigency that will put you +before a grand jury if you don't tread careful. Get across there, you +and Presson! I'm eating dirt myself. Get down on your hands and knees +with me, and make believe you like it!" + +He hustled them out. + +The band was rioting through a jolly melange of popular melodies. + +The old man hesitated a moment, and then walked across to the General. + +"Vard, politics is most always a case of dog eat dog, but I want to +assure you that I'm not hungry just now if you are not! And my grandson +seems to have more political foresight than I gave him credit for. I'm +getting old, I see!" + +He did not give them opportunity to answer. He swung about and went to +Spinney. + +"I reckon they'll raise your guard, now, Arba," he said, nodding at the +stolid and plain men. "There isn't much more that you can do, either to +harm or help. You'd better pull a chair out to the edge of the stage +there, and listen to what a h--l of a fellow you are when your orators +nominate you. Then before the applause dies away, you'd better start for +home. It'll be a good time to get away while Presson is busy!" It was +plain that, lacking any other object, the Duke was venting the last of +his spleen on this wretched victim of the game. "Before you go, give me +one of those 'Honest Arba' ribbons. I keep a scrap-book of jokes!" + +The abject candidate had no word to offer in reply. He was white and +trembling, for after Presson's early declaration it had seemed that the +whole shameful story was to be thundered in the ears of those two +thousand men sitting yonder. + +"You can suit yourself as to your further movements, Spinney," said the +General, noting the man's distress. + +"There's a rear exit from this hall," remarked the Duke, significantly. + +Spinney went out, hanging his head. + +"Well, there's at least one cur eliminated from the politics of this +State," blurted Harlan, gratefully. + +"Eliminated!" sneered his grandfather. "The first man you'll meet in the +legislative lobby next winter, sugar on his speech and alum on his +finger, so that he can get a good firm grip of your buttonhole, will be +Arba Spinney, drawing his salary as the paid agent of half-a-dozen +schemers. He may seem a little wilted just now, but he's a hardy +perennial--you needn't worry about _him_." + +"I think you're the man to take these documents to the Committee on +Resolutions, Thelismer," stated the General, drawing out the planks he +had submitted the evening before. "You can explain why they should be +inserted--and I have modified them somewhat. I have no desire to +frighten the party at the outset." + +The Duke took the papers, and departed without a word. The men of the +affidavits returned to their delegations on the floor of the convention, +gratification in their faces, as well as a sense of the importance of +the secret they were guarding. + +The band gave a final bellow, and the business of the convention +proceeded. + +General Waymouth and Harlan took chairs into their little room and sat +down to wait. The sounds came to them mellowed by distance, but +distinct. They followed the procession of events. + +Spinney's name was presented by an up-country spellbinder who had copied +logic, diction, and demagogic arguments from his chief. But all the +thrill, swing, and excitement of the Spinney movement were gone. Red +fire, hilarity, and stimulants could not be used to spice this daylight +gathering of men ranged in orderly rows on their settees--and subtle +suggestion had already gone abroad. Yet the undercurrent of opposition +to the further dictation by the party ring was shown by the applause +that greeted every reference by the speaker to the conditions that +existed in the party. On the text of Spinney, personating Protest, the +orator preached to willing converts who clamored for change, even though +no better leader than Spinney offered. Spinney got perfunctory applause; +suggested change was cheered tumultuously. + +The convention was ripe for revolution against dominant conditions, +without exactly understanding how to rebel wisely and well. + +Suddenly a clarion voice raised itself from the convention floor. They +in the little room could hear every word. + +"That's Linton," said the General, calmly. "He balked under my pat, but +he's plunging into the traces handsomely under the whip!" + +"Linton! After refusing? Is he presenting your name?" + +"Oh, he's a politician, and one must allow a politician to weigh out his +stock of goods on his own scales, and hope that he will give good +measure. I'll be grateful in this instance, Mr. Thornton. They've picked +out an able young speaker!" + +In spite of his resentful opinion of Linton, an opinion into which he +would not admit to himself that jealousy entered, Harlan, as he +listened, had to acknowledge the ability of the young lawyer. + +First he caught the attention of his auditors, then he skilfully +suggested that he was preparing a surprise. With appealing frankness +that won the interest and sympathy of the Spinney adherents, he agreed +with them that the times demanded changes and reforms. He urged that +these should be undertaken within the party, and then, earnestly but +delicately, he hinted that the reformers had not picked the right +leader. As delicately he suggested, next, that an extreme partisan, +bound far in advance of nomination by factional pledges and trades that +he must carry out, was not the right man to extricate the party, either. +Lastly, he came to the crux of his speech, plunging into the theme with +passionate eloquence that brought moisture to the eyes of Harlan. That +young man was not thinking of the orator, then. His thoughts were on the +old man at whose side he sat--the old man who listened in dignified +patience. + +Now the delegates sniffed the truth. A word had put them on the trail. +They were not sure. But they suspected. And mere suspicion sent them +upon their settees, cheering wildly. Distrust of Spinney, sullen +disloyalty to the machine-created Everett, furnished a soil in which +hope for another solution of the tangle sprang with miraculous growth. + +Linton waited until the roar of voices died away. They again listened +breathlessly, wondering whether their own hopes had beguiled them. + +"From the storied past, gentlemen of the convention, we draw precept and +example, lesson and moral, hope and inspiration. As nature has stored in +the bowels of the earth the oil that serves the lighthouse beacons of +to-day, so life has stored in various reservoirs human experience that +can light the path through troublous times in these latter days. Written +on the scroll of history, limned on the page of law, we find the words +of the fathers, sane and helpful thought and good counsel. In days of +doubt and worry and despair we may meet the fathers on the written page. +But, oh, how grand a blessing for the human race could we sit at their +feet beholding them in the flesh and receive their teachings! If only +they, the fathers, might take us by the hand and lead us through the +devious tangles of public policy! To-day we meet here in perplexed +division as to the standard-bearer for our next campaign. If up from +that past of sage counsel and unfaltering faith there might come one +who could stand forth and expound the lessons that we need, we might +take heart and travel boldly on. But, gentlemen, I bring you a message +of greater hope--more profound a blessing. Up from that past comes the +standard-bearer _himself_! His wise kindliness meets every test of +honest gentleman; scholarship crowns his brow, Law holds her torch aloft +that his feet may tread the safe way; war from him has taken tribute, +but to him has given a hero's deathless laurels. Once in her history +this State welcomed him to her councils as her gracious overlord, and +now--" + +There was no doubt in their minds now. A window-shaking demonstration +bore down his voice. + +Linton seized upon the beginning of silence. + +"Now once again his State, groping for a hand to lead her forth to +stability and progress, sees his hand and seeks to grasp it, +supplicating him: 'O father, guide me! O wise man, teach me! O hero, +save me!' And I name to you, gentlemen, for the candidate of the +Republican party--" + +He leaped upon a settee and voiced the name of General Varden Waymouth +with all the strength of his trumpet voice. But no one heard what he +said. They all knew what he was to say. They did not need the spoken +name. + +That convention had been ripening for a stampede. Its component +delegates had contained the stampede fever for weeks before they +assembled. Men leaped and screamed. It was a storm of enthusiasm; two +thousand feet furnished the thunder-roar; hats went up and came down +like pelting rain; and voices bellowed like the bursting wind volleys of +the gale. + +Here and there, gesticulating men were trying to make seconding +speeches, but the words were lost. The chairman of the convention, grim +and pale and wondering just how much damage this overturn signified to +his personal interests, nodded recognition to these speakers, and +allowed them to waste their words upon the welter of mere sound. + +He also recognized other men who arose. He knew them for Spinney's +adherents and divined what they were trying to say. And having divined +it, he was promptly inspired to get in with the rush of those who were +climbing aboard the band-wagon. + +He advanced to the edge of the platform, and by tossing his arms secured +a moment of silence. He had his own salvation to look after. + +"I am glad, inexpressibly pleased, that as chairman of your convention I +can now declare myself for General Waymouth; for the convention has but +one name before it--the name of Arba Spinney has been withdrawn!" + +When the tumult began again--almost delirium this time--David Everett +appeared from the wings, white, stricken, overwhelmed by the suddenness +with which the prize had been snatched beyond his reach, driven out upon +the stage by the State Committee like a whipped cur forced to perform +his little trick in public. He began to speak, but the delegates did not +listen--they knew what he was saying, and were cheering him. Not all of +it was enthusiasm for General Waymouth; men instantly realized that a +nasty split in the party had been bridged; men felt that in this new +candidate both factions had the ownership that puts one "in right." A +united party could now march to the polls. + +The nomination was by acclamation! + +They came to General Waymouth, where he stood patiently at the door of +his room--the committee appointed to escort him before the convention. +He signalled for them to precede him--his hand was inside the arm of +Harlan Thornton, and he did not withdraw it even to shake the eager +hands that were outstretched. He walked upon the stage with the young +man, and, still holding his arm, faced the hurricane of enthusiasm until +it had blown itself out. + +It was a breathless hush in which he spoke. + +"Our party, in State Convention assembled, has to-day declared for +honesty." They did not exactly understand, but they gave voice like +hounds unleashed. That sentiment complimented them. "I pledge the last +strength of my old age to the task you have imposed upon me. Give me +your pledge, man to man, in return. Shall it be for all of us: honesty +in principle and unswerving obedience to every party profession we make? +I await your 'Yes'!" + +It came like a thunderclap--two thousand voices shouting it. + +He stood there, his hand upraised, waiting again until the hush was upon +them once more. They were ready for the usual speech of acceptance. But +he said simply this: + +"I accept the trust!" + +He put his hand behind Harlan's guarding elbow and retired. + +"A carriage at once, Mr. Thornton," he directed. "I must save myself for +performance, not parade." + +They were away before even the eager platform notables could intercept +them. The cheering was still going on when the carriage started. From +the open windows of the hall the riot of the convention--voices and +music--pursued them until the racket of the busy street drowned it out. + +"At the present moment, Mr. Thornton, it is not likely that the +Republican State Committee is in a mood for poetry," remarked General +Waymouth. Gayety that was a bit wistful had succeeded his sombre +earnestness. + +"But something in the sentiment of this old song might appeal to them +while they are thinking of me just now: + +"'The mother may forget the child + That smiles so sweetly on her knee; +But I'll remember thee, Glencairn, + And all that thou hast done to me.'" + +Harlan did not reply. At that moment, strangely enough, something +besides the fury and the results of that tremendous convention occupied +his thoughts. While he had stood beside General Waymouth he had not +looked down into the pit of roaring humanity. He had looked straight up +into the eyes of Madeleine Presson, whose gaze, by some chance, caught +his the moment he stepped upon the platform. She had leaned on the +gallery-rail and studied him intently. In spite of all else that had +happened and was happening, he could not help wondering why. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE RAMRODDERS RAMPANT + + +Though Mrs. Luke Presson was not especially interested in the practical +side of plain politics, yet it was a part of her social methods to make +tame cats of men of State influence as far as she was able. She did this +instinctively, rather from the social viewpoint than the political. Luke +Presson did not take her into his confidence to the extent that he +desired her to cultivate men of power for his own purposes. He only +dimly and rather contemptuously recognized that women had any influence +in political matters. But it did occur to him, after that State +convention, that perhaps he needed his wife to assist him in beginning a +reconciliation with General Waymouth. + +Mrs. Presson came to him, directly the convention had adjourned. The few +men who were lingering in headquarters dodged out, for they perceived +that the chairman's wife had something on her mind. + +He endured her indignant reproaches for some time. She taxed him with +betrayal of her personal interests. + +"I've never tried to pry into your schemes. I don't care about them. But +when you make a fool of me in regard to the next Governor of this State, +you shall answer for it to me!" + +"I did no such thing," he protested, wanting to placate her for private +reasons of his own. + +"I say you did. You're chairman of the State Committee. You knew which +man would be nominated--you must have known it all along. You wouldn't +be State chairman if you didn't know that!" + +The unhappy magnate was ashamed to tell her the bitter truth. + +"You allowed me to come here to-day with Mrs. Dave Everett and her +daughters. Here is the bouquet I brought to present to her husband!" She +shook it under his nose and tossed it into a corner. "You never told me +a word about the plan to nominate General Waymouth. It was deliberate +deceit on your part--for what reason I cannot understand." + +Presson tried to think of a story that would explain and shield him, but +the convention had not been an affair to promote clear thinking. + +"Here's a legislative session at hand, and you've allowed me to stay +entirely out of touch with the next first gentleman of the State! I'm +like all the rest of the trailers, now. I haven't any prior social claim +on him. And I can't even find him at this late hour to offer my +congratulations." + +"I haven't been able to offer mine, either," said the chairman, grimly. + +"I'll endure no more of this foolery, Luke! If you propose to make a +plaything of your own wife from now on--" + +"I'm telling you the truth. General Waymouth hurried out of the hall +before I could get to him. That devilish Canibas bull moose picked him +up, like he's been picking up--" + +But the astonishment in his wife's eyes stopped him. He was revealing +too much of his secret. + +"Why, Harlan Thornton went away with him--Thelismer's grandson! Some one +told me who saw them in the carriage together. What do you mean by +Canibas moose?" + +"Can't you see that I'm all stirred up by the excitement of this +convention?" he demanded. "I don't know what I'm saying. I'll explain to +you later, Lucretia." + +"I think you'd better. Where did General Waymouth go?" + +"To the hotel, I suppose." + +"No, he's not there. I have telephoned. Luke, we must have him at lunch +with us. It's his place to lunch with us--you're the chairman of the +State Committee! It's a late start for me--and it's your own fault +because it is so. But you must find the General and make him come to +luncheon. I have arranged for the party in the English Room at the +hotel. You _must_ have him there!" She hurried away to where the ladies +were waiting for her. + +Presson, the politician's instinct of self-preservation now getting the +better of his rancor, promptly determined that his own interests would +be helped by his wife's luncheon-party, provided the victor could be +cajoled and coralled. He put pride behind him. It was not so easy to do +as much with his shame and the downright fear that assailed him when he +reflected on his plot and its outcome. But he decided that although +little might be gained for him by making up to the victorious General, a +great deal would be surely lost if the antagonism were emphasized. + +He put on his hat and hurried to the street. Inquiry at the cab-stand +afforded him the information that General Waymouth and his companion had +not given a definite destination. "But there's the man who took them," +said the manager. "He's just back. Ask him." + +The driver said that he had dropped them at the park, at their request, +and the chairman jumped into the carriage, directing that he be conveyed +to the same place. + +He found them sitting democratically on a bench, taking the air. + +Without preliminary the chairman extended Mrs. Presson's invitation. +"There will be a very small party of us, and it may save you from the +annoyances of the public rooms," added Chairman Presson, humbly. + +The General arose and accepted with cordiality, somewhat to Harlan's +surprise, for his unbending youth could not yet understand how political +hatchets could be buried so quickly. + +"I want to congratulate you, General," said the chairman on the way to +the carriage. "And I want to tell you that the State Committee will +swing into line behind you for the campaign. You'll find us loyal. +There's a good deal more I'd like to say, but there'll be time enough +for that later. I'll merely say this: both of us have been in politics +years enough, I believe, to be able to wash a convention slate clean, +when it's a question of a State campaign against the opposite party." + +"I'll meet you frankly on that plane, Mr. Presson. I have too much ahead +of me to waste time in quarrels. It isn't my nature to retaliate. I have +understood the situation better than some men would." + +Harlan, hoping that the chairman appreciated that magnanimity, gave +Presson a look that expressed much. But in his new humility the latter +was getting rid of ancient grudges as fast as he could. While the +General was entering the carriage, the chairman offered rather +embarrassed apology. "But you introduced some original specialties in +politics that took me off my feet, young man!" he added, with a sickly +smile. + +Harlan was still a little stiff. It was not easy for him to get into the +state of political pliability that he saw others assume so readily. + +"I'm a countryman, and pretty awkward in most everything I undertake," +he said. "I have no business meddling in the big affairs of this State. +I'll take my place where I belong, after this, Mr. Presson. If I don't, +I'll not have a friend left--not even my own grandfather." + +The chairman glanced at him curiously, scenting something like duplicity +under this bitter frankness. He was not used to seeing men throw aside +such advantages as this young man had gained. + +The three entered the hotel through the side door, and at the General's +request the chairman accompanied him and his young lieutenant to their +headquarters. It was near the luncheon hour, and Presson had suggested +that he conduct them to Mrs. Presson. + +A party of men had taken possession of the General's suite. They rose +when he entered. They paid no attention to Harlan, but surveyed Chairman +Presson with disfavor that was very noticeable. + +Several of the men were clergymen, advertised as such by their white +ties and frock-coats. Those who attended them had the unmistakable air +of zealots. Their demeanor showed that they had come on business that +they considered serious. + +General Waymouth knew them. He addressed one or two by name, and was +gracious in his greeting of the others. + +"We wait on you," began their spokesman, one of the ministers, "as a +committee from the United Temperance Societies." + +"My time is not my own just now, gentlemen," explained General Waymouth. +"I have a luncheon engagement with Mr. and Mrs. Presson. I will see you +at some other time." + +The faces of all of them grew saturnine at that announcement. For +Chairman Presson was not recognized as the especial friend of +prohibition by the fanatics of the State. + +The clergyman, following his line of duty, was not in a mood to accept +delicate hints regarding social engagements. He stood his ground. + +"Our business will occupy but a short time, and I suggest that it will +be for your personal interest to listen now, sir." + +It was an unfortunate bit of obstinacy. + +"I regulate my own hours for engagements, Mr. Prouty. You have come on +your own business, and it must await my convenience." + +"It's _your_ business I come on, General Waymouth, and I advise you to +listen! And I will add that it will not help you with the temperance +people of this State if they are told that within two hours after your +nomination you are consorting with the arch-enemy of temperance reform +in our midst!" + +With two strides the General was back at his door. He opened it. + +"Be so kind as to leave the room, gentlemen," he invited, icily. "I'll +not detain you even to have you apologize for your intrusion on my +privacy or ask pardon of a guest whom you've insulted!" + +They obeyed him, sullenly. Even their effrontery could not withstand +that dignity. But they muttered among themselves, and one man called +back over his shoulder: "It isn't the first time, General, that a man +brave enough to lead battle charges hasn't shown that he's got the +spirit to declare for the right against the wrong, when politics stands +by with open ears!" + +"There go some of the reformers you were asking your grandfather about a +few weeks ago, Harlan," sneered the indignant chairman. "Those are the +men who are holding themselves up as examples for all the rest of men to +follow. Every one else is a rummy and a hellion, according to their +ranking." + +"As bad an element as the rumsellers themselves," declared the +General--"men of that type! I'm speaking now of the interests of true +reform--reform that gets to the individual and is something else than +this everlasting wrangle and racket between factions. I like fighting, +but I like to have a natural fighter admit he's in it just for the sake +of fighting--not claim it's all for morality's sake!" + +"Then what are you?" blurted Presson, but checked himself in evident +confusion. + +"Eh?" inquired General Waymouth, mildly. + +"I--I don't know what it was I had in my mind--guess I was thinking +about something else." + +But the General smiled as though he understood. Then he went into the +inner room, explaining that he wished to make himself presentable to the +ladies. + +The chairman took a crafty survey of Harlan. + +"Between you and me, my boy," he said, getting back upon his old-time +footing with Thornton's grandson, "the General has got both of my eyes +put out, so far's his politics go. Did you hear him just rip into those +ramrodders? And yet he's been stiffer and straighter than the worst of +'em since he struck this city. I'd like to know who in thunder he _is_ +playing with, anyway! What does he say to you, on the side?" + +"You'd better get General Waymouth's plans from himself, Mr. Presson." + +"I'm not asking you to betray anything. But he's got a policy, of +course. I only want to know it, so that I can grab in with him. But I +can't figure anything, so far." + +"I thought he made himself pretty plain last night." + +"He made himself plain, I'll admit that. Plain that he's against +everything that the party management stands for. But now he turns around +and kicks out the other crowd! He's got to pick his gait and take a +position somewhere!" + +"That's something I know nothing about, sir." + +The chairman grew testy. He felt that he was being played with. + +"Seeing that you're in close to the Amalgamated Order of Angels, you'd +better drop him a hint that running a political campaign isn't like +stampeding a convention. The State Committee stands ready to help, and +before he gets much further along he'll find he needs the help. You'd +better make that plain to him." + +His guest of honor reappeared then, and the chairman led the way. Harlan +had been included in his invitation, and attended his chief. + +With old-fashioned gallantry, General Waymouth made his compliments to +the ladies whom Mrs. Presson had assembled to grace the occasion. Her +little crust of social earth had been tossed alarmingly by the political +earthquake, but she felt that now she was finding safe footing once +more. + +Thelismer Thornton was there, so were Senator Pownal and the secretary +of the State Committee, and a few other favored ones whom the hostess +had sought as being close to the new order of things. She led forward +Linton. + +"And now, General, we're all wondering just how nice a compliment you'll +pay to the orator whose eloquence makes you the next Governor of our +State," chattered the good lady, poorly informed as to real conditions, +but anxious to force a situation for her favorite. "Herbert has been so +modest about it! We've been telling him just how grand we thought it +was." + +"I thank you, Linton, for what you said." The General took the young +man's hand. "You have wonderful gifts of eloquence." + +But there did not seem to be the enthusiasm which the importunate Mrs. +Presson desired. + +"With all due respect to your greatness, General, isn't it true that he +turned the convention--has made you Governor?" she insisted, half in +jest to cover her earnestness. + +"If it comes about that I'm the next Governor of this State," he +returned, gently, "it will be due entirely to this young man." He patted +Harlan's shoulder affectionately. "Just how he has accomplished it is a +very deep political secret between us two. I present my grand vizier, +ladies and gentlemen!" They understood that seriousness lay behind his +whimsical manner of speech. + +Two very round eyes testified to Mrs. Presson's amazement. But once more +she found her social feet after this echo of the main quake. She took +Harlan's hand, and placed it on the chair next to that of her daughter. + +"You'll sit here, if you please, Mr. Thornton," she said, urbanely. + +For a little while a trifle of embarrassment shaded the few words the +young couple addressed to each other, under cover of the general +conversation about the board. Then Harlan, glancing down the table, saw +Linton staring gloomily in his direction. And at that look his spirits +leaped like a steed under the spur. What he had not dared, considering +himself on his own merits, he ventured now. If vague, hidden sentiment, +as he had thought of Clare Kavanagh, had restrained him in the past, it +no longer restrained him now. + +The excitement of the day had given him a queer exaltation. He had been +one of the chiefs in the arena where all the great State looked on at +the combatants. The overlord had just given him soul-stirring proof of +his affection, half in jest as Harlan realized, remembering the occasion +for it, but it was none the less gratifying. Madeleine Presson had +looked at him with strange, new interest in her gaze when the General +spoke out. It had occurred to Harlan that it was not the same +good-humored tolerance which she had so frequently shown in her past +relations with the bashful woodsman. His unquiet grudge against Linton +spiced the whole. + +He turned to the girl. + +She seemed altogether desirable. Something in her eyes responded to his +own feelings. And after that he seemed to be listening to himself +talking--and wondered at the new man he had become. + +When it was over, and the ladies rose from the table to follow Mrs. +Presson, he tried, feeling guilty for a moment, to remember the look +that Linton had given him and to excuse himself as one who had simply +shown the proper spirit of revenge. But when he took her hand he said: +"My grandfather carried me away from you and your mother in very +ungallant fashion yesterday. And he tried to put ungallant words into my +mouth. I trust you'll allow me to disprove them. I'd like the privilege +of being your obedient squire on the trip home." + +"So now that you've become a very big man you've decided that +grandfathers shall no longer be indulged in tyranny?" she asked, with a +dash of malicious fun. + +"I view matters in a new light," he replied. + +"And there's a wonderful psychology in light, so they who have studied +the matter tell us," she said, mischief in her eyes. "But we'll not go +so deeply into the matter. Let it be a light that will guide your +footsteps to our rooms at train-time. You will find us awaiting our +squire!" + +General Waymouth excused himself as soon as the ladies had retired. The +little group of men had promptly begun to canvass the outlook and plans, +but he demurred politely when they desired to drag him into the +discussion. + +"Not yet, gentlemen! We have had enough of talk in the last few hours. +Let me escape to the old brick house up in Burnside for a while. My +train goes shortly. Will you accompany me, Harlan?" It was the first +time he had used the young man's christian-name Harlan flushed with +pleasure. "I will see that you get back here in good season to bring +that guiding light," he murmured, to the other's confusion. + +"I do not like to seem too exacting--too persistent in requiring your +attendance," protested the General, as they returned along the corridor. +The great hotel was nigh deserted. The delegates had hurried away on the +convention specials. "But you have protected me from a great many +annoyances, to put the situation mildly. I am calling you away now to +make a very special request of you. We will speak of it on the way to +the station." + +Ranged in front of the door of his suite was the delegation from the +temperance societies, patiently waiting, more saturnine than before. + +The Reverend Mr. Prouty intercepted them with determination. + +"I do not like to seem too persistent in this matter, but we feel that +we have a right to a few moments of your time, sir. You are accepting +public office, and--" + +"I do not care to have any lessons in politics read to me, Mr. Prouty. +State your business." + +"We prefer to see you in private." + +"And I prefer to have you talk before a reliable witness. Mr. Thornton +is such, and he is entirely in my confidence." + +He did not invite them into his room. + +"We represent the united temperance societies of this State," began the +clergyman. + +"I understand perfectly," put in the General. "And in order that we may +thoroughly understand each other I will inform you that I know exactly +what corporate interests are furnishing money to you and your campaign +managers. I have been very careful to keep posted on these matters, +gentlemen!" + +For a moment Mr. Prouty was visibly taken aback. + +"It is necessary to finance even righteousness," he said, at last. + +"Beyond question," admitted the General. "I only ask you to meet me on +the business basis where you belong. I'll not allow you to mask +factional interests behind religion or a moral issue. I don't mean to be +curt or disobliging, gentlemen, but you must get out in the open. You +have something to ask me? Ask it. You'll receive a plain answer." + +"Do you intend to enforce the prohibitory law?" + +"I question your good taste, Mr. Prouty, in selecting one law and asking +a prospective Governor whether he intends to do his sworn duty in regard +to it." + +"But other Governors have not done so. We propose to have pledges after +this. We'll vote for no more nullifiers." + +"Other Governors have had no direct power to enforce the law, sir. I had +no power when I was Governor. But I'll assure you that if I am the next +Governor I shall demand that power from the legislature, and I'll +enforce that law with all the resources of the State treasury. If it's +in the power of man to accomplish it, the sale of liquor shall be +stopped in this State." + +They plainly had not expected that. His attitude toward them, his +association with the nullifier Presson had suggested that he intended to +carry out the usual "let it alone" programme. They applauded. + +"One moment, gentlemen. That doesn't mean that I or any other man, or +that the prohibitory law, as we have it, or any other mere law, can stop +the drinking of liquor in this State. I'm speaking only of the open sale +of it. I know perfectly well that my attempt to make men sober by law +alone will fail miserably. As it is administered now, the law still +caters to appetite and public demand for privileges, and the public goes +along without especial disturbance. But as I shall enforce the +prohibitory law, conditions will be so intolerable in this State that +the way will be paved for a common-sense treatment of the liquor +question. I shall enforce in order to show how wrong the prohibitory +principles are. They have not been shown up so far, for the law has not +been enforced." + +The delegates were disconcerted. The spokesman's face grew red. + +"Do you dare, sir, as a candidate for Governor of a prohibition State, +to stand up here before these representatives of the temperance +societies and say you are opposed to prohibition?" + +"I certainly do," declared the unruffled General. "For this State is not +a prohibition State! It fatuously thinks it is when the citizens can get +all the liquor they want without trouble. I merely propose to put it to +the test of honesty." + +"You declare yourself an enemy, then, do you?" + +"Mr. Prouty, there you launch yourself into your usual intemperance! At +the first word of another man's dignified difference of opinion you +shout 'enemy' and prepare to fight! I want to ask you and your +supporters here a question: Will you meet with representatives of all +the interests concerned in this matter, including the liquor men and +those who use liquor in its various forms, and endeavor to arrive at +some compromise in this State which shall put a stop to what is +practically civil war, in which we are expending all our energies +without accomplishing any real betterment of conditions? Will you agree +to some middle ground, if it can be shown that more men can be made +sober and less men hypocrites?" + +"I stand solely for the principle of prohibition, unswerving till +death," announced the clergyman. His partisans applauded. + +"You won't stop and listen to what may be for the actual best interests +of our State, then?" + +"I'll not license crime nor compound felonies with criminals." + +"Mr. Prouty, as Governor I signed the first prohibition law passed in +this State. It was on trial. I was liberal enough to bend my own +personal views to give it that trial. When I'm thinking of my State I +don't insist that _my_ way is the _only_ way. Now, sir, if you knew +that, as citizens, not mere partisans, we could all get together and +frame something better than a law that has bred evils of political +corruption through all the years without altering the appetites of the +people--if you knew that, wouldn't you remould some of your opinions and +help us bring about the best good for the whole of us?" + +"I'll not abate my loyalty to prohibition one jot or tittle!" + +"In your case and in the case of the kind of fanatics who train with +you," declared the General, with disgust in tone and mien, "that word +'prohibition' is simply a fetish--a rally-call for a fight. It is you, +sir, and such as you, who are holding this State back from real +progress. I'm not discussing the liquor question alone. I haven't +patience to discuss it with you. I'm referring to the spirit that +actuates you. Your kind sat as judges in the Inquisition. Prohibition +now offers an opportunity for your bigotry--that's why you cling to it. +You cling to it in spite of the fact that it has made more than +drunkards--it has made liars and thieves and perjurers and grafters out +of men who would not otherwise have been tempted. When men arise to tell +the truth about it, you get behind your morality mask and accuse them of +the basest motives and claim immunity for yourselves from attack in +return. I fear I am a little severe, sir, but your attitude showed that +you came to me with appetite for a quarrel." + +"I'll see to it," declared Mr. Prouty, hotly, "that five hundred +ministers in this State denounce you from their pulpits as an enemy to +temperance." + +"You don't know what temperance is!" General Waymouth brushed past them. +"Your definition slanders the word. I shall be glad to have your +support, gentlemen, at the polls. But I am for the State, not for your +faction or any other faction. I know you are not used to hearing a +candidate tell you the truth--it has not been the style in this State. +If the truth from me has shocked you, blame the truth, not me." + +He ushered Harlan before him and closed his door upon the delegation. + +"It's a sad feature of public affairs in this State, my young friend," +said he, when they were alone, "that so large a mass of the people, who +naturally are sane and moderate, allow those paid agents of so-called +reform to serve as popular mouth-pieces. Reform for reform's sake +supersedes reform for the people's sake. Candidates have been afraid of +those mouths. Such mouths as those outside there assert that they are +talking for the whole people in the name of morality, but there are only +a few mouths of that kind. It is time to test it out. I propose to see +whether the people will not follow the real thing in honesty instead of +the mere protestation of it." + +On the way to the station the General preferred his request. It was that +Harlan become his executive officer in the approaching campaign--his +chief of staff, his companion, his buffer, protecting him from the +assaults of the politicians. + +"Before the campaign really opens there will be three weeks or so in +which you may attend to your own affairs. You remember that it was you +that dragged me into this, young man!" It was the old jest, but it had +taken on meaning within twenty-four hours. "You have seen with your own +eyes, heard with your ears, how I stand alone between factions which are +willing to sacrifice the State in order to win for their own interests. +I have planted my standard between 'em! I'll try to rally an army to it +that will leave the extremists of both those sides hopelessly deserted +by the rank and file of the honest citizens. I need you with me, for you +have been with me from the start, and you have shown your fitness" (he +smiled), "even to securing an audience with the Honorable Spinney. Is it +yes, my young friend?" + +"It is yes, General Waymouth. I question my ability--I know it is poor. +But of my loyalty there is no question." + +The General grasped his hand. They were at the car steps. "It shall be +'Boots and saddles!' three weeks from to-day!" + +Linton was in the parlors of the hotel with the Presson party when +Harlan arrived, glowing with his new enthusiasm, confident in his new +elevation in the affairs of men. In the affairs of women he was not +quite as sure of his desires or his standing, but his mood was new, and +he realized it. He went straight to Madeleine Presson. Twenty-four hours +before the presence of Linton at her side would have held him aloof. + +He put out his hand to the young lawyer, and Linton took it. + +"I extend my congratulations rather late, but they are sincere. It was a +noble speech. You put in words my own thoughts regarding a noble man." + +"Perhaps you could have expressed those thoughts just as well as I did." +Linton was not cordial. + +"No, sir, not with a woodsman's vocabulary, though with such a text I +certainly should have felt the true inspiration." + +"You'll have to claim considerable political foresight, even though you +cast doubt on your eloquence," said Linton, rather sourly. "I'll +confess that I jumped wrong. But I had my interests to protect. Let me +ask you--is General Waymouth offended, very much so, because I withdrew +my support this morning?" + +"General Waymouth has not made any comments on the matter in my +hearing." + +"I know you can explain to him--" + +Harlan broke in, impatiently: + +"I am not cheeky enough to advise such a man about picking his political +support. I beg your pardon, Miss Presson!" He bowed. He turned to +Linton. "I hope you won't open this subject with me again, Mr. Linton. I +am so loyal to General Waymouth that you cannot explain satisfactorily +to me any reasons why you should have deserted him to-day! You will see +now why the topic should not be referred to again between us." + +Linton bristled. + +"If you take such an unjust view of it as that, I certainly feel that +the matter should be referred to again between us--at the proper time!" + +"I'd advise you to take my hint," retorted Harlan. + +They stared at each other, eye to eye, both plainly wishing with all +heartiness that no feminine presence hampered them. + +The girl laughed. + +"Coffee and pistols for two! If each other's company makes you so +impolite, I'll be compelled to separate you. Come, Mr. Harlan Thornton, +baron of Fort Canibas, you have volunteered to see me safely home." + +He offered his arm, and they followed Mrs. Presson, who had already +started for the carriage. He rode with them to the station, flushed and +silent, and the girl studied his face covertly and with some curiosity. + +On the train, in the first of their tête-à-tête, she sounded him +cautiously, trying to discover if his feelings toward Linton were +inspired wholly by political differences. She seemed to suspect there +was something more behind it, even at the risk of flattering herself. +But she had detected certain suggestive symptoms in the demeanor of +Harlan at the breakfast-table that morning. He did not betray himself +under her deft questioning. But he promptly grew amiable, and before the +end of their railroad ride that day she had proved to her own +satisfaction that her ability to interest young men had not been thrown +away upon him. The light in his eyes and the zest of his chatter with +her told their own story. He left her at her home with a regret that he +did not hide from her. + +And yet, when he was at last in his room at the hotel that night, he +wrote to Clare Kavanagh the longest letter of all those he had written +to her since he left Fort Canibas. + +It might have been because he had so much to write about. + +It might have been because a strange little feeling of compunction +bothered him. + +But Harlan did not have the courage to examine his sentiments too +closely. Only, after he had sealed the letter and inscribed it, he lay +back in his chair awhile, and then, having reflected that after three +weeks he would no longer be his own man, he decided that he'd better run +up to Fort Canibas and attend to his business interests. + +And he departed hastily the next morning, in spite of the Duke's puzzled +and rather indignant protests that business wasn't suffering beyond what +the telephone and mails could cure, and that he himself would go home +the next week and see to everything. + +There are some men who are strong enough to run away from weakness. Not +that Harlan Thornton admitted that he was weak in the presence of +Madeleine Presson. But he felt a sudden hunger for the big hills, the +wide woods, the serene silences. He wanted to get his mental footing +again. He had been swept off in a flood of new experiences. Just now he +found himself in a state of mind that he did not understand. + +"I'll go back and let the old woods talk to me," he whispered to +himself. + +Then he tore up the letter he had written to Clare Kavanagh. + +It had occurred to him that he could tell it to her so much better. + +So when he came to Fort Canibas in the evening of the second day he +mounted his horse and rode across the big bridge. + +He went before he had read the letters piled on the table in the gloomy +old mess-hall. And he brusquely told the waiting Ben Kyle to save his +business talk until the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A GIRL'S HEART + + +He walked his horse when he reached the farther shore. He was wondering +just what he was to say to Dennis Kavanagh. They had not parted in a +manner that invited further intimacy. From twin windows of the house on +the hill lights glowed redly, as though they were Dennis Kavanagh's +baleful little eyes. Fear was not the cause of the young man's +hesitation. But he dreaded another scene in the presence of the girl. +Kavanagh and his grandfather had brutally violated an innocent +friendship. They had put into insulting words what neither he nor Clare +had dreamed of--he hastily assured himself that they were not lovers. +More than ever before he now felt infinite tenderness toward +her--compassion, sympathy--an overpowering impulse to seek her. He had +much to tell her. He could not think of any one in all the world who +would listen as she would listen. The red eyes glowering out of the +summer gloom did not daunt him; they suggested tyranny and insulting +suspicion, and he pitied her the more. He rode on past the tall cross of +the church-yard. A voice out of the silence startled him. A white figure +stood in the shadow of the church porch. + +"Come here, Big Boy," she said. "I'm not a ghost. I'm only Clare. I've +been waiting for you." + +He left his horse, and hurried to her. + +"Waiting for me? I did not write. Have you second sight, little Clare?" + +"No, only first news. This isn't one of the big cities where the crowds +rush by and do not notice each other. It's only a lonesome little place, +Harlan, and gossip travels fast. I heard you were home five minutes +after the stage was in. So I came here and waited." + +He took both her hands between his broad palms, caressing them. + +"And you knew I'd hurry to come across the long bridge? That makes me +happy, Clare, for you must have been thinking about me." + +"I haven't many things to do these days except think," she returned, +wistfully. "You'll understand why I came down here. I'm not trying to +hide away from my father, and I know you are not afraid of him. But +lectures on the subject of not doing the things you don't have any idea +of doing are not to my taste, and I know they don't suit you. So we'll +sit here in peace and quietness, and you shall tell me all about it." + +He turned his back on the two red eyes of the Kavanagh house, and sat +down on the step below her, and began his story, eagerly, volubly. + +Once in a while he looked up at her, and she gave wise little nods to +show she understood. In relating the early episodes of his journey, he +ventured to leave out details. But she insisted that he give them. + +"I want to know about the world--how they all look, and how they speak, +and what they do. I've been lonely all these weeks. I've been wondering +all the time what you were doing. Now I want it to seem that you've come +to take me with you, back through it all. I want it to seem just as +though I were travelling along with you--that will make me forget how +lonely I've been, waiting here on the edge of the big woods." + +And he humored her whim, for he had always understood her child's ways. +The woods had trained him to note the details of all he saw; his +experiences had been fresh and stirring, and he told his story with +zest. + +Then he came to his mention of Madeleine Presson. "Her father is the +State chairman--the man you saw at 'The Barracks.' I was at their house +a few times. Her mother--" + +"But about her! You are skipping again, Big Boy." + +"There is not much about her," he said, stammering a bit. "I saw her +here and there, and talked with her, that's all." + +"But I'm seeing with your eyes and hearing with your ears as I go along +with you," she insisted. "I want to know how other girls are in the +world outside. I have been waiting to have some one tell me. You saw +her, you heard her. Begin, Harlan: her looks, her clothes, her manners, +what she said, what she talks about. I have only you to ask." + +His self-consciousness left him after he began. He drew his word-picture +as best he could. + +"That makes her beautiful," she said, when he paused, searching his mind +for some word of description. "I think I can see her with your eyes, Big +Boy. Tell me what she knows; and how does she talk?" + +In the dusk he could not see the expression on her face. He knew that +she listened intently, leaning above him. He was not conscious that he +praised Madeleine Presson's gifts of mind or person. But as he had found +her, so he portrayed her to the isolated girl of the north country, +describing her attainments, her culture, her breadth of view, her grasp +of the questions of the day, her ability to understand the big matters +in which men were interested. + +She made no comment as he talked. She did not interrupt him when he had +finished with Madeleine Presson and went on to relate how he had been +forced into the forefront of the State's political situation. + +"So, then, you have become a great man," she faltered. "I remember. I +was selfish. I did not want you to go away." + +"No, I am not a great man, little Clare," he protested, laughingly. "I'm +only a little chap that a great man is using. And you were not selfish. +It was you that first put the thought into my mind that I ought to use +my opportunities. That night at the end of the bridge, you know! I was +sullen and obstinate. But you talked to me like a wise little woman. All +the time I was with my grandfather later that evening, trying to be +angry with him, I kept remembering your advice." + +"I lied to you!" she cried, so passionately that he leaped to his feet +and stared down on her. "I said it. I remember. But I lied. I was +punishing myself because I had been selfish about you. But I didn't +believe what I was saying--not deep in my heart. I wanted you to say you +wouldn't go--but I didn't want you to look back ever and blame me for my +selfishness. You see now how wicked and wrong and weak I am. I didn't +want the world to take you away from--from us up here: from the woods +and the plain folks. You'll hate me now. But I have to be truthful with +you!" Her voice broke. + +"The world has not won me away from my friends, dear. You must know me +too well for that suspicion to shame me." + +She crouched on the step before him. Her hands, fingers interlaced, +gripped each other hard to quiet their trembling. In her girlish +frailness, as she bent above her clasped hands, huddled there in the +black shadow of the porch, she seemed pitifully little and helpless and +forsaken. The woe in her tones thrilled him. She was trying hard to +control her voice. + +"You see, Harlan, I can look ahead and understand how it will be. A +woman does understand such things. That's the awful thing about being a +woman--and looking ahead and knowing how it must be before it ever +happens!" + +"Before what happens, Clare? I'm trying hard to understand you." + +He leaned forward, and could see her eyes. He had seen that look in the +eyes of a stricken doe. + +"The world is all outside of this place, Harlan. You know we have always +spoken of all other places than this as 'outside.' You have stepped +through the great door. Now you see. You can't help seeing. It's all +outspread before you. No one can blame you for not looking back here +into the shadows. The great light is all ahead. I am--I ought not to +speak about myself. I have no right to. But you'll forgive me. I didn't +have any one to tell me! I didn't have any mother to advise me. I have +played through all the long days, I don't know anything. Other girls--" + +"Clare! God save you, little Clare--don't--don't!" he pleaded. + +"You have been away only a few days, and yet you have found out the +difference. You told me about her. She is beautiful, and she is wise. +She has not wasted the long days. She can help you with knowledge. She +can--" + +He put out his arms and tried to take her, cursing himself for his +thoughtless cruelty. Infinite pity and something else--fervent, hungry +desire to clasp her overmastered all the prudence of the past. But she +eluded him. She sprang away. She retreated to the upper step of the +church porch, and he paused, gazing up at her. + +"Oh, Blessed Virgin, put your fingers on my lips!" she gasped. "Why did +I say it?" + +"Listen to me, Clare," he urged, holding his arms to her. "I know now +that I've been waiting for you. I thought it was friendship, but now +I--" + +She cried out so loudly, so bitterly, that he stopped. + +"If you say it--if you say it now, Harlan, it will shame me so that I +can never lift my eyes to yours again. I realize what I have said. It is +I that have put the thoughts into your mind--almost the words in your +mouth. Don't speak to me now. Oh, you can see how little I know--what a +fool I am, forward, shameless, ignorant about all that a girl should +know! Do not come near me--not now!" He had started to come up the +steps--he was crying out to her. "Oh, Harlan, don't you understand? +Don't you see that I can't listen to you now? I have driven you to say +something to save my pride. I say I _have_! You are good and honest, and +you pity me--and my folly needs your pity. But if you should tell me now +that you love me, I'd die of shame--I'd distrust that love! I couldn't +help it--and I've brought it all on myself. Oh, my God, why have I grown +up a fool--why have I wasted the long days?" + +She ran down past him. He did not try to stay her. He understood women +not at all. He obeyed her cry to be silent--to keep away from her. + +She turned to him when she reached the ground. + +"I haven't even known enough to understand how it stands between us. +Between us!" There was a wail in her voice. She sobbed the rest rather +than spoke it: "That river out there is between us! I don't even belong +to your country!" + +She pointed at the great cross of the church-yard. It stood outlined in +the starlight. + +"Religion stands between us! My father and your grandfather are between +us!" + +She came back two steps, her face tear-wet, her features quivering with +grief. + +"But there's something else between us, Harlan, blacker and deeper than +all the rest. Don't try to cross it to come to me. You will sink in it. +Fools for wives have spoiled too many men in this world. I understand +now! Your grandfather knew." She raised her eyes, and crossed herself +reverently. "Mother Mary, help me in this, my temptation!" + +She turned, and ran away, sobbing. + +Harlan hurried a few steps after her, crying appeals. But he did not +persist. Her passionate protests had come from her heart, he knew. He +did not dare to force himself on her when she was in that mood. + +He sat down again on the church steps. He remained there in deep thought +until the red eyes in Dennis Kavanagh's house blinked out. He did not +find it easy to understand himself, exactly. His feelings had been +played upon too powerfully to permit calm consideration. He felt +confident in his affection for her. But her youth and the obstacles he +understood so well put marriage so out of immediate consideration that +he merely grieved rather than made definite plans for their future. With +moist eyes he looked up at the dark house on the hill and pledged +loyalty to the child-woman, knowing that he loved her. But that the love +was the love that mates man and woman for the struggles, the prizes, the +woes, and the contentment of life he was not sure--for he still looked +on Clare Kavanagh as more child than woman. + +Marriage seemed yet a long way ahead of him. He rode slowly back to "The +Barracks." His problem seemed to be riding double with him. The problem, +one might say, was in the form of a maid on a pillion. But he did not +look behind to see whether the maid bore the features of Clare Kavanagh +or Madeleine Presson. At that moment he was sure that only Clare's image +rode with him. But in thinking of her he understood his limitations. +For, woodsman and unversed in the ways of women, he had not arrived at +that point in life where he could analyze even a boy's love, much less a +man's passion. + +The next morning he left Fort Canibas with big Ben Kyle, to make a tour +of the Thornton camps. It was a trip that took in the cruising of a +township for standing timber on short rations and in the height of the +blackfly season, an experience not conducive to reflections on love and +matrimony. + +But when he returned to Fort Canibas, on the eve of his departure to +take up his duties as General Waymouth's chief of staff, he saddled his +horse and rode across the long bridge. + +This time there was no white figure on the church porch and no wistful +voice to call after him. He kept on up the hill. He was not thinking +about what Dennis Kavanagh might say to him. He had resolved to ask +Clare manfully if she would continue to trust him for a while until both +could be certain that their boy and girl love signified to them the love +that life needed for its bounty and its blessing. That seemed the honest +way. It seemed the only way, as matters lay between them and their +families. + +Dennis Kavanagh was seated on his veranda, smoking his short pipe and +inhaling the freshness of the shower-cooled summer air along with the +aroma of his tobacco. + +"I would like to see your daughter, Mr. Kavanagh," announced the young +man, boldly. "And I have not come sneaking by the back way. It will be a +good while before I can see her again." + +"That it will," responded Mr. Kavanagh, dryly, "and it will be a good +long while before ye'll see her now--that may be mixed, but I reckon +ye'll get the drift of it!" + +"It will be better for all our interests if I have a few words with +her," persisted the young man, trying to keep his temper. + +"Will ye talk to her through the air or over the telephone?" inquired +the father, sarcastically. "She is not here, she is not near here, and +if ye wait for her to come back ye'll best arrange to have your meals +brought." + +He did not pause for Harlan to ask any more questions. He came down from +the porch on his stubby legs and handed up an envelope. The flap of the +envelope had been opened. + +"She left this," he said; "and having opened it and seen that it held +nothing but what ye might profitably know, Thornton's grandson, I here +give it into your hand, and ye needn't thank me." + +Harlan, wondering, apprehensive, fearing something untoward, took out +the single sheet of paper. He read: + +"BIG BOY,--Go on and let the world make you a great man. I'm groping. +Perhaps I'll see my way some day and can follow. But just as there's a +cure for ignorance, so there's a cure for hearts, maybe. Your friend, +CLARE." + +Harlan looked over the edge of the paper into the twinkling little eyes +of the father. Mr. Kavanagh seemed to be getting much satisfaction from +the expression on his victim's face. + +"Can't you tell me what this means, Mr. Kavanagh? I beg of you humbly, +and in all sincerity." + +"The Kavanaghs are never backward in politeness, Mr. Harlan Thornton. It +means that my girl is done playing child and riding cock-horse. She's off +to learn to be the finest and knowingest lady in all the land--she's off +because she wanted to go, and she's got all of Dennis Kavanagh's fat +wallet behind her!" He slapped his breast-pocket. + +"Off where?" + +"Where they know things and teach things better than they do over in +your Yankeeland of airs and frills. And now good-day to ye!" + +He climbed the porch steps, and relighted his pipe, gazing with much +relish past the flame of the match, studying Harlan's dismay. + +The young man suddenly came to himself, struck his horse, and galloped +wildly away. + +The next morning he departed to offer political hand and sword in the +cause of General Waymouth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +STARTING A MULE TEAM + + +Some men are extremely good and loyal politicians so long as the machine +runs smoothly, and they are not called upon to sacrifice their interests +and their opinions. Luke Presson and his associates on the State +Committee were of that sort. But Thelismer Thornton was a better +politician than they. + +The Duke had saved the chairman and his committeemen from themselves at +that critical moment in the little room off the convention stage, when +they were ready to invite ruin by defying General Waymouth. It had been +as bitter for Thornton as it had been for the others. Beyond question, +he would have gone down fighting were the question a private or a +personal one. But when the interests of his party were at stake he knew +how to compromise, taking what he could get instead of what he had +determined to get. After the convention he gave fatherly advice to the +committee, and then Presson went up to Burnside village with the +olive-branch. But while he extended that in one hand, he held out his +little political porringer in the other. He couldn't help doing it. The +chairman was no altruist in politics. He didn't propose to cultivate the +spirit. + +He put it plainly to General Waymouth--that while he sympathized to some +extent with the latter's desires for general reform, there were certain +interests that propped the party and must be handled with discretion in +the clean-up. He had already drawn some consolation from the fact that +General Waymouth had modified in a measure the planks that he submitted +for the party platform. He followed up this as a step that hinted a +general compromise, and at last frankly presented his requests. He asked +that tax reform be smoothed over, that the corporations be allowed an +opportunity to "turn around," and finally that the prohibitory law +should be let alone. He argued warmly that General Waymouth could not be +criticised by either side if he left the law as he found it. The +radicals were satisfied with the various enactments as they stood, and +if there were infractions it became a matter of the police and sheriffs, +and the Governor could not be held accountable. And he laid stress on +the fact that the people did not want a Governor to tarnish the dignity +of his office by fighting bar-rooms. + +But Chairman Presson found an inflexible old man who listened to all he +said, and at the end declared his platform broadly and without details. +Those details of proposed activity he kept to himself. The platform was: +That it behooved all men in the State to be prompt and honest in obeying +the law. That the man who did not obey the law would find himself in +trouble. Moreover, position, personality, or purse could purchase no +exceptions. + +That was a platform which Mr. Presson could not attack, of course. + +He listened to it sullenly, however. He was angry because common decency +prevented him from expressing his opinion. He had heard other candidates +pompously declare the same thing, but he had not been worried by fear +that saints had come on earth. + +This calm old man from whose fibre of ambition the years had burned out +selfishness, greed, graft, and chicanery was a different proposition. +His words sounded as though he meant what he said. And when he asked +the chairman if he had any objection to offer to a system of +administration that carried out exactly what the party had put in its +pledges to the people, Presson glowered at him with hatred in his soul +and malice twinkling in his eyes, and could find no language that would +not brand him as a conspirator against the honor of his State. + +But he went back to headquarters swearing and sulking. + +In this spirit did candidate and managers face the campaign. + +It is not easy to hide family squabbles of that magnitude. The men +concerned in the principal secret of the State Convention kept their +mouths shut for the sake of self-preservation. But unquiet suspicion was +abroad. The Democrats nosed, figured, guessed, and acted with more +duplicity than had characterized their usual campaigns against the +dominant party. Their leaders gave their party a platform that invited +every one to get aboard. Every question was straddled. It was a document +of craft expressed in terms of apparent candor. It elevated a demagogue +as candidate for Governor, and promised every reform on the calendar. +These were the rash pledges of the minority, more reckless than usual. + +An united dominant party could have met the issues boldly and frankly +without fear as to results. + +But General Waymouth promptly discovered that he had a loyal army with +rebel officers. He was soldier enough to understand the peril. He had +more faith in the inherent, unorganized honesty of "The People" than +Thelismer Thornton had. But, with just as shrewd political knowledge as +the Duke, he held with him that the "The People" amount to mighty little +as a force in politics unless well and loyally officered. + +A campaign will not run itself. Left to run itself, the issues are not +brought out to stir up the voting spirit. "The People" have to be poked +into the fighting mood--their ears have to be scruffed--they need +speakers, literature, marshals, inciters--hurrah of partisanship. It was +the off year for the national campaign. No money came into the State +from the Big Fellows. + +The State Committee was looked to by the county and town committees to +start the ball rolling and guarantee the purse to push it. "The People" +were, as usual, too busy getting daily bread to be spontaneous in +political movements. + +General Waymouth sat in the old brick house in Burnside village, and did +the best he could during the long hot days of July and the sultry first +fortnight of August. Harlan Thornton worked with him. The library +resounded with the click of typewriters, and men came and men went. But +there was no up-and-moving spirit to the campaign. + +An old man writing letters--even such an old man as General Varden +Waymouth was in the estimation of his State--is a small voice in the +wilderness of politics. + +The Democrats had vociferous orators. Those orators had for text State +extravagance, unjust taxation, and all the other charges "the unders" +may bring against the reigning rulers. They were not answered on the +stump. Even the Republican newspapers were listless and halfhearted. + +At last came Thelismer Thornton. It was one afternoon in middle August, +barely three weeks before the day of the State election in September. It +was his first visit to the brick house in Burnside. He had been +sojourning at the State capitol. Men had told Harlan, from time to time, +that he was spending his days sitting on the broad veranda of Luke +Presson's hotel, apparently enjoying the summer with the same leisurely +ease that the State chairman was displaying. Men were sometimes +inquisitive when they mentioned this matter to Harlan. They did not +presume to ask questions of the General. But the young man had nothing +to say. It must be confessed that he did not know anything about it. + +He obeyed the instructions the General gave him and toiled as best he +knew, but that the main campaign was hanging fire he did not realize. +For the General, who knew politics, did not complain to him. The veteran +was a little whiter, a bit more dignified, and directed the movements of +his modest force of office assistants with a curtness he had not shown +at first; but no other sign betrayed that he knew his State Committee +had "lain down on him." + +The Duke sauntered up the walk, whipping off his hat and swinging it in +his hand as soon as he arrived under the trees of the old garden. He +came into the house without knocking. The front door was swung inward, +and only a screen door, on the latch, closed the portal. + +"I'm making myself at home as usual, Vard," he said, walking to the +General and stroking his shoulder as the veteran leaned over his table +above his figures. "I've been waiting for an invitation to come up here. +But I didn't dare to wait any longer. It's getting too near election." + +General Waymouth looked up at his old friend, studying his face. He +found only the bland cordiality of the ancient days. + +"I've been waiting, myself, Thelismer," he returned. "And I'll add that +I don't intend to wait much longer. I'm not referring to you, now. I +refer to Presson and his gang. I presume you are still close to them. +Will you inform them that I don't intend to wait much longer?" + +Thornton did not lose his smile. He sat down. He nodded across the room +to Harlan with as much nonchalance as though he had been seeing him +every day. + +"I would have run in before this, Varden, but somehow I got the +impression from you and the boy that you were fully capable of operating +things yourself. But with election only three weeks off I'm getting +ready to change my mind. What are you going to do with that steer +team--no, mule team--that's better?" + +"Meaning?" + +"Meaning Luke Presson and the members of the State Committee. I'm a +politician, Varden. I'm out of a job just now. Both crowds of you seem +to think you can get along all right without me. Probably you can. Luke +knows _he_ can, so he says. He doesn't seem to like my management or my +advice--not after that convention! But I can't help being a politician. +I can't sit on that hotel piazza any longer and see this mess scorch. +I'm too good a cook to stand it." He hitched forward in his chair and +spoke low. "Varden, it sounds like the devil making a presentation copy +of the Ten Commandments on asbestos, but I can't help that! I'm giving +it to you straight. We've got body-snatchers for a State Committee. +They'd rather see the Democrat the next Governor than you. That's how +mad they are. That's how sure they are that you propose to put their +noses to the grindstone. That's how rotten politics is in this State. +The Democrat won't give us reform. They know it. They'd rather see the +State officers go by the board than have the kind of reform you've +promised 'em. They can get rid of their Democrat after two years. Your +reform may hang on a good while, once get the laws chained. Now what are +you going to do?" + +"I know exactly what I'm going to do." + +"Yes; but, grinning Jehosaphat, how much time have you got to do it in? +Three weeks to election now!" + +"This campaign, Thelismer, will be started, as it ought to be started, +within the next twenty-four hours. As to how it will be started I'll +have you present as a witness, if you'll accept an invitation." + +The Duke was obliged to be contented with only that much assurance and +information. + +"There's a train back to the State capital in half an hour, Thelismer," +the General stated. "I'll be pleased to have you go along with Harlan +and myself. If you'll excuse me now, I'll finish signing these letters." + +The old man was not disturbed by this abruptness. He rose. + +"I reckon you know how to play the game, Vard," he said. "I'm perfectly +satisfied, now that I know you are playing it. But you'll excuse me for +being a little uneasy about your starting in." + +He did not interrupt Harlan, who was busy at his desk. He picked up one +of the newspapers that covered the General's table, and marched out into +the garden. + +He joined them when they came out. The General's old-fashioned carryall +conveyed them to the railroad station. They made the journey to the +capital without a word of reference to the purpose of their trip. +Unobtrusively chatting about the old times, the Duke and his friend made +their way back to their old footing. It was mutual forbearance and +forgiveness, for they were old enough to be philosophers, and especially +did they understand the philosophy of politics. + +Chairman Presson was in his office at his hotel when they entered. He +came out to greet General Waymouth, suave but circumspect, and furtively +studied word and aspect of his visitor. + +"Mr. Presson," said the General, breaking in upon the chairman's vague +gossip regarding the political situation, "this is short notice, but I +presume you can reach a few members of the State Committee by telephone. +I wish to meet them and you at my rooms in the hotel at nine this +evening. It is important." + +They came. There were half a dozen of them--men who hurried in from such +near points as the chairman could reach; and at the appointed hour +Presson ushered them into the General's room. Harlan Thornton was +waiting there with his chief. The Duke arrived in a few moments, alone. +He sat down at one side of the room, bearing himself with an air of +judicial impartiality. The chairman scowled at him. Judged by recent +experience, Thelismer Thornton was a questionable quantity in a +conference between the machine and General Waymouth. + +The committeemen took their cue from the chairman. They were sullen. +They bristled with an obstinacy that betrayed itself in advance. + +The General got down to business promptly. It was not a gathering that +invited any preamble of cheerful chat. He understood perfectly that the +men were there only because they did not dare to stay away. + +"Chairman Presson, it is now close upon the election. I have canvassed +the State as best I could through the mails. With Mr. Harlan Thornton's +assistance and through my friends in various towns, I have secured a +pretty complete list of doubtful voters. I will say in passing that I +have tried to enlist the help of your town committeemen, but they seem +to be asleep. I have thanked God daily that I have personal friends +willing to help me. I have the names at last. I have accomplished alone +the work that is usually attended to by the State Committee." + +Presson started to say something, but the General stopped him. + +"One moment, Mr. Chairman. Let me tell you what _I_ have done. One of us +at a time! When I've told you what I've done, you can tell me what +_you've_ attended to. I have those names, I have pledges of support, I +have plans for getting out the vote. But I have no literature for +distribution to those doubtful voters, I have no speakers assigned by +the State Committee to help the men who are trying to get the vote out, +I have no fund provided for the usual expenses. Now I will listen to +you, Mr. Chairman. Will you tell me what you have done?" + +"It's an off year, General Waymouth," said Presson. "I asked the +Congressional Committee for money, but I couldn't interest 'em. And I'll +tell you frankly that the regular sources in this State are dry. There +isn't the usual feeling. You're a good politician. Perhaps you know why +it's so." + +"You haven't answered my question, sir. I asked you what your State +Committee has done." + +"What is there we can do when every interest in this State sits back on +its wallet like a hen squatting on the roost, and won't stand up and let +go until some assurances are given out? It isn't my fault! I went to +you! I laid the case down! You didn't give me anything to carry back to +'em." + +"I'm here to talk business, Mr. Chairman. You are too vague." + +"Well, I'll talk business, too." Presson snapped out of his chair. He +stood up and wagged his finger. He was too angry to choose words or +gloss brutal facts. + +"You want to be Governor, don't you? You're asking men to support you +and back you with money? That's what it amounts to. Campaign funds don't +come down like manna--there's nothing heavenly about 'em--and you know +it as well as I do, General. You've scared Senator Pownal's crowd with +that anti-water-power-trust talk; they've got money to put into the +legislature, but none for you. The corporations won't do anything; your +tax commission talk has given them cold feet as far's you're concerned. +Even the office-holders are sore; you've been talking about abolishing +fees, and if that's the case they'd just as soon give up the offices. +And where's your party, then? You say you're going to enforce the +prohibitory law! I can get a little money out of the express companies, +the jobbers in gallon lots, and the fellows that get the promise of the +State liquor agency contracts. But the big wholesalers, the liquor men's +associations, the retailers--the whole bunch that's got the real money +and is willing to spend it haven't a cent for you--they'll even back the +Democrat against you! You wanted business talk. There it is." + +He strode up and down the centre of the room in agitation, and then sat +down. + +The other committeemen sighed with relief. Their chairman had said what +they wanted to say, said it bluntly and boldly, and they were glad it +was over. + +"That is," drawled Thelismer Thornton, "the State Committee says, as the +fork says to the cook: 'I'm willing to be used for all reasonable +purposes, but not to pick your teeth with or pull out carpet tacks.'" + +The pleasantry did not relieve the gloom. + +"The State Committee can't do anything without money, General Waymouth," +added the chairman, getting bolder as he allowed his rancor full play. +"You've fixed it so that we can't get the money." + +"Then the State Committee would be able to go ahead and do what it ought +to do if I should assure Senator Pownal that he and his crowd may help +themselves to the water-powers of this State--if I let the rumsellers +sell and the office-holders filch? It's on those terms, is it, that I'm +to get the help of the men the Republican party has selected as its +executives?" + +"That isn't a square way to put it," objected Mr. Presson, with heat. "I +simply say it was all right to open this campaign with prayer, as we did +at the State Convention, but as to carrying it through on the plane of +a revival meeting, that's a different proposition! You've asked for +business talk, General. I've given you straight business. You're asking +something from some one else, just now. In politics it's nothing for +nothing, and d--n-d little for a dollar! You know it just as well as I +do. Now suppose we have some business talk from you!" There was a sneer +in the last sentence. + +General Waymouth swung one thin leg over the knee of the other. He +leaned back in his chair. His elbow rested on the chair-arm, his fingers +were set, tips on his chin, and over them he surveyed his listeners with +calmness. He did not raise his voice. It was his mild manner that made +what he said sound so balefully savage. Bluster would have weakened it. + +"The legitimate expenses of a campaign are considerable, even when the +party organization, from you, Mr. Presson, down to the humblest town +committeeman, does full duty in time and effort. But if one has to buy +it all, it needs a deep purse. From what you say, it is plain to me that +I am now left to run my own campaign. I tell you very frankly, +gentlemen, my means are limited. I have not made money out of politics. +One course only is left open to me. I notify you that I shall issue a +statement to the people of this State. I shall inform them that I have +been abandoned by the State Committee and the party machine. I shall +state the reasons very plainly. I shall say I am left to defeat because +I refused to betray the people's interests. Then I shall appeal to the +people as a whole--to Republicans and Democrats alike--for support at +the polls. If there are enough honest men to elect me, very well. If the +majority wants to hand the thing over to the looters and tricksters +after the fair warning I give them, they will do so with their eyes +open, and I'll accept the result and leave this State to itself." + +Chairman Presson pushed himself slowly up out of his chair, his arms +propping him, his face shoved forward. + +"You mean to say, General Waymouth, that, being a Republican, a man who +has had honors from our hands, you'll advertise your party management as +crooks simply because we don't cut our own throats, politically and +financially?" + +"I say, I shall state the facts." + +"Let me inform you that I've got a little publicity bureau of my own. +I'll post you as a deserter and a sorehead. I'll fix it so you can't +even throw your hat into the Republican party and follow in to get it. +I'll--" + +"One moment, Luke," broke in the elder Thornton. "For some weeks now, +when things have come to a crisis, you have set yourself up as the whole +Republican party of this State. But when you get to talking that way you +represent it about as much as Parson Prouty represents the real +temperance sentiment. There's quite a bunch of us who are not in the +ramrodding business. General Waymouth is the nominee of our convention. +No one has delegated to you the job of deciding on his qualifications. +It's your job to go ahead and elect him. If you don't propose to do it, +then resign." + +"No, sir!" shouted Presson. + +"Then get busy--collect a campaign fund and make these last three weeks +hum! This is largely a matter between friends, right here now. I've told +Vard what I think of him, and I haven't minced words. It's bad enough +for a man to try to be absolutely honest in politics. That's where he's +making his mistake. But he can get past with the people--they'll think +it more or less bluff, anyway, even it's Varden Waymouth talking. But +the kind of dishonesty you're standing for, Luke, won't get past. +They'll ride you out of this State on a rail--and I'll furnish the +rail." + +"I'll furnish something more!" cried Harlan, unable to restrain himself +any longer. "To-morrow morning I shall put ten thousand dollars into +General Waymouth's campaign fund--my own money." + +"You see, Luke," drawled the Duke, "it really looks as though Vard would +be elected anyway. I might subscribe a little myself if only I had a +rich grandfather, the same as Harlan has." + +The unhappy chairman sat down in his chair again and struggled with his +anger. He could not give it rein--he realized that. Party and personal +interests were all jeopardized. But he knew he could not afford to have +utter personal disgrace accompany his defeat. Desertion of the party +candidate, if advertised in the fashion the General threatened, meant +ruin of his name as well as his fortune. He could have sulked and +excused himself, but there was no excuse for inaction after demand had +been made upon him in this fashion. + +There was silence in the room. + +"Fellow up our way used to be a mighty good mule teamster," said +Thelismer Thornton, tipping his great head back into clasped hands, and +gazing meditatively at the ceiling. "Had a gad for the wheel mules, whip +for the swing team, and a pocketful of rocks for the leaders. One day +the rocks gave out just as the wagon sunk into a honey-pot on a March +road. But being a good teamster, he yanked out his pipe and threw it at +the nigh leader just at the critical second. Sparks skated from crupper +to mane along the mule's back, and he gave a snort and a heave, and away +they went." + +Chairman Presson, deep in his trouble, was disgusted by this levity, and +growled under his breath. + +"If a fellow had been off ahead of the team with a bag of oats perhaps +the pipe wouldn't have been needed," pursued the Duke, meditatively. +"Anyway, gentlemen, I'll tell you what I'll do. I've been waiting to be +called on for my contribution for the fund, but for some reason business +hasn't been started in this campaign as soon as I hoped. Harlan was a +little excited just now. I think, seeing that the State Committee is now +going to take hold of the campaign, he'll be able to get out of it a +little cheaper. A lot of the other boys will chip when they're asked. +For the Thornton family I lead off subscriptions with a pledge of five +thousand dollars. I'm that much interested in seeing my--my original +choice for Governor elected by a good majority." + +Presson got up, and stamped down his trousers legs. + +"I know when I'm licked," he admitted. "And I've been licked in the +whole seventeen rounds of this campaign. Look here, General Waymouth, +I'm done fighting. I simply throw myself on your mercy. I know how you +feel toward me. But I've got just this to say: it's a poor tool of a man +that won't fight for his own interests and his friends. I've done it. +And I'm no more of a renegade than the usual run of the men who have to +play politics for results. I don't believe you are going to get results, +General. But that's neither here nor there. There's no more squirm left +in me. I'll take hold of this campaign and elect you. If there's any +crumbs coming to me after that, all right! I'm at your mercy." + +"I tell you again I've no time or inclination for petty revenge. That is +not my nature." General Waymouth was as cold and calm as inexorable Fate +itself. "I accept your pledge, Chairman Presson. Not one interest of +yours that is right will suffer at my hands. On the other hand, not one +interest that is wrong will be protected. It's simply up to you!" + +"I don't suppose you care to go over the plans with me to night?" + +"I shall ask you to confer with Mr. Harlan Thornton on all matters. He +knows my wishes and plans. He will remain here at headquarters as my +representative." + +If the chairman felt that he was being put under guard and espionage, +his face did not betray it. He took leave of the General, and escorted +out his associate committeemen. + +"Reminds me of the time Uncle Stote Breed went with the boys on a +fishing-trip," remarked the Duke, after they were gone. "They ate the +sardines out of the tin before Uncle Stote got in off the pond, and put +in raw chubs they'd been using for live bait. Uncle Stote ate 'em all. +'Boys, your ile is all right,' said he, when he cleaned 'em out, 'but it +seems to me your leetle fish is a mite underdone.' But Luke will eat +anything you hand him after this, Vard." + +He took his grandson by the arm, and started him toward the door. + +"Let the General get to bed," he advised, jocosely. "He ought to have +pleasant dreams to-night." + +Harlan expected that his grandfather would have some rather serious talk +for his ear. But he merely remarked, leaving him at the door of his +room: "If you keep on, son, I'll be passed down to posterity simply as +'Harlan Thornton's grandfather.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +FROM THE MOUTH OF A MAID + + +Under a sudden stimulus of rallies, red fire, and band-music, the +campaign blossomed promisingly. Democracy's dark hints that the dominant +party had been rent by factional strife were suddenly answered by an +outrush of spellbinders from Republican headquarters, a flood of +literature, and an astonishing display of active harmony. Chairman Luke +Presson received compliments for the manner in which he had held his +fire until he "had seen the whites of the enemy's eyes." He replied to +such compliments with fine display of modest reserve, and in private +gritted his teeth and swore over the statement that General Waymouth +issued to the voters of the State--a document that bound the party to a +professed programme of honest reorganization. The treasurer of the State +Committee drew checks amounting to more than fifteen thousand dollars to +pay for the printing, postage, and mailing of those statements--a bitter +expense, indeed, considering the nature of the promises. Presson saw +only gratuitous stirring of trouble in the hateful declarations the +General made. It was his theory that in politics voters never arose and +demanded reforms until some disturber shook them up and reminded them +that reforms were needed. + +General Waymouth did not take the stump. His age forbade. He remained +away from headquarters. But Harlan Thornton was posted there, his +vigilant representative and executive. In his attitude toward Harlan the +State chairman ran the gamut of cajolery, spleen, wrath, and +resentment--and final disgust. It was a situation almost intolerable for +Presson. But a chain of circumstances--events unescapable and unique in +politics--bound him to the wheel of the victor. + +Harlan understood the chairman's state of mind. Day by day he made his +discourse with that gentleman as brief as possible, and he kept away +from the Presson home. His action was dictated by a feeling of delicacy, +in view of the father's sentiments. Presson treated him in business +hours as a prisoner would treat his ball and chain. And Presson showed +no desire to take that badge of his servitude home with him. Enduring +Harlan in the committee headquarters strained his self-possession daily. + +So the young man lied brazenly in reply to the blandly courteous notes +of invitation from Mrs. Presson, who continued alert to the promising +social qualifications of General Waymouth's chief lieutenant. He pleaded +work. It was true in a measure. The day was filled with duties to which +he applied himself unflaggingly. + +But from the supper-table he hurried out each evening into the country, +escaping from the city by the side streets, tramping miles of lane and +highway and field. His muscles craved the exertion. The city oppressed +him. His unwonted toil within four walls sapped his energy. + +One evening he stepped aside from the highway. A horse, trotting +smartly, was overtaking him. But the horse did not pass him. It slowed +down to his stride, and Madeleine Presson called him from her trap. She +was alone. + +"As this is the campaign of 'honesty,' I'll be honest with you," she +said. "This is not an accidental meeting. I have been guessing at the +roads you might take, and have been on your trail for days. That's a +bold confession for a girl to make; but I've got even a bolder request: +please climb up here and ride." + +He climbed up. He went up with alacrity. From the first of their +acquaintance the girl had interested him--and yet it was more than mere +interest or feminine attraction. Her culture, her keen analysis of +events and men, her knowledge of conditions informed and instructed him. +Her subtle humor and droll insight into the characters of those who +attempted to pose in the public eye entertained him, for he lacked +humor. But, most of all, her satire gave him a truer perspective. Fresh +from the north country, where his knowledge of public men had been +limited to the information which newspapers had given him, he had +classed them wrongly. His own gravity had given them too eminent +qualities. The girl, knowing them, had pricked their assumptions with +good-humored satire, and he looked at them again and found them as she +said. As he sat beside her and the horse walked on, he was conscious +that in avoiding her he had been depriving himself both of entertainment +and valuable instruction. It was a rather selfish reflection, but he +could not help it. + +"Now, Mr. Harlan Thornton, from what my father says about the house, +when he's so angry that he really doesn't know what it is he's saying, I +understand you're playing hob with all the traditions of politics. In +order to be honest, do you find it necessary to oppose all the things my +father wants to do? If you dare to say so you'll be called on to have +some very serious conversation with my father's daughter!" + +"I don't want any differences with your father--or with you, Miss +Presson," he declared, earnestly. "I honestly don't! It all seems to be +a mighty mixed-up mess. I sometimes wish I'd stayed back home in the +woods. I'm too little a fellow to be in such a big game. I'm afraid I'm +so small I can only see one side of it." + +"You admit there are two sides?" + +"My grandfather and your father have impressed that on me pretty +strongly." + +"Isn't there any good in the other side? Do you mean to tell me that all +the men in politics in this State are wrong except you and old General +Waymouth?" + +"No, but it's the way of doing things. I guess it's that." + +She drew her horse to a stop. The country road was quiet. The hush of +the starry August night was over all. + +"Mr. Thornton," she said, looking him squarely in the eyes, "with all +due respect to the mighty masculine, I believe you are in need of a few +suggestions from a woman's standpoint. You haven't acquired the art of +flattery. If so, you'd be gallant and say I have just as much acumen as +you have honesty." + +"I'll say it! It's so!" he protested. + +"No, you're too late. I very unmodestly gave myself the compliment. Now +I'm going to tell you where you are wrong in this whole matter, Mr. +Thornton. You are reckoning without the human instruments that you must +employ. I'll wait just a moment and let that remark sink into your mind. +You are a bit slow about grasping the full purport of remarks, Mr. +Harlan Thornton." There was a touch of her satiric humor in her tone. +"Now, you don't fully understand, even yet. I think I'll have to +illustrate. I've already told you that I've watched matters pretty +closely at the capital. I like to see young men come here with ideals +and succeed, but, alas, they do not." + +"They let themselves be bought or bribed or bossed, probably," blurted +Harlan. + +"I'm not talking about that kind. They are too obvious and too common. +I complimented my own self. Now you are insulting yourself by jumping at +conclusions. You should have a better opinion of yourself, sir. I have. +I do not believe you could be bought or bossed or even coaxed from what +you considered your honest duty. You do not need to assure me. But you +might be _convinced_, Mr. Thornton--convinced by good reasons--that it +is not a young man's duty to ruin his own prospects and his own +influence by undertaking something as impracticable as though he tried +to be a meteor by holding a candle in his hand and jumping off a roof. I +could praise his imagination, but not his judgment." + +She waited a moment. She gazed at him with sudden sympathy. + +"You are a straightforward young man, used to winning your way by direct +means--axe to the tree, cant-dog to the rolling log, but that isn't the +way in politics. I know this preachment from me sounds strange. It may +offend you, but you mustn't allow yourself to be offended. You have +simply quarrelled with the men who have tried to tell you--it's no use +for your grandfather or my father to talk with you. Men do quarrel too +easily. I am taking a woman's advantage of you, sir. I said I would +illustrate. I will. One of the finest young men I ever knew came down to +the legislature and started in to expose and hold up every appropriation +measure that had the least appearance of being padded. Just straight-out +and blunt honesty, you understand. A little affectation, too. A bit of +self-advertising as well. But we all excuse a little self-consciousness +in youth. Well, he simply became a red rag to the House. They sneered +and hissed when he stood up. Just in blind rage they voted for every +appropriation he opposed. He did much more harm than he did good. He +didn't get his own appropriations for the district he represented. And +it killed him in politics and in his law business. The happy people did +not acclaim him as their faithful watchdog of the treasury. They merely +pronounced him a bore with a swelled head. You see, I can talk political +talk with all the phrases, Mr. Thornton." + +"But he was right, wasn't he--fundamentally right?" + +"He _meant_ to be right--that's the term to use. But he forgot that he +must use human instruments in order to accomplish anything. And he just +failed miserably." + +"What would you expect him to do--join in, and be just like the others? +Where would any good come out of anything?" + +"Now, you are insisting again that there is good only on one side of the +question. That's bigotry. It's what I'm trying to warn you against. Some +one has said that life is compromise. It's true of politics, if you're +going to get the most out of it. I know what you are undertaking. +General Waymouth hasn't left much to the imagination in his letter. And +I've talked with others. And so I know how visionary you are." + +"You've talked with Linton--that's the one you've talked with!" declared +Harlan, indignantly. "And if he's told you what I have told him in +confidence he's more of a sneak than I've already found him out to be." + +"Mr. Linton did not consider that you were making any secret of your +principles. And you'll excuse me, but I think his principles are exactly +as good as yours. You are talking now like the ramrodders. Their first +retort to any one who differs with them is to call names." + +"But he deserted General Waymouth under fire. He promised, and went back +on that promise." + +"According to all political good sense and in any other times but these, +when men seem to be running wild, General Waymouth was politically out +of the game. It's all fine and grand in story-books, Mr. Thornton, for +the hero to sacrifice everything for his ideals, but in these very +practical days he's only classed as a fool and kicked to one side." + +"You defend Linton, then? Is that the kind of a man you hold up as a +success, Miss Presson?" His grudge showed in his tone. + +"You will please understand, sir, that we are not discussing theories +just now. This isn't a question of what the world ought to be. It's the +plain fact about what a man must be if he's to get results. You and I +both have heard your grandfather say many times that he'd like to play +politics with angels--if only he could find the angels. It's hard to own +up, when you're young, that human nature is just as it is. I understand +how you feel. I know you feel it's a very strange thing for me to +do--talk to you like this. But I want you to understand that my father +has had nothing to do with it." + +He turned to her accusingly. + +"But I know perfectly well," he said, bitterly, "that it isn't any +personal interest you take in me that makes you say it. You don't think +enough of me for that." It was resentment so naively boyish that her +astonishment checked her remonstrance. He rushed on. "You hold up Linton +for me to follow. That's the kind of a man you admire. He's an orator, +and he's smart, and he wins. I'm only an accident. You meant that when +you said that General Waymouth won out only because matters were mixed +up in politics. You don't care anything about me, personally. But you're +talking to me because my grandfather asked you to. That's it." He +guessed shrewdly. + +That outburst betrayed him. This young man from the north country was +very human after all, she decided. + +"I have said before, this is a campaign of honesty. Your grandfather did +ask me to talk to you. I didn't have the heart to refuse him, for I'm +very fond of him." + +It was an acknowledgment that stung his pride. But more than all, it +stirred that vague rancor he had felt the first time he had seen Linton +appropriate her. + +He did not choose gallant words for reply. + +"He has set you on me, has he, to pull me away from what I think is +right? He wants me to be like the rest of 'em, eh? I can be an +understudy for Herbert Linton and an errand boy for the State machine! I +didn't think, Miss Presson, that you--" + +"You'd better not go any further, Mr. Harlan Thornton. My affection for +an old man who has set his heart on your success has brought me into +this affair, and I assure you I don't enjoy the situation. You are not +asked to betray any one, or desert any high moral pinnacle, or do +anything else that the moralists say all these fine things about without +knowing what they mean half the time. You are reminded of this: that +there's only one General Waymouth. There's a sudden big call for him +because factions have got into a row with each other. Folks will rally +around him for a little while--it's a sort of revival sentiment. But you +are not a General Waymouth. He'll be excused by sentiment, you'll simply +be branded as one of the common run of ramrodders who try to achieve the +impossible with human nature--a disturbing element in State +politics--and your career will be spoiled. Now I've delivered my +message, and done what I promised your grandfather I'd do." + +She turned her horse, and started him back toward town. + +There was silence between them for a time. + +"So, if I weren't Thelismer Thornton's grandson you wouldn't take any +interest in me at all?" he inquired, sourly. + +"A very impudent and unnecessary question, Mr. Harlan Thornton. I'm +afraid your grandfather is right--you have stayed in the woods too +long." + +Longer silence. + +He was more humble when he spoke again. "I don't want you to think I'm +what I may seem to be, Miss Presson. But what is there I can do in +politics, just now, different from what I'm doing? I have taken my side +with the General. I propose to stay there, of course. But I do not want +to have people think I'm a fool. And I haven't heard much else from any +one since I started out." There was wistfulness in his voice. He +suddenly felt drawn to her. He craved her counsel. It was the mastery of +the woman, more worldly-wise. He was bewildered and ashamed. The image +of Clare Kavanagh was not dimmed in his soul. She had been with him +daily in his thoughts. He knew that he felt affection for her. It was +tenderness, desire to protect, the real impulse of the man toward his +mate. But the feeling was all unexpressed and incoherent. + +And yet Madeleine Presson, more than ever before, attracted him +powerfully. She had the elements that he had never seen and experienced +in womankind. Just at that moment she dominated, for his passion had +betrayed him into a rather puerile outbreak. + +Subtle analysis of the emotions was beyond him. He did not understand. +His life had trained him along more primitive lines of selection. But he +realized now that he was trying to probe something in his soul that +defied his rather limited powers of judging. He had not given his heart +unreservedly, he had not pledged himself. Clare Kavanagh had repented of +a child's weakness and had run away from him, vaguely hinting that she +would forget him. This masterful young woman, driving him back to town, +her determined profile outlined against the gloom as he gazed shyly at +her, did not appear to be interested in him, except as a rebel to +authority and needing chastisement. + +The child of the woods, as he thought of her, stirred all his +tenderness, his sympathy, and the soft ties of long intimacy and +understanding bound him. + +But this girl, with beauty and brains, on his own level of independence +of thought, stirred new desires and ambitions in him. She was helpmate +and counsellor. He wondered if newer times and conditions did not demand +stronger qualities than mere womanhood in the wife who was to accompany +a man into the vicissitudes of public life. Not that he felt that he was +more than an humble instrument of the real power. But he fell to +considering the subject from the general viewpoint. His own experiences +had awakened new ideas that he pondered, having a very provocative +suggestion at his side. + +Still more humbly he asked her: "If you have been thinking the matter +over, Miss Presson, what advice do you give me?" + +"I advise you to have a serious talk with your grandfather. He has had +much experience. Use your own judgment, too, but be ready to hear the +evidence. You have not shown that willingness, yet, so far as I can +determine. I haven't any advice of my own to offer. I'll not presume. +Only this: be as honest as you can, but don't be so impractically honest +that you chop down all your bridges behind you and neglect to gather +timber for the bridges ahead of you." + +Even in the gloom she understood that he was puzzled. + +"Really, you know, I haven't written any handbook on practical politics, +Mr. Thornton," she said, her humor coming to the rescue. "I have talked +to you as though I had. But I've only talked to you with a woman's +intuition in such matters--and you remember, too, I've seen much of +legislative life. You can be good in politics--but, oh, don't be +impractical! I want you to succeed." + +"You do?" + +"I most certainly do." She said it heartily. + +No other word passed between them until they arrived in front of the +hotel. + +He reached up, after he had alighted, and grasped her hand. She had +impulsively put out her own to meet his. + +"I'll try to be--" he began, and then hesitated. He had been pondering. +But his thoughts were still so confused that he could not think of the +word that expressed exactly what he desired to make himself. + +"Be human," she said, smiling down on him. "You won't find yourself of +much use in the world unless you cultivate the faculty of personal +contact, and you musn't try to leap into politics in this State right +from the pedestal of a demigod. You may be able to elevate yourself +later, but just now, my dear young friend, you should be _reasonable_. +That's a word that means much in handling men and affairs. Now I hope +I've softened you so that you will listen to your good grandfather when +he has advice for you." + +She did not allow herself to be too serious. There was the delicious +drawl in her tone that had attracted him at first. + +He went to his room and sat down to digest that political philosophy. If +some one beside Madeleine Presson had said it, it would have seemed to +him like the voice of the temptress. But she had already won his +confidence in her sincerity. He wished that he could feel that her +interest in him had more of a personal quality than she had admitted. He +did not like to remember that it was simply affection for his +grandfather that prompted her. He did not understand very well what he +was to do to obey her suggestions. He did not understand himself exactly +at that moment. But along with his loyalty to General Waymouth a new +desire sprang into life within him. He wanted to show Luke Presson's +daughter that Harlan Thornton could play the game of practical politics +as well as Herbert Linton, and in the end would be more deserving of her +respect. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A TRUCE + + +Gen. Varden Waymouth was elected Governor. In spite of the sullen torpor +of his party managers and the snarls of the Reverend Prouty and his +radical ilk, he surmounted by mere momentum of his party a certain bland +and trustful and destructive indifference of the general public, and won +at the polls. The narrow margin by which he won would have scared a +really loyal and conscientious State Committee. But the before-and-after +gloom of Chairman Presson and his intimates was not caused by any +worriment over the size of the plurality. They were languid spectators. +They felt like dispossessed tenants. They took little interest in the +temple of the party faith. + +"When they buried old Zenas Bellew up our way (Zenas weighed three +hundred and fifty, and lived in a cottage about the size of a wood-box) +the undertaker found he couldn't get the coffin into the house or get +Zenas out--not through doors or windows. A half-witted fellow we call +'Simpson's Rooster' spoke up, and said they'd better bury the old man in +the house and move the family out into the coffin." That was Thelismer +Thornton's comment on the political situation in the Republican party on +the morning after the election. The chairman heard it with the gloom of +a mourner. He could see nothing bright in the jest or the prospects. + +There was a frigid truce during the four months that elapsed between +the election and the assembling of the legislature. + +General Waymouth retired to the brick house in Burnside, and gave ear to +those who promptly made his home the Mecca of the State. There were +office-holders who wanted to hold to their jobs, office-seekers who +suspected that there would be a break in the plans of party patronage; +there were officious gentlemen suggesting new legislation for the next +administration to consider; there were crafty gentlemen trying to +discover what the administration would recommend. The day was full of +cares, duties, annoyances, and the nagging pleadings of persistent +petitioners. + +Harlan Thornton, now representative-elect from the Fort Canibas +district, became still more indispensable in General Waymouth's daily +life. Duties at a desk had worn upon him. This everlasting mingling with +men was more to his taste. He had natural adaptability. He was a good +judge of human nature. He had serene good nature. Physique and manner +made him master of many situations at the old brick house that otherwise +would have sadly tried the General's strength and temper. Therefore, his +chief placed greater dependence upon his lieutenant with every day that +passed, solicited his opinions as his knowledge of men increased and his +judgment became worth more, relied upon his instinctive estimates of +character, and shifted many burdens to the broad shoulders that seemed +so well fitted to carry them. + +Harlan Thornton was slow to realize what a tremendous power, as +chamberlain, he really exercised in the State. + +He awoke to that fact more slowly than did the men who came to solicit. +He did not try to use his power for his own ends. He promptly noted the +deference that men paid him; as promptly he penetrated certain plans +men made to corrupt him, if they could. These attempts were made slyly, +and did not proceed very far. Something in his demeanor prevented the +plotters from openly broaching their desires and their willingness to +make their interests worth his while. They knew that one of the +Thorntons could not be won by money, but they were rather surprised to +find out that he could not be beguiled by other inducements. He was so +big and manly, and he had rapidly become so self-poised, that they did +not realize that in experience he was only a boy, with the ingenuous +faith and simple aims and candor of boyhood. He perceived what he might +win. But the pride of serving General Waymouth loyally was worth more to +him than anything they could offer. + +His duties took him often to the State capital. The chairman of the +State Committee was coolly courteous, often gloomily deferential, +sometimes frankly cordial--uneasily trying to find the proper level to +stand on in his intercourse with one who was the grandson of Thelismer +Thornton, and also the chosen confidant of the man who had wrested from +him control of State affairs. + +In the case of Madeleine Presson, there was none of this embarrassment. +He saw her often. She met him half-way with a frank interest in his work +and a sympathy which, in those days of truce, did not question his +ideals. + +He became a welcome intimate of the Presson household. When he was there +the master himself put aside all the brusqueness he displayed in their +down-town discourse on politics. The girl welcomed him. There were many +hours when they were alone together, in the home or on long drives into +the country. She did not refer to their talk on that evening when she +read to him his lesson on practical politics. He avoided that subject. +He did not want to risk any further disagreement between them on the +matter of ideals--or, for that matter, on any other subject. Association +with her had become too delightful to be put to the test of discussions +of political methods. He was still drawing upon her fund of worldly +wisdom. There was a little touch of the cynic in her. He became secretly +ashamed of some of his ingenuous beliefs, after she had deftly shown him +the other side of things. She did show him the other side, quite in a +matter-of-fact way. It was not that she was trying to break down his +faith. There was nothing sly nor crafty in her methods of improving his +views. But by informing him, she made him wiser, and, at the same time, +more distrustful of motives, more searching in his investigations of +methods. He began to doubt some of his earlier ideas of what a public +man should be. He felt that his views were broadening. That was a +comfortable way of excusing certain surrenderings to her ideas. + +The more he drew from her the more he was drawn to her. + +It was not the love that comes with a rush of the emotions and sweeps a +man away. + +Through the intellect, through his hunger for information and wider +views, she was making herself indispensable to his welfare and his +ambitions. + +And yet Madeleine Presson was not trying to make this young man of the +north country fall in love with her. Her interest in him was first of +all based upon his winning earnestness and the elements of success that +she divined in him, were they properly cultivated. She had studied men +at the capital from childhood. The development of men in public life and +service had been the one theme that she had heard most discussed. Her +impulse of assistance had been directed toward this grandson of +Thelismer Thornton. + +But as the days went by, and opportunity gave them their hours together, +they were drawn more closely, each insisting in secret meditation that +it was not love. He found himself gradually rebuilding his creed of +living on the foundation she had laid in that first long talk of +theirs. He had arrived at such a point of belief in her that he was glad +that she had opened his eyes. He was finding men--meeting them by the +hundred--even as she had pictured them to him: selfish, scheming, +crafty, and not understanding in the least his occasional attempts to +meet them on the upper level of perfect candor. For her part, she found +more in this young man than she had expected to find. + +Harlan considered Herbert Linton the single jarring note in this new +symphony of mutual interests. + +Linton came to the capital with more or less regularity, and called on +the Pressons with fully as much appearance of being entirely at home as +his newer rival. When they were together the girl treated both with +impartial interest and attention. She listened to each in turn, and if +they chose to sit and scowl at each other she did the talking for all +three. Deftly she arranged that they should leave together, and they +always promptly separated as soon as they reached the sidewalk, as +though they were afraid to trust themselves in each other's company. + +So the new year came in, and the hordes of lawmakers, lobbyists, +lookers-on, and laymen descended on the State capital. + +The first few days of a legislative session, though packed full of +politics and business, rush, and routine, are festival days, after all. +There are the old friends to greet and the new friends to meet. There +are ten spectators to every legislator, and the spectators are on hand +for a good time. Outside of the factional clinches of the House and +Senate caucuses the early days have little serious business. + +Presson's great hotel and the lesser lights of the capital's houses of +entertainment were packed to their roofs. The State House on the hill +sent sparkling radiance at night from all its hundreds of windows out +across the snow which loaded the broad lawns. Senator Pownal, +renominated in joint caucus, spoke to crowded floor and galleries on the +second evening. Harlan Thornton, in his seat in the House, listened and +wondered if that convention had not been a dream. + +This later convocation seemed so entirely harmonious. + +The Republicans ruled House and Senate by safe majorities. Presson, +sauntering about hotel or State House lobby, seemed bland and contented +again. The wounds in the party seemed to have been healed. + +On inauguration day Governor Waymouth added to the general spirit of +harmony. + +He came unobtrusively to the State House from the modest mansion he had +leased in the capital city for the legislative winter and took his oath +of office before an admiring throng. He had made a confidant of no one +regarding his inaugural speech. There were vague rumors that the +Governor would follow his hand, as he had shown it in his letter of +acceptance, and deliver an inaugural address which would blister the +ears of the politically unregenerate. + +In that ancient State House, its accommodations for spectators limited, +there were no hard-and-fast rules regulating admission to the floor. +Harlan Thornton had a chair placed in the aisle beside his seat, and +entertained Madeleine Presson there. He had anticipated Linton, who came +with a similar invitation. Harlan was still enough of a boy to feel +delight in the discomfiture of his rival, and to be gratified by the +open admiration his fellow-members showed for the girl at his side. He +relished the sour looks which Linton sent in that direction. + +Under cover of the general buzz and bustle that accompanied the +convening of the joint session of House and Senate for the purpose of +the inauguration the girl rallied him a bit. + +"The beginning of the righteous reign seems to be sane and sweet, after +all," she said. "Even my father is complacent and purring this morning. +Which has he eaten, do you know--the raven of contention or the dove of +peace?" + +"I think every one understands that Governor Waymouth has straightened +matters out for all of us," he replied. + +"How? By simply talking about it? As one who should say, 'Let it be +done,' and it was done, and just what was done nobody, nobody knew--but +it was done--something was--and all the folks felt better and went on in +the same old way! Is that it?" + +He smiled at her while she teased him; the nature of the armistice that +prevailed, according to outward appearances, was not understood by him. +For several weeks his intimacy with General Waymouth had not been as +close as at the first. Not that there was distrust or even coolness +between them. The veteran still depended on the young man for the +services a trusted lieutenant could render. His plans, however, his +future programme of reorganization--if he had any definite plans--the +General kept to himself. It was not mere reticence. But there was an +atmosphere about the old statesman as though he had withdrawn himself to +a higher altitude to think his thoughts and formulate his plans alone. +If he had heard of the intimacy of Harlan Thornton with the family of +Luke Presson he made no comment on that fact. + +"Now what is he going to say in his address?" she asked. "Every one will +know in a few moments. Tell me ahead--tell me the big utterance that +will make the people sit up. I want to be ready to watch their faces!" + +"Why, I haven't a single idea what he will say," he blurted. + +"Oh, safe repository, I salute you!" + +"But I haven't! The Governor hasn't opened his mouth to me!" + +"Have a care! One very easily steps from polite diplomacy into very +impolite falsehood. You must always be truthful with me, Harlan." + +His eyes grew brighter and his tanned cheeks warm. It was the first time +she had addressed him without hateful formality. + +"I propose to tell you the truth, always," he assured her. "But I mean +what I say--the Governor has kept his address to himself." + +"I should resent that. It would have been a delicate compliment, and he +owed that much to you. I'm afraid he has been a politician long enough +to be like all the rest--to walk up to power on men as one uses a flight +of stairs, and then to put the stairs behind his back; for one doesn't +walk up-stairs backward." + +He flushed more deeply. + +"I'm not that kind of a fellow--jealous, or petty, or expecting a great +deal for what little service I can render." + +"Put a value on yourself, though," she advised him. "It really isn't +human nature, you know, to pick up the things that are thrown away by +the owners--to pick them up and keep them and value them, I mean. That +applies to purses and all other possessions, including hearts and +loyalty." + +He started to say something to her--even though the throng pressed about +them he would have said it; but the voice of the crier at the door +announced what all were waiting for. + +"His Excellency the Governor, the Honorable Council, and his Excellency +the Governor-elect and party!" + +They filed along in dignified procession down the centre aisle, the +uniforms of the officers of the staff giving a touch of color and +brightness to the formal frock-coats. + +The Secretary of State announced the official figures of the vote +electing Varden Waymouth as Governor, and after his sonorous final +phrase, "God save the State of ------," Governor Waymouth repeated the +oath of office administered by a gaunt, sallow lawyer who was the +president of the Senate. + +The clerk of the House set a reading-desk on the Speaker's table and +arranged the Governor's manuscript. As the old man read he made a +striking picture. He stood very erect. His snowy hair, the empty sleeve +across his breast, the lines the years had etched on cheeks and brow +gave those who looked on him a little thrill of sympathetic regret that +one so old should be called from the repose of his later years to take +up such public burdens as he had assumed. But his voice was resonant, +his eye was clear. Nature seemed to have given him new strength to meet +what he was now facing. And yet, thought some of those who listened, it +might be that he did not propose to make a martyr of himself, after all. +His address did not threaten or complain. The radicals who sat there +with set teeth and bent brows, hoping to hear denunciation after their +own heart, were disappointed. The politicians who had feared now took +new grip on their hope--it probably was not to be as bad as they had +anticipated. + +Harlan Thornton listened to the calm, moderate statement of the State's +general financial and political situation with growing sense of mingled +disappointment and relief. His fighting spirit and his knowledge of +conditions, as they had been revealed to him, made him hope that at last +an honest man proposed to clean the temple--entering upon his task with +bared arms and a clarion call. This mild old man, confining himself to +the details of the State's progress and needs, was not exactly the +leader he had expected him to be. And yet Harlan was relieved. He looked +at the girl beside him, and that relief smoothed away his +disappointment. As matters were shaping themselves he no longer +anticipated that he would be driven into pitched battle, forced to fight +intrenched enemies of reform--Luke Presson's face most conspicuous of +all those behind the party wall of privilege. As he listened to the +address he comforted himself with the thought that probably political +disagreements loomed more blackly as a cloud on the horizon than their +real consistency warranted. He was not in retreat--he would not admit +that to himself as he listened. But he felt that compromise and a better +understanding were in the air. There would be no more occasion for +troubled arguments between himself and the girl at his side. He did not +understand exactly in what way it would be done, but he felt that +Governor Waymouth knew how to win his reforms without such party +slaughter as the first engagements hinted at. He put himself into a very +comfortable frame of mind, and the girl at his side, by her mere +presence, added to his belief that this was a pretty good old world, +after all. + +He had lost some of his respect for "reform." It had been exemplified +for him mostly by such men as Prouty and his intolerant kind--by Spinney +and his dupes. He felt that he might call decency by some other name, +and arrive at results by the calm and dignified course which Governor +Waymouth now seemed to be pointing out. He suddenly felt a warm +appreciation of the wisdom of Madeleine Presson as she had made that +good sense known to him in their talks. + +"For it is by my works, not my words, that I would be judged," concluded +the Governor, solemnly, and bowed to the applause which greeted the end. + +Neither Harlan Thornton nor any other listener in the great assembly +hall took those words as signifying anything more than the usual pledge +of faithful performance. + +After the dissolving of the joint caucus he escorted Madeleine to the +council-chamber, where the new Governor was holding his impromptu +reception. There were no shadows on the faces which pressed closely +around him. All the politicians of the State were there, eager to be the +first to congratulate him. Their fears had been somewhat allayed. In +political circles it was well understood that Waymouth stood for a +clean-up. It had been hinted that his programme would be drastic. The +members of the machine, more intimately in the secrets of the +convention, had expected that the old Roman would sound the first blast +of the charge in his inaugural address. His moderateness cheered them. +Harlan found congratulation sweetening every comment. + +The General received the young couple with marked graciousness. + +"Governor Waymouth, you have convinced me to-day that you are the +apostle of universal salvation for the wicked--in politics," said the +girl. "I hope the doctrine will be accepted." + +"In that belief you are safe companion for my first disciple," he +returned, humoring her jest. The crowd carried them on. + +"I believe that, too," Harlan murmured. + +"Universal salvation according to the new political creed?" + +"I'm not thinking about politics. I'm not thinking much about anything +else just now except you. During the Governor's address it came over me +suddenly what wise counsel you gave me. If I had you for an adviser all +the rest of my life I could amount to more in the world than I ever can +without you." + +She glanced at him sharply. + +"I mean that," he insisted. "Will you be my adviser for the rest of my +life?" + +It was crude, blunt, and sudden proposal. The throngs were eddying about +them. They were jostled at the moment by the Toms, Dicks, and Harrys of +the legislative concourse. Curious eyes surveyed them. Ears were near +by. + +"I can't help saying it here and now," he rushed on. "I--" + +"My dear Harlan, you don't mean to say that you are proposing to me here +in the face and eyes of this crowd?" She said it with sudden amazed +mirth dancing in her eyes, but with a note of satire in her tone. + +"I do mean it!" He cried it so loudly that men turned their heads to +stare at this earnest young man who was protesting his faith to the +handsome daughter of Luke Presson. + +"Hush!" she cried, sharply, and then pulled him along. She spoke low. "I +don't think you have enough humor in you to realize just what you have +done, Harlan. I have found humor lacking in you. You have picked out the +lobby of the State House, in the middle of the biggest crowd of all the +year, as the 'love's bower' for an offer of marriage. You say you mean +it as an offer of marriage. But what you really did was to ask me to +attach myself to you as general adviser. You can hire a clairvoyant who +will do that much for you, and I doubt if you would engage the +clairvoyant as publicly as you have just tried to engage me." + +"I understand just what a fool I made of myself," he muttered, huskily. +"But I couldn't wait--and I mean it." + +"No, you don't realize just how much of a fool you are where women are +concerned," she returned, judicially. "A woman--a young woman--is +generally interested in hearing first of all a little about love and +devotion and loyalty, all unselfish and uncalculating. Now be patient! +Listen to me! A woman can detect real love. And real love seeks its +opportunity sweetly and shyly. It doesn't preface itself with remarks +about a woman's brain and advisory ability. I believe it has a lot to +say about eyes and hair and lips and such things. However, since you +admire me in my capacity as adviser, I'll advise you to be sure that you +love a woman before you propose to her, and then when you propose pick +out some place that's suitable for convincing her that you do love her. +I see mother yonder. Take me to her." + +Turning away, flushed and angry, from her demure smile, he became +bitterly conscious that even had they been alone, under most favorable +circumstances, he would have lacked speech for real love-making. He felt +that conviction inwardly. He wondered whether he had the capacity for +loving as he had read of men loving. It made him a bit ashamed to think +of himself as violently protesting, hungrily pleading. A moment before +he had been angry because she doubted his love. He knew that he admired +her, respected, desired her. Now he argued with himself, and convinced +his soul that his emotions constituted love. And having convinced +himself, he determined to seek further opportunity of convincing her. It +was truly an academic way of settling matters so riotously impatient of +calculation as affairs of the heart, and his determination would have +appealed to Miss Presson's sense of the humorous more acutely still had +he undertaken to explain his emotions of that moment. + +Thelismer Thornton, strolling amiably through the lobby throng, came and +put his hand on Harlan's shoulder. + +"The best way to make good sugar is to simmer the sap slowly, my boy." +Harlan glanced sharply at him, but the Duke was not discussing love. +"Vard has got into the simmering stage at last. I reckoned he would. +He's too good a politician to boil the kettle over as he started in +doing. What's the matter with you? You look as though you'd been +listening to a funeral oration instead of an address that has put the +party back on Easy Street." + +His grandson was careful not to explain the cause of his gloom. He was +willing to let politics be answerable. + +Chairman Presson, more cheerful than he had been for weeks, came and +crowded between them in a cosey, confidential manner. + +"Say, the old fellow is getting smoothed down," he chuckled. "That +address was milk for babes. He's got good sense. The thin edge of that +plurality made him think twice. I reckon he's going to play a safe game +after this. I don't know what he wanted to throw such a scare into us +early in the game for! But as we get old we get cranky, I suppose. I may +be that way myself when I grow older." + +"Vard preached the theory to us for all it was worth," commented the +Duke, "but I reckon he's up against the practice end of the proposition +now--and he was a politician before he was a preacher." + +"Hope he'll stay a politician after this. He got onto my nerves. It +wasn't necessary to be so almighty emphatic about things going wrong in +this State." + +"Old Pinkney up our way is always careful to keep an eye out for the +drovers," said the Duke. "When he sees one coming he hustles out into +the pasture and shifts the poker off'n the breachy critter onto the best +one in the bunch. And that's the way he unloads the breachy one. Vard +has been wearing the poker the last few weeks, but I don't believe he +intends to hook down any fences." + +In the eyes of the politicians, therefore, Governor Waymouth had become +safe and sane. They construed his earlier declarations as the ambitions +of an old man dreaming a dream of perfection. The legislature swung into +the routine of its first weeks in the usual fashion. The business +consisted of the presentation of bills, acts, and resolves. The daily +sessions lasted barely half an hour. The committee hearings had not +begun, and the legislators found time hanging heavy on their hands. + +Harlan Thornton continued to be a frequent caller at the Presson home. +But he did not seem to find an opportunity for a tête-à-tête with +Madeleine. She did not show constraint in his presence. She did not +avoid him. She treated him with the same frank familiarity. But he did +not find himself alone with her. He did not try to force such a +situation, in spite of the provocation she had given him once. He was +not yet sure that he could command the words that real love might demand +for expression. That was his vague excuse to his own heart for +delaying--for his heart insisted that he did love her. He had to admit +to himself that this was not the headlong passion the poets described, +but he consoled himself with the reflection that he was not a poet. So +he made the most of her cordial acceptance of him as he was, and felt +sure that Herbert Linton had won no more from her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A GOVERNOR AND A MAID + + +The Honorable Arba Spinney was in the lobby as usual that winter. The +Duke's sarcastic prediction was fulfilled. He appeared promptly at the +session's opening, and was the most insistent and persistent member of +the "Third House," as the paid legislative agents were called. Most of +the men who wormed their way here and there operated craftily and tried +to be diplomatic. Spinney strove by effrontery. As usual, he made the +country members his especial prey. The story of his knavery at the State +Convention had been smothered in the interests of the party. He +reappeared among men with as much assurance as ever. He even approached +Harlan Thornton to solicit his support of one bill. It was a measure to +grant State subsidy, through exemption of taxation, to assist a railroad +to extend its lines into the timber-land country. + +Harlan checked him promptly. "I don't propose to discuss that question +or any other with you, Mr. Spinney." + +"If that road is built it will double the value of half your lands," +insisted the lobbyist. "It's business for you and it's business for us, +and there's no reason why you shouldn't talk business, is there?" + +"It doesn't interest me, Mr. Spinney." He went on, hotly: "I know just +as much about the matter as you do. It's an attempt to evade the State +constitution, which forbids subsidizing railroads. Governor Waymouth has +explained it to me. I don't propose to profit by any such methods. And +I'll inform you, further, that it's just about the sort of a scheme I'd +expect to find you working for. Do you understand me?" + +"I know what you're referring to. But that matter is over with. I got +the worst end of it. You helped to pass it to me. You can't afford to +carry on any quarrel with me, Thornton. Holding grudges is bad business; +so is making a fool of yourself by playing little tin saint in public +matters." + +"I hold no grudge against you. That would be getting down on your level. +I'm simply disgusted with you as a man, Mr. Spinney. That's all. You +know why. Now leave me alone." + +But Spinney boldly intercepted him. Harlan had started to leave. The +lobbyist realized what a powerful foe young Thornton could be to his +project, and he was desperate. + +"I've been up through your country, Mr. Thornton. I've been spending +some time at Fort Canibas. I've been posting myself generally on +railroad and other matters--_other_ matters! I don't want to say too +much, but I'd like to have you run over in your mind what those other +matters might be. Now, you and I can't afford to be enemies. I got the +tough end, and I'm willing to overlook and forget. You owe me a little +something. I hope you're going to square it. Let me remind you that I'm +a bad man with my tongue. I'm free to say it, I depend on my tongue for +what I get out of life." + +It occurred to Harlan that this brazen threat referred to the scandal of +the Fort Canibas caucus. + +"Bring them on," he sneered: "Ivus Niles and his buck sheep and Enoch +Dudley and the rest of the petty rogues that you hired with your +corporation money to defeat me." + +"You're on the wrong trail," replied Spinney. "I can hit you harder than +that, and in a tenderer spot." + +He returned Harlan's amazed stare. + +"I've been keeping my eyes open down here, Mr. Thornton, and I kept my +ears open up in Fort Canibas." His face grew hard. "D--n you, I'll never +forget what you did to me! I'm coming right out open with you. I'd like +to do you in return. I can do it. But I'll give you a chance; it's for +my interest to do so, providing you buy the let-off. If you don't stand +by me in that tax rebate, I'll launch the story. What I lose in support +I'll more than make up in seeing you squirm. I'm pretty frank, ain't I? +Well, I play strong when I've got enough trumps under my thumb." + +"Spinney, I've had enough of that kind of talk. What do you mean?" + +"Don't you have the least idea?" + +"Not the slightest." + +"A good bluff! Well, I know about the girl up country! See? It's a bad +story to be passed up to another girl. And I know how to get the details +to my friend Presson's daughter in time to spoil your ambition in that +quarter. Now, how about that?" + +They were in one corner of the State-House lobby, and the presence of a +hundred men about them probably saved Spinney from a beating there and +then. Harlan quivered with rage. He did not grasp the full purport of +Spinney's hints. He only understood that the man had grossly intruded on +his private affairs. He could not speak. He dared not trust his voice. + +"Now do you want to let it go further?" inquired the lobbyist. He felt +that the proximity of others protected him. + +"I'll meet you alone--I'll hunt you out, and I'll mash that face of +yours into pulp!" choked the young man, and hurried away before he lost +control of himself. The most he could make out of the episode was that +Spinney was seeking cheap revenge by offering insult to his face under +circumstances that prevented him from retaliating. He did not understand +the reference to Clare Kavanagh. His friendship for the girl was no +secret in the north country. That Spinney had made so much account of it +by his insinuations was the astonishing feature, in Harlan's estimation. + +Fortunately for his peace of mind at that moment, he was not allowed to +dwell upon the matter. The Governor's messenger came seeking him. He +followed the man into the presence of his Excellency. + +Harlan had not recovered his self-possession, and the Governor surveyed +him with some interest. + +"Cares of State, young man?" he asked. "And the session still as calm as +a millpond?" + +"That cur of a Spinney has just insulted me--no politics, sir, but just +plain, personal insult. Why, he went out of his way to do it!" + +"You make much out of nothing if you allow that blatherskite to disturb +you," said the Governor, with mild reproof. "Pay no attention to him. +Now to my business with you! I'd like to have you dine with me this +evening. I have some serious matters to talk over with you alone--and +the executive chamber, here, is no place for a quiet talk." + +Harlan hesitated a moment. + +"Have you another engagement?" + +"I was to dine with the Pressons." + +"I am sorry to ask you to do it, my boy, but if it is merely a social +engagement, will you not beg to be excused? I assure you that my +business is such that it cannot well wait another twenty-four hours. I +am ready to leave the State House now. We'll ride past the Presson +door, and I'll wait while you present your regrets. Tell the fair +Madeleine that duty calls." He smiled. "I hear interesting reports, +young man. Again I say I'm sorry to keep you from your engagement, but +Miss Presson has been near enough to politics to understand what a +duty-call means. Come!" + +The young man flushed. Reply failed him. He followed the Governor to his +carriage. It was late afternoon, and the State House was emptying. + +As Harlan ran up the steps of the Presson house, Spinney's ugly threat +came to him. The man dealt in gossip. It was an incredible form of +attack. It was slander of the innocent. He could not forewarn Madeleine +Presson. That would be caddish. + +But he felt a sudden panic. The impulse of admiration; covetous desire +to win her away from Linton, a desire pricked by his increasing dislike +of that young rival in love and politics; the charm she possessed for +him who had met in her his first woman of intellect and culture--all +drove him to her. The other love was a vague something that troubled +him. Madeleine Presson was near and visible, and he did not dissect the +emotion which prompted him to seek her. + +She came down to the reception-room. He had sent up an urgent request. + +"No," she said, with a smile, after she had listened, "I think I'll put +your loyalty to the test! If I'm always to be the minority report in +your estimation, Mr. Legislator, it's time now to find it out. You put +Governor Waymouth and your politics first, do you?" + +"But you haven't given me the right to put you first," he returned, +boldly. + +"Just how was I to go about giving you that right?" she inquired, with +demure sarcasm. "Memorialize you, Mr. Representative, or throw it at you +from the House gallery, concealed in a bouquet?" + +In spite of the waiting Governor outside he started toward her, his +arms outstretched, his heart rushing to his lips. Her taunt--it seemed +like that--made him desperate. + +"Madeleine, I tried to tell you--I know it seemed a strange place, but I +couldn't wait--I want to tell you now--" + +She eluded him, and stopped him with a word. He was not impetuous enough +to persist. + +"Oh, you master of the art of love-making!" she cried. Pique mingled +with mirth in her tone. "First, you propose to me in the midst of the +mob; then you propose to me, bursting in like a messenger-boy, and +yonder the Governor of this State, with anxious head out of his carriage +window, scowling because you don't come along! Admirable occasions for +pledging passion and life-long devotion! Dear Harlan, your ingenuity +must be puzzled by this time. I'll make a suggestion: fly over our house +in a balloon and shout your declaration down the chimney. I'll sit in +the fireplace from two to four, afternoons." + +"I'll not be put off!" he cried. + +"You shall be put out, and I'll do it!" Laughing, she took him by his +arm and led him out into the hall. Protesting, he went. "I have some +respect for the feelings of our Governor on a chilly afternoon, even if +you haven't. You are excused from our little dinner. Go, now, Harlan. +I'm serious." + +"There's one thing you have given me," he said, red, half-angry, and +thoroughly subdued, "and that's the promise that I may take you to the +legislative ball. That's to-morrow night--and we'll see!" He bolted out +upon the steps. + +"Delightful!" she cried after him. "What an opportunity the stage of +City Hall will afford for another!" She shut the door before he could +reply. + +The Governor rallied him a bit on his disturbed looks as they rode on, +but Harlan was in no mood to relish jokes on that subject. + +Governor Waymouth had no other guests at dinner. He did not broach his +business until they were seated in the little parlor of the modest +mansion. The room had been converted into a study. + +"To date the session has hardly been what you hoped--perhaps that's too +strong a word--what you expected it would be, has it?" inquired the +Governor, his earnestness showing that he was ready to begin. He did not +wait for a reply. + +"Matters have run in the old rut. Every one seems to be satisfied, +eh--even the radicals in the prohibition movement? Isn't that so? Their +men have introduced some new legislation, adding on more penalties that +no officer will ever enforce--but the mere legislation satisfies 'em. +Everybody satisfied, apparently." The Governor uttered that last +sentence in meditative manner. Then he straightened, and slapped his +hand upon his chair-arm so suddenly that Harlan started. "But I am not +satisfied!" he shouted. "I have let them run along. I have let them +introduce their bills. I have waited for the lawmakers of this State and +for the people to take some initiative. I gave them their call last fall +in my letter. I hoped that some part of this State was awake. But those +few who have shown some signs of civic interest have only pecked around +the edges of reform. Nothing has been done, Harlan Thornton. Not one +sweeping bill has been introduced. I have waited, hoping. I hoped the +people would arise and help me with this burden. But I've waited in +vain. There are only two more days in this session allowed for the +introduction of new business. + +"My boy, I talked first with you about my becoming Governor of this +State. That's why I'm talking first with you about this matter. I shall +call every man of this legislature to me and talk with him privately, +and in that work I want your assistance. I want you to bring them to me. +I called you here to-night because to-morrow night folly and fashion +will rule all in this city, and I must be there with the rest. Let me +tell you, my boy, that when the men of this legislature awake, after +that night of frivolity, it will be to open their eyes on some serious +business. Not one word about what I intend to do until then. The session +has been a very sweet cake till now--let the ball sugar-coat it! +There'll be bitter eating provided day after to-morrow!" + +He waited a moment, recovering from sudden passion. + +"Ah," he said, gentle once more, "that sounds like senile raving. Pardon +me. But while I've waited for the politicians of this State to show some +signs of decency, waiting in vain, I've been swallowing back a lot of +bitterness. No more of it! To our business now. I want you to know what +is coming. I depend on you, as I have depended before, to be my master +of ceremonies--and rather grim ceremonies they will be. For I have +prepared several bills. You will introduce the House measures. I can +depend on Senator Borden, from my county, for what I choose to have +originate in the Senate. They are bills that will put our party and this +State to the test of honesty. It's strange, isn't it, that what sounds +so innocent should be so bitter?" + +He opened a drawer in his desk. He took out papers and spread them +before him. He selected one. + +"Abolishment of fees (a blow at every grafting officeholder); no more +railroad passes for public officials; a bipartisan tax commission that +shall haul the rich dodger out into the open--all these matters are +covered here. But into your hands, young man, I put the one measure that +is to be the most savage test of our honesty. I have put the most +thought on it. Every lawyer in this State will try to find a flaw in +it. But if I know anything about constitutional law it is framed to beat +them all. I'll not bother to read it to you. Carry it away, and guard it +and study it." + +He held it up, waving it. His heart was plainly full. He talked as one +addressing the careless multitude--and talking, at the same time, to +himself. + +"You may divine what it is. It handles the great topic in our State. The +source of dishonor, corruption, perjury, and hypocrisy! The prohibitory +law! Let me tell what it will do when it has been enacted into law. It +will make the Governor of this State the grand high sheriff to enforce +personally and actively this one law; it's in our constitution, and the +State should enforce its own. He will have all the resources of the +State treasury behind him. He shall have for the first time PROHIBITION. +Prohibition enforced, prohibition as the statutes have ordered it, +prohibition in actuality instead of its pretence. The pretence has +satisfied the rumsellers who sold, the rum-drinkers who drank, and the +radicals who have boasted of the law, for all have got out of it what +results were desired: appetite was catered to, vanity was satisfied, and +graft engendered for the benefit of the office-holding class. + +"I'm not going to predict what I think will be the result of this +enforcement--not now. What I propose to do as an honest man is to put +the prohibitory profession of this State to the test. When this is law, +Luke Presson cannot pose as an honest man and continue to sell liquor to +all-comers, he cannot bribe sheriff and police; I'll send my own men to +smash every bottle in his place, and I'll put him into just as dark a +cell as any Cheap John who peddles poison from his boot-leg. The rich +man must stand on the level of the poor man. It's the test of our +State's honesty--that bill is--and it shall be called 'The Thornton +Law.'" + +He arose, and placed the document in Harlan's hand. + +The young man received it rather gingerly. He held it with somewhat the +appearance of one who has the custody of a loaded weapon. His face +expressed consternation rather than appreciation. + +"Study the measure. I think you'll find it interesting. Introduce it in +the House day after to-morrow. Our gallant lawmakers will be sleepy +after the ball. That will wake 'em up." The old man's nostrils dilated. +He had the air of one who saw battle ahead and yearned for it. + +"Move that it be referred to the Committee on Temperance," the Governor +went on. "The fight will be on then and there, just as soon as they get +their breath. They'll want to get it before a _safer_ gang! Let 'em +refer it to the Judiciary Committee if they've got the votes to do so. +I'm not afraid they'll find any constitutional flaws. And that first +vote will give me a line on the general situation. I'll find out just +what men need to have the gospel put to 'em straight!" + +"Governor," stammered the young man, still holding the document at +arm's-length, "wouldn't it be--don't you think a--a--some representative +who has had more experience than I should be the one to see this bill +through?" + +"I want that bill sponsored by a man that I can trust absolutely. I'm +sure of you, Harlan! When once it is introduced I'll see that you have +plenty of help before the committee and on the floor." + +It had come like a thunderclap on a moonlit night. It was sudden tempest +prefaced by the lull of perfect calm. It was the signal to combat +sounded when peace seemed assured. The young man perceived now how much +of his early zeal had deserted him. He shrank from the task the Governor +had assigned to him. It was a blow that was aimed at the tenderest point +of his own party; it was obliging the party, as the dominant power, to +thrust upon the mass of the people the radical execution of a law which +public opinion secretly opposed--that opinion even slyly welcoming the +breach of it. And Governor Waymouth had emphasized what that new measure +meant by citing the name of Luke Presson. It set the situation before +Harlan in a flash. He was summoned to carry out his pledge of loyalty to +Governor Waymouth by attacking the pet policy of nullification that kept +his own party off the shoals to which extreme radicalism would surely +drive it. The first man who would be hit--both as chairman of the party +State Committee and in his personal interests--would be the man whose +daughter he was seeking. Harlan wondered how that marriage proposal +would sound, either on the heels or on the eve of the introduction of +"the Thornton bill." + +His uncertainty showed so plainly in his face that the Governor walked +around his table and scrutinized him closely. + +"My boy," he asked, "has the enemy captured you while you've been +resting on your arms? Remember, there are slick and specious ways of +making the wrong seem right in politics! I hope you haven't been +tampered with!" + +For a guilty moment Harlan remembered the admonitions of Madeleine +Presson. He was promptly ashamed that they had come to his mind when the +Governor spoke his fears. + +"I'm going to tell you just why I'm a bit slow in this matter," he said, +manfully. "It may seem a trivial reason to you, Governor Waymouth. I +stopped to wonder how it would affect my friendship with the Presson +family if I should introduce that bill." + +"Oh, I see how the land lies! You can understand now how old I am--old +and cold with all the romance burned out of me! I'd forgotten that +there's anything except politics left in the world. So--" He paused, +beaming kindly on the young man, and pursing his lips ready for the +jocose supposition that Harlan foresaw and anticipated. + +"No," he declared, flushing, "it isn't that way. It hasn't gone that +far, Governor. I ask your pardon for mentioning my personal affairs, +especially an affair of this sort. But I should be very sorry to break +off my friendship with the Pressons." + +The Governor went back to his chair, and sat down in it. He wrinkled his +brows and took a long survey of his embarrassed caller. + +"I'm afraid I spoke of the case of our mutual friend Presson in rather +harsh terms. It would not work like that. Of course, he would bow to the +inevitable if such a law were passed. But if it becomes a personal +matter in any respect, Mr. Thornton, do you believe that any member of +Presson's family would be offended if Presson were made to obey the +law?" + +"Well, if he persisted against the new law, it would be a pretty hard +position for any fair person to defend," admitted the young man. + +"I think we may depend on it that this young person, admittedly +'fair'--at my age I can be allowed to bestow that compliment--will +respect your integrity. I do not command you to do the service--I cannot +do that. But I shall be disappointed if you allow personal reasons to +interfere with your public duties. I have depended on you to do it. I +have only a few that I can trust." + +At that instant, in the presence of this man who had sacrificed so much, +Harlan felt that his own interests were too petty for consideration. + +He put the document into his pocket. + +"Forgive me for hesitating, Governor Waymouth. I'm afraid I'll never +make a very good public servant. But I'll try to hold my eyes straight +ahead after this." + +"Keep the paper in your pocket. Think it all over. You're at the place +every man reaches. What you want to do and what you ought to do split +very sharply sometimes. I'll let you decide. I have no more to say." + +Harlan walked back to the hotel, trying to adjust himself to this new +phase of the question. Once more he had been called upon to lead the +charge of the forlorn hope. He had not the same thrill of zealous +loyalty as before. He was a little hurt because the Governor had made +the affairs of his heart of so small importance. An old man's austerity +could not understand, perhaps, but nevertheless Harlan felt that he was +entitled to some consideration. He had not acquired an old man's calm +poise--he was not entirely willing to put politics ahead of everything +else, now that he found there were so many other things in life. Was it +not true that the mass preferred to pay court to high ideals in the +abstract, and bitterly resented any attempt by sincere individuals to +enforce the actual? He understood rather vaguely that he would be +applauded by the radicals--he had met their leaders and did not like +them--he would get the applause the mob gives to "a well-meaning +fellow," but more than all he would be sneered at behind his back as "a +crank trying to reorganize human nature," and therefore to be shunned. +He had been mingling intimately with the chief men of the State; he knew +what kind of comment they had for others. Most of all, he knew that the +mild applause of the mob would not be loud enough to drown out those +familiar voices nearest him--he had heard those voices many times +before: there was his grandfather, there was Luke Presson, there were +the political associates with whom he had already begun to train on the +basis of compromise. + +There was Luke Presson's daughter! + +He strode into the lobby of the hotel, his face gloomy and his thoughts +dark. Linton stepped forward to meet him, hat and overcoat on. It was +evident that he had been waiting. The sight of him did not improve +Harlan's temper. From the first day of the session they had eyed each +other malevolently. They had bristled at every possible point of +contact. Linton's last exploit had been a speech favoring the railroad +tax rebate, a speech in which he scored those who opposed it as enemies +to the development of the State. The fervor of his eloquence had made +even Harlan Thornton doubt, sourly, whether a constitution that was +framed before the exigencies of progress were dreamed of should be too +rigidly construed. That was still another point where he and his +grandfather disagreed, and the cogent speech of Linton had been the +cause of further dispute between them. The Duke was disgusted because +his grandson could be so scrupulous that he could not be progressive. +For Harlan the straight path of rectitude was fringed with signs set +there by friends, every sign inscribed "Fool." From the first, Linton +had seemed to aggravate his difficulties, politically and personally. + +"Can you give me a few minutes of your time?" he asked, stiffly. + +"If it's business, and important, yes," returned Harlan, scowling. + +"I should not bother you with anything except business. And as this is +of a private nature, I must ask you to invite me to your room." + +Harlan led the way to the elevator. + +Linton did not remove his overcoat when they were closeted together. He +stood with hat in his hand. + +"It may surprise you to learn that my business concerns Miss Presson and +the legislative ball to-morrow evening," began Linton, but Harlan +indignantly broke in. + +"You can have no possible business with me, sir, in which Miss +Presson's name may be mentioned. Don't you use her name--not in any way. +Do you understand?" + +"I understand this: I know what I'm talking about and exactly why I've +come here, and you're going to listen. Miss Presson has accepted your +escort to the ball to-morrow evening. Don't you know, Thornton, why you +can't take Madeleine Presson into public, this whole State looking on? I +hate to say any more than that. I don't think it's necessary for me to +say any more than that!" His face was hard, his tone accusing. + +"I tell you, you have no right to mention Miss Presson to me!" cried the +other. + +"I'm taking it on myself, and I'm giving you a chance by doing it," +retorted Linton. "The story is bad enough now. But you'll be drummed out +of this State if you insult an innocent girl in the way you plan to do." + +In his indignation Thornton had been slow to grasp the fact that his +rival was making hints that both affronted and threatened. His +conscience accused him of nothing. He felt the crackle of paper in his +breast-pocket. He promptly suspected that Linton had gleaned a hint of +the proposed legislation which would involve Madeleine's father. + +He tried to control his anger. + +"Will you kindly explain to me by just what right you say this," he +sneered--"except, possibly, that you're jealous because Miss Presson +chose me as her escort." + +"I have a right as a friend of her mother, if nothing else! I am keeping +this thing as still as I can for your sake, for in this case protecting +you means protecting her. I don't want to say any more! But sudden +illness must prevent you from accompanying Miss Presson into public at +that ball." + +Harlan beat a palm upon his own breast. + +"I've had enough of this, Linton. You tell me what you're driving at." + +It was plain that Linton hated to be more explicit. This culprit did not +seem to quail before vague accusation, as he had expected him to do. He +was faced by a young man whose face was lighted by wrath, curiosity, and +kindred emotions that were obviously not those of guilt. + +"Let me say this in my own defence," pleaded Linton. "Spinney was going +right to Mr. and Mrs. Presson with the story. I got it from him almost +by accident. We were talking over our railroad bill this evening, and he +mentioned your stand. Then he out with the story that he picked up when +he was in Fort Canibas. I do not listen to gossip, Mr. Thornton, but it +is plain that Spinney has facts. I have inquired in a prudent way of +other men from your section. He has the story, but what they say +confirms it." + +Harlan listened, his blank amazement depriving him of speech. + +"I've said enough now, haven't I?" asked Linton, significantly. + +"No, by God, you haven't!" shouted the other, coming out of his lethargy +of astonishment. The recollection of Spinney's sinister hints came to +him. "What do you mean?" + +"I mean that a man who will fool and throw over a girl in a way that +drives her away from home and friends is no fit escort--" + +He got no further. He knew a thoroughly maddened and dangerous man when +he saw one. He stepped back when Harlan dashed at him, and Thornton +halted of his own accord. After a time he calmed himself enough to +speak. + +"I'll not begin with you, Linton. I'll begin with the man who started +that damnable lie. Oh, that--that--!" He flailed his arms about his +head, unable to express himself. "You've been lied to. You don't know +any better than to say that. If you hadn't been jealous you'd never have +brought the story to me. I'll make allowances," he raved on; "but the +man who started that story will swallow it with teeth and blood mixed." +He stamped about the room. It was so horrible that he could not grasp +the enormity of the lie all at once. + +Linton was impressed but not routed. He waited till Harlan was quieter. + +"I hope you'll get it straightened out," he said, coldly. "But with a +story like that extant, of course you'll see the wisdom of the course +I've suggested. You cannot afford to drag Miss Presson's name into your +affair." + +"Into my affair! You dirty pup, do you dare to intimate--are you lunatic +enough to take stock in any such story about me?" + +The epithets sent the color into Linton's face. But he restrained +himself. + +"Your own grandfather had to take you in hand about the matter before +you left Fort Canibas, Thornton. I heard him say that much myself. He +gave no details. I don't care for any. I merely came to you to bring a +hint as to what you ought to do. You don't seem to take the hint. If you +haven't got manliness enough yourself to keep away from Miss Presson +until this story--well, put it mildly, and say until this story is run +down--then I propose to insist that you do so." + +"Look here, Linton, I've usually got pretty good control of myself. I'm +trying to hold myself in now--trying as hard as I can. What you have +told me is a lie--a damnable lie. See? I say it calmly." He was +quivering. "You don't know what you're talking about. I haven't the +patience to explain to you. It's none of your business. You keep away +from me. Now don't put any more strain on my self-control--in God's +name, don't do it, Linton!" + +"I am making no secret of my hopes in regard to Miss Presson," stated +Linton, firmly. "I have been waiting until I could offer her what she +has been accustomed to. You have the advantage of me in money, Thornton. +But you're welcome to that! My hopes give me the right to guard her from +scandal. I insist that you relieve her of your presence to-morrow +evening!" + +Harlan, shaken, gray with passion, his teeth set over his lower lip, +rushed to the door and threw it open. + +"D--n you, you get on the outside!" he panted. "I'm in the mood to kill +you!" + +Linton went. By his visit and his warning he had thrown a sop to his +conscience. He had approached Harlan Thornton with something like +desperation. Under his calmness he had long-hidden, consuming passion +for Madeleine Presson--a love that had grown through the years, and now +waited a fitting time of expression and the endorsement of assured +position. If he had any doubts of the truth of the shameful story he had +brought he concealed those doubts--he would not admit them to himself. +He proposed to win the girl. He chose any weapons that would rout the +interloper. + +"I warn you that I shall protect her," he said, from the corridor. + +"Take a warning from me, too: you get into my affairs, and you'll find +hell fires cooler!" + +"Your affairs do seem to have that flavor," declared Linton, walking +away. + +Thornton hurried to the headquarters that the corporations maintained in +the hotel for Spinney. Spinney was not there. He ran back to his room +and telephoned to the clerk of the hotel. He was informed that Mr. +Spinney had gone away for a few days. + +It was late, but he threw on his coat and hastened up street to the +Presson home. The windows were dark. He did not have the assurance to +arouse the family at that time of night. + +By that time, walking in the crisp air of the winter night, he had +soothed, somewhat, his fever of anger, sorrow, and shame. + +Calmer, he had thoughts only for the bitter wrong that had been done +Clare Kavanagh. Somehow it seemed that all were leagued against her--and +him! Memory of her unselfishness, her simple faith in him, her +abnegation, her true, little-woman trust in his career--it all rushed +upon him. For a time he was almost ashamed to face what memory brought +to him. Then manfully he set himself to read his heart--at least, he +tried to. In the end, hidden in his room, he wept--honest tears of a +strong man conscious that he was unable by his strength to hold disaster +from an innocent. Even his attempt to find the rogue, Spinney, was +futile. He wept, thinking of Clare Kavanagh--exiled from her home, +bravely solving her problem of life alone. He went to sleep thinking of +Clare Kavanagh. + +It was fortunate for his self-respect that she filled his mind so +completely at that moment. Otherwise the reflection that he had led +himself by degrees to covet the brains and beauty of Madeleine Presson +would have convinced him that in his relations with women he was either +fool or knave. + +Youth, untried in the ways of women and the wiles of loving and the +everlasting problem of what the heart most truly desires, has wondered +and wept the long ages through! + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +WOMEN, AND ONE WOMAN + + +The next day brought the reign of woman. That festal day in mid-session +which preceded the legislative ball had been made woman's field-day by +long custom. The politicians arranged the programme in order to bunch +events: for the women demanded that they be heard each session on the +suffrage question; and the women pleaded for one opportunity to show +their best gowns in parade for fashion's sake. So the politicians made +one bite at the cherry; "took a double dose and had it over with," as +Thelismer Thornton ungraciously expressed it. Frivolity was combined +with feminine fervor on the suffrage question. One element was invited +to neutralize the other. The politicians could endure the combination +better than they could face each faction separately. The advocates of +suffrage made their plea while their sisters promenaded the State House +corridors to the music of the band. The festival spirit dominated. + +The members of the Judiciary Committee wore fresh waistcoats, pinks in +their buttonholes, and a genial air--and had not the least idea of +granting the suffragists anything except a benignant hearing. The report +of "ought not to pass" was a foregone conclusion. + +But there were potted palms in the lobbies, decorations in the rotunda, +and masses of flowers in the House chamber which was given over to the +hearing. And sweet music softened legislative asperities. The women +asked, smiling. The men refused, smiling. + +The federated women's clubs of the State had the suffrage matter in +their keeping. The delegates were not hard-faced women clutching +umbrellas. They were the strictly modern suffragists--radiant matrons, +fresh-complexioned girls, women who led in culture and fashion in their +respective communities. + +At the previous session the Legislative Committee had asked that the +delegation of women be restricted to the usual number of persons that +appeared at legislative hearings. When a dozen came with their petitions +and arguments the Committee blandly stated that there seemed to be no +general demand in the State for woman's suffrage--witness the attendance +of women interested! + +This year the women proposed to disprove that assumption. Every woman's +literary, social, art, and economic club in the State sent two +delegates. The State was raked for women, even the schools were +ransacked. At ten o'clock in the forenoon the State House was packed and +women were still crowding in. The galleries, aisles, and standing-room +of House and Senate were choked with silks, furs, and feathers which +decorated the beauty and brains of the State. + +The routine was hurried through. Callous man, gasping for breath, wanted +to escape. + +The few in the lobby who dared to smoke soon hid their cigars under +their coat-tails and departed to the hotels. The cuspidors were hidden. +Gay frocks swept cigar stubs out of sight. + +When the members of the Judiciary Committee attempted to enter the House +chamber to conduct the hearing on suffrage, it required full ten minutes +of persuasive eloquence and courteous pushing on the part of the +messengers to break the jam of women that filled the door and packed the +lobby floor adjacent. The fair lobbyists did not want to give up even +that vantage-point in order to admit the men who were to listen. And +after the committee had managed to wriggle its way in single file to the +platform they had not the heart to expel the women who were occupying +their chairs. They gallantly stood in a row against the rear wall of the +Speaker's alcove and listened to the petitioners--each woman allowed two +minutes! Not one member of the legislature, outside the committee, +heard. It would have been an ungallant man, indeed, who did not +surrender his place in the chamber to a woman who had come to present +her cause. So the women amiably listened to themselves, and the +committee listened to them in all politeness, and both sides understood +that it was only a genial social diversion out of which nothing would +come. In that gathering a suffragette would have been squelched by her +own sex. + +Harlan Thornton came to the State House early. + +Morning had brought him wiser counsel. He felt no impulse to rush to the +Presson house. He wondered now what he would have said if he had gained +access to Madeleine Presson the night before. The astounding insult by +Herbert Linton troubled him less. It had been a jealous +outburst--Linton's confession of his love for the girl had revealed his +animus. Probably Linton regretted it--in Harlan's calmer mood he trusted +that such was the case. Conscious of his innocence, it did not seem to +Harlan that any man would dare to deal further in such outrageous +slander after what had been said in their interview. + +Harlan was one of the first to escape from the House through the press +of women. There were too many of them. Officious gentlemen had begun to +introduce him to wives and daughters and friends. He was not shy, but +the presence of so many women--chattering, vivacious, exchanging +repartee, challenging retort from him, was disquieting. He made his way +to his committee-room. It was in a far corner of the building and was +quiet. He had not been able to inspect the bill that Governor Waymouth +had placed in his hands. He determined to put behind himself for a time +the presence of women and the thoughts of women--even those thoughts +which had so occupied him the night before. + +There was no one in the committee-room. The State House holiday had +attracted his associates. He examined the measure that he was expected +to sponsor. + +It provided for a commission of three men to be appointed by the +Governor and to remain under his direct control--a bipartisan board. +These men were to appoint special deputies to any number desired. To any +county, city, or town these deputies were to be dispatched when it +became apparent that police or sheriffs were lax or dishonest in +enforcing the prohibitory law. No limits were placed on the number of +these men empowered to kill saloons and put liquor-peddlers out of +business. No special amount of money was to be asked of the +legislature--the bill provided that the State treasury should stand +behind the movement. + +The young man was quick to understand the tremendous power granted to +the Governor by that bill. Under it no party management, no group of +politicians, could club or coax the liquor interests into line at the +polls by manipulation of the traffic. No sheriff could enrich himself by +selling privileges. No city could govern itself in that +respect--declaring that public opinion favored the saloons and making +local law superior to the constitutional law of the State. The bill +provided that a judge must impose both fines and imprisonment when +convictions were secured, and, therefore, no judge could carry on any +longer a practical system of low license by imposing fines alone. + +It was the principle of _enforced_ prohibition put on trial. + +In the past the Luke Pressons of the State had laughed at interference +by a Governor. Local politics, easily handled, had controlled the +actions of cities, and police had kept their hands off the traffic for +years. + +Authority in liquor matters had been vested in the county high sheriffs, +and these men were controlled from State headquarters wholly in the +interests of politics. + +Harlan was sufficiently familiar with the old plan to know how this new +system would upset the entire political machine of his State. That folio +of document was a bombshell. + +He was holding it outspread in his hands when the door opened so +suddenly that it startled him. Thelismer Thornton came in, shaking his +shoulders disgustedly. + +"Feathers and cackle!" he muttered. "This State House turned into a +poultry yard! And half of 'em braced back trying to crow! When a hen +crows and a woman votes--well, it's all the same thing!" + +He relighted the cigar that he had brought through the press hidden in +his big palm. He eyed his grandson keenly and with some disfavor as he +puffed the cigar alight. + +"Look here, bub," he burst out, "there are enough women around here +to-day to remind me that I want to have a word with you on the woman +question. You intend to marry Madeleine Presson, don't you?" + +"_Intend_ to marry her!" blazed his grandson. "You talk as though it was +the fashion to grab a girl and carry her off as they did in the Stone +Age." + +"You know what I mean very well, sir. I take it you are still decent, +and if you're decent you'll marry the girl you've beaued around for six +months--providing she'll have you. That was the style in my day--and +decency doesn't change much--at least, it ought not to." + +Had it been the day before, Harlan Thornton would have declared to his +grandfather what his intentions were toward Madeleine Presson. The +thoughts of the past night's vigil came upon him now--he hesitated. He +was angry with himself--angry with this blunt and persistent old man. He +did not know whether resentment held him back from acknowledging that he +had been a suitor for the hand of Luke Presson's daughter or whether it +was the strange, new feeling toward Clare Kavanagh since he had learned +that her good name was in such piteous need of his protection and +defence. + +"Have you asked her to marry you?" demanded the Duke. + +"Yes, I have--that is--" he paused. His air irritated still more the +testy humor of the old man, plainly provoked by earlier matters. + +"'That is'!" he sneered. "'I have.' 'Perhaps I have!' 'Maybe I +have--let's see what my notes say!' What in the devil is the matter with +the young men nowadays, anyway? Blood in your veins about as thick as +Porty Reek molasses! You say you have asked her to marry you? Well, if +you've asked her and mean it, have you got anything to do with that +Kavanagh girl being around this State House to-day?" + +Harlan sprang to his feet. He threw the document upon the table. His +heart leaped within him. Even while his emotions bewildered him he found +himself asking his conscience why he had not searched for her in spite +of Dennis Kavanagh and her own plain desire to avoid him. The bare +knowledge that she was near sent the blood into his face. Her coming to +him seemed reproach for his acceptance of her flight. + +"Do you mean that?" + +"You are certainly giving me a fine imitation of a man who is +surprised," stated his grandfather. "Maybe you are! I hope so. But she's +here. She's with a bunch of girls from some school or other, paraded +around by a hatchet-faced woman--another crowing hen that's trying to +teach parliamentary law, I suppose. Harlan, I hope you've been square +with me about that girl! Now, if you're honest, and don't know she's +here, keep out of sight. I've given you the tip. She'll be speaking to +you--and it will mix matters for you. She'd like nothing better than to +do it!" + +"I'm sick of that kind of talk from you," protested the grandson, +angrily. "Can't you mention the name of that innocent girl without a +slur or an insult? And there's no reason why I cannot meet Clare +Kavanagh any time and at any place." + +"Your political rule of out-and-open, as you've been tutored by Vard +Waymouth, may work with men, but I'm telling you that it won't operate +with girls," replied the Duke. "You may mean all right, but I'm +suspicious of you. You sneaked back to Fort Canibas last summer to see +her--now didn't you?" + +"I saw her." + +"You don't pay much attention to my wishes, do you, Harlan?" + +"I claim the right, in a few matters, to be my own master." + +"Even to making a devilish fool of yourself! You want Madeleine Presson. +I can see that you want her. I've been watching. And I'm coming out now +and say that I want you to have her. She's my idea of a wife. Now you +needn't go to talking about that Kavanagh girl and _friendship!_ There's +no such thing as that kind of friendship." + +Harlan had no time then to vent the anger that was seething in him. It +seemed that every one who willed took the liberty to intrude upon the +affairs which he tried to keep sacred. While that thought was uppermost +in his troubled emotions, Linton, the other chief offender, came in, +Presson with him. + +The chairman began briskly. He was serious, but he spoke kindly. + +"I don't usually interfere in these matters, but we'd better have this +thing straightened out for the good of all of us. I'm glad you're here, +Thelismer. I want you to stand by and listen. Here are two mighty good +boys, these two--and now we'll leave out all political differences. We +can afford to. We're all better friends than we were when the session +opened." In spite of his absorption in his own affairs Harlan thought of +the legislative morrow and its possibilities. "Now, this isn't politics! +As I say, I don't usually meddle in my wife's or my daughter's--" + +"Just one moment, Mr. Presson!" Harlan strode forward. "Has this lying +scoundrel dared to bring his dirty scandal to you?" + +He looked over the head of the chairman into the defiant face of his +rival. The little man threw up his hands, standing between them. + +"Hold on! Hold on! You haven't come to me in the usual way, but as near +as I can find out both of you are after my daughter. I know of my own +knowledge, Harlan, that you have been interested up-country. I simply +want to have a general understanding. I brought Linton here with me. No +use in running between! Let's have our say face to face." + +Harlan controlled himself. + +"I think I understand just what prompts you, Mr. Presson," he said. "I +respect your motives. You've been imposed upon. But you're not to blame. +I know what you're going to ask me. I'll save you the trouble. I admire +your daughter greatly. I have intended to ask her hand in marriage." He +was suddenly conscious that the determination to persist in that suit +was not acute. + +"That wasn't what I was going to ask you," said Presson with decision. +"It's about the girl whom I saw--" + +"The name of no other person belongs in this discussion," broke in +Harlan, firmly. "I refuse to permit that name to be dragged in, for it's +insult and scandal." + +There was silence in the room. The chairman looked at Harlan, impressed +by his demeanor. He knew the young man well enough to think twice before +he persisted. Thelismer Thornton smoked hard, scowling. He was a little +cautious about thrusting himself further into a matter that he knew +would test the Thornton spirit in his grandson. + +But Linton was determined to win his point. He thought he saw his +opportunity. He hoped he could force a break between Presson and the +other suitor. + +"I'm interested in this matter as much as any one," he declared. "I have +not told you the full story, Mr. Presson. But I'm here to see this +matter straightened out for good and all, and unless you get an answer +from this man, as a father ought to, I'll see that you have the facts to +put you right." + +"Linton, didn't I tell you last night that you were circulating a lie?" +Harlan's face was gray. + +"If it's a lie why are you afraid of telling Mr. Presson the whole truth +and explaining the matter?" insisted Linton with a lawyer's pertinacity +in extracting evidence. He realized that if young Thornton talked, even +to admit the facts that information from the north country seemed to +prove, a bit of impromptu cross-examination might yield results that +would help the Linton cause. + +"I refuse because every word that is said on the subject is a gross +insult to an innocent girl," declared Harlan, passionately. "And I warn +you that if you open your mouth again you'll get the only thing a man +can give you and remain a man!" + +"You'd better take the hint, Linton," advised the Duke. "I don't know +exactly what you're driving at, but you're heading toward trouble. They +don't do things up our way as they do in a city court-room." + +Linton was angry, desperate, and he was as stalwart as the other. He was +not inclined to let that opportunity pass. + +Defiantly he plunged into the story that Spinney had reported. To his +astonishment Harlan rushed for the door. He went out and slammed it +behind him. + +A project had come to him, prompted by his furious rage which mocked +common-sense. A man more accustomed to the conventions would not have +attempted it. But all his north-country passion rioted in him at that +moment. + +The night before he had wept because the peace and good name of Clare +Kavanagh were threatened and he could only beat the ugly phantom of +scandal helplessly. + +Now suddenly he found work for his hands--and his hands had always been +his means of expressing his soul in toil, achievement, and in passion. + +He hurried down the stairs into the State House rotunda where the +throngs were. The hearing before the committee was adjourned. The band +was playing. He thrust himself through the press of the women. Maids and +matrons stared after him. His face was pale, his lips made a +straight-edge and his eyes swept every group with eagerness that was +almost wild. It was search that was distracting. There were women, +women. There were so many faces to scan! Chance led him to her--good +fortune and the sudden thought that she would probably be found near +some object of interest, were she escorted by a teacher. He saw the +group near the great case that held the State's battle-flags. He caught +her arm and her startled face was turned up to his. + +"Come," he whispered, hoarsely. "Come! Do not ask me why. Only come. +Hurry!" + +With the trustfulness she had always shown in him she did not hesitate. +She did not even offer excuses to the tall woman who stepped forward to +inquire the intentions of this abrupt young man. She went, as she went +in the north country when he called to her. Clinging to his arm she +hurried up the broad marble stairway. + +She did not ask why. Her faith was complete. But his demeanor frightened +her. + +"I was sorry after I got here," she gasped, as they hurried on. "But the +others came from the school, and I thought it would be such a great +place here that no one would notice me. I thought you would not see me, +Harlan. But I wanted to learn about--about what you did--what the +lawmakers did, so that--so that--" + +"Hurry," he urged her. He feared that they would be gone. + +This brusqueness, his haste, his sternness troubled her more and more. +They were alone in the corridor that led to the committee-room. She +stopped, holding him back with her strong young arms. He had hardly +looked at her till then. She had changed in the months since he had seen +her. Womanly dignity was mingled with the high spirit that had inspired +the child. Her garb, her new mien made her beauty brilliant. + +"I never lied to you yet, Big Boy," she cried. "I came here because I +was hungry for a sight of you. Then I would go back to my work +comforted. Now my conscience is clear. Take me where you will." + +In that moment his heart was revealed to him. In the stress of new +emotions he understood himself at last. He understood that the love +which mates, which sweeps away all calculation, which welds, trusts, and +never pauses to analyze or compute, is love that disdains mere +admiration of intellect or lure of beauty. + +His quiet nature had depths. They had never been stirred till then. The +child-love had been budding there ready for blossom. It had been fed by +faith and ripened by association. Passion now brought it to fruition. +Madeleine Presson had appealed only to one side of him. This girl +rounded out the whole philosophy of love. She was not a divinity. His +nature did not crave divinity. In his strength, sincerity, +ingenuousness, his man's soul, primitive as the free woods, required the +mate--one to be cherished and protected. And so, now, when all his soul +was stirred, this girl, so bitterly in need of protection--the girl whom +the years had endeared to him--came into his heart to reign there. + +Words, emotion choked him. But he could not wait, then. She saw +something in his eyes she had never seen there till that moment. But +before she could understand he carried her along with him. + +"Come! I can't wait!" he cried. + +When he flung open the door of the committee-room the men in it were +standing in silence. Presson had picked up the "Thornton Bill" and was +reading it, scowling. Whatever Linton had said, it was plain that the +father of Madeleine Presson had just found something which diverted his +attention from family matters. + +Harlan shut the door behind. He locked it. He stepped away from the +girl, leaving her standing there. She was a picture to confute slander. + +The chairman gazed at her in astonishment. He had not expected such +prompt incarnation of the topic. + +"I know what foul lies have just been uttered in this room by that +fellow!" Harlan leaned forward and drove an accusatory finger at Linton. +"Now here stands the woman you have insulted. Look at her, you lying +hound! There's only one thing you can do! Acknowledge yourself a liar +and apologize!" + +Linton did not speak. He raised his eyebrows; it was unspoken comment on +the peculiar actions of this young savage from the woods. + +"Presson, get out of here and bring help," muttered the Duke. "Hell is +going to break loose!" + +The chairman slipped the document into his pocket and tiptoed around the +side of the room. Harlan paid no attention to him. His eyes were for +Linton. + +"Are you going to apologize?" + +"I'll wait until--" began the lawyer, but he got no further. + +The Thornton temper had been strained beyond the breaking-point. Harlan +was upon him. + +"Bring a dozen!" yelled the Duke after the chairman who had been tugging +at the door, and now escaped. + +Linton was tall and muscular, but law-practice is not lumbering. He +struck viciously at Harlan, ducking to and fro with the briskness of the +trained boxer. But the woodsman merely leaped upon him, heedless of his +blows. He bore him down. He drove resistless knees into his shoulders. +He thrust Linton's face against the floor and ground it against the +boards. Then he dragged the limp figure past the cursing Duke toward the +girl. She had fled to a corner, covering her eyes and sobbing in terror. + +"D--n you, you'll apologize to the girl who's going to be my wife," +raved Harlan. + +When Presson returned at the head of volunteers the victor was grinding +the bleeding face on the floor once more and Linton was screaming +appeals. + +There were enough of them to separate the men. They dragged Harlan away +out of the room in spite of his struggles. The mere sight of the lawyer +seemed to infuriate him more. + +The Duke hurried the girl out and away while the peacemakers were +struggling with the young combatants. + +"Stop that blubbering," he commanded, roughly. "If you've got any grit +left in you, brace up. Don't let people here notice!" + +He was trying to hide as much of the true reason for the affray as he +could. He wanted to get the girl out of sight. + +"I didn't know--I did nothing--if it was about me I didn't--" He stopped +her brutally. + +"About you, you little fool? Of course it wasn't about you! My grandson +is going to marry Luke Presson's daughter." + +She stiffened in the hook of his arm. They were in the corridor and had +not come into the view of the people. + +"Every one knows it," he hurried on. He saw an opportunity to get in a +cruel blow at the romance he suspected and hated. "They have been going +together for months. She'll be the right kind of a wife for him. They +were fighting about her--those two young hyenas." + +She pulled away from him. The tears were on her cheeks, but she held +herself straight and looked him in the eye. + +"That's a lie, Mr. Thornton!" + +"It's the truth. He'll marry her if you haven't spoiled it all for +him--spoiled his good name and stirred up all this scandal for him just +as he was getting ready to amount to something in the world, with a wife +that could help him! You get away from here as quickly as you can. You +hear me? If his career is spoiled you've done it. Don't stay around here +and disgrace him any more. It's bad enough, as it is, for him and Miss +Presson!" + +She stared at him, stricken and puzzled. Then she left him. + +"I don't need any further escort," she informed him, turning after she +had gone a few steps. It was Dennis Kavanagh's girl speaking now. "I +have been escorted by the Thorntons quite enough during the past ten +minutes. I tell you again, I believe you lie. But I propose to +understand something more about this--and I'll not disgrace you nor your +grandson!" + +"Go ask some questions!" he called after her. He felt sure that gossip +would confirm him. But to make sure that Harlan did not follow her and +find her and discredit gossip he turned back down the corridor purposing +to keep that belligerent young man under watch and ward for a time. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE WAY OF A MAID WITH A MAID + + +The Duke found his grandson in an anteroom where the half dozen excited, +wondering men had conveyed him. + +The old man and the young man stood for a few moments and gazed at each +other. Harlan was breathless, disheveled, his knuckles were bleeding. + +"Where is she?" + +The Duke came close to him. "She went away. Now keep your mouth closed. +You talk about disgracing a girl," he muttered in his grandson's ear; +"if you haven't disgraced her and yourself and all of us here to-day it +isn't because you haven't done your best! God only knows why I didn't +leave you in the woods where you belong!" + +"I'm going out to find her," insisted his grandson. "This is my own +business from now on." + +"You try to leave this room in the shape you're in and I'll have you +committed to the insane asylum across the river. The girl has more sense +than you've got." + +While he was speaking Presson came in. He pulled the House bill from his +pocket. + +"Thornton," he said, walking up to Harlan, "I didn't think there could +be anything more important just now than the damnable performance you've +just been through and the part my family plays in it. But here's +something I propose to take while it's hot!" He shook the document at +the young man. Harlan swept it out of his grasp before he could prevent, +and buttoned it in his breast-pocket. + +"That is mine," he stated, not flinching under the indignant protest. + +"If it's yours will you inform me what you intend to do with it?" + +"I intend to introduce it in the House at to-morrow's session and work +for its passage." + +"He's got a bill there," roared the chairman, turning to the Duke, +"that's written by the Devil himself! It makes old Waymouth archfiend of +all the ramrodders in this State! Our sheriffs are made his deputies and +the Russian Tsar becomes a hog-reeve beside him." He blurted out the +purport of the measure, garnishing the recital with good, round oaths. + +"So you're loaded with that, are you?" inquired the elder Thornton. He +was as careless of the presence of the listeners as the chairman had +been. He began invective, but the young man broke in. + +"Grandfather," he said, firmly, "I've listened long enough to that kind +of talk from you and Mr. Presson--I've listened to all kinds of reasons +why a man should come here and sell his soul for the sake of getting +ahead in politics." He was thinking of the temptation that had come to +him in the form of Madeleine Presson. "I don't want any more of it. I +don't know of any reason why this State shouldn't obey its laws so long +as they remain laws. As to my private business, I suggest that the two +of you keep still." + +They had no appetite for further discourse with this young madman just +then. + +The Duke turned on his heel and walked out. Presson followed. + +"Gentlemen," said the young man to those who remained, "I have no +quarrel with you. I do not want any. Do you understand?" He wiped his +hands with his handkerchief, smoothed his hair, and walked past them. + +As calmly as he could he hurried through the lobbies and the rotunda of +the State House. The crowds were thinning. The band had gone. The women +had scattered to prepare for the ball of the evening. Among the few that +were left he could not find her. + +He went back to his committee-room and pondered until dusk fell. + +One matter presented itself to his mood as a duty. He called a carriage +and was driven to the Presson home. + +Madeleine came down in answer to his card. But as she entered the +reception-room her father followed at her heels, beginning threats as he +came in. + +"Father," she said, quietly, "I have just listened to you. You need not +fear that I do not understand myself and my duty. I ask you to retire." + +He stood there a moment, still muttering his wrathful protest, but in +the end her dignity mastered him. He went away. + +What she did next amazed the young man who stood there waiting. She came +to him and patted his cheek. + +"My poor boy," she said, softly, and drew him down beside her on a +couch. + +For a moment the words he had come prepared to say deserted him. He +could not speak. He found sincere compassion in her eyes--sympathy and +something else which he did not fathom. + +"I can do at least one decent thing to-day," he burst out. "I can come +to you man-fashion and ask you to release me from our engagement of this +evening. I know, of course, you wouldn't go to the ball with me after +what has happened. But there's a deeper reason. I am going to tell it to +you. Don't misunderstand me. I don't know the right words to use. Any +way I put it may sound as though I were a cad. But understand me, +Madeleine--as my friend, understand me--for God's sake, do! You have +been wise. You have counselled me. I need a friend now!" His voice +broke, and she waited. "I've come to my senses. Oh, it's no discredit to +you that I thought I loved you. I thought so." + +"Your love would honor any woman, Harlan." + +He looked at her piteously. He understood how his confession would +sound. Only his resolve to be honest with her availed to drive him to +the confession he intended to make. + +"I couldn't say it to some girls," he cried. "They would not see how it +was. But I can only tell you the truth!" + +"Wait a moment," she said, interrupting. "You are not just yourself. Let +me talk to you. Only a little while ago a girl came to me." + +He started up, but she restrained him. + +"Listen! She had heard. There were plenty to tell her when she asked. We +have given occasion for gossip. Gossip has eyes and ears and good +imagination. It has even been reported that our engagement would be +announced after the legislative ball. Wait! She heard all that from the +first one she asked. She has told me so. She believes it!" + +"Believes it! What did you tell her?" + +"Wait, I say! I have shown patience this afternoon. I waited for her to +speak. Let me tell you what she said while I waited. She said she wanted +you to be a great man. She knew, so she told me, that she only brought +trouble and distress to you. She wanted to see me so that she might know +if I were the one who could help you in your career. I'll not tell you +what she said to me about myself. She is a sweet and gracious girl, that +little Clare, Harlan! She said she knew I could help you in your work in +life. And she wanted to tell me the little story of you two--she wanted +to forestall gossip that might hurt you in my eyes. And she gave you to +me. Harlan, I have heard of that kind of love--but I didn't believe it +existed. Did you?" + +Tears were on his cheeks. + +"I know her!" he choked. + +She understood his answer. She waited a little while. + +"And I love her above all the honors and treasures of this world!" + +She stood up. + +"I'm going to find her," he went on. "You understand me, don't you, +Madeleine?" + +"I understand. But you shall not go to find her"--she smiled into his +startled eyes--"for she is hidden in my room, waiting to tell me +more--waiting until I tell her something that will take the burden from +her heart. I had been listening to her when my father came in with his +story; I had not made my confession. It would have comforted her--it +will comfort her, for I can tell her truthfully I have not yet met the +man I can love, Harlan--you were not the one!" She left with him the +consolation of a smile and hastened away. She did not even reproach him +because of his affair with Linton. + +He stood waiting at the door. He heard the steps on the stairs. He was +ready to clasp her. + +But Madeleine Presson came in alone. "The girl has gone, Harlan. The +maid said she ran away after I left her. I was a fool. I dropped your +card!" + +He stood dumb and motionless. + +"Gone, believing that!" he gasped. + +She shook him. "But you can find her. Remember that she is young. She +believed gossip too quickly. You must find her. Hurry! She will only +have to see your eyes to know that they all lied." + +He rushed to the door. + +"Bring her to me," cried the girl. "I'll know how to help you." + +At the railroad station he was told that the special trains had gone +with the visitors who were not in town for the ball. + +He did not even know the name of the school from which she had come. + +At the State House he at last found some one who had seen and known the +group--an attaché of the State educational department. There was no +train that way until midnight. He took it. How he passed the time of +waiting he never knew. He was at the doors of the institution as early +as decency permitted. He did not wish to compromise her. + +He was assured in a manner that left no room for doubt that Miss +Kavanagh had not returned with the others. They were much worried and +had notified her father. + +Harlan sent an appealing telegram to him, daring even to solicit that +ogre of the North. But no word came to him. + +He wired orders to his caretaker at "The Barracks" to investigate at +that end, and returned to the State capital, distracted, baffled, not +knowing what step to take next. The session had not closed for the day +when he arrived at the State House. + +Men in the lobby stared at him as he passed. It was evident that tongues +had been busy with his affairs. His grandfather, striding up and down, +tried to intercept him, but he kept on to his seat. All the eyes of the +House were on him. Word of the "Thornton Bill" had gone abroad. Now, in +spite of his mental distress, he remembered his duty. + +When he rose to ask the privilege of introducing a bill, interrupting +the order of business, he anticipated objection. + +No objection was made. + +The opposition did not propose to waste effort on pettifogging +preliminaries. + +The bill went in and on its way--and that night the capital buzzed with +the discussion of it. + +Harlan Thornton spent half the night at the telegraph-office, his mind +intent on something far from prospective legislation. + +But no word came to comfort him--no clew that he could pursue. + +Days grew into weeks. He did not attempt search in person. It would have +been vague wandering about the country. He remained to hold up the hands +of Governor Waymouth, finding relish for fight in the rancor that +settled within him. + +He and Linton silently faced the gossip that beat about them in regard +to their encounter--and kept away from each other. Theirs was a balanced +account. + +And Madeleine Presson somewhat ostentatiously permitted the attentions +of the young Secretary of State! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE EVERLASTING PROBLEM + + +Day after day, during that session, an old man sat in the executive +chamber of the State House. His face grew as white as his hair. There +were deeper lines in his countenance than mere old age had tooled across +the skin. One after the other the men of the two branches of the +legislature came before him at his summons. He did not entreat of them. +There was no more of that suave political diplomacy in the executive +chamber, after the fashion of the old days of easy rule. This Governor +declared himself to be the mouthpiece of the people of his State. He +showed to the legislators their path toward absolute honesty. He ordered +them to follow it. One or two of the first ones who were called upon the +carpet dared to refuse--attempted to evade. He promptly issued +statements to the press, holding those men up to the people of their +State as traders and tricksters. Voters had always understood that +trades and tricks were in progress in the legislature, and had never +bothered their heads much about the matter. But this incisive showing up +of individuals was new and startling and effective. It afforded no +opportunity for the specious reasoning along mere political lines which +had excused dishonesty in the past. + +Protests poured in on the would-be rebels. Their experience warned the +others. The State was in a mood to try reform. The reform was promised +on the usual broad lines. Individuals did not stop to reflect what +effect the suggested legislation would have on their own interests. +Every man was after "the other fellow." + +"I'll keep you here until you pass these laws," stated the grim old man +in the executive chamber, "even if you stay here till snow flies again." + +Legislators are paid by the session, not by the week. The prospect of +spending the summer fighting an obstinate old man, with the people +behind him, was not alluring when personal expenses were considered. +Even lobbyists and corporations and political considerations fail to +hold sway under such conditions. + +The Governor's bills went through. + +"They've abolished fees," drawled Thelismer Thornton, one day in the +lobby, "to get square with Constable Emerson Pike up my way. Em went +down to replevin some hens, and after he'd chased each hen a dozen times +around the barn he sat down and charged up mileage to the county. The +rest of this legislation is on the same basis. Here's a legislature +that's like Dave Darrington's hogs. After old Dave lost his voice and +couldn't holler to the hogs, he used to rap on the trough with his cane +at feeding-time. Then a woodpecker made his home in the pig-pen and the +hogs went crazy. Vard Waymouth is all bill! I'd reckoned I'd go home. +But I guess I'll stay and see just how far dam foolishness can go!" + +So he patrolled the lobby, puffing everlastingly at his cigar, watching +the activity of Harlan with a disgust that he did not try to conceal and +occasionally flinging a sour remark at that devoted young man. + +"A calf leaving the cow to chase a steer," he growled. "He'll know +better when it comes supper-time!" + +One day a man halted him. "You may be interested in what's going on in +the House, just now, Mr. Thornton. Your grandson is making a speech." + +"Then he _has_ lost his mind!" snapped the Duke. "I'd only suspected it +up to now!" + +But when he edged in at the door he discovered that his grandson was not +making the usual spectacle which the untried orator affords. The zeal +which had driven him into the fight was supporting him as he faced the +men who were his associates. He stood at his desk, pale--but +unfaltering. He was talking to them, man to man. + +"It has met me to my face, it has followed at my back through all these +weeks," he was saying. "I'm accused of helping to wreck my party. You +know better than that, gentlemen. You know who did the wrecking. It has +been going on for years. And we have been asked to hide the retreat of +the wreckers. I refuse to allow those men who have wrecked our party to +call themselves the true prophets and summon us to follow them. Our +party is not simply the men who hold office for their personal gain. If +making them honest or putting them out is destroying the party, then +let's destroy and rebuild. + +"We need to rebuild. + +"Up in our woods it's dangerous to leave slash on the ground after a +winter's cutting. The politicians have left a lot of slash in this +State. The fire has got into it. It is burning up the old dead branches +and tops, but it is hurting the standing timber, too--I understand that. +Why not see to it after this that the men who leave political slash +shall not be allowed to operate! + +"It's a bad litter, gentlemen, that has been left around the roots of +our prohibitory law. I have introduced the bill that's now under +consideration. It has nothing to do with the principle of +prohibition--the theory of that was threshed out in these chambers +before I was born. But isn't it time, gentlemen, to have a test of the +_practice_ of prohibition? + +"I know little about politics. I am merely one of the hundreds of young +men in this State who stand on the outside of politics and want the +opportunity to be honest when we vote. We appeal to the older men of +this State to drop the game for a little while and give us a chance to +start fair. The biggest corporation in this State is the State itself, +and I like to think that all of us, young or old, are partners or +stockholders. I've been brought up in business. We know what we'd all do +in straight business. Why can't we do it in State affairs? Too many +influences surround a legislature to make its work really deliberative. +After the heat and arguments of this session have died away we ought to +have a meeting on a real business basis. + +"Let the churches, the grange, the radicals, the liberals, the hotel +men, the liquor men, all send their delegates. Let that assemblage take +thought on a plan which will lift out of politics a question that +doesn't belong there. Let's end civil war on this question. Give the +young men some other picture as their eyes open on the politics of this +State." + +It was the earnest, ingenuous appeal of one crying out of the wilderness +of human uncertainty--of one who saw the evils in those attempts of men +to curb greed and appetite--of one earnestly seeking a remedy, but not +clearly understanding that so long as the world shall endure, with men +and women weak and human, some problems must remain unsettled. + +"I'll suggest a place for that convention," muttered Thelismer Thornton +to those who stood about him. "Hold it in Purity Park in Paradise! +Settle the rum question!" he sneered. "Noah hadn't been stamping around +on dry ground long enough to get his quilts aired out before he was +drunk on Noah's Three Star! And Japheth probably got mad and passed a +prohibitory law and thought he had the trouble fixed forever." + +When the legislature finally adjourned the protestations that had been +wrung out of it promised much in the way of honest reorganization. + +Harlan Thornton remained with Governor Waymouth for a time. His +Excellency found him indispensable. + +The commissions were at work. + +Office-holders whined, taxpayers squirmed. Honesty was greeted +everywhere by wry faces. + +But the "Thornton law," its deputies superseding county and city +authority, was the bitterest political pill of all. The results +discouraged the righteous--Governor Waymouth predicted them accurately +with the old-age cynicism of one who understood human nature. The +flagrantly open places were closed. But innumerable dives thereby +secured the business which had gone to the open places in the days of +toleration. An army could not have closed the dives--the proprietors of +which, in most cases, carried their villanous concoctions on their +persons. Express companies were organized for the sole purpose of +dealing in liquors by the parcel system, and the State's liquor +agencies, established under the protection of the prohibitory law +itself, were besieged by patrons who stood in queues of humanity like +buyers at a theatre ticket-window. + +Reformation of human nature by mere statute was a failure! + +But mere political disaster did not daunt the stern old man who held his +commissioners to their task. The people themselves began to complain of +the cost of the new system of enforcement--the money paid to make them +obey their own laws. When their complaints were loudest the Governor +allowed himself the luxury of a smile. + +Reform for the mass. Admirable! + +Reform for the individual. Atrocious infringement of personal liberty! + +"I cannot make them good," he said to Harlan. "But I can give them such +a picture of their own iniquity that perhaps they'll realize it and make +themselves good. You can't reform folks in this world on much of any +basis except that!" + +It was late summer and they were in the garden of the brick house at +Burnside. + +Harlan had been at his chief's side day after day, shielding him as much +as possible from those who came to solicit, to threaten, to complain. In +the opportunity given him to meet every man of importance in the State +he had won respect, even regard. His personality removed him from the +ranks of the radicals and relieved him from the imputation that attached +to them. His sincerity was evident. He was frank to express his +disappointment at the results of the legislation he had assisted in +procuring. He listened attentively to the suggestions of others. He made +it plain that he was not unalterably wedded to a law because he had been +instrumental in adding it to the code. He made known to all his +willingness to compromise on everything except honesty, and day by day +he made men understand better the basis of the system advocated by his +chief and himself. + +They had burnished the mirror of politics; they held its new and +brighter surface up to the people that they might gaze on themselves. +And in time the people came to realize what service had been done. And, +as they realized it, the name of young Thornton went abroad in the State +from mouth to mouth--men speaking of him as one who was entitled to the +praise that attaches to honesty unsmirched by bigotry. + +His optimism softened the asperities which men found in the character of +the Governor. He attracted to the grim old man the loyalty of the youth +of the State, and at the same time won that loyalty for himself. He had +come forward at a time when men were ready to accept new ideals, even +if they were obliged to wade to them through such mire as now soiled the +execution of the new laws. + +That proposed convention for the unprejudiced consideration of the +liquor laws was taking form. The intemperate radicals were the only ones +declaiming against "compromise with the devil." But the new conditions +were revealing the real colors of those impractical zealots, and it was +plain that their noisy minority would no longer be allowed to bluster +down the truer and more equable spirit of "the best for all the people." +The men and women of the State were taking time to analyze some of those +high-sounding phrases with which so-called temperance had disguised +vicious theories which left human nature out of the equation. + +The politicians of the old school remained aloof. + +They were pointing to "the wreck of the party." + +"And I'll be passed down to history as the wrecker," said the Governor, +talking to Harlan under the big elm. "But you've got strong arms, my +boy. I can see that you'll have much to do in building anew out of the +wreck, you and those who are beginning to appreciate you. I can see a +future of much promise for you, Harlan." + +"I'll be politely, but firmly, invited to go back to the woods," +protested the young man. + +"You'll not be allowed to do it," replied the Governor, quietly. "You +have been tested for your honesty. These newer times have eyes to +recognize that quality. And the rogues are being smoked out. But +remember that even the end of time will not find all questions solved. +That thought will have to serve you for consolation." + +That was hardly the consolation that would satisfy impetuous youth and +zeal in accomplishment. + +But Harlan had been learning lessons in consolation. + +The thought of Clare Kavanagh was with him night and day. In spite of +all his searching she remained hidden. He did not confide his grief to +any one. It brought pallor to his face and listlessness in the daily +duties that bore upon him. Governor Waymouth took note at last. And when +the young man asked for permission to go home to the north country for a +time he reluctantly sent him away. + +On the eve of his departure, which had been announced by a press that +now followed his movements with the attention accorded to a man of +importance in State affairs, he obeyed a summons from Madeleine Presson. +She put a letter into his hands. It was addressed to Clare Kavanagh. + +"You will find her, Harlan," she said, comfortingly. "Love will search +her out. And when you find her, give her this letter. There are words +from woman to woman that woman understands." + +Harlan found his grandfather sitting on the broad porch of "The +Barracks," smoking and looking out across the river valley. + +The spirit in which he had left that hateful legislature seemed to have +departed from the Duke. The old quizzical glint was in his eyes as he +grasped Harlan's hand. After their greeting they sat together in +silence. + +"It's a beautiful game, hey, my boy?" remarked the Duke, at last. "I see +that some of the country papers have already begun to talk of you for +Governor of the State. The editors haven't seen you, but from what +they've heard they probably think you're a hundred years old and have +grown to enormous size!" + +"Don't make game of me, grandfather," said Harlan, coloring. + +"Oh, I'm only expressing a wicked hope. There are some men in this State +that I'd like to see punished to that extent." He chuckled. "Put me down +for fifty thousand dollars, first subscriber to your campaign fund." + +"I can appreciate the humor of that joke," said Harlan. "For I've had a +liberal education in the past year--I've found out just how little I +know." He added wearily, "And I've found out how hard it is to be what +you want to be." + +His grandfather tipped his head back into his clasped hands, his +characteristic attitude. He squinted out across the hills. + +"Bub," he said, "I had the first real blow of my life the other day. A +man pointed me out on the train and told another man, loud enough so +that I overheard him, that I was Harlan Thornton's grandfather--'and I +forget his first name,' he said, 'it begins with T.'" + +They ate supper together in the old mess-hall, back on their former +footing. Word by word it came out of the Duke--his admiration for this +boy who had made his own way. Every blow he had dealt his grandfather's +personal pride had brought the reactionary glow of appreciation of this +scion who could hit so hard and so surely. + +He watched him saddle his horse after supper. He did not ask where he +was going. + +Harlan did not know. His longing drew him down the long street and +across the big bridge, his horse walking slowly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +ONE PROBLEM SOLVED + + +The dusk was cool and soft. Below him the current gurgled against the +piers with sounds as though the river's fairies laughed there in the +gloom. Doves nestled against the rafters of the bridge above, stirring +with tired murmurings. + +When he came out under the stars he saw the red eyes of Dennis +Kavanagh's house. The sight of them put the peace of the sky and fields +out of his heart. He spurred his horse and galloped up the hill. + +Even as Thelismer Thornton found true haven on his porch in the summer +evening, so Dennis Kavanagh had his solace in his own domain, smoking +his pipe. He sat there when Harlan swung close to the steps. + +"Mr. Kavanagh," said the young man, sternly, "I am Harlan Thornton. Do +you know any ill of me?" + +"I know that you're old Land-Grabber Thornton's grandson! I also know +that you have shaken him in politics until his old teeth rattled. And +I'm much obliged to you!" + +"I'm not here to talk about politics or my grandfather. I'm here on my +own account. You know where your own daughter is. I've come to ask you +honorably and fairly where she is. Will you tell me?" + +Mr. Kavanagh was silent a long time. He seemed to be struggling with +some kind of surprise. + +"No, I'll not tell you," he declared at last. + +"Then I want to tell _you_ something, sir. I love your daughter. I love +her so honestly--so devotedly that I propose to search for her through +this world. And when I find her--" he hesitated. + +"If you find her?" + +"I stopped because I do not want to threaten or boast. But I will say, +Mr. Kavanagh, that when I find her I'll beg of her to be my wife, and if +she consents I promise you that no two sour old men are going to spoil +our happiness! I want a fair understanding with you." + +"Queer notions you have of a fair understanding," retorted Mr. Kavanagh. +"You'd call it a fair understanding, would you, to come here and tell me +to get off my own doorstep because you claimed the place?" + +"I mean that no man has the right to refuse happiness to his own or to +others simply to curry his own personal spite. That's all, sir." + +He whirled his horse and galloped away. He halted at the church, threw +the reins over the animal's head and went and sat on the steps. He +wanted to think. He wanted to calm himself. He hoped that the place +would console him with its memories, afford him some hope, some +suggestion. + +He wondered now why he had allowed anything to delay that search. Yet he +understood vaguely that she had hidden herself from him by her own +choice. She had fled with wounded heart. He had not dared to seek her +too eagerly. + +The red eyes of Kavanagh's house mocked him. + +Suddenly he started up. A figure, flitting and wraith-like, was coming +toward him from those eyes. It was running. He could hear the swift +patter of feet. She came straight to him where he stood; he had not +dared to run toward her. + +"I heard--I followed!" she gasped, and the next moment was sobbing in +his arms. + +All his talk to her for a long time was incoherent babbling of love and +remorse. Then he held her close. + +"Little girl," he said, "I've learned in the world outside. I've learned +many things. But this--this I've learned bitterly and forever! There's +love of fame and of power and of mere beauty--but there's only one love +after all--that's the love that gives all, is all--that's my love for +you and the love I think you have for me. It is ours--that love. Oh, my +sweetheart, how we will cherish it all the years through!" + +After a time he drew her down on the steps and they sat in silence +through long minutes, listening to the muted calling of the crickets in +the grasses, the rustle of the river current, all the soft noises of the +summer night. + +Then he bethought himself and drew Madeleine Presson's letter from his +pocket. He gave it to her with a word of explanation. + +Looking into his eyes, her own eyes brilliant as stars, she slowly tore +the letter to bits and scattered the snowy fragments upon the grass. + +"A woman does know," she said; "knows without reading what some other +woman writes. I do not need her words, Big Boy. I know of my own heart. +I knew long ago. I listened too readily to others. I have listened to my +own love since. I have been waiting for you to come." + +After another silence which needed no words to interpret it, he rose and +lifted her to her feet. With his arm about her he walked to his horse. +He mounted and drew her up, and she clung to him, as maid to knight. + +"So, to your father now," he told her. + +"But not to speak to him harshly," she said, a ripple of merriment in +her voice, "for I'll tell you a secret. He did not try to stop me when I +ran away--he even called after me, 'He's turned in at the church, you +wild banshee!' They have told him things that have given him new +respect for Harlan Thornton. But your grandfather?" + +"He has learned that my love is my own affair, along with my politics." + +"Let me do my part, Harlan," she said, proudly. "Love will light the +waiting, and it will not seem waiting. When I take my place at your side +he shall not be able to say that I am not the wife for you." + +"It's enough for me to-night that I love you and you love me. The years +must take care of themselves. Love will mark off the calendar for us, +little sweetheart, not in months or in years, but in one dear summer of +waiting that will make work worth while and life worth living." + +He patted the horse's neck and they went slowly up the road toward the +Kavanagh house, their arms about each other, the gracious dusk hiding +them. Life's future hid its problem. Love's present was enough. + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ramrodders, by Holman Day + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAMRODDERS *** + +***** This file should be named 15278-8.txt or 15278-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/2/7/15278/ + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/15278-8.zip b/15278-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8845d85 --- /dev/null +++ b/15278-8.zip diff --git a/15278.txt b/15278.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b80b7e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/15278.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12387 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ramrodders, by Holman Day + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Ramrodders + A Novel + +Author: Holman Day + +Release Date: March 7, 2005 [EBook #15278] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAMRODDERS *** + + + + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + THE RAMRODDERS + + BY HOLMAN DAY + + AUTHOR OF KING SPRUCE, ETC. + + 1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAP. + + I. THE BAITING OF THE ANCIENT LION + + II. THE LINE-UP OF THE FIGHT + + III. DENNIS KAVANAGH'S GIRL + + IV. THE DUKE AT BAY + + V. A CAUCUS, AS IT WAS PLANNED + + VI. A CAUCUS, AND HOW IT WAS RUN + + VII. WITH THE KAVANAGH AT HOME + + VIII. THE MANTLE OF THELISMER THORNTON + + IX. IN THE CENTRE OF THE BIG STATE WEB + + X. A POLITICAL CONVERT + + XI. A MAN FROM THE SHADOWS + + XII. DEALS AND IDEALS + + XIII. THE DUKE'S DOUBLE CAMPAIGN + + XIV. THE BEES AND THE WOULD-BES + + XV. SITTING IN FOR THE DEAL + + XVI. THE HANDS ARE DEALT + + XVII. THE ODD TRICK + + XVIII. THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP + + XIX. THE RAMRODDERS RAMPANT + + XX. A GIRL'S HEART + + XXI. STARTING A MULE TEAM + + XXII. FROM THE MOUTH OF A MAID + + XXIII. A TRUCE + + XXIV. A GOVERNOR AND A MAID + + XXV. WOMEN, AND ONE WOMAN + + XXVI. THE WAY OF A MAID WITH A MAID + + XXVII. THE EVERLASTING PROBLEM + + XXVIII. ONE PROBLEM SOLVED + + + + +THE RAMRODDERS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BAITING OF THE ANCIENT LION + + +War and Peace had swapped corners that morning in the village of Fort +Canibas. War was muttering at the end where two meeting-houses placidly +faced each other across the street. Peace brooded over the ancient +blockhouse, relic of the "Bloodless War," and upon the structure that +Thelismer Thornton had converted from officers' barracks to his own uses +as a dwelling. + +At dawn a telegraph messenger jangled the bell in the dim hall of "The +Barracks." It was an urgent cry from the chairman of the Republican +State Committee. It announced his coming, and warned the autocrat of the +North Country of the plot. The chairman knew. The plotters had been +betrayed to him, and from his distance he enjoyed a perspective which is +helpful in making political estimates. But Thelismer Thornton only +chuckled over Luke Presson's fears. He went back to bed for another nap. + +When he came down and ate breakfast alone in the big mess-room, which he +had not allowed the carpenters to narrow by an inch, he was still amused +by the chairman's panic. As a politician older than any of them, a man +who had served his district fifty years in the legislature, he refused +to believe--intrenched there in his fortress in the north--that there +was danger abroad in the State. + +"Reformers, eh?" He sneered the word aloud in the big room of echoes. +"Well, I can show them one up here. There's Ivus Niles!" + +And at that moment Ivus Niles was marching into the village from the Jo +Quacca hills, torch for the tinder that had been prepared. It is said +that a cow kicked over a lantern that started the conflagration of its +generation. In times when political tinder is dry there have been great +men who have underestimated reform torches. + +It was a bland June morning. The Hon. Thelismer Thornton was bland, too, +in agreement with the weather. A good politician always agrees with what +cannot be helped. + +He stood in the door of "The Barracks" and gazed out upon the rolling +St. John hills--a lofty, ponderous hulk of a man, thatched with white +hair, his big, round face cherubic still in spite of its wrinkles. He +lighted a cigar, and gazed up into the cloudless sky with the mental +endorsement that it was good caucus weather. Then he trudged out across +the grass-plot and climbed into his favorite seat. It was an arm-chair +set high in the tangle of the roots of an overturned spruce-tree. The +politicians of the county called that seat "The Throne," and for a +quarter of a century the Hon. Thelismer Thornton had been nicknamed "The +Duke of Fort Canibas." Add that the nicknames were not ill bestowed. +Such was the Hon. Thelismer Thornton. + +He had brought newspapers in his pockets. He set his eyeglasses on his +bulging nose, and began to read. + +In the highway below him teams went jogging into the village. There +were fuzzy Canadian horses pulling buckboards sagging under the weight +of all the men who could cling on. There were top carriages and even a +hayrack well loaded with men. + +Occasionally the old man lifted his gaze from his reading and eyed the +dusty wayfarers benignantly. He liked to know that the boys were turning +out to the caucus. His perch was a lofty one. He could see that the one +long street of Fort Canibas was well gridironed with teams--horses +munching at hitching-posts, wagons thrusting their tails into the +roadway. + +It was quiet at Thornton's end of the village. There was merely twitter +of birds in the silver poplar that shaded his seat, busy chatter of +swallows, who were plastering up their mud nests under the eaves of the +old blockhouse across the road from him. It was so quiet that he could +hear a tumult at the other end of the village; it _was_ a tumult for +calm Fort Canibas. A raucous voice bellowed oratory of some sort, and +yells and laughter and cheers punctuated the speech. Thornton knew the +voice, even at that distance, for the voice of "War Eagle" Niles. He +grinned, reading his paper. The sound of that voice salted the article +that he was skimming: + +"--and the fight is beginning early this year. The reform leaders say +they find the sentiment of the people to be with them, and so the +reformers propose to do their effective work at the caucuses instead of +waiting to lock horns with a legislature and lobby controlled by the old +politicians of the State. There is a contest on even in that impregnable +fortress of the old regime, the 'Duchy of Canibas.' It is said that the +whole strength of the State reform movement is quietly behind the attempt +to destroy Thelismer Thornton's control in the north country. His is one +of the earliest caucuses, and the moral effect of the defeat of that +ancient autocrat will be incalculable." + +Still more broadly did Thornton smile. "War Eagle" Niles, down there, +was a reformer. For forty years he had been bellowing against despots +and existing order, and, for the Duke of Fort Canibas, he typified +"Reform!" Visionary, windy, snarling, impracticable attempts to smash +the machine! + +Therefore, in his serene confidence--the confidence of an old man who +has founded and knows the solidity of the foundations--Thelismer +Thornton smoked peacefully at one end of the village of Fort Canibas, +and allowed rebellion to roar at its pleasure in the other end. + +Then he saw them coming, heard the growing murmur of many voices, the +cackle of occasional laughter, and took especial note of "War Eagle" +Ivus Niles, who led the parade. A fuzzy and ancient silk hat topped his +head, a rusty frock-coat flapped about his legs, and he tugged along at +the end of a cord a dirty buck sheep. A big crowd followed; but when +they shuffled into the yard of "The Barracks" most of the men were +grinning, as though they had come merely to look on at a show. The old +man in his aureole of roots gazed at them with composure, and noted no +hostility. + +Niles and his buck sheep stood forth alone. The others were grouped in a +half circle. Even upon the "War Eagle," Thornton gazed tolerantly. There +was the glint of fun in his eyes when Niles formally removed his silk +hat, balanced it, crown up, in the hook of his elbow, and prepared to +deliver his message. + +"The dynasty of the house of Thornton must end to-day!" boomed Niles, in +his best orotund. + +Thornton found eyes in the crowd that blinked appreciation. Quizzical +wrinkles deepened in his broad face. He plucked a cigar from his +waistcoat-pocket and held it down toward Mr. Niles. + +"No, sir!" roared that irreconcilable. "I ain't holding out my porringer +to Power--never again!" + +"Power," repulsed, lighted the cigar from the one he was smoking, and +snapped the butt at the sheep. + +"I'm a lover of good oratory, Ivus," he said, placidly, "and I know +you've come here loaded. Fire!" He clasped his upcocked knee with his +big hands, fingers interlaced, and leaned back. + +The crowd exchanged elbow-thrusts and winks. But the ripple of laughter +behind did not take the edge off Mr. Niles's earnestness. + +"Honorable Thornton, I do not mind your sneers and slurs. When I see my +duty I go for it. I'm here before you to-day as Protest walking erect, +man-fashion, on two legs, and with a visible emblem that talks plainer +than words can talk. The people need visible emblems to remind them. +Like I'm leading this sheep, so you have been leading the voters of this +legislative district. The ring has been in here"--Mr. Niles savagely +pinched the cartilage of his nose--"and you have held the end of the +cord. That's the way you've been led, you people!" The orator whirled +and included his concourse of listeners as objects of arraignment. +"Here's the picture of you as voters right before your eyes. Do you +propose to be sheep any longer?" He put his hat on his head, and shook a +hairy fist at the Duke of Fort Canibas. "This ain't a dynasty, and you +can't make it into one. I call on you to take note of the signs and act +accordingly; for the people are awake and arming for the fray. And when +the people are once awake they can't any more be bamboozled by a +political despot than the war eagle, screaming across the blue dome of +the everlasting heavens, will turn tail when he hears the twittering of +a pewee!" Mr. Niles closed, as he always closed a speech, with the +metaphor that had given him his sobriquet. + +"That is real oratory, Ivus," stated Mr. Thornton, serenely; "I know it +is, because a man who is listening to real oratory never understands +what the orator is driving at." + +The Hon. Thelismer Thornton usually spoke with a slow, dry, +half-quizzical drawl. That drawl was effective now. He came down from +his chair, carefully stepping on the roots, and loomed above Mr. Niles, +amiable, tolerant, serene. His wrinkled crash suit, in whose ample folds +his mighty frame bulked, contrasted oddly with the dusty, rusty black in +which Mr. Niles defied the heat of the summer day. + +"Now I am down where I can talk business, Ivus. What's the matter with +you?" + +"Look into the depths of your own soul, if you've got the moral eyesight +to look through mud," declaimed Mr. Niles, refusing to descend from +polemics to plain business, "and you'll see what is the matter. You have +made yourself the voice by which this district has spoken in the halls +of state for fifty years, and that voice is not the voice of the +people!" He stood on tiptoe and roared the charge. + +"It is certainly not your voice that I take down to the State House with +me," broke in their representative. "Freight charges on it would more +than eat up my mileage allowance. Now let's call off this bass-drum solo +business. Pull down your kite. To business!" He snapped his fingers +under Mr. Niles's nose. + +One of those in the throng who had not smiled stepped forth and spoke +before the disconcerted "War Eagle" had recovered his voice. + +"Since I am no orator, perhaps I can talk business to you, +Representative Thornton." He was a grave, repressed, earnest man, whose +sunburned face, bowed shoulders, work-stained hands, and general air +proclaimed the farmer. "We've come here on a matter of business, sir." + +"Led by a buck sheep and a human windmill, eh?" + +"Mr. Niles's notions of tactics are his own. I'm sorry to see him handle +this thing as he has. It was coming up in the caucus this afternoon in +the right way." Thornton was listening with interest, and the man went +on with the boldness the humble often display after long and earnest +pondering has made duty plain. "When I saw Niles pass through the street +and the crowd following, I was afraid that a matter that's very serious +to some of us would be turned into horseplay, and so I came along, too. +But I am not led by a buck sheep, Mr. Thornton, nor are those who +believe with me." + +"Believe what?" + +"That, after fifty years of honors at our hands, you should be willing +to step aside." + +The Hon. Thelismer Thornton dragged up his huge figure into the +stiffness of resentment. He ran searching eyes over the faces before +him. All were grave now, for the sounding of the first note of revolt in +a half century makes for gravity. The Duke of Fort Canibas could not +distinguish adherents from foes at that moment, when all faces were +masked with deep attention. His eyes came back to the stubborn +spokesman. + +"Walt Davis," he said, "your grandfather put my name before the caucus +that nominated me for the legislature fifty years ago, and your father +and you have voted for me ever since. You and every other voter in this +district know that I do not intend to run again. I have announced it. +What do you mean, then, by coming here in this fashion?" + +"You have given out that you are going to make your grandson our next +representative." + +"And this ain't a dynasty!" roared Mr. Niles. + +"Is there anything the matter with my grandson?" But Davis did not +retreat before the bent brows of the district god. + +"The trouble with him is, that he's your grandson." + +"And what fault do you find with me after all these years?" There was +wrathful wonderment in the tone. + +"If you're going to retire from office," returned Mr. Davis, doggedly, +"there's no need of raking the thing over to make trouble and hard +feelings. I've voted for you, like my folks did before me. You're +welcome to all those votes, Representative Thornton, but neither you nor +your grandson is going to get any more. And as I say, so say many others +in this district." + +"No crowned heads, no rings in the noses of the people," declared Niles, +yanking the cord and producing a bleat of fury from his emblematic +captive. + +"I don't stand for Niles and his monkey business," protested Davis. "I'm +on a different platform. All is, we propose to be represented from now +on; not _mis_-represented!" + +Something like stupefaction succeeded the anger in the countenance of +the Duke of Fort Canibas. Again he made careful scrutiny of the faces of +his constituents. Then he turned his back on them and climbed up the +twisted roots to his chair, sat down, faced them, caught his breath, and +ejaculated, "Well, I'll be eternally d----d!" + +He studied their faces for some time. But he was too good a politician +to put much value on those human documents upraised to him. There were +grins, subtle or humorous. There were a few scowls. One or two, +tittering while they did it, urged the "War Eagle" on to fresh tirade. +It was a mob that hardly knew its own mind, that was plain. But revolt +was there. He felt it. It was one of those queer rebellions, starting +with a joke for an excuse, but ready to settle into something serious. +It was not so much hostility that he saw at that moment as something +more dangerous--lack of respect. + +"Look here, boys, I've been hearing that some of those cheap suckers +from down State have been sneaking around this district. But I've never +insulted you by believing you took any stock in that kind of cattle. +We're neighbors here together. What's the matter with me? Out with your +real grouch!" + +"Look at this emblem I've brought," began Niles, oracularly, but +Thornton was no longer in the mood that humored cranks. He jumped down, +yanked the cord away from Niles, kicked the sheep and sent it scampering +off with frightened bleats. + +"If you fellows want an emblem, there's one," declared their indignant +leader. "I'm all right for a joke--but the joke has got to stop when it +has gone far enough." + +He had sobered them. His disgusted glance swept their faces, and grins +were gone. He went among them. + +"Get around me, boys," he invited. "This isn't any stump speech. I'm +going to talk business." + +They did crowd around him, most of them, but Mr. Niles was still +intractable. "You're right, it was your emblem just now! It has always +been a kick from you and the rest of the high and mighty ones when you +didn't want our wool." + +"You're an infernal old liar and meddler, torched on by some one else!" +retorted the Duke. "Now, boys, I see into this thing better than you do. +Any time when I haven't used my district right, when I've betrayed you, +or my word of advice isn't worth anything, I'll step out--and it won't +need any bee of this kind to come around and serve notice on me. But I +understand just what this shivaree means. Sneaks have come in here and +lied behind my back and fooled some of you. Fools need to be saved from +themselves. There are men in this State who would peel to their +political shirts if they could lick Thelismer Thornton in his own +district just now when the legislative caucuses are beginning. But I +won't let you be fooled that way!" + +"The name of 'Duke' fits you all right," piped Niles from a safe +distance. "This is a dynasty and I've said it was, and now you're +showing the cloven foot!" + +Thornton disdained to reply. He continued to walk about among them. +"They're trying to work you, boys," he went on. "I heard they were +conniving to do business in this district, but I haven't insulted you by +paying any attention to rumors. I want you to go down to that caucus +this afternoon and vote for Harlan. You all know him. I'm an old man, +and I want to see him started right before I get done. You all know what +the Thorntons have done for you--and what they can do. I don't propose +to see you swap horses while you're crossing the river." + +But they did not rally in the good old way. There was something the +matter with them. Those who dared to meet his gaze scowled. Those who +looked away from him kept their eyes averted as though they were afraid +to show their new faith. They had dared to march up to him behind Niles +and his buck sheep, masking revolt under their grins. But Thornton +realized that whoever had infected them had used the poison well. They +had come to laugh; they remained to sulk. And they who had baited him +with the unspeakable Niles understood their business when dealing with +such an old lion as he. + +"You need a guardian, you fellows," he said, contemptuously. "Your +mutton marshal just fits you. But I'm going to keep you from buying the +gold brick in politics you're reaching for now." + +"Wouldn't it be a good idea, Squire Thornton, to let us run our own +business awhile? You've done it for fifty years." It was still another +of the rebels that spoke. + +"If you had come to me like men, instead of playing hoodlums behind a +lunatic and a sheep, I would have talked to you as men. But I say again +you need a guardian." + +"We won't vote for you nor none you name. We've been woke up." + +The old man threw up both his hands and cracked his fingers into his +palms. "And you're ready to take pap and paregoric from the first that +come along, you infants!" + +"You're showing yourself now, Duke Thornton!" shouted Niles. "You've +used us like you'd use school-boys for fifty years, but you ain't dared +to brag of it till now!" + +Thornton strode out from among them. He tossed his big arms as though +ridding himself of annoying insects. He had been stung out of +self-control. It was not that he felt contempt for his people. He had +always felt for them that sense of protection one assumes who has taken +office from voters' hands for many years, has begged appropriations from +the State treasury for them, has taken in hand their public affairs and +administered them without bothering to ask advice. He realized all at +once that jealousy and ingratitude must have been in their hearts for a +long time. Now some influence had made them bold enough to display their +feelings. Thornton had seen that sort of revolt many times before in the +case of his friends in the public service. He had always felt pride in +the belief that his own people were different--that his hold on them was +that of the patriarch whom they loved and trusted. + +The shock of it! He kept his face from them as he toiled up the steps of +the old house. Tears sparkled in his eyes, sudden tears that astonished +him. For a moment he felt old and broken and childish, and was not +surprised that they had detected the weakness of a failing old man. He +would have gone into "The Barracks" without showing them his face, but +on the porch he was forced to turn. Some one had arrived, and arrived +tempestuously. It was the Hon. Luke Presson, Chairman of the State +Committee. He stepped down out of his automobile and walked around the +crowd, spatting his gloved hands together, and looking them over +critically. So he came to Thelismer Thornton, waiting on the steps, and +shook his hand. + +Mr. Presson was short and fat and rubicund, and, just now, plainly +worried. + +"This was the last place I expected to have to jump into, Thelismer," he +complained. "I know the bunch has been wanting to get at you, but I +didn't believe they'd try. I see that you and your boys here realize +that you're up against a fight!" + +He shuttled glances from face to face, and the general gloom impressed +him. But it was plain that he did not understand that he was facing +declared rebels. + +"They've slipped five thousand dollars in here, Thelismer," he went on, +speaking low. "They'd rather lug off this caucus than any fifty +districts in the State." + +"I don't believe there's men here that'll take money to vote against +me," insisted Thornton. "But they've been lied to--that much I'll +admit." + +"You've been king here too long, Thelismer. You take too much for +granted. They're bunching their hits here, I tell you. There are fifty +thousand straddlers in this State ready to jump into the camp of the men +that can lick the Duke of Fort Canibas--it gives a h----l of a line on +futures! I thought you had your eye out better." + +The deeper guile had masked itself behind such characters as Ivus Niles, +and now Thornton realized it, and realized, too, to what a pass his +trustful serenity, builded on the loyalty of the years, had brought him. + +That strained, strange look of grieved surprise went out of his face. He +lighted a cigar, gazing at his constituents over his scooped hands that +held the match. + +They stared at him, for his old poise had returned. + +"This is the chairman of our State Committee, boys," he said, "come up +to look over the field. He says there's a rumor going that Thornton +can't carry his caucus this year." The Duke dropped into his quizzical +drawl now. "I was just telling my friend Luke that it's queer how rumors +get started." He walked to the porch-rail and leaned over it, his shaggy +head dominating them. And then he threw the challenge at them. "The +caucus is going to be held in the other end of the village--not here in +my front dooryard. You'd better get over there. I don't need any such +clutter here. Get there quick. There may be some people that you'll want +to warn. Tell 'em old Thornton hasn't lost his grip." + +He took Presson by the arm, and swung him hospitably in at the big door +of "The Barracks." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE LINE-UP OF THE FIGHT + + +"That's too rough--too rough, that kind of talk, Thelismer," protested +the State chairman. + +Thornton swung away from him and went to the window of the living-room +and gazed out on his constituents. + +"You can't handle voters the way you used to--you've got to hair-oil 'em +these days." + +Presson was no stranger in "The Barracks." But he walked around the big +living-room with the fresh interest he always felt in the quaint place. +Thornton stayed at the window, silent. The crowd had not left the +yard--an additional insult to him. They were gathering around Niles and +his sheep, and Niles was declaiming again. + +The broad room was low, its time-stained woods were dark, and the +chairman wandered in its shadowy recesses like an uneasy ghost. + +"It isn't best to tongue-lash the boys that are for you," advised +Presson, fretfully, "not this year, when reformers have got 'em filled +up with a lot of skittish notions. Humor those that are _for_ you." + +"_For_ me?" snarled "the Duke," over his shoulder, and then he turned on +Presson. "That bunch of mangy pups out there for _me?_ Why, Luke, that's +opposition. And it's nasty, sneering, insulting opposition. I ought to +go out there and blow them full of buckshot." + +He shook his fists at the gun-rack beside the moose head which flung +its wide antlers above the fireplace. + +"Where's the crowd that's backing you--your own boys?" + +"Luke, I swear I don't know. I knew there was some growling in this +district--there always is in a district. A man like Ivus Niles would +growl about John the Baptist, if he came back to earth and went in for +politics. But this thing, here, gets me!" He turned to the window once +more. "There's men out there I thought I could reckon on like I'd tie to +my own grandson, and they're standing with their mouths open, whooping +on that old blatherskite." + +Chairman Presson went and stood with him at the window, hands in +trousers pockets, chinking loose silver and staring gloomily through the +dusty panes. + +"It's hell to pave this State, and no hot pitch ready," he observed. +"I've known it was bad. I knew they meant you. I warned you they were +going to get in early and hit hard in this district--but I didn't +realize it was as bad as this. They're calling it reform, but I tell +you, Thelismer, there's big money and big men sitting back in the dark +and rubbing the ears of these prohibition pussies and tom-cats. It's a +State overturn that they're playing for!" + +He began to stride around the big room. In two of the corners stuffed +black bears reared and grinned at each other. In opposite corners +loup-cerviers stared with unwinking eyes of glass, lips drawn over their +teeth. "I'm running across something just as savage-looking in every +political corner of this State," he muttered, "and the trouble is those +outside of here are pretty blame much alive." + +Niles was shouting without, and men were cheering his harangue. + +"There used to be some sensible politics in this State," went on the +disgusted chairman. "But it's got so now that a State committee is +called on to consult a lot of cranks before drawing up the convention +platform. Even a fellow in the legislature can't do what he wants to for +the boys; cranks howling at him from home all the time. Candidates +pumped for ante-election pledges, petitions rammed in ahead of every +roll-call, lobby committees from the farmers' associations tramping +around the State House in their cowhide boots, and a good government +angel peeking in at every committee-room keyhole! Jeemsrollickins! Jim +Blaine, himself, couldn't play the game these days." + +If Thornton listened, he gave no sign. He had his elbows on the +window-sill and was glowering on his constituents. They seemed +determined to keep up the hateful serenade. It was hard for the old man +to understand. But he did understand human nature--how dependence breeds +resentment, how favors bestowed hatch sullen ingratitude, how jealousy +turns and rends as soon as Democracy hisses, "At him!" + +There was a dingy wall map beside him between the windows. A red line +surrounded a section of it: two towns, a dozen plantations, and a score +of unorganized townships--a thousand square miles of territory that +composed his political barony. And on that section double red lines +marked off half a million acres of timber-land, mountain, plain, and +lake that Thelismer Thornton owned. + +Chairman Presson, walking off his indignation, came and stood in front +of the map. + +"Between you and me, Thelismer, they've got quite a lot to grumble +about, the farmers have. You wild-land fellows have grabbed a good deal, +and you don't pay much taxes on it. You ought to have loosened a little +earlier." + +"You feel the cold water on your feet and you lay it to me rocking the +boat, hey?" returned the Duke. "This is no time to begin to call names, +Luke. But I want to tell you that where there's one man in this State +grumbling about wild-land taxes, there are a hundred up and howling +against you and the rest of the gilt-edged hotel-keepers that are +selling rum and running bars just as though there wasn't any prohibitory +law in our constitution." He had turned from the window. "You're looking +at that map, eh? You think I've stolen land, do you? Look here! I came +down that river out there on a raft--just married--my wife and a few +poor little housekeeping traps on it. We never had a comfort till we got +to the age where most folks die. I've had to live to be eighty-five to +get a little something out of life. And she worked herself to death in +spite of all I could say to stop her. Why, when the bill of sale fell +due on the first pair of oxen I owned, she gave me the three hundred +old-fashioned cents that she--don't get me to talking, Presson! But, by +the Jehovah, I've earned that land up there! Dollars don't pay up a man +and a woman for being pioneers. I'm not twitting you nor some of the +rest of the men in this State in regard to how you got your money--but +you know how you did get it!" + +"We've stood by you on the tax question." + +"And I've stood by you against the prohibition ramrodders, who were +foolish enough to think that rumshops ought to be shut up because the +law said so; and I've stood with the corporations and I've stood with +the politicians, and played the game according to the rules. From the +minute you came into my dooryard to-day you've acted as though you +thought I'd stirred this whole uproar in the State." + +"Did you ever know a man to get anywhere in politics if he didn't play +the game--honesty or no honesty?" + +"Yes, a few--they got there, but they didn't stay there long," replied +the Duke, a flicker of humor in his wistfulness. + +"You bet they didn't," agreed the chairman. "Thelismer, I'm just as +honest as the world will let me be and succeed! But when a man gets to +be perfectly honest in politics, and tries to lead his crowd at the same +time, they turn around and swat him. I reckon he makes human nature +ashamed of itself, and folks want to get him out of sight." + +"I know," agreed the old man, and he looked out again on Niles and his +audience. "The tough part of it is, Presson, those men out there are +right--at bottom. They're playing traitor to me and acting like infernal +fools, and I wouldn't let them know that I thought them anything else. +But I'd like to step out there, Luke, and say, 'Boys, you're right. I've +been working you. I've done you a lot of favors, I've brought a lot of +benefits home to this district, but I've been looking after myself, and +standing in with the bunch that has got the best things of the State +tied up in a small bundle. I've only done what every successful +politician has done--played the game. But you're right. Now go ahead and +clean the State.'" + +"You don't mean to say you'd do that?" demanded Presson, looking his old +friend over pityingly. + +"Luke, _I mean_ that--but I don't intend to _do_ it, not by a blame +sight! I don't believe you ever realized that I was really honest deep +down. I have told you something from the bottom of my heart. But"--he +held out his big hands and closed and unclosed them--"if I should ever +let them loose that way they'd be picked up before they'd gone forty +feet by some other fellow that might be hollering reform and not be half +as honest as I am." + +He shoved his hands in his pockets and squinted shrewdly, and spoke with +his satiric drawl. + +"There was old Lem Ferguson. Lem got to reading books about soul +transmigration or something of the kind, and turned to and let all his +critters loose. Said that one living being didn't have any right to +enslave another living being. Told them to go and be free. And somebody +put his steers in the pound, and vealed two calves and sold 'em, and +milked his cows, and stole his sheep, and ripped the tags out of their +ears and sheared 'em for what wool they had. Luke, I'm no relative of +Lem Ferguson's when it comes to practical politics. I know just as well +as you do who's trying to steal this State, a hunk at a time. They've +had the nerve to tackle my district. But if they think that I'm going to +ungrip and let them grab it they've got a wrong line on old Thornton's +sheepfold." + +"What do you need in the way of help?" asked the State chairman. + +"Nothing." Thornton turned again to survey his unruly flock. It was +plain that they were baiting their overlord. Presson's acumen in +politics enlightened him. An angry man may be made to antagonize the +neutrals and even to insult his friends--and Thelismer Thornton was not +patient when provoked. There was shrewd management behind this revolt. + +Suddenly the yard was full of men, new arrivals. It was an orderly +little army, woodsmen with meal-sack packs, an incoming crew on its +march to the woods. A big man plodded ahead and marshalled them. +Thornton hastened out upon the porch, and the chairman followed. The big +man halted his crew, and leaned his elbows on the porch rail. + +"Thought I'd walk 'em early in the cool of the day," he explained, "and +lay off here for dinner and a rest. Pretty good lot of gash-fiddlers, +there, Mr. Thornton. I picked the market for you." + +"And I'll sample 'em right now," said the Duke, grimly. "Ben, tell 'em +to drop those duffel-bags and rush that gang of steers out of my yard." +He pointed at the flock of constituents. Niles had begun fresh harangue +in regard to despots, addressing the new arrivals. They did not seem to +be especially interested. There were a few long-legged Prince Edward +Islanders, but most of them were wiry little French Canadians, who did +not seem to understand much of the orator's tumultuous speech. + +"If you've got a crew that's any good on a log-landing, we'll find it +out," added the Duke. "Get at 'em!" + +"Good gaddlemighty!" gasped Presson, "you ain't going to do anything +like that!" + +"You watch." + +"Politics?" queried the big boss, swinging about to go to his crew. He +grinned. It was evident that he considered that anything under that +general head was in the Duke's supreme control, and that his employer's +orders absolved him. + +"It's just what they've been trying to prod into you--it's their game," +adjured Presson, beating expostulating palms upon Thornton's breast. + +"Then it has worked," the old man replied, calmly. He pushed the +chairman aside. "Rush'em, Ben, and, if they don't go easy, toss 'em over +the fence." + +The big boss sauntered among his crew and growled a few crisp commands. +The smile he wore gave the affair the appearance of a lark, and the +woodsmen took it in that spirit. But the mob was sullen. Those who were +not active rebels had been stung by the contempt that their leader now +displayed. Some resisted when the woodsmen pushed them half playfully. A +burly fellow stood his ground. Ivus Niles lurked at his back. + +"The folks up in the Jo Quacca Mountains will snicker in good shape when +I tell 'em that Fightin' MacCracken let himself be dumped out of Duke +Thornton's dooryard by a pack of lard-eating Quedaws," he sneered in +the giant's ear. + +MacCracken swept away the first three men with swinging cuffs. He was +thinking of his reputation at home. The taunt pricked him. + +"Call 'em off--call 'em off, sir," pleaded Davis. "I've been trying to +get these men out of your yard. I don't approve of Niles. Let's have our +politics clean, Mr. Thornton. I'm willing to argue with you. But don't +let's have it said outside that Fort Canibas' politics is run by +plug-uglies." + +"He's right, Thelismer; you're letting them score a point on you," +protested Presson. + +But Thornton had been too grievously wounded that day to be able to +listen to peace measures. He strode down off the porch, shouting +commands. His men were willing, and MacCracken's defiance gave them the +provocation they wanted. + +"If it's fight you're looking for, you spike-horn stag," announced the +boss, bursting through the press to reach the Jo Quacca champion, "we +can open a full assortment, and no trouble to show goods." + +He knocked MacCracken flat, reaching over the heads of the smaller men, +and the next moment the Canadians swarmed on the fallen gladiator like +flies, lifted him and tossed him into the road. The rest of the mob +escaped. Niles's emblematic buck sheep, cropping the grass in the fence +corner, was tossed out behind the fugitives. + +"I was hoping there'd be a little more cayenne in it," complained the +big boss, scrubbing his knuckles against his belted jacket. + +"Come out in the road where it ain't private ground owned by the old +land-grabber," pleaded MacCracken. "I'll meet you somewhere, Ben Kyle, +where it'll have to be a fair stand-up." But Kyle gave him no further +attention. + +"Take the boys into the ram pasture," directed his employer. He pointed +to a long, low addition in the rear of "The Barracks," the shelter that +served for the housing of the Thorntons' crews, migratory to or from the +big woods. "I'll bring out a present. I guess you've got a good, able +crew there, Ben." + +Chairman Presson followed the old man back into the mansion. He was +angry, and made his sentiment known, but Thornton was stubborn. + +"There may be another way of running this district just at this time, +Luke, but this is _my_ way of running it, and I'm going to control that +caucus. So what are you growling about?" He was opening a closet in the +wall. + +"But you're starting a scandal--and they'll get so stirred up that +they'll put an independent ticket into the field. You'll have to fight +'em all over again at the polls. You're rasping them too hard." + +"Luke, there are a lot of things you know about down-country politics, +and perhaps you know more than I do about politics in general. But +there's a rule in seafaring that holds good in politics. If you're +trying to ratch off a lee shore it's no time to be pulling down your +canvas." + +He took a jug out of the closet, and went to the low building. The +chairman followed along, not comforted. + +The woodsmen had piled their duffel-bags in corners and were waiting. +There were long tables up and down the centre of the room. They were +flanked by benches. The tables were furnished with tin plates, tin +pannikins, knives, and two-tined forks. The big boss had already given +his orders. He and his crew had been expected. Men were hustling food +onto the tables. There were great pans heaped with steaming baked beans, +dark with molasses sweetening, gobbets of white pork flecking the +mounds. Truncated cones of brownbread smoked here and there on platters. +Cubes of gingerbread were heaped high in wooden bowls, and men went +along the tables filling the pannikins with hot tea. The kitchen was in +a leanto, and the cook was pulling tins of hot biscuits from the oven. +There was not a woman in sight about "The Barracks." There had been none +for years. Those men in the dirty canvas aprons were maids, cooks, and +housekeepers. + +It was hospitality rude and lavish. That low, dark room with its tiers +of bunks along the four sides, its heaped tables, its air of +uncalculated plenty, housed the recrudescence of feudalism in Yankee +surroundings. And the lord of the manor set his jug at one end of the +table and ordered the big boss to pipe all hands to grog. + +"A pretty good lot, Ben," he commented as they crowded around. "And this +here is something in the way of appreciation." + +"Mr. Harlan coming out here to meet me, or am I going in and hunt him +up?" inquired Kyle. "I suppose he has located most of the operations for +next season." + +"You'll take them in. Harlan won't be out for a while." He turned and +walked away, the chairman with him. + +"Your grandson seems to be as much in love with the woods as ever," +commented Presson. "But I shouldn't think you'd want him to associate +with this kind of cattle all his life, herding Canuck goats on a logging +operation. You've got money enough, the two of you. He ought to get out +into the world, find an up-to-date girl for a wife, and get married." + +Thornton had led the way out into the sunshine, and was strolling about +the yard, hands behind his back. + +"Luke," he confided after a few moments, "you've just tapped me where +I'm tender. Look here, if it was just me and me only that this hoorah +here to-day was hitting, I'd tell 'em to take their damnation nomination +and make it a cock-horse for any reformer that wants to ride. I'd do +it, party or no party! But the minute it leaked out that I was putting +Harlan up for the caucus they turned on me. And now I propose to show +'em." + +The chairman stopped and stared at his friend. That piece of news had +not reached him till then. + +"You don't mean to tell me," he demanded, "that you're going to take +this time of all others to swap horses? Why, Harlan Thornton can't play +politics! He doesn't know--" + +"He don't need to. I'll play it for him. Between you and me, Luke, he +doesn't even know yet that he's going to run for the legislature. I'm +keeping him up in the woods so that he won't know. He's one of those +stiff-necked young colts that wants to do only what he wants to do in a +good many things." He added the last with a growl of disgust. "And he +won't allow that any old man can tell him a few things that he doesn't +know." + +"Now, Thelismer," protested the chairman, "I don't know anything about +what's going on in your family, here, and I don't care. I know your +grandson is a straight and square young chap, a worker, and a good +business man, but he's no politician. I'm not going to stand for his +butting in at this stage of the game." + +"He isn't butting in. I'm throwing him in, like I'd train a puppy to +swim," retorted the old man, calmly. "And, furthermore, what business of +yours is it, anyway?" + +"I'm chairman of the State committee." + +"And I'm the boss of this legislative district. Now, hold on, Luke." He +bent over and planted his two big hands on the chairman's shoulders. +"Harlan is all I've got. He's always been a steady, hustling boy. But to +get him out of these woods and smoothed up like I want him smoothed up +has been worse than rooting up old Katahdin. I've been pioneer enough +for both of us. I don't propose to have him spend the rest of his life +here. First off, he thought it was his duty to me to take the business +burden off my shoulders. Now he's got into the life, and won't stand for +anything else. And the only thing I care for under God's heavens at my +age is to have him be something in this State. He's got the looks and +the brains and the money! And he's going to be something! And I'm going +to see him started on the way. God knows where I'll be two years from +now. You can't reckon on much after eighty. To-day I'm feeling pretty +healthy." There was a bite in his tone. "And I'm going to nominate +Harlan for the legislature, and then I'm going to elect him. I'm going +to see him started right before I die." + +"And he doesn't want to go, and the voters don't want him to go," +lamented Presson. "You're only trying to bull through a political +slack-wire exhibition for your own amusement--and this whole State on +the hair-trigger! By the mighty, it isn't right. I won't stand for it!" + +The Duke started for the front of the mansion. + +"And, furthermore, Thelismer, if you're willing to run a chance of +tipping over the politics of this State for the sake of giving your +grandson a course of sprouts, you're losing your mind in your old age, +and ought to be taken care of." + +Thornton turned and bestowed a grim smile on his angry friend. + +"Presson, I've stood by the machine a good many years. Now, if I can't +stand for a little business of my own without a riot, bring on your +riot. I'll lick you in that caucus with one hand while I'm licking that +dirty bunch of rebels with the other. I've got my reasons for what I'm +doing." + +"Give me a good reason, then," begged the chairman. "Killing off your +friends for the sake of giving Harlan Thornton a liberal education +doesn't appeal to me." + +"My real reason wouldn't, either--not just now," returned the Duke, +enigmatically. + +At that moment half a dozen gaunt hounds raced around the corner of "The +Barracks." They leaped at Thornton playfully, daubing his crash suit +with their dusty paws. He seemed to recognize them. He cursed them and +kicked them away savagely. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DENNIS KAVANAGH'S GIRL + + +A rangy roan horse followed the dogs, galloping so wildly that when his +rider halted him his hoofs tore up the turf as he slid. A girl rode him. +She was mounted astride, and Presson had to look twice at her to make +sure she was a girl, for she wore knickerbockers and gaiters, and her +copper-red hair curled so crisply that it seemed as short as a boy's. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Duke," she called. "Is Harlan down from the woods +yet?" + +The old man turned to march off after a scornful glance at her. He +kicked away another dog. Then he whirled and stepped back toward her. It +was anger and not courtesy that impelled him. + +"He isn't here, and he won't be here. And how many times more have I got +to tell you not to be impertinent to me?" + +"How, Mr. Duke?" + +"By that infernal nickname," he stormed. "Young woman, I've told you to +stay on your side of the river, and you--" + +"Really you ought to be called 'Duke' if you order folks off the earth +that way," she cried, saucily. "But I did not come to see you, Mr. Duke. +I came to see Harlan. Has he got home yet?" + +She swung sideways on her horse and nursed her slender ankle across her +knee. It was plain that she had expected this reception, and knew how to +meet it. She gazed at him serenely from big, gray eyes. She smiled and +held her head a little to one side, her nose tiptilted a bit, giving her +an aggravatingly teasing expression. + +"I tell you he's not here, and he won't be here." + +"Oh yes, he will. For"--she smiled more broadly, and there was malice in +her eyes--"I sent word to him to come, and he's coming." + +"You sent word to him, you red-headed Irish cat? What do you mean?" + +The lord of Fort Canibas strode close to her, passion on his face. +Presson could see that this was no suddenly evoked quarrel between the +two. It was hostility reawakened. + +"I mean that I'm looking out for the interests of Harlan when those at +home are plotting against him. I hear the news. I listen to news for +him, when he's away in the big woods. And I'm not going to let you send +him off down to any old prison of a legislature, where he'll be spoiled +for his friends up here. And he doesn't want to go. And he'll be here, +Mr. Duke, to see that you don't trade him off into your politics." + +She delivered her little speech resolutely, and gave him back his +blistering gaze without winking. + +"Oh, my God, if you were--were only Ivus Niles, or Beelzebub himself +sitting there on that horse," Thornton gasped. "You--you--" he turned +away from her maddening smile and stamped about on the turf. The hounds +still played around him, persistent in their attentions. He kicked at +them. + +"It suits me to be just Clare Kavanagh, Mr. Duke--and I'm not afraid of +you!" + +"Kyle--ho there, Kyle!" The big boss came out of the "ram pasture," +wiping food fragments from his beard. "Get a rifle and shoot these +dogs. Clean 'em out! Take two men and ride this Irish imp across the +river where she belongs." + +Kyle balked. His face showed it. + +Presson had never seen his old friend in such a fury. He menaced the +girl with his fists as though about to forget that she was a woman. But +she did not retreat. The picture was that of the kitten and the mastiff. +Her sparkling eyes followed him. The scarlet of an anger as ready as his +own leaped to the soft curves of her cheeks. + +"You've got my orders, Kyle. I stand behind them." + +Without taking her eyes off Thornton, the girl reached behind her and +jerked a revolver from its holster. + +"You shoot my dogs, Kyle, and I'll shoot you." In her tones there was +none of the hysteria that usually spices feminine threats. She was +angry, but her voice was grimly level. She had the poise of one who had +learned to depend on her own resolute spirit. But she displayed +something more than that. It was recklessness that was bravado. In the +eyes of the State chairman, friend of Thornton, and accustomed to a +milder form of femininity, it was impudence. Yet her beauty made its +appeal to him. The old man lunged toward her, but the politician seized +his arm. + +"Thelismer," he protested, "you are going too far. I don't know the +girl, or what the main trouble is, but you're acting like a +ten-year-old." + +Thelismer Thornton knew it, and the knowledge added to his helpless +rage. He pulled himself out of Presson's grasp. + +He began to revile the girl in language that made Presson set his little +eyes open and purse his round mouth. + +"Damn it, you don't understand," roared the Duke, whirling on his +friend. Presson had faced him at last with protest that stung. "I know +it's no kind of talk to use to any one. I'm no ruffian. I'm ashamed to +have to use it. But the other kind don't work--not with her. Land-pirate +Kavanagh is welcome to the ten thousand acres of timber-land that he +stole from me; but when his red-head daughter proposes to steal my +grandson, and laugh at me to my face while she's doing it, she'll take +what I have to give her if she wants to stay and listen. Look at her, +Presson! Look at her! Is that the kind of a girl for any young chap? A +rattlebrained imp with a horse between her knees from daylight to dark, +riding the country wild, insulting old age, and laughing at me and +putting the devil into the head of my grandson! Kyle, get your men and +run her across the river into her Canuck country! She isn't even an +American citizen, Luke. Do you hear me, Kyle?" + +Presson saw that the girl was not looking at her enemy then. From the +back of her horse she could see farther up the road than they. She had +spied a horseman coming. She recognized him. She uttered a shrill call +that he understood, for he forced his horse into a gallop, and came into +the yard before Thornton had gathered himself to continue his tirade. +The Duke had seen his grandson almost as soon as she, and the passion +went out of his face. He looked suddenly old and tired and troubled. + +There was appeal in the gaze he turned on his grandson. He stepped +forward. + +"Don't let her make any more trouble between us, Harlan, not till you +understand how she--" + +But the girl forestalled him. She had fought her battle alone until he +came. She slid off her horse and ran across the yard, sobbing like a +child. And now Presson saw how young she was. On her horse, defiant +almost to the point of impudence, she had a manner that belied her +years. But when she fled to her champion, she was revealed as only a +little girl with a child's impulsiveness in speech and action. The +young man slipped his foot from a stirrup and held his hand to her. She +sprang to him, standing in the stirrup. + +"He called me wicked names, Harlan! I was only trying to help you. I +wanted you to come, for I thought you ought to know! You've come. I knew +you'd come. You won't let him send you away. You'll not let him call me +those names ever again!" + +He gently swung her down, alighted and faced his grandfather. He had the +stalwart frame of Thelismer Thornton, and with it the poise of youth, +clean-limbed, bronzed, and erect. He flashed a pair of indignant brown +eyes at the old man. The Duke recognized the Thornton challenge to +battle in the sparkle of those eyes. + +"Let's talk this over by ourselves, Harlan," he advised. "Send the girl +along about her business. She has messed things between us badly enough +as it is." + +"Have you been talking to this poor little girl as she tells me you have +talked?" demanded young Thornton, narrowing his eyes. + +"That isn't the tone to use to me, boy," warned the Duke. There had been +appeal in his face and his voice at the beginning. But this disloyalty +in the presence of the girl pricked him. She was still in the hook of +Harlan's arm, and from that vantage-point flung a glance of childishly +ingenuous triumph at him. "Not that tone from grandson to grandfather." + +"It's man to man just now, sir. You know how I feel toward this little +friend of mine. If you have abused our friendship here at our home, +you'll apologize, grandfather or no grandfather--and that's the first +disrespectful word I ever gave you, sir. But this is a case where I have +the right to speak." + +The Duke stiffened and his face was gray. + +"I talked to her the way Land-pirate Kavanagh's daughter ought to be +talked to when she comes here mocking me. Now, Harlan, if you want this +in the open instead of in private, where it ought to be, I'll give it to +you straight from the shoulder. You're not going to marry that girl. She +shan't steal you and spoil you. I've told you so before. I give it to +you now before witnesses." + +The girl ran toward him. She was furious. It was evident that shame as +well as anger possessed her. + +"Have I ever said I wanted to marry your grandson? Has he ever said he +wanted to marry me? Is it because you have such a wicked old mind that +you think we cannot always be the true friends we have been? I do not +want a husband. But I have a friend, and you shall not take him away +from me!" + +"You have heard, sir. Do you realize how you have insulted both of us? +You shall apologize, Grandfather Thornton!" + +For reply the old man walked up to him, snapped the fingers of both +hands under his nose, and walked away. "Give me ten words more of that +talk and I'll take you across my knee," he called over his shoulder. +"There are some men that never grow old enough to get beyond the +spanking age." + +Presson, interested spectator, looked for the natural outburst of youth +at that point. But he stared at the young man, and decided that he truly +had inherited the Thornton grit and self-restraint which the Duke seemed +now to have lost all at once after all the years. + +Harlan gazed after his grandfather, lips tightening. He was an +embodiment of wholesome young manhood, as he stood there, struggling +with the passion that prompted him to unfilial reproaches. Then he +turned to the girl. He had a wistful smile for her. + +"I'm sorry, little Clare," he said, softly. She slipped her hands under +the belt of his corduroy jacket and gazed up at him tearfully. + +"He had no right to say that I--that I--oh, he doesn't understand +friendship!" she cried. + +"No, and we'll not try to explain--not now! But I have some serious +matters to talk over with my grandfather. Ride home, dear; I'll see you +before I go back to the woods again." + +"And you _are_ going back to the woods? You are not going to let them +send you away where you'll forget your best friends?" + +"I never shall forget my friends. And I can't believe that you heard +right, little girl. My grandfather will not put me in politics. Don't +worry. I'll straighten it all out before I leave." + +He lifted her to her horse and sent her away with a pat. She went +unprotesting, with a trustful smile. The hounds raced wildly after her. + +"Woof!" remarked the Hon. Luke Presson to himself, "there's a kitten +that's been fed on plenty of raw meat!" And as he always compared all +women with his daughter, reigning beauty of the State capital, he added: +"I'd like to have Madeleine get a glimpse of that. She'd be glad that +it's the style to bring girls up on a cream diet." + +He hurried away behind Harlan, who had given him rather curt greeting, +and had followed the Duke around to the front of the house. The old man +was tramping the porch from end to end. + +The boarding creaked under him as he strode, his gait a lurch that moved +one side of his body at a time. The smoke from his cigar streamed past +his ears. + +It was silent at the front of the big house, and in that silence the +three of them could hear the occasional shouts that greeted demagogic +oratory down in the village. The comment of the lord of Canibas was the +anathema that he growled to himself. + +His grandson faced him twice on his turns along the porch, protest in +his demeanor. But the old man brushed past. + +"Grandfather, I want a word with you," Harlan ventured at last. + +"You talk girl to me just now, young fellow, and you won't find it +safe!" + +He marched on, and the grandson resolutely waited his return. + +"I'm going to talk business, sir. I want this thing understood. Is it +true what I hear? Do you propose to put my name before that caucus? I +want to say--" + +But the old man strode away from him again. + +"He says he's going to do it, and it's fool business," confided Presson. +"You've got to stop him. There's no reason in it." + +"I've got _my_ reasons. If you don't know enough to see 'em, it isn't my +fault," snapped the Duke, passing them and overhearing. + +"Then I've got this to say." The young man stopped his grandfather--as +big, as determined, as passionate--Thornton against Thornton. "I'll not +go to the legislature." + +The old man shouted his reply. + +"I don't know as you will, you tote-road mule, you! But, by the +suffering Herod, they'll have to show _me_ first!" + +He elbowed his grandson aside and kept on pacing the porch. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE DUKE AT BAY + + +After that outburst Presson went away by himself to sulk. Young Thornton +made no further protest. He stared at his grandfather, trying to +comprehend what it meant--this bitterness, this savage resentment, this +arbitrary authority that took no heed of his own wishes. He had always +known a calm, kindly, sometimes caustic, but never impatient Thelismer +Thornton. This old man, surly, domineering, and unreasonable, was new to +him. And after a little while, worried and saddened, he went away. His +presence seemed to stir even more rancor as the moments passed. + +Presson understood better, but could not forgive the bullheadedness that +seemed to be wrecking their political plans. His own political training +had taught him the benefits of compromise. He was angry at this old man +who proposed to go down fighting among the fallen props of a lifetime of +power. And even though Presson now understood better some of the motives +that prompted the Duke to force young Harlan out into the world, his +political sensibilities were more acute than his sympathy. + +Therefore the beleaguered lord of Canibas was left to fight it out +alone. + +He stood at the end of the porch and listened to the menacing sounds of +the village. + +He glared down the long street and grunted, "Grinding their knives, +eh?" + +Evidently the centrifugal motion of the political machine down there was +violent enough to throw off one lively spark. A man came up the road at +a brisk gait, stamped across the yard, and went direct to the Duke, who +waited for him at the far end of the porch. He did not glance at Presson +or at Harlan Thornton. + +"Did you ever _see_ anything like it, did you ever _hear_ anything like +it, Honor'ble?" the new arrival demanded with heat. "They're goin' to +make a caucus out of it--a _caucus_!" + +The man had a lower jaw edged with a roll of black whisker, a jaw that +protruded like a bulldog's. With the familiarity of the long-time +lieutenant, he pecked with thumb and forefinger at the end of a cigar +protruding from his chief's waistcoat-pocket. He wrenched off the tip +between snaggy teeth. He spat the tip far. + +"Yes, sir, by jehoshaphat, a caucus!" + +Chairman Presson's ear had caught the sound of politics. He felt that he +was entitled, ex officio, to be present at any conference. He hurried to +the end of the porch. + +"We ain't had a caucus in this district for more'n forty years," stated +the new arrival, accepting the chairman as a friend of the cause. +"Except as the chairman catches the seckertery somewhere and then +hollers for some one to come in from the street and renominate the +Honor'ble Thornton. But, dammit, this is going to be a _caucus_." The +word seemed suddenly to have acquired novel meaning for him. "They must +have been pussy-footin' for a month. You could have knocked me down with +your cigar-butt, Squire, when I got in here to-day and found how she +stood. If it hadn't been for War Eagle Ivus and his buck sheep breakin' +out, they'd have ambuscaded ye, surer'n palm-leaf fans can't cool the +kitchen o' hell. But even as it is--hoot and holler now, and +tag-gool-I-see-ye, they say they've got you licked, and licked in the +open--that's what they say!" The man's tone was that of one announcing +the blotting-out of the stars. + +"Walt Davis bragged about it," said the old man, outwardly calm, but +eyes ablaze. "It must be a pretty sure thing when he's got the courage +to crawl out from under the wagon and yap." + +"Good God!" blurted the chairman of the State Committee, "you don't mean +to tell _me_!" + +"It's the ramrodders! They've been up here, one or two of the old cock +ones, workin' under cover," stated the unswerving one. "About once in so +often the people are ripe to be picked. They've mebbe had drought, +chilblains, lost a new milch cow, and had a note come due--and some one +that's paid to do it tells 'em that it's all due to the political +ring--and then they begin to club the tree! But standing here spittin' +froth about it ain't convertin' the heathern nor cooperin' them that +imagine vain things. Now here's what _I've_ done, grabbin' in so's to +lose no time. I--" + +"No, just tell me what the _other_ side has done," commanded the Duke. + +"First place, they've got names in black and white of enough Republicans +to down you in caucus. They've got 'em, them ramrodders have! I've +hairpinned the truth out o' the cracks! They've been sayin' that you've +only wanted your office so as to dicker and trade, and make yourself and +them in your political bunch richer; they're showin' figgers to prove +that much; sayin' you brag you carry our district in your vest-pocket; +sayin' everything to stir up the bile that's in every man when you know +how to stir for it. Furthermore, Squire, the fact that you're gettin' +out yourself and proposin' to put your grandson in gives 'em their +chance to say a lot. Next place, this is goin' to be a _caucus_. It +ain't any imitation. They're goin' to use a marked check-list." + +"_What?_" roared the Honorable Thelismer, jarred out of his baleful +calm. + +"Yes, sir! They've pulled the town clerk into camp and have had him mark +a list. And you can imagine who they picked out as Republican voters in +this town! And they'll stand and challenge every one else till their +throats are sore. You and me has cut up a few little innocent tricks in +politics in our time, Squire, but we never framed anything quite as tidy +as this for a steal. If your friend, here, is in politics, he--" + +"I'm Presson, chairman of the State Committee," explained that +gentleman. The Duke of Fort Canibas was too much absorbed to make +presentations. + +"Hell! That so?" ripped out the other, frankly astonished. "Well, I'm +glad you're here. You ought to be able to help us out." + +Presson was not cheerful or helpful. "They're slashing this whole State +open from one end to the other with their devilish reform hullabaloo," +he said. + +"I hear there _is_ quite a stir outside," agreed the agitator, blandly. +He looked the chairman up and down with interest. "You may call me +Sylvester--Talleyrand Sylvester. Yankee dickerer! Buy and sell +everything from a clap o' thunder to a second-hand gravestone. It brings +me round the country up here, and so I've been the Squire's right-hand +man in the political game, such as there's been of it." He turned his +back on the pondering Duke and continued, sotto voce: "I reckon if he'd +stayed in himself, Colonel, they wouldn't have had the courage to tackle +him. They might have hit him with that whole stockin'ful of mud they've +been collectin', and he wouldn't have staggered. But when they go to hit +the young feller, there, with it, he's down and out." + +"Eh!" barked the magnate of Canibas, catching the last words. "I am? +Not by a--" He broke off, ashamed of wasting effort in mere boasts. +"Presson," he went on, evidently now intent on proceeding according to +the plan that he had been meditating, "you've got your own interest in +seeing me keep this district in line, haven't you?" + +"You're the head of our row of bricks," bleated the chairman. "We've got +to keep you standing--got to do it." + +"Then we'll get busy." The old man threw back his shoulders. "Carrying a +caucus the way we've probably got to carry this one at the last gasp +isn't going to be a genteel entertainment." He tapped a stubby finger on +the honorable chairman's shirt-front. "I'm going to raise some very +particular hell." He turned to his lieutenant. "The boys right in the +village, here, our own bunch, are all right, of course, Sylvester?" + +"Stickin' to you like pitch in a spruce crack, as usual. It's the +outsiders from the other sections in the district. They hadn't known +what a caucus was till them ramrodders got after 'em." + +"Can't they be handled now that they're in here?" + +"Have been lied to already too skilful and thorough. Me and Whisperin' +Urban and a few others of the boys blew the haydust out of their ears, +and tried to inject the usual--but they can't hold any more. They've got +to be unloaded first--and there ain't time to do it." + +"And you're pretty sure they can swing the organization when the caucus +is called?" demanded the Duke. + +"Two to one--and our men ain't got a smell on that check-list they've +doctored. Why, they've even got _me_ marked 'Socialist.' You can imagine +what they've done to the rest of the boys. It's one o'clock now." (He +had looked at four watches, one after the other, a part of his +dickerer's stock-in-trade.) "In an hour and fifteen minutes they'll be +organized and votin' by check-list. I ain't a man to give up easy, +Squire, but I swear it looks as though they had us headed so far on the +homestretch that we ain't near enough to trip 'em or bust a sulky wheel +on 'em." + +"You've got more than an hour's leeway." It was a soft lisp of sound +that startled the group. The man had come by devious ways through the +gullies of the Thornton field, around the corner of "The Barracks," and +upon the porch. Those who knew him declared that "Whispering Urban" Cobb +never walked by the straight way when there was a crooked one by which +he could dodge around. + +"No, they can't get a-goin' at no two o'clock," he assured them. A +drooping gray mustache curtained his mouth, drooping gray eyebrows +shaded his eyes, and he crowded very close to them and whispered, "I've +stole the call for the caucus, and they'll hunt for it about half an +hour, and then they'll have to round the committee up and get 'em to +sign another, and have constables swear that the other call was +posted--and, well, they won't get going much before four." + +The Duke looked at him indulgently. + +"I took it on myself to do it. I reckoned you might need the extra time, +seein' that they was tryin' to spring a trap on you." + +He took the cigar that the Duke offered him in lieu of praise. + +"Bein' sure of that much time--if you'll see to it that they're regular +about the call!" Mr. Cobb cocked inquiring eye at the old man. + +"I'll see to it," stated Thornton, grimly. + +"Well, then, bein' sure of that time, I'll--Mr. Thornton, would you +object if I was to start in this afternoon on the contract of clearing +up that slash where you operated on Jo Quacca last winter? Of course, +this ain't just the best kind of weather for bonfires, but--the fire +will certainly burn!" His whispering voice gave the suggestion ominous +significance. + +The Hon. Thelismer Thornton stared for a moment at Cobb, and then looked +up at the heights that shimmered in the beating sun. + +"You may start in, Cobb," he said at last. His perception of what the +man meant came instantly. He had hesitated while he figured chances. +"Take fifty of those men out behind there," his thumb jerked over his +shoulder. "Give every man a shovel, and see that it doesn't get away +from you. More smoke than fire, see!" + +Mr. Cobb hastened away. + +The duller comprehension of the chairman of the State Committee had not +grasped the significance of the conversation. + +"I'd let business wait till politics are finished, Thelismer," he +chided. + +"There is such a thing as running the two on a double track," returned +Mr. Thornton, serene but non-committal. He whirled on Sylvester, his +mien that of the commander-in-chief disposing his forces in the face of +the enemy: "Talleyrand, you'll find fifty more quedaws out there after +Cobb takes his pick. Take them down to Aunt Charette's and have her set +out her best. And keep 'em well bunched and handy!" + +He reached through an open window and filled the pockets of his crash +suit with cigars from a box on a stand. + +"Now, Luke," he invited, blandly, "let's go to a legislative district +caucus. I haven't bothered to attend one for a good many years, but this +one on the docket now gives signs of being interesting." + +They walked down the dusty road toward the village. The State chairman +was silent, with the air of a man pondering matters he does not +understand; but the Hon. Thelismer Thornton beamed upon all he met. +Having a certainty to deal with, and a tangible enemy in sight, he +seemed at ease. He felt like one who has recovered from dizzying blows +and is on trail of the enemy who dealt them. He was himself again. + +A few of those he met he greeted with especial cordiality. To some he +gave cigars, not with the air of one seeking favor, not with the cheap +generosity of the professional politician, but with the manner of one +taking paternal interest in the conduct of a good child. It was an act +that seemed to go with his handclasp and smile. He caught the State +chairman looking at him rather doubtfully on one of these occasions. + +"The folks understand this thing up here," he said. "When those chaps +were young ones I used to give them a stick of candy. Now that they are +grown up I hand 'em a cigar--got into the habit and can't stop. Or else +I send 'em around to Aunt Charette's and have it put on my account. +Wicked performance, I suppose, and so the old ladies tell me. But I was +born in the old rum-and-molasses times, Luke, when the liquor thing sort +of run itself, and didn't give so many cheap snoozers a job on one side +or the other." + +"What's this Aunt Charette's you're talking about?" asked the chairman. + +"An institution!" The Duke enjoyed the puzzled stare the little man +rolled up at him. "I reckon you think you've solved the liquor question +in this prohibition State at that hotel bar of yours, Luke. I've solved +it in my own way up here. Aunt Charette's is an institution that I've +founded. Come and look at it." + +He led the way off the main street. There was a cottage at the end of a +lane, tree-embowered, neat with fresh white paint and blinds of vivid +green. An old man sat in an arm-chair under one of the trees. He wore +gold earrings and an old-style coat with brass buttons. + +"Uncle Charette," explained the Duke, as they passed him. "Simply a lawn +ornament." + +He led the way into the house without knocking. + +"And this is Aunt Charette," he volunteered. In the centre of the +spotless fore-room a ponderous woman rocked in her huge chair and +knitted placidly. She was a picture of peaceful prosperity in black silk +gown and gold-bowed spectacles. + +"And here's the nature of Aunt Charette's institution." He pointed to an +open cupboard in which there were many bottles. + +"Oh! your local liquor agency," hazarded the chairman. + +"No, sir! Aunt Charette's own dispensary for the ills of the mind and +fatigues of the body, and run according to my own notions. It beats your +bar and white jackets, Luke, or that solemn farce of cheap liquors and +robber prices of the State agency system. You come in here, if you are +not a drunkard or a minor or a pauper--and Aunt Charette knows 'em +all--and you go to the cupboard and get your drink, or you go out there +in the store-room and get your bottle, and hand the change to Aunt +Charette and walk away. No other rumshop tolerated in the section, and +pocket peddlers run out of town on a rail! No treating, no foolishness, +no fraud. Pays her fine twice a year without going to court, the same as +you. And no extras!" He smiled at the chairman significantly. + +"No extras, eh!" mused Mr. Presson, enviously. "You must have a +different crowd of county officers than we've got down our way." + +"Perhaps so," admitted the old man, and then he allowed himself a bit of +a boast; "but the secret is, you see, this little institution is +something I've taken under my own wing." + +It was an ill-starred moment for that honest boast. There came a +thumping of feet in the hall. The man who burst in was flushed and +sweating and excited. + +"I'm glad you're here, Squire," he panted. "You're just in the nick o' +time. They're going to jump on the old lady." + +"Who's going to jump?" + +"High Sheriff Niles and his posse. They ain't more'n ten rods behind, +jigger wagon and all." + +The Duke of Fort Canibas stared a moment at the herald. Aunt Charette +raised her eyes to her protector with the air of one secure under the +wings of a patron saint, and went on knitting. + +"Gad!" hissed the State chairman. "They certainly do mean you this time, +Thelismer! Discrediting your pull in county politics an hour before your +caucus! Some one is showing brains!" + +Thornton did not answer. + +"How in blazes have they pulled over the sheriff?" demanded Presson. But +the old man merely stared at the door. + +High Sheriff Niles entered at that moment. He stood on the threshold and +scowled. He was a stocky man, who had been a butcher. His face was +blotched by ruddiness resembling that of raw meat. Behind his cockaded +silk hat pressed the faces of his aids. The little yard was filled with +men who peered in at the windows. A big truck wagon was creaking as its +horses backed it to the door. + +"What are you after here, Niles?" demanded Thornton. "After this stock +of rum." + +The Duke took another swing across the room, licked his lips, and set +his extinguished cigar hard between his teeth. He was striving to +control the wrath that came boiling up into his purple face and blazing +eyes. + +"There's the warrant!" The sheriff clapped the paper across his palm. +"Take the stuff, boys!" He waved his hand at the cupboard. + +"But the most of it's in the cellar," shrilled the voice of a tattler in +the hallway. "There's where she keeps it!" + +"I don't need any advice," growled the sheriff. His men trudged into the +room and made for the cupboard. + +Now at last Aunt Charette understood that her stores were threatened. +She did not leave her chair. She fumbled frantically at her big bag that +hung at her waist. + +"Non, non!" she cried. "Yo' may not to'ch! I have pay! I have pay for +nex' sax month." + +She flapped a paper at the sheriff. He took it perfunctorily. "That's +all right, old woman, but it hasn't got anything to do with my business +here. I'm after your stuff on a warrant." He gave back the paper and +started for the stairs leading to the cellar. + +"But I have pay," she vociferated. "You tell them I have pay, M'sieu' +Thornton! You' told me if I have pay twice in ye'r I have de +privilege--de privilege!" + +The sheriff turned and grinned over his shoulder into the convulsed face +of the Honorable Thelismer. + +"There's a lot of bargains in politics, marm," he stated, dryly, "that +takes more'n two to put 'em through when the pinch comes." He enjoyed +the discomfiture that her artless confession brought to the Duke. The +old man looked him up and down. That this Niles whom he himself had +helped into office, who had been taking private toll from the liquor +interests of the county as his predecessors had before him, a procedure +condoned by the party leaders of whom the Honorable Thelismer was +one--that this person should whirl on him in such fashion was a +performance that Thornton could not yet fully understand. But there was +the fact to contend with. A man he had helped to elevate was engaged in +humiliating him in the frankly wondering gaze of his own community. + +Those who peeped in at doors and windows were not, all of them, enemies. +There were friends who sympathized and were astonished. Their murmurings +told that. + +"You infernal Hereford bull!" roared Thornton; "don't you dare to slur +me before my people. You're making this raid because I haven't buttered +you with ten-dollar bills to keep your hands off. You've taken 'em from +all the other rumsellers--but this isn't one of your regular +rumshops." + +"That's right, Squire. Give it to him," muttered men at door and +windows. + +"We all know how the sheriff's office is run in this county." This +statement was made by Talleyrand Sylvester, who came thrusting through +the jam of the hall into the fore-room. "Squire," he whispered, +hoarsely, "I've brought down them quedaws as you told me to. They're +outside. Say the word and we'll light on that old steer in the +plug-hat!" + +For an instant there was a glint in the old man's eyes which hinted that +the word would be given. But the impulse was merely the first reckless +one of retaliation. Assault on law, even as represented by such an +unworthy executive as he knew Niles to be, would make too wicked a story +for slander to handle. Slander would be busy enough as it was. + +He pushed the eager Sylvester to one side. + +"Let me see your warrant, Niles," he requested. The officer passed it +over, with a touch of sudden humility in his demeanor. "I'm only doing +my duty as it's laid out by the statutes," he muttered. He quailed under +the old man's eyes. He did not like the sound of the mumbling at the +windows nor relish the looks of the men who had just come flocking into +the yard at the heels of Sylvester. + +"'Twas sworn out and passed to me," stated the sheriff. + +"Sworn out on complaint of Tom Willy." He looked above the document and +saw in the doorway the man who had cried information regarding the +liquor in the cellar. "Tom Willy, the cheapest drunkard we've got in the +town, taking sneaking revenge because he has been shut off from +privileges here that decent men haven't abused! But I tell you, +gentlemen, even Tom Willy isn't as cheap as the men who have sneaked +behind him and prodded him on to do this. There's some one behind him, +for Tom Willy hasn't got brains enough nor sprawl enough to do this all +by himself." + +He gave the warrant back to the sheriff. He had recovered his +self-possession. He was again their Duke of Fort Canibas, who could +retire with dignity even from such a position as this. "Go ahead and +train with your crowd, Sheriff Niles," he drawled, sarcastically--"Tom +Willy, and whoever they are behind him that are too ashamed to show +themselves!" + +He started for the door, Luke Presson at his heels. Aunt Charette, not +exactly understanding, realized that the protecting aegis was departing. + +"But I have pay!" she wailed. "You have de power, M'sieu' Thornton! They +take my properties!" + +He patted the shiny silk of the old woman's shoulder as he passed her. + +"Keep your sitting, Aunt Charette," he advised, "and let them take it. +It will be a good investment for you--leave it to me." + +He lighted a fresh cigar out-of-doors. + +"Luke," he declared quietly between puffs, "this is developing into +quite a caucus day--take all trimmings. I'm glad you are here to look +on!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A CAUCUS, AS IT WAS PLANNED + + +The town house of Fort Canibas needed no guide-board that day. All roads +led to it. Thelismer Thornton walked down the main street, his following +at his heels. His hands were behind his back, and he sauntered along +like one who was at peace with the world. His face was serene once more. +He seemed to have recovered all the genial good-nature that men +associated with Thelismer Thornton. The chairman trotted on short legs +at his side, looking up at him sourly. Thornton smiled down at him. + +"Finding your old State campaign sicker than you thought for, hey, +Luke?" + +He was now as Presson had always known him, but the little man did not +seem to be consoled thereby. + +"I'd like to know what's come over you to-day?" he complained. "Giving a +helpless little girl hell-an'-repeat, and then standing for what you did +back there right now!" + +"Luke, both of us have seen a great many men lose their dignity fighting +hornets. But I've come to myself, and I've stopped running and swatting. +Well, Briggs, what is it?" + +The man who had brought the alarm to Aunt Charette's was crowding close, +plainly with something to say. + +"I only wanted to tell you, Squire, that Sheriff Niles brought in word +to the boys that high-uppers was back of him." + +"Thinks he's running with the pack, eh? Well, Briggs, that's hardly +news about Bart Niles." + +"Thought I'd warn you, Squire. He says things ain't goin' on runnin' in +this State the way they have been runnin'. Way he talks, him and them +back of him think they've got you layin' with all four paws in the air. +But we in the village here, that's behind you, don't understand it that +way. Nor we can't figger what started it." + +"Don't bother your heads about it to-day, Briggs. Simply stand by and be +ready to grab in, you and the boys. That's all." + +The post-office was in the lower story of the town house. The walls were +brick to the second story. This upper part was a barn-like structure +propped on the lower walls. Broad outside stairs led up to it. + +Thornton and Presson were obliged to push their way through a crowd to +reach the foot of the stairway. They were stopped there by an +obstruction. Some men were lifting off a low wagon a cripple in a +wheel-chair. He had an in-door pallor that made him seem corpselike. A +man in a frock-coat and with a ministerial white tie was bossing the +job. + +The Duke stopped and gazed on the work amiably. The man of the white tie +scowled. + +"Raising a few reliable Republicans from the dead, are you, elder?" +inquired the Duke, pleasantly. + +The elder did not reply until he had started the cripple's chair bumping +up the stairs. Then he turned on Thornton. He was not amiable. + +"It's time some of the voters with honest convictions got a chance to +attend a caucus in this district, even if they have to be brought from +beds of pain." + +Thelismer Thornton did not lose his smile. + +"I'd like to have you meet the Rev. Enoch Dudley, evangelist, Luke. This +is Mr. Presson, chairman of the State Committee, elder. Now that you're +getting into politics you'd ought to be acquainted with your chief +priest." + +But Rev. Mr. Dudley, not approving the company that the State chairman +was keeping, did not warm up. + +"I thank you for your pleasantries, Mr. Thornton," he returned, stiffly. +"I hope your sneers may make you as many votes to-day as they have in +the past." + +"Well, they won't," blurted a voice from a knot of men at the foot of +the stairs. "We're getting woke up in this district. And it ain't going +to be an empire any longer." + +"I'm rather too humble a man, sir, to associate with the high lords of +politics," Mr. Dudley remarked to the chairman. "The Honorable Thornton +has always been up there. I'm simply one of the plain people." + +"And it's time for the plain people to have their innings," declared +another in the crowd. + +"The pack is off!" muttered the Duke in Presson's ear. + +"Why don't you introduce him right," called another. "Reverend Dudley is +the next representative from this district, Mr. Chairman. And we know +where _he_ stands!" + +"An humble little platform is mine," stated the minister. "But it's down +where all can step aboard with me. That's all I can say." + +There was a growl of approval in chorus from the larger group at the +foot of the stairs. Thornton's men were at one side and looked troubled. + +"War Eagle" Ivus Niles stepped forth then. He had recovered his buck +sheep. He was hoarse, but still full of zeal. + +"I want to ask you this, Tyrant Thornton: You ain't quite so sure that +you're Lord Gull, monarch of all you survey, since my brother +Bartholomew showed you the power of the law triumphant, are you?" But +the taunt did not alter the tolerant smile on the Duke's face. + +"Go ahead and get in all your yelps," he said, under his breath. "A +hound loves company." + +"When we start in to purify, we propose to purify in good shape!" cried +another. "And a reverend elder ain't a mite too good for us as +representative to the legislature." + +"Some people think they are purifying when they burn a rag," observed +the Duke, serenely. He lighted another cigar, beaming through the smoke +on the glowering minister. + +"Don't take that wrong, elder. I respect decency in politics. I respect +men who are trying to clean things up. But before I'll let you disinfect +_me_, I'll have to see your license and know what system you're using." + +"You've got to fight the devil with fire!" roared the War Eagle. + +"You mustn't steal my own plan of campaigning, Ivus. I've got a +copyright on that." + +He had been studying the situation there outside the town hall while he +talked. Two men from the shire town, wearing the nickel badges of deputy +sheriffs, stood at the foot of the stairs. A group of men that he knew +to be his loyal supporters from his own village were standing at one +side. He strolled over to them. + +"Squire Thornton," said one, "we're barred out of this caucus. They +won't let us up." + +And still their leader was imperturbable. He turned inquiring gaze on +the Reverend Dudley, and that gentleman declared himself with suspicious +haste. + +"This is going to be a strictly Republican caucus, and the check-list +has been marked," he said. "We don't propose to have Democrats come in +and run our affairs for us." + +It was a challenge thrown down in good earnest. + +In spite of the warning that his scout had brought to him, the Duke had +hardly believed that amateur politicians would go to this extreme. More +than ever he realized that unscrupulous men higher up were using these +tools. And it was plain that the instruments had been tutored to believe +that the end justified the means. What Ivus Niles said about the devil +and fire betrayed them. + +The Duke walked over to the minister, and took him by the lapels of his +coat. + +"Elder," he protested, "I don't like to see a good man used for tongs in +politics. There's a lot you don't know about this game. You're in +wrong." + +"You're not the right man to tell me so, Mr. Thornton. I represent +reform. It's time we had it. And _your_ gospel in politics isn't _my_ +gospel." + +"You've got the revised version, Parson Dudley, if you find a text in it +about splitting a caucus at the door of the hall." + +"The sheep shall be divided from the goats, sir." + +"You've got this caucus and the Judgment Day mixed, elder." He released +the minister and stepped back. "I never yet talked rough to a parson. +But you've cut loose from common sense. When you get down on a level +with me at a caucus door you're no parson--you're a politician, and +you'll have to let me say that you're a blasted poor one. You're Enoch +Dudley, now. And I want to tell you, Enoch, that neither you nor any +bunch of steers you happen to be teaming can keep legal voters out of +that hall. As to whether this or that man can vote in the caucus, that +will be settled when we get in there. But these men of mine are going +in. It's up to you to decide whether they shall go in as lions or +lambs." + +"Violence shall rest on your own head!" cried the minister. "I'll see +that the world knows about it." + +"We'll see whose case shows up best when the report is made," retorted +the Duke. "But I'm done arguing. Pull off those deputies." Sheriff +Niles appeared at that moment. He had left his subalterns to store the +confiscated liquors. + +"Niles, pull your men off the door, here," commanded the Duke. "Your +county politics hasn't any business at our caucus here to-day." + +"I've been asked to keep this caucus regular, and I'm going to do it," +insisted the sheriff. + +"So am I," agreed Thornton. "So when the story goes out it will have to +be said that you and I were working together to keep politics pure." The +faithful Sylvester was hovering on the outskirts of the crowd. Thornton +beckoned to him and he came. The Duke had probed the scheme and +understood the stubbornness of the opposition. He was ready to act now. + +"Sylvester, you're a constable of this town. Take those fifty woodsmen +over there as a special posse. I'm going to stand here at the foot of +these stairs, and see to it that this caucus isn't packed. If you see +hand laid on me or on a respectable voter going up these stairs, you +pile in with those men. Go ahead up, boys, one and all!" He stepped +between the deputies and beckoned to the voters. He stood there like a +lighthouse marking safe channel. He challenged both the sheriff and the +minister with his gaze. "We've got peace in stock and fight on tap, +gentlemen," he declared. "Full assortment, and no trouble to show +goods." + +The village loyalists trooped forward promptly and flocked up. The +deputies made no effort to stop them. Niles did not issue orders. +Threats and badges might cow voters. But he knew woodsmen. He was not +prepared to fight fifty of them. + +The opposition hurried up also. Men streamed past on both sides of the +old man, looming there in his wrinkled suit of crash. + +"Let 'em go. We've got him licked in the caucus anyway," growled Niles +to one of his deputies. "The back districts are here two to one against +his village crowd." + +Chairman Presson stood at one side and waited. Harlan Thornton came to +him, leading his horse through the crowd. + +"You have influence with my grandfather, Mr. Presson. You have told me +yourself that it's folly to try to send me to the legislature. I'm not +fitted for such duties. I am interested only in our business. You have +had a chance to talk with him since you left the house. Haven't you made +him change his mind?" + +"I don't know," confessed Mr. Presson. "He's got my opinion, but he +doesn't seem to think it's worth much." + +"Well, there's only one thing to do." stated Harlan, resolutely. "I'll +stand up here and let the voters of this district know how I feel about +it. I've got my own rights in this thing, grandfather or no +grandfather." + +"Harlan, my boy!" The State chairman laid his hand protestingly on the +young man's arm. "You've got my sympathy in regard to your going to the +legislature in this fashion. But let me say something to you. Thelismer +Thornton is standing here to-day putting up as pretty a political fight +as I ever looked on. I hope he'll change his mind about sending you. +I'll talk with him again. But if you lift one finger now when he's got +his back against the wall you'll be a disgrace to your family. Take that +from me. You'd better hop on your horse and ride off where the air is +better." + +After a moment of sombre reflection the young man swung himself to the +back of his horse and galloped away. The look that he got from his +grandfather when he departed did not enlighten or reassure him. + +The little square of the town house was pretty well cleared by this +time. The voters had crowded into the hall. One of the last men to pass +the Duke hesitated on the stairs and came back. He was a short, chunky, +very much troubled gentleman. He had slunk rather than walked past. He +came back with the air known as "meeching." + +"I'm afraid you're going to misunderstand me, Mr. Thornton." + +The Duke offered no opinion. + +"I hardly know how to go to work to explain myself in this matter," +faltered the apologist. + +"Considering that I got your appropriation for your seminary doubled +last session in the stingiest year since the grasshoppers ate up Egypt, +I should think you'd find it just a little troublesome convincing me +that Enoch Dudley has got any claim over my interests so far's you're +concerned. What's the matter with you, Professor?" + +He invited the State chairman toward them by a toss of his head. His +tone had been severe, but there was humor in his eyes. + +"This is Principal Tute, of the Canibas Seminary, Luke. You remember the +cussing I got from the Finance Committee for holding up the bill till I +got the Professor's appropriation doubled. He's trying to tell me how +much obliged he is." + +Mr. Tute looked very miserable. + +"I've always said you were the best man this district ever had in the +legislature. I've stood up and said that in the open, Mr. Thornton. +You're an institution down to the capitol. When there was talk of a +change for the sake of reform--and you know I'm teaching reform +principles in my school, Mr. Thornton," he hastened on desperately; "I'm +teaching sociological principles in accordance with the advanced +movement, and if I don't practice what I preach I'm false to my pupils, +and--" + +"You're going to vote against me to-day, are you, Tute?" + +"I've said right along we ought to bear with you so long as you lived +and wanted to be elected." + +"Like the seven years' itch, eh?" + +"But you are trying to make us mere serfs in politics by dictating our +choice, and what I teach of the principles of democracy--" + +Thornton tapped the little man on the shoulder. + +"What they've done, Tute, is come up here with a dose to fit the palate +of every one of you fellows, and you don't know enough to understand +that you're being handled. You're going to vote against me, are you?" + +"I call on this gentleman to witness that I say you're the best man for +the place. You're able, you're efficient, and you have done an immense +amount of good for your constituents, and you--" + +"But you won't vote for me to-day, eh?" reiterated the old man, +pitilessly. + +Mr. Tute started again on his line of fulsome praise, but the Duke +checked him brusquely. + +"That will do, Professor Tute. I like cake. I like it frosted. But I'll +be d--d if I want it all frosting. Run up into the hall. Come along, +Luke. We'll miss the text if we don't get in." + +The last of the stragglers followed them up the stairs. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A CAUCUS, AND HOW IT WAS RUN + + +The earlier arrivals had pushed the settees of the Fort Canibas town +hall to one side. They were piled against an end wall. There were not +enough of them to furnish seats for that mob. For that matter, voters +seemed to have no inclination to sit down that day. There was barely +enough standing-room when all had entered the hall. + +Through them, friends and foes jostling each other, the Duke took his +leisurely way. Presson was close behind him. + +The rostrum, elevated a few feet above the main floor, was enclosed by +boarding that came almost to the shoulders of those who stood within. +Thornton, arrived at the front of the hall, put his shoulders against +the boarding, shoved his hands into his trousers pockets, and gazed into +the faces of his constituents. He was still amiable. But Presson sulked. +It was hot in there, and the proletariat was unkempt and smoked rank +tobacco. + +"It's worth your while just the same, Luke," advised Thornton, in an +undertone. He was conscious of the chairman's disgust, and it amused +him. "They're going to have real caucuses in this State this year, they +tell me. And this seems to be a nice little working model of the real +thing. Better study it. It'll give you points on 'popular unrest,' as +the newspapers are calling it." + +The men in the pen above them were having an animated discussion. They +were the members of the town committee. Thornton craned his neck and +looked up at them. One of his loyal friends was there. + +"What's the matter, Tom? Why not call to order?" + +The man gave him a cautious wink before replying. + +"There don't seem to be any copy of the call here, Squire. Some of 'em +says we'll waive the reading of it. I say no. I say we don't want any +holler to go out that this caucus wasn't run regular." + +"It's only a 'technetical' point, anyway," protested one of the +disputants. + +"Well, I wouldn't allow too many of those 'technetical' points to get by +in a caucus that you're ready to advertise under your reform headlines," +advised the Duke. He settled himself against the boarding again. "Better +give us straight work, boys." + +It was not a threat. But it operated as effectually. A member of the +town committee rapped for silence, and explained the situation rather +shamefacedly. He asked the voters to be patient until the call could be +prepared in the regular way. + +"And now comes War Eagle Niles to help us kill time," observed Thornton. +The agitator was pushing toward them. Men were urging him forward. It +was evident that baiting their autocrat had become the favorite +diversion of Fort Canibas' voters that day. + +"Perhaps it was all right once for politicians to lead people by the +nose, but it ain't all right now," stated Niles, as soon as he had +squirmed into a favorable position for attack. "People didn't know, +once. They didn't have newspapers, nor grange discussions, nor +lecturers, nor anything to keep 'em posted. They let themselves be led." + +"Don't let yourself be led, Ivus. You're more interesting as you are +now, bolting with your head and tail up. But I wonder whether you know +just what it was you shied at?" + +"Know? You bet I know!" shouted the demagogue. "How about taxes? I'm +paying more to-day on my little farm out back there than you're paying +on a whole township of your wild lands. And don't you suppose I know how +it's all arranged?" + +"Why, Ivus, I suppose the chaps that have paid you to go around this +district shooting your mouth off about 'tyrants' have supplied you with +plenty of ammunition. Go ahead! I'd like to know how it was arranged, +according to their notions." + +"Who was that man that drove up to your house this morning in his devil +machine, that cost more than my whole stand of farm buildings twice +over--that man that's standing there beside you now, sneering at the +voters of this State that he's been teaming? That's the Honor'ble +Presson. He's chairman of the State Committee. He runs the big hotel +down to the capital city. And where does he get money to buy automobiles +with? I know. It's out of selling rum over his bar--and there's a law in +the State constitution that makes selling rum a jail offence. But you +don't see him in jail, do you?" + +Astonishment that changed to fury nearly paralyzed the honorable +chairman's tongue while Niles proceeded that far. When he did find his +voice to protest, the War Eagle turned from him to the Duke like one who +finds a weapon in each hand and becomes reckless. + +"And no one sees you coming up and paying taxes on what you're really +worth. It's all: 'You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours!' among the +big fellows in this State. You can break all the laws you want to if +you're in the right ring. And it's going to have a stop put to it!" + +"Go ahead, Ivus!" encouraged his object of attack. + +"If she's as sick as all that, she needs medicine quick. Get out your +dose." + +"The people is going to be reckoned with now," declaimed Niles, banging +his knotted fist against the boarding. + +"You mean of course The People--spelled with a capital T and a capital +P, the same as you see it in those reform newspapers you've mentioned! +Now, boys, I want you all to listen to me just one moment. You know I'm +no hand to make speeches. But just let's talk this over. It'll take only +a jiffy. There's a little time to kill while we're getting this caucus +started _regular_. Now, some of these newspaper editors, who never get +anywhere out of their offices except home to dinner, are writing a lot +just now about THE PEOPLE--in capital letters, understand! Talking about +'em like as though they were a great force in politics--always organized +and ready to support reform. Only needed to be called on. Fellows like +Ivus here, that read and read and never bump up next to real things +outside, get to think that The People make up an angel band that's all +ready to march right up to the ballot-box and vote for just the right +thing. Only have to be called on!" + +The voters were crowding closer and listening. There was a half-smile on +his face while he talked. He was not patronizing. But he took them into +his confidence with simple directness. + +"Boys, I don't know where you'll go to find that angel band!" + +"The people of this State are gettin' woke up enough to know!" cried a +voice. The man stepped forward. It was Davis. "I say to you again, Mr. +Thornton, don't put us all on the plane of Ivus Niles." + +The Duke was not ruffled by the interruption. + +"Walt, I've been in politics a good many years. I was in the House in +this State when Jim Blaine was there reporting for his newspaper. I +want to tell you that when you get next to the real thing in politics +you'll find that this people thing--the capital-letter idea--is a dream. +Yes, it is, now! Don't undertake to dispute me! Here in one town you'll +find a man or a set of men handling a bunch. A county clique handles +another one. Some especial local interest makes this crowd vote one way; +same thing will make another bunch in another town mad and they'll vote +against it. It's all factions and self-interest, and you can't make it +over into anything different. That's practical politics. Get out and +you'll see it for yourself. You can swap and steer--that's politics. But +as for uniting 'em into The People--well, try to weld a cat's tail and a +tallow candle, and see how you get along!" + +"It's high time we had less politics, then," cried Davis, "when politics +lets the picked and chosen get rich selling rum or dodging taxes, and +takes a poor man and pestles his head into the mortar till every cent is +banged out of his pocket!" + +"Davis, I'm patient with ramrodders when they're having an acute attack +like you're having. It's the chronic cases I get after, the ones who are +in it for profit, and have been poking you fellows up because they're +paid for doing it. All of a sudden all of you are yapping at me because +I've played the game. I'm talking business with you now. I suppose I +might spread-eagle to you about our grand old State, and the call of +duty and the noble principles of reform; I might fly up on this fence +here and crow just as loud as any of those reform roosters, and not have +any more sense in what I was saying than they do. I see you've got +hungry for that revival hoorah. But I'm not going to perch and crow for +the sake of getting three cheers! I'm going to stay right down here on +the gravel with you, boys, and scratch a few times, and show you a few +kernels, and cluck a little business talk. This district--you and your +folks before you--has been sending me to the legislature for a good many +years. I'm an ordinary man, and I've been against ordinary men down +there at the State House. I should have played the game different with +angels, but I couldn't find the angels." + +He pointed through a window to a large building that occupied a hilltop +just outside the village. + +"Half the counties in the State were after that training seminary," he +went on. "I beat the lobby, and got it. How much money do you and your +neighbors make boarding the scholars? I have pulled out State money for +more than a thousand miles of State roads in this county. I got the +State to pay every cent of the expense of that iron bridge across the +river. I lugged off bigger appropriations for my district than any other +man who has been in the House--because I know the ropes and have the +pull. I could have played angel, and not brought home a plum. Would that +suit you?" + +"I ain't detracting from what you got for us. But while you was dipping +with your right hand for us, you was dipping with your left hand for +yourself and them that trained with you," retorted Davis. + +"And I wasn't to take any ordinary, human, business precautions about +looking out for myself in any way, then?" + +"You wasn't supposed to be representing yourself down there." + +"For one hundred and fifty dollars every two years, and my mileage, I +was to give up all my own business and my interests, and play statesman, +pure and holy, for you up here? Refuse to help those men down there who +helped me when I wanted something, and go down in the rotunda twice a +day and thumb my nose at the portraits of the fathers of the State +because they played politics in their time? That what you wanted me to +do?" + +"I've only got this to say," retorted Mr. Davis, afraid to argue: +"You're proposing to jam your grandson down our throats, now that you've +made your pile and got tired. You're going to have a man from this +district that will do what you say and keep on flimflamming the people. +I and them with me say no, and we'll show you as much in the caucus +to-day." + +"For the sake of having your own stubborn way--like most of the others +that are howling about 'The People' in this State just now--you are +ready to tip over this district's apple-cart, are you? Is that what you +are trying to do? You take what I have given you, legislation and money +that I've paid for labor in this section, and then propose to kick my +pride in the tenderest place? I'll show you, Davis!" + +"Well, show! We ain't a mite scared." + +For some moments the throng in the town hall had shown waning interest +in this discussion. There seemed to be matters outside that distracted +the attention of those near the windows. + +"There's a fire up Jo Quacca way!" called some one. The windows of town +hall were high and uncurtained. All could see. Smoke, ominous and +yellow, ballooned in huge volumes across the blue sky of the June day. + +"There ain't no bonfire in that, gents," declared a man. "That fire has +got a start, and if it's in that slash from that logging operation, it +ain't going to be put out with no pint dipperful." + +There was sudden hush in the big room. All men were gazing at the +mounting masses that rolled into the heavens and blossomed bodefully +over the wooded hills. Fat clouds of the smoke hung high and motionless. +From the earth went up to them whirls and spirals and billowing +discharges like smoke from noiseless artillery. + +A man had climbed upon a window-sill of the hall in order to see more +clearly. + +"I tell you, boys," he shouted, "that's a racin' fire, and it's in that +Jo Quacca slash! I, for one, have got a stand of buildin's in front of +that fire." + +He jumped down and started for the door. Several men followed him. + +The chairman of the town committee began to shake a paper above his +head. + +"It's no time to be leaving a caucus," he pleaded. "We've fixed up a new +call. We'll get down to business now." + +"I know where my business is just this minute!" shouted the man who was +leading the first volunteers. "And it ain't in politics." + +The chairman tried to put a motion to adjourn, but at that moment the +meeting-house bell began to clang its alarm. + +"Save your property, you Jo Quacca fellows!" some one cried, and the +crowd stampeded. + +Thornton remained in his place in front of the rostrum. He noted who +were running away. The deserters were the back-district voters--the +opposition among whom his enemies had prevailed. The villagers remained. +Here and there among them walked Talleyrand Sylvester. He was +unobtrusive and he spoke low, but he was earnest. + +When at last the chairman made his voice heard, Ivus Niles was shouting +for recognition. That stern patriot had remained on guard. + +"Maybe my house is burning, gents, but I ain't going to desert my post +of duty till a square deal has been given. I call on you to adjourn this +caucus till evening." + +"Question!" was the chorus that assailed the chairman. The villagers +crowded around the rostrum. + +The motion to adjourn was voted down with a viva voce vote there was no +disputing. + +"It ain't just nor right!" squalled the War Eagle. "I'm here to +protest! You ain't giving the voters a show! This thing shan't be bulled +through this way!" + +But that caucus was out of the hands of Mr. Niles and such as he, though +some of the staunchest of Thornton's opposition had remained to fight. + +Sylvester elbowed his way to the front, his followers at his back. + +"I move, Mr. Chairman, that the check-list be dispensed with. It ain't +ever been used in this caucus, anyway. And I'm in favor of hustling this +thing so that we can all get up there and fight that fire. I don't +believe in staying here caucusing, and let folks' property burn up." + +The opposition howled their wrath. They understood all the hypocrisy of +this bland assertion, but protest amounted to nothing. The voters were +behind Sylvester. That gentleman promptly put in nomination the name of +Harlan Thornton for representative to the legislature from the Canibas +class of towns and plantations, and the choice was affirmed by a yell +that made the protesting chorus seem only a feeble chirp. And then the +caucus adjourned tumultuously. + +Through it all Thelismer Thornton stood with shoulders against the +boarding, that quizzical half-smile on his face. He walked out of the +hall past the outraged Ivus Niles without losing that smile, though the +demagogue followed him to the door with frantic threats and taunts. + +The meeting-house bell still chattered its alarm, an excited ringer +rolling the wheel over and over. + +Chairman Presson, who had found speech inadequate for some time, +followed the Duke to the stairway outside, and stood beside him, gazing +up at the conflagration. Smoke masked the hills. Fire-flashes, pallid in +the afternoon light, shot up here and there in the yellow billows +rolling nearest the ground. + +"I tell you, Thelismer, you'll never get across with this! It's too +devilish rank!" + +Elder Dudley marched past, leading the last stragglers of his following +from the hall. His face was flushed with passion, but he had neither +word nor look for the Duke. Even Niles was silent, bringing up the rear +of the retreat, pumped dry of invective. + +"You'll be up against Dudley, there, at the polls, running on an +independent ticket. He's sure to do it!" went on Presson, watching them +out of sight. + +"You don't know the district," said Thornton, serenely. "And what's more +important, I've got almost three months to meet that possibility in. I +had only three hours to-day. You needn't worry about the election, +Luke." + +With his eyes still on the seething smoke vomiting up from the Jo Quacca +hills he lighted a fresh cigar. + +"There's something up there that's worrying me more. Cobb has got fire +enough to break up a State convention." + +Certain columns of smoke shot up, bearing knobs like hideous mushrooms. +The knobs were black with cinders and spangled with sparks. The menace +they bore could be descried even at that distance. A breeze wrenched off +one of those knobs, and carried it out from the main conflagration. The +roof of a barn half-way down the hillside began to smoke. Sparks had +dropped there. After a time the two men could see trickles of fire +running up the shingles. + +"There goes one stand of buildings," announced Thornton. + +"I swear, you take this thing cool enough!" + +"Well, I'm not a rain-storm or a pipe-line, Luke. There's nothing more I +can do. When Sylvester gets there with his crowd I'll have a hundred men +or so of my own fighting it. And if a man sets fire on his land the law +makes him pay the neighbors if the fire gets away and damages them. I'm +prepared to settle without beating down prices. Let's go over to The +Barracks." + +Presson went along grumbling. + +"You ought to have stayed in this fight this year for yourself, +Thelismer. There was no need of all this uproar in ticklish times. A +proposition like this makes the general campaign all the harder." He +kept casting apprehensive glances behind at the swelling smoke-clouds. + +"I'm paying the freight, Luke." + +"There'd have been no fight to it if you'd stayed in yourself. Even your +old whooping cyclone of a Niles, there, said that much. You've gone to +work and got your grandson nominated, but between him and the bunch and +that fire up there it looks to me as though your troubles were just +beginning. Say, look here, Thelismer, honest to gad, you're using our +politics just to grind your own axes with!" + +"And you never heard of anybody except patriots in politics, eh?" + +"When you prejudice a State campaign in order to break up a +spooning-match and to give your grandson a course of sprouts outside a +lumbering operation, you're making it a little too personal--and a +little too expensive for all concerned." + +The State chairman had his eyes on the fire again. + +"As far as my business goes--that's _my_ business," said the Duke, +placidly. "As for the expense--well, I never got a great deal of fun out +of anything except politics, and politics is always more or less +expensive. When the bills get in for what has happened to-day I reckon +I'll find the job was worth the price. You needn't worry about me, +Luke--not about my failing to get my money's worth. For when I walk +across the lobby of the State House, and they can say behind my back, +'There's old Thornton--a gone-by. Got licked in his district!' When they +can say that, Luke, life won't be worth living, not if I've got +thousand-dollar bills enough to wad a forty-foot driving-crew quilt!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +WITH THE KAVANAGH AT HOME + + +When Harlan Thornton rode away out of the yard of the town house he was +the bitterest rebel in the Duke's dominions. But he realized fully the +futility of standing there in public and wrangling with his grandfather. + +He understood pretty well the ambitious motive his grandfather had in +forcing his will; Thelismer Thornton had urged the matter in the past. +It had been the only question in dispute between them. And the young man +had never resented the urgings. He appreciated what his grandfather +hoped to accomplish for the only one who bore his name. But this +high-handed attempt to shanghai him into politics outraged his +independence. His protests had been unheeded. The old man had not even +granted him an interview in private, where he could plead his own case. +In business matters they had been co-workers, intimate on the level of +partnership, with the grandfather asking for and obeying the suggestions +the grandson made. On a sudden Harlan felt that he hardly knew this old +man, who had shown himself contemptuous, harsh, and domineering. And +then he thought of the girl who had been so grievously insulted in his +presence, and he rode to find her. + +His way took him across the long bridge that spanned the river. The +river marked the boundary-line of his country. After that day's taste of +the politics of his native land he felt a queer sense of relief when he +found himself on foreign soil. + +Beyond the little church and its burying-ground, with the tall cross in +its centre, the road led up the river hill to the edge of the forest. +Here was set Dennis Kavanagh's house, its back to the black growth, +staring sullenly with its little windows out across the cleared farms of +the river valley. + +To one who knew Kavanagh it seemed to typify his attitude toward the +world. He had seen other men clutching and grabbing. He had clutched and +grabbed with the best of them. When one deals with squatter claims, tax +titles, forgotten land grants and other complications that tie up the +public domain, it often happens that the man who waits for the right to +prevail finds the more unscrupulous and impetuous rival in possession, +and claiming rather more than the allowed nine points at that. So Dennis +Kavanagh had played the game as the others had played it. When one +looked up at the house, with its back against the woods, staring with +its surly window-eyes, one saw the resoluteness of the intrenched +Kavanagh put into visible form. + +The dogs came racing to meet Harlan. They knew him as their mistress's +friend. + +She was sitting on the broad porch-rail when he rode up, and he swung +his horse close and patted her cheek as one greets a child. She smiled +wistfully at him. + +"Am I impudent, and all the things your grandfather said? I've been +thinking it all over, Big Boy, as I was riding home." + +"You're only a little girl, and he talked to you as he'd talk to one of +our lumber-jacks," he burst out, angrily. "It was shameful, Clare. I +never saw my grandfather as he was to-day. He has used me just as +shamefully." + +"I suppose I haven't had the bringing up a girl ought to have," she +confessed. "I haven't thought much about it before. There was nothing +ever happened to make me think about it. I was just Dennis Kavanagh's +girl, without any mother to tell me better. I suppose it has been wrong +for me to ride about with you. But you didn't have any mother and I +didn't have any mother, and it--it sort of seemed to make us--I don't +know how to say it, Big Boy! But it seemed to make us related--just as +though I had a brother to keep me company. I suppose it has been wrong +when you look at it the way girls have to look at such things." + +He gazed on her compassionately. A few ruthless words had broken the +spell of childhood. + +There was shame in her eyes as she gazed up at him. He had seen the +flush of youth and joy in her cheeks before--he had seen the happy color +come and go as they had met and parted. But this hue that crept up over +cheeks and brow made pity grow in him. + +"He said--but you know what he said! And it isn't true. You know it +isn't true. He shamed and insulted me because I'm a girl--and can't a +girl have a friend that's tender and good to her?" + +"A girl can," he said, gravely, "because I'm that friend, Clare. Perhaps +my grandfather cannot understand. But I'll see that he does. We are to +have some very serious talk together, he and I. I'm here to tell you, +little girl, that I'm grateful because you sent that message into the +woods to me. I'm not going to allow myself to be made a fool of in any +such fashion; I'm not going to be sent to the legislature." + +"Oh, I've been thinking--thinking how it sounded--all that I said," she +mourned. "It all came to me as I was riding home--after what your +grandfather said. I didn't realize what kind of a girl I must seem to +folks that didn't know. But you know. It sounded as though I was +claiming you for myself, when I didn't want you to go away. I'm +ashamed--ashamed!" She averted her eyes from him. The crimson in her +cheeks was deeper. It was a vandal hand that had wrecked the little +shrine of her childhood. His indignation against Thelismer Thornton +blazed higher. + +But Dennis Kavanagh knew how to be even more brutal, for that was Dennis +Kavanagh's style of attack. He came out upon the porch, a broad, stocky +chunk of a man, with eyebrows sticking up like the horns on a snail, and +the eyes beneath them keen with humor of the grim and pitiless sort. + +"And how do you do to-day, Harlan Thornton?" he asked. "And how is that +old gorilla of a grandfather of yours? Though you needn't tell me, for I +don't want to know--not unless you can lighten me up a bit by telling me +that he's enjoying his last sickness. But right now while I think of it, +I have something to say to you, young Thornton, sir." + +The young man stared hard at him. It was an unwonted tone for Kavanagh +to employ. Clare's father, till now, had not included Harlan in his feud +with the grandfather. He had always treated him with a brusqueness that +had a sort of good-humor beneath it. His discourse with the young man +had been curt and satiric and infrequent, and consisted usually in mock +messages of defiance which he asked to have delivered by word of mouth +to the grandfather. But his tone now was crisp and it had a straight +business ring. + +"My girl will be sixteen to-morrow. She is done with childhood to-day. +Children may ride cock-horse and play ring-around-a-rosy. I haven't +drawn any particular line on playfellows up to now. But there isn't +going to be any playing at love, sir." + +"I never have played at love with your daughter!" cried Harlan, shocked +and indignant at this sudden attack. + +"Well, I'm fixing it so you won't. We won't argue about what has +happened, nor we won't discuss what might happen. All is, I don't +propose to have any grandson of old Thornton mixed up in my family. I +don't like the breed. You take that word back to him. I hear he's been +making talk. He made some talk to-day. You needn't look at Clare, young +man. She didn't tell me. But it came across to me mighty sudden. Others +heard, too. What I ought to do is go over there and stripe his old +Yankee hide with a horsewhip. But you tell him for me that that would be +taking too much stock in anything that a politician in your +politics-ridden States could say. That's all. You've got it, blunt and +straight. And, by-the-way, I understand he's making a politician out of +you, too, to-day? I'm taking this thing just in time!" + +The young man and the girl looked at each other. It was a pitiful, +appealing glance that they exchanged. Shame surged in both of them. In +that gaze, also, was mutual apology for the ruthless ones who had dealt +such insult that day in their hearing; there was hopelessness that any +words from them to each other, just then, could help the situation. And +in that gaze, too, there was proud denial, from one to the other, that +anything except friendship, the true, honest comradeship of youth, had +drawn them together. + +Kavanagh eyed them with grim relish. The thought that he was harrying +one of the Thorntons overbore any consideration he felt for his +daughter, even if he stopped to think that her affection was anything +except the silliness of childhood. + +"Politics seems to be a good side-line for the Thornton family," +Kavanagh remarked, maliciously. "If you can start where your grandfather +is leaving off, you ought to be something big over in your country +before you die!" + +"I'm not interested in politics, Mr. Kavanagh, nor in my grandfather's +quarrels with you." + +"I am, though! Interested enough to advise you to keep to your own side +of that river!" + +"I'll admit that you have the right to advise your daughter about the +friends she makes. But I don't grant you the privilege of insulting me +before her face and eyes by putting wrong constructions on our +friendship." + +"Meaning that you're going to keep up this dilly-dally business whether +I allow you to or not?" + +It was a cruel question at that moment. The girl was looking at him with +her heart in her eyes. He had understood her pledge of loyalty given a +moment before. Youth is not philosophic. She would misunderstand +anything except loyalty in return. + +"Going to court my daughter, are you, according to the Thornton style of +grabbing anything in sight that they want?" + +"Say, look here, Mr. Kavanagh," declared the young man, hotly, "I'm not +going to answer any such questions. But I'm going to tell you something, +and I'm going to tell it to you straight and right here where your +daughter can hear me. I'm not the kind that goes around making love to +any father's daughter behind his back. I've never made love to your +daughter. Why, man she's only a child! And don't you give me any more +sneers about it. That's man to man--understand? And I'm not going to let +you nor my grandfather or any one else break up the innocent friendship +between my little playmate here and myself. Now I hope you'll take that +in the way I mean it. If you don't, it's your fault." He had spoken to +answer the appeal in her eyes. + +He had backed his horse away so that he could face Kavanagh on the steps +of the porch. The girl leaped down from the rail, her face alight, and +ran to him and patted his hand. + +"By Saint Mike, do you think you'll tell me how to run my house?" +demanded Kavanagh. He came down the steps. "I'll build a coffin for you +and a cage for her before that!" + +"You stay where you are, father!" She faced him with spirit. "You have +insulted me worse than you've insulted Harlan. You needn't worry about +my going behind your back to make love to any one. But you shall not +break up the dearest friendship I ever had." + +This was the Clare Kavanagh who had bearded even Thelismer Thornton that +day--the imperious young beauty that the country-side knew. Her father +had often tested that spirit before, and had allowed her to dominate, +secretly proud that she was truly his own in violence of temper and in +determination to have her own way. But just now he was lacking that +tolerantly humorous mood which usually gave in to her. + +"To the devil with your fiddle-de-dee friendship!" he shouted. "You're +sixteen, you young Jezebel; and you--you're old enough to know better, +Thornton. I know what it's leading to, and it ain't going further. I'll +not stand here and argue with you. But if you come meddling in my family +after what I've said, you'll get hurt, young man." + +"That's right--we won't argue the question," Thornton retorted. "There's +nothing to argue. You know where I stand in the matter, little girl. +That's all there is to it, so far as we're concerned. I'm going now. I +think I'm ready for that talk with my grandfather." + +He took leave of her with a frank handclasp. Kavanagh glowered, but did +not comment. + +When Harlan whirled his horse he saw the conflagration on the Jo Quacca +hills. + +He gasped something like an oath. "There goes the slash on our +operation!" he said, aloud. + +"Your grandfather must have got you into politics in good shape by this +time," observed Kavanagh, sarcastically. "At any rate, he seems to be +celebrating with a good big bonfire." + +At that moment the three of them beheld the farm buildings burst into +flame. + +"Offering up sacrifices, too!" commented the satirist. "Seems to me, +Thornton, you ought to be there. They'll be calling for three cheers and +a speech!" + +In one heartsick moment Thornton realized that this raging fire had +something to do with the political affairs of that day. He had seen +"Whispering" Urban Cobb at "The Barracks" in the forenoon, and knew that +he had led away a crowd of woodsmen for some purpose of his own. Just +what a dangerous conflagration on the Jo Quacca hills could accomplish +in relation to that caucus, Harlan did not stop to ponder. He could see +that a fire was rioting over his lands, and destroying the property of +others. His horse had already begun to leap for the highway, but the +girl cried after him so beseechingly that he reined the animal back. + +"Just one moment, Harlan! A little instant! I haven't unsaddled Zero +yet. Wait!" She whistled, and the horse came cantering. The hounds, +seeing him, leaped and gave tongue understandingly. "I'm going with +you," she declared, swinging to her saddle. + +Her father came down off the steps, running at her. "No, you're not, you +wild banshee. What did I just tell you?" + +"You told me that children may ride cock-horse--and I'm not sixteen till +to-morrow!" she cried, jumping her horse just as her father's clutching +fingers touched his bridle. She was out in the road before Harlan's +horse had picked up his heels. She swung her little whip above her head. + +"Come on, Big Boy!" she urged at the top of her voice, crying above the +clamor of the racing dogs. "We're playfellows to-day, and I can't fall +in love till to-morrow!" The last words she lilted mockingly, flashing a +look backward at Dennis Kavanagh. + +The old man did not shift his attitude, fingers curved to clutch, arms +extended, until he heard the tattoo of their horses' hoofs on the long +bridge. + +"Maybe Brian Boru might have been proud of her for a daughter," he +muttered, as he trudged back up the steps, "but I'll be dammed if I know +whether I am or not!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MANTLE OF THELISMER THORNTON + + +The fire on the Jo Quacca hills was checked at nightfall. Two hundred +beaters and trenchers managed to fight it back and hold it in leash to +feed on the slash of the timber operation. But, like a tiger confined in +its cage, it had reached out through its bars and claimed victims. Three +stands of farm buildings were in ruins. + +Harlan Thornton, sooty and weary, left the fire-line as soon as he knew +that the monster had been subdued. He rode about to reassure the owners +that their losses would be made up by himself and his grandfather. + +"Keep away from the lawyers," he counselled the losers. "They'll get +half the money out of you if you hire them. We'll settle after +appraisal." + +The men that he talked to seemed sullen in spite of his assurances. They +seemed to be repressing taunts or reproaches merely in consideration of +the fact that he was holding the purse-strings. He noted this demeanor, +and feared to ask questions. + +Clare Kavanagh rode with him; she had not left his side, even when he +led his crews into perilous places and entreated her to keep back. + +And they rode away together down the long stretch of highway from the +hills to the village. Behind them, against the dusk, glowed the red, +last signals of the dying fires: tree-trunks upraised like smouldering +torches, the timbers of the falling buildings tumbling from their props +and sending up showers of sparks. A pale sliver of new moon made the red +of the fires even more baleful, and the two who rode together looked +back and felt the obsession of something they had never experienced +before. + +"I am unhappy, Big Boy," sighed the girl. "We have never come back from +our rides like this." + +"It has been a wicked day for both of us, child." + +"And you cannot call me child after to-day--so my father says." Her +voice was still plaintive, but there was a hint of the old mischief +there. "I'll be sixteen to-morrow--and I didn't know until to-day that +I'd be so sorry that it is so. Ever since I was ten I've been wishing I +could be eighteen without waiting for the years. But I don't know, now, +Harlan. It seemed as though I'd be getting more out of living. I thought +so." Tears were in her voice now. "It seems as though I'd grown up all +of a sudden; and things aren't beautiful and happy and--and as they used +to be--not any more! I've lost something, Harlan. And if growing up is +losing so much, I don't want to grow up." + +He listened indulgently and understood this protest of the child. Their +horses walked slowly side by side, and the tired hounds trailed after +them. + +"The grown-ups do lose a lot of things out of life, little girl--things +that mean a great deal in childhood. But keep your heart open, and other +things will come." + +"Perhaps when I get to be twenty-four years old and as big as you are I +can talk that way, and believe it, too. But just now I'm only a girl +that doesn't believe she's grown up, even if they do tell her so, and +tell her she mustn't be a playmate any longer. And you are not to ride +with me any more, and you are not to come to my house nor may I come to +yours. That's what they say. What are we to do, then?" + +She cried her question passionately. He had no answer ready. Platitudes +would not do for this child, he reflected, and to lecture her then even +on the A B C's of the social code would be wounding her ingenuous faith. + +"If this is the way it all turns out, and I can't have your friendship +any longer, what is it that you're going to do or I'm going to do?" she +insisted. "That's losing too much, just because one is grown up." + +Tenderness surged in his heart toward this motherless girl--tenderness +in which there was a new quality. But he had no answer for her just +then. He did not understand his own emotions. He was as unsophisticated +as she in the affairs of the heart. His man's life of the woods had kept +him free from women. His friendship with this child, their rides, their +companionship, had been almost on the plane of boy with boy; her +character invited that kind of intimacy. + +And so he wondered what to say; for her demand had been explicit, and +she demanded candor in return. + +At that moment he welcomed the appearance of even Ivus Niles. That sooty +prophet of ill appeared around a bend in the road ahead. The twilight +shrouded him, but there was no mistaking his stove-pipe hat and his +frock-coat. He was leading his buck sheep, and the hounds rushed forward +clamorously. Niles stopped in the middle of the road, and let them +frolic about him and his emblematic captive. + +"The dogs won't hurt you, Niles," Harlan assured him, spurring forward. + +"I ain't afraid of dogs, I ain't afraid of wolves, not after what I've +been through with the political Bengal tigers I've been up against +to-day," Niles assured him, sourly. "And your grandfather is the old he +one of the pack. You tell him--" + +"You can take your own messages to my grandfather, Niles." He swung his +horse to pass, the girl at his side, but the War Eagle threw up his hand +commandingly. + +"I've got a message for you, yourself, then, and you stay here and take +it. He stole our caucus for you to-day, your grandfather did--" + +"You don't mean to say I was nominated!" + +"That's too polite a word, Mr. Harlan Thornton. I gave you the right one +the first time. He stampeded our caucus by having that fire set on the +Jo Quacca hills. Three sets of farm buildings offered up to the gods of +rotten politics! That's a nice kind of sacrifice, Thornton's grandson! +It goes well with the crowd you're in with. It will smell well in the +nostrils of the people of this State. You ought to be proud of being +made a lawmaker in that way." + +It was not reproach--it was insult, sneered in the agitator's bitterest +tone. + +"The property of three poor toilers of the soil laid flat in ashes, a +town terrified by danger rushing down through the heavens like the +flight of the war eagle," shouted Niles, declaiming after his accustomed +manner, "and all to put you into a seat in the State House, where you +can keep stealing the few things that your grandfather ain't had time or +strength to steal! You've had your bonfire and your celebration--now go +down and hoist the Star-Spangled Banner over 'The Barracks'--but you'd +better hoist it Union down!" + +Harlan dropped off his horse and strode to Niles. He seized him by the +shoulder and shook him roughly, for the man had begun his oratory once +more. + +"Enough of that, Niles! Was I chosen in the caucus to-day? I want yes or +no." + +"Yes--and after three-quarters of the voters had been stampeded to fight +that fire that was sweeping down on their property! And you--" + +Harlan pushed him to one side, leaped upon his horse, and rode away. +The girl jumped her roan to his side. + +"It's wicked, Harlan," she gasped, "wicked! I heard him! What are you +going to do?" + +That was another of her questions that he found it hard to answer. "I'm +going to find my grandfather, Clare, and I'm going in a great hurry. +Come, I can't talk now, little girl!" + +They galloped down the long hill to the bridge, their horses neck and +neck. + +"The last ride as playmates!" she cried, as they started. Her voice +broke, pathetically. He did not reply. He was too furiously angry to +trust himself in conversation at that moment, and he rode like a madman, +knowing that she could keep pace with him. + +They drew rein at the end of the bridge. + +"It's only a bit of a run for you now, little girl. I'll keep on home." + +She put her hand out to him and held him for a moment. + +"I'm afraid you'll go away to be a big man, after all, Harlan," she +said, dolefully. + +"Go in this way? What are you talking about, child?" he demanded, +choking, his fury getting possession of him. "I've been +disgraced--abused. I'll--but I mustn't talk to you now--the wicked words +might slip out." + +But she would not loose his hand just then. + +"I sent for you to come home because I heard father say that politics is +wicked business. But I didn't know it was as wicked as this. It's no +wonder they can't get the good men like you to go into it. If they could +it would be better, wouldn't it?" + +Even in his distress it occurred to him that out of the mouth of this +child was proceeding quaint and unconscious wisdom. + +"I wish it wasn't wicked," she went on, wistfully. "I've been thinking +as I rode along that I've been selfish. I'd like to see you a big man +like some of those I've read about. It was selfish of me to say I didn't +want you to get out of the woods and be a big man." + +"I couldn't be one," he protested. + +"Even a foolish little girl up here in the woods has got faith that you +can--and men who are really big don't forget their old friends. I don't +want you mixed up in any wicked thing, Harlan, but I wouldn't want you +to go away from me thinking I was selfish and jealous. That isn't the +right kind of a friend for any one to have. I've been thinking it over." + +He stared at her through the dusk. This sudden flash of worldly wisdom, +this unselfish loyalty in one so young, rather startled him. + +"That's real grown-up talk, child," he blurted. + +"Is it?" The wan little flicker of a smile that she mustered brought +tears to his eyes. "Maybe it's because I'll be sixteen to-morrow. +Good-night, Big Boy!" This new, womanly seriousness was full of infinite +pathos. She had not released his hand. She bent forward suddenly, +leaning from her saddle, and kissed his cheek. "And good-bye, my +playmate!" she whispered. While his fingers still throbbed with the last +pressure of her hand, the black mouth of the big bridge swallowed her. +He listened to the ringing hoof-beats of her horse till sudden silence +told him she had reached the soft soil on the other shore. + +He did not gallop to meet his grandfather. He walked his horse for the +long mile past the scattered houses of the village till he came to "The +Barracks." + +When he was still some distance away he saw in the gloom of the porch +the red coal of the Duke's cigar. Even then he did not rush forward to +protest and denounce. + +He slipped off his horse, and led him toward the porch. But before he +could speak his grandfather hailed him. + +"Run in to your supper, bub. The boys are holding it hot for you. Luke +and I were too hungry to wait." + +"I can't eat now--not with what's on _my_ mind." + +"Oh, bub--bub! Run along with you! There's plenty of time for talk. I'll +be here when you come out. Get something to eat, now! That's a good +boy!" + +Somehow he couldn't begin the attack just then. That tone was too +affectionate, too matter-of-fact. And even then his hand seemed to feel +the pressure of the little fingers that had released him at the bridge, +and the choking feeling was still in his throat. + +He gave his horse over to the hostler, and went into the house. + +The lamp in the old mess-room thrust its beams only a little way into +the gloom. It shone over the table and left the corners dark. The cookee +brought the food from the kitchen, poured the tea, and then wiped his +hands briskly on his canvas apron. + +"I want to shake with you, Mr. Harlan!" He put out his hand, so frankly +confident that he was doing the proper thing that the young man grasped +it. "It was done to 'em good and proper. They tried to pull too hot a +kittle out of the bean-hole that time--sure they did! I congratulate +you! I knowed you'd get into politics some day." + +Harlan pulled his hand away, and began to eat. + +"Served up hot to 'em--that mess was," chuckled the cookee, on the easy +terms of the familiar in the household. "Nothing like a rousin' fire if +you're going to make the political pot bile in good shape." + +He chuckled significantly. + +The man pushed the food nearer, for Harlan did not seem to be taking +much interest in his supper. + +"I suppose you'll be boardin' at Mr. Presson's hotel when you get down +to the legislature. I had a meal there once. They certainly do put it up +fine. Say, Mr. Harlan, what do you say? Can't you use your pull, and get +me a job as waiter or something down there for the session? Excuse me +for gettin' at it so quick, but I thought I'd hop in ahead of the +rush--they'll all be after you for something, now that you're +nominated." + +The young man could not discuss with this cheerful suppliant his +indignant resolve not to be a legislator. + +"You'll have to stay home here and look after Grandfather Thornton, +Bob," he hedged. + +"Oh, thunder! He's goin' right down to spend the winter with you. Was +tellin' Mr. Presson so when they et just now. Said you'd be needin' a +steerin' committee of just his bigness!" + +Harlan got up and kicked his chair from under him. It went over with a +clatter. To his infinite relief he had suddenly recovered some of that +wrathful determination that Ivus Niles's sneers had given him earlier in +the evening. + +Thelismer Thornton heard him coming. + +"Pretty heavy on his heels, the boy is!" he observed to the State +chairman. "He's been licking his dander around in a circle till he's +got it rearing." + +The young man halted, erect before his grandfather, but again the old +man got in the first word. + +"I'm going to give you all the time to talk in you want, bub. I was a +little short with you to-day, when I was stirred up, but no more of +that! Say all you want to. And I'm going to give you a little advice +about starting in. Now--now--now! Hold on. I know just how you feel. I +don't blame you for feeling that way. But it had to be done just as I +did it--all of it! Now you ought to start in with me just the way Sol +Lurchin was advised to when he wanted to tackle Cola Jordan, who had +done him on a horse-trade. Sol went to old Squire Bain, and says he to +the Squire, 'I want to stay inside the law in this. I don't want him to +get no legal hold on me. But I want to talk to him. Now, what'll I say +so's to give him what's comin' and still be legal?' 'Well,' says old +Squire, rubbing his hands together, 'you've got to start easy, you know. +You want to start easy, so's to make the climax worth something. Now, +let's see! Well, suppose you walk up to him and say, "You spawn of the +pike-eyed sneak that Herod hired to kill babies, you low-down, +contemptible son of a body-snatcher, you was born a murderer, but lacked +the courage and became a horse-thief!" There, Sol, start in easy like +that and gradually work up to a climax, and you'll have him going--and +all inside the law. Two dollars, please!'" + +The Duke leaned back in his chair and nested his head in his big hands. +He gazed up meekly at his chafing grandson. + +"Start in easy, bub, like that, and work up to your climax. I know just +how you feel!" + +But just at that moment the chairman of the State Committee was laughing +too loudly for any dignified protest to be heard. + +"For some reason, grandfather, you seem all at once to have taken me as +a subject for a practical joke," said the young man, stiffly. The +interlude had taken the sharp edge off his indignation, but he was still +bitter. "It may seem a joke to you. To me it seems insult and +persecution. I have attended to business, I've worked hard and made +money for both of us. To-day you've held me up before this section to be +laughed at by some and hated by the rest. I'm glad I've had half an hour +to think it over since I first heard about what happened in that caucus. +I won't say the things to you I intended to say. I'll simply say this: +I'm going to write a letter declining this nomination. I'm going to +publish that letter. And I'm going to say in that letter that I will +not take any office that isn't come at honestly." + +"Harlan, sit down." His feet had been in one of the porch chairs. He +pushed it toward his grandson. The young man sat down. + +"You don't know much about the practical end of politics, do you?" + +"I do not." + +"You'll allow that I do?" + +"You seem to, if that's what you call this sort of business that has +been going on here to-day." + +"Bub, look at the thing from my standpoint for just one moment. I'll +consider it from yours, too--you needn't worry. I want you to be +something in this world besides a lumber-jack. You've got the right +stuff in you. I tried argument with you. You'll have to own up that I +did. It didn't work--now, did it?" + +"I told you I didn't want to get into politics. I don't want to get in. +I don't like the company." + +"Politics is all right, Harlan, when the right men are in. You are the +kind the people are calling for these days. You're clean, straight, +open-minded, and--" + +"Clean and straight! And the people are calling for me!" The young man +broke in wrathfully. "You say that to me after the sort of a caucus you +sprung to-day? If that's what you consider a call from the people, I +don't want to be called that way." + +"It was a call, but it had to be _shaded_ by _politics_ a little," +returned the Duke, serenely. + +"If a good man is going into politics, he can go in square." + +"Sometimes. But not when the opposition is out to do him with every +dirty trick that's laid down in the back of the political almanac." + +"If you wanted to start me, and start me fair and right, why didn't you +let my name go before that caucus to-day, and then hold off your hands?" + +"Because if I had you'd have stood about the same chance as a worsted +dog chasing an asbestos cat through hell. Look here, bub, I wish I had +the time; I'd like to tell you how most of the good men I know got their +start in politics. You can be a statesman after you've got your head up +where the sun can shine on it, but you've got to be touching ground to +keep your head up. And if you're touching ground in politics, you'll +find that your shoes are muddy--and you can't help it." + +The grandson did not reply. Thornton relighted his cigar. The flare of +the match showed disgust and stubbornness in the features opposite. + +"You know Enoch Dudley as well as I do, Harlan. That's the man they put +up. And a man that has let two of his sons be bound out and has turned +back his wife for her own people to support can't hide behind any white +necktie, so far's I'm concerned. Luke and I know where the money came +from that they've been putting in here. We know the men behind, and what +their object is. We know what they are trying to do in the next +legislature. You'll see it all for yourself when the time comes, Harlan. +You'll be up against them. You understand men. I'll only be wasting time +in telling you what you'll see for yourself. Do you want to see a man +like Enoch Dudley representing this district? If you do, go ahead and +write that letter!" + +"You'll not do that, Harlan," stated the chairman, with decision. "As it +stands now, whatever they say about this caucus will be simply the +whinings of a licked opposition. We know how to handle that kind of +talk. There isn't a man on our side, from Sylvester to Urban Cobb, who +will open his mouth, even if the thumb-screws are put to him. Harlan, +are you the kind of a fellow that would hold your grandfather up before +the people of this State in any such light? Of course you are not!" + +"No, I don't suppose I am," acknowledged the young man. "But I can +decline to run." + +The State chairman pulled his chair close, and tapped emphasis on the +candidate's knee. + +"No, you can't. It would give 'em the one fact that they need for a +foundation to build their case on. What you've got to do, Harlan, is +accept this nomination, just as it is handed to you. Stand up and fight +for your election like a man. The thing may look rank to you. Politics +usually looks rank to a beginner, who has to get down and fight on the +level of the other fellow. But you'll understand things better after you +get along a little further. If you back out now you're leaving your +grandfather open to attack. Those dogs can only bark, now. If you let +'em past you they'll have a chance to set their teeth in. Harlan, you +think too much of your grandfather to do such a thing as that, don't +you?" + +The three of them sat in silence for a while. + +"I hate to say anything just now, my boy," said the old man, at last. He +leaned forward, his elbows on the arms of his chair. "Luke has put it to +you a little stronger than I should have done. I don't want to beg you +or coax you. If you think it's too much of a sacrifice to stand by +me--if you want to quit, and can't look at it in any other way, go +ahead. I can fight it out alone. I've had a good many lone fights. I'm +good for one more. But before you say what you're going to say, I've got +a last word to drop in. You know how I've dealt with men in business +matters, my boy." + +"But why can't you do the same in politics?" demanded his grandson, +bitterly. + +"It's just on that point that I want to put you right. I know pretty +well why you haven't hankered to get into politics, Harlan. You've heard +some of the sneers, slurs, and the gossip. You didn't know much about +it, but you sort of felt ashamed of me on account of politics. Hold on! +I know. It has been a kind of shame and pity mixed, like one feels for a +drunkard in the family. This caucus seemed to you like a spree--and you +got mixed into it, and you're angry with me. Listen: there are people in +this world who won't allow that a man is honest in politics unless he +goes about hunting for all the measures that might help him personally +and kills 'em. And the same yellow-skins that howl because he doesn't do +that would turn around and cuss him for seventeen kinds of a fool if he +did, and ruined himself by doing it. I haven't stolen, boy. I've given +my time and my energies to developing this State. I've seen it prosper +and grow big. And I've shared in the prosperity by seeing that my own +interests got their rights along with the rest. I'm where I can look +back. And I can't see where the reputation of being a saint who cut off +his own fingers for a sacrifice would help me get endorsers at the bank +or find friends I could borrow money from. Harlan, boy, I'm an old man. +I can't live much longer. A little reputation of some kind or another +will live after me. I want you to know the right of it. And the only way +for you to find out is to be what I have been. Hearing about it won't +inform you. I want you to meet the men and play the game. I want you to +realize that when I say I've done the best I could, I'm telling you the +truth. Harlan, stand up here with me. Give me your hand. Say that you'll +stand by the old man in this one thing--the biggest he ever has asked of +you. It's a matter between the Thorntons, boy!" + +There had been an appeal in his voice that was near wistfulness. And +while he talked the wisdom that had come from the mouth of a child that +evening threaded its own quaint appeal into the argument of the +grandfather. Resentment and obstinacy, if they be tempered with youth, +cannot fight long against affection and the ties of blood. + +Harlan took his grandfather's hand. + +"That's my boy!" cried the Duke, heartily, and he slipped his arm about +his grandson's shoulders and patted him. + +"It straightens things out a good deal," observed Presson, with the +practicality of the politician. "Harlan, you're going to find a winter +at the State House worth while. With your grandfather to set you going +right and post you up, you ought to make good." + +"I'd like to have a little light on one point," remarked the young man, +curtly. He felt again the irritating prick of resentment. "What am I to +be down to that legislature--myself, or Thelismer Thornton's grandson?" + +"You can't afford to throw good advice over your shoulder," protested +the chairman--"not when it comes from a man that's had fifty years of +experience." + +"Hold on, Luke, don't set the boy off on the wrong track. I know how he +feels. Harlan, you're going down there just as I said you're going--with +an open mind, clean hands, good, straight American spirit to do right +just so far as a man in politics can do right! I want you to see for +yourself. If you want my help in anything you shall have it. But it'll +be Gramp advising his boy--not a boss, hectoring. Believe that!" + +"You needn't be afraid of the city fellows," advised Presson. + +Harlan stood up before them, earnest, intense, determined. + +"A fellow placed as I have been has this much advantage over city chaps, +and I'm going to take courage from it," he said: "I've had a chance to +read. There are long evenings in the woods, and I haven't been able or +obliged to kill time at clubs and parties. I have read, Mr. Presson. I +don't know how much good it has done me. That remains to be found out. +Perhaps a fellow who reads and hasn't real experience gets a wrong +viewpoint. But this much I do believe: a man can be honest, himself, in +politics, and can find enough honest men to stand with him. I'm going to +try, at any rate. For if there's any dependence to be put in what I read +there's something serious the matter in public affairs." + +"Going to start a reform party, young man?" chuckled the State chairman. +He had seen and tested youthful ideals before in his political +experience. + +"I didn't mean it that way. I wasn't talking about myself. I'll be only +a little spoke in the wheel, sir. But I mean to say that when I get to +the State House I'm going to hunt up the men who believe in a square +deal, and I'm going to train with 'em." He spoke a bit defiantly. It was +youth declaring itself. It was a spark from the fire that Ivus Niles had +kindled by his sneers. + +"Boy," said the old man, cheerfully, "you're prancing just a bit now. +But you needn't be afraid of me, because I said I'd help you. The first +thing I'll do will be to take you around and introduce you to the men +down in the legislature who are proposing to reform the State. So you +see I mean right!" + +The State chairman seemed much amused. He chuckled. + +The Duke walked to the end of the porch and gazed up at the Jo Quacca +hills, where the dim, red glow still shone against the sky. + +"So it took down three stands of buildings, did it, Harlan?" he called. +"Did you tell the boys we'd settle promptly, and for them to keep away +from the lawyers?" + +"I arranged it the best I could and got their promise. But they seem to +know the fire was set on purpose, and are pretty gruff about it." + +"Of course the fire was set on purpose--and I have a right to clear my +own land when I want to. But I know how to settle, bub, so as to turn +their vinegar to cream. For when I square a political debt, whether it's +pay or collect, there's no scaling down! Full value--and then a little +over!" + +He came back and as he passed he tweaked Harlan's ear. + +"It's been a hard day, boy! Come on, let's all three go to bed." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +IN THE CENTRE OF THE BIG STATE WEB + + +Chairman Presson, going his way next morning, had to confess to himself +that he did not have much to do with the workings of the Fort Canibas +caucus. But it was worth while to see it. It revealed the character of +the opposition throughout the State. And he did a notable job in the +publicity line immediately. That was his opportunity of "rallying to the +flag." The Duke had got his blow in first; the chairman of the State +Committee got his news in first--for the State machine controlled the +principal newspapers. + +First news, put right, wins. The caucus in Fort Canibas exposed the +methods of "so-called reformers"--as the report of it was set forth in +print. And that news was a tocsin for town committeemen who had been +dozing. + +Thelismer Thornton, House leader, party boss, knight of the old regime, +and representative of all that the reformers had been inveighing +against, still controlled his district. That fact was impressed upon +all. And the more vociferous the resulting complaints of the opposition, +the more apparent it became that it was no mere skirmish party that had +been sent out against him; he had whipped the generals themselves. His +methods were mentioned discreetly; his results were made known to all +men. + +The fact that it was his grandson who had been nominated was not +emphasized as an item of general knowledge. That "Thornton had been +nominated" was. It was the essential point. + +It was accepted as a tip by the many who were waiting and wondering just +what this reform movement would accomplish in actual results--and that +means ability to own and distribute plums. It shifted the complexion of +many caucuses, or rather fixed that complexion, without any one being +the wiser; for the managers of districts had been waiting for tips +without saying anything in regard to their uncertainty. That's an +essential in practical politics--being able to wait without letting any +one know of the waiting. It gives a man his chance to cheer with the +winner and declare himself an "original." The convert is never half as +precious in politics as an "original." It is in heaven that the joy over +the sinner who repenteth is comforting and extreme. In politics the +first men on the band-wagon get the hand and what's in it. + +And yet, as the tide of caucuses swelled and reports of results flowed +into State headquarters, Chairman Presson and his lieutenants found +themselves unable to mark men with the old certitude of touch. There was +a queer kind of slipperiness everywhere. It was evident that the Canibas +result had stiffened backbones in many quarters, but more new men than +usual were coming forward with nominations in their fists. Many of these +men were not telling any one how they felt on the big questions that +were agitating the State. Some announced themselves with the usual +grandiloquent generalities. It is easy enough to say that one believes +in reform and good citizenship, for one can construe that later to suit +circumstances. + +The reformers were making a great deal of noise, mostly threats. They +were passing to candidates specific questions as to their stand on the +larger issues. Many candidates who had subscribed and declared +themselves dodged up to headquarters on the sly and assured the State +chairman that they had pledged their positions because it seemed to be a +reform year, and they had to do something to shut up the yawp of the +reformers. When they privately assured Presson that they would be found +on the right side just the same after election, he took heart for a +moment, and then was downcast after they were gone; it was tabulating +liars--an uncertain job. Presson listened and took what courage he +could, but the asterisks in his lists confessed his doubts. + +"There's a line of stars down those lists that would puzzle the man who +invented political astronomy," he told his intimates. "But I don't dare +to go looking for the trouble right now. It'll be like a man looking for +measles in his family of thirteen; it'll break out if it's there--he +won't have to hunt for it." + +The Republican State Convention was called for late June. The party +managers believed that it would clarify the situation somewhat; "it +would afford an opportunity for conference and free debate on the big +questions where division of opinion existed," so the party organs +assured their readers day by day. Chairman Presson asked them to drum +this idea into the heads of the people. + +But what he told himself and the secret council was that there needed to +be a round-up where some of the wild steers could be thrown and branded +before they should succeed in stampeding the main herd. It was a +situation that called for one of the good, old-fashioned "nights +before." For a practical politician knows that speeches and band music +do not make a convention; they merely ratify the real convention; the +real convention is held "the night before," behind closed doors at the +headquarters hotel. + +There were two candidates for the gubernatorial nomination. The natural +legatee of the old regime in his party was in line, of course. He had +been in line for ten years, as his predecessors had waited before him. +He had served apprenticeship after the usual fashion: had given his +money and his time; he had won the valuable title which only he who has +suffered and has been bled can win, that of "the logical candidate." + +But that seemed not the halcyon year for "the logical candidate." + +The inevitable had happened in the matter of political succession. There +had been too long a line of successors. The machine had become too close +a corporation. A machine, over-long in power, by the approved process of +making itself strong makes itself weak. It must pass around the +offices. When it picks the best men it makes enemies of all those it +disappoints. That includes principals and followers. For a time these +"best men" have enough of a personal following to repel boarders. But +party "best men" must make enemies in fortifying themselves and their +friends. + +Every time a matter is decided between factions, or a political seeker +wins a subordinate job, a rival and his friends are sent away to sulk. +And so at last, in the process of making the fortress impregnable, the +big wall falls and "the unders" come into the citadel. + +Chairman Presson would not allow that the situation in that year of +reform unrest was as bad as the "unders" seemed to think. But he was +worried because he was finding all men liars. And when men are lying and +marking time in politics and glancing over their shoulders, look out for +the stampede! + +In a stampede "a logical candidate" is the first one to be trampled on. +This one was threatened in earnest. + +His opponent in his own party was Protest walking on two legs and +thundering anathema through a mat of mustaches that made him a marked +figure in any throng. His enemies called him "Fog-horn" Spinney; his +admirers considered him a silver-tongued orator. As a professional +organizer of leagues, clubs, orders, and societies he knew by their +first names men enough to elect him if he could be nominated. And Arba +Spinney's methods may be known from the fact that once he got enough +votes to make him a State Senator by asking his auditors at each rally +to feel of the lumps in the corners of their ready-made vests. A man who +is fingering the sheddings of shoddy feels like voting for the candidate +who declares that he will make a sheep a respectable member of society +once more. + +As "a logical candidate," David Everett, ending his four years as a +member of the Governor's executive council, was the refinement of +political grooming. And he was "safe." A well-organized political +machine has no use for any other sort! + +Arba Spinney, vociferous, rank outsider, apostrophizing the "tramp of +the cowhide boots," reckless in his denunciation of every man who held +office, promising everything that would catch a vote, urging overturn +for the sake of overturn and a new deal, marked the other extreme. For +the mass, Change, labelled Reform, seems wholly desirable. Political +sagacity saw trouble ahead. And no one in the State was politically more +sagacious than Thelismer Thornton, who had seen men come and seen men +go, and knew all their moods and fancies. + +On the morning that the State chairman hurried out of Fort Canibas he +discussed the matter of the rival candidates with the old man--that is +to say, he talked and Thornton listened. And the more the chairman +talked, the more his own declarations convinced him. + +"Why, the old bull fiddle can't fool the convention, Thelismer. He's +running around the State now, and they're listening to him like they'd +listen to a steam calliope, but what he says don't amount to anything +for an argument. It's the pledged delegates that count." + +The old man drew a fat, black wallet from his hip pocket, and leisurely +extracted a packet of newspaper clippings. + +"I've been watching the lists of delegates as they've been chosen, Luke. +But I fail to see where you're getting pledged delegations." + +"They don't need to be pledged, not the men our town committees are +picking." + +"Your town committees may be picking the men for delegates, but it is +the caucus that does the pledging. And the delegates are being sent out +without labels. You don't dare to insist on the pledges--now, do you?" + +"You know as well as I do, Thelismer, there's no need of shaking the red +rag this year. We're making a different play. We've been having our +newspapers drum hard on the tune: 'Leave it out to the people.' It'll be +Everett all right in the convention, but we don't want to seem to be +prying open their jaws and jamming him down their throats." + +Thornton fingered his clippings. + +"Luke, I thought you realized yesterday after that caucus of mine was +over just how sick your State campaign is. But you've started in +hollering now to try to convince yourself that it isn't so. You can't +afford to do that. I've been in this thing longer than you have. I've +seen the symptoms before. I recognize the signs of a stampede. That +convention will be ripe for one. And you know what will happen to Dave +Everett, once they get started! You and I know there ain't a thing that +can be said for him except that he's the residuary legatee of all the +machine politics that's been played in this State for the last +twenty-five years. That's between us, and you and I might as well talk +the thing as it is. She's balancing, Luke. She's right up on end. And +there'll be enough old wind-bags in that convention to get up a devil of +a breeze. They'll blow her over." + +The State chairman had started to leave, after his declaration. His +automobile was purring at the foot of the steps. But he turned his back +on the expectant chauffeur, and tramped onto the porch. + +"You don't mean to tell me that 'Fog-horn' Spinney is a dangerous +candidate, do you?" + +"No, but Everett _is_! It happens once in so often, Luke--a situation +like this. Everett is lugging too much. Last fire we had in the village +here Ed Stilson tried to lug an old-fashioned bureau on his back and a +feather tick in his teeth, but he couldn't get through the door." + +"Thelismer, why have you waited till now before saying this? I'd rather +have your judgment in political futures than that of any other man in +this State. But this is a damnation poor time to be getting around to me +with it." + +"We had a caucus here yesterday, Luke, I'd only been suspecting till +then. In politics I'm quite a fellow to judge the whole piece in the web +by a sample. And I tell you Everett is going to make a dangerous +proposition for us!" + +Presson stared at him for a full minute, blinking, thinking, knotting +his brows, and chewing fiercely on a piece of gum. + +"Pull him out--that what you mean? Well, it can be done. There are +plenty of men in the party that are all safe and right, but haven't been +identified with the machine." + +"And what will you say to Dave Everett and his friends, all of whom +you'll need at the polls?" + +"It's a party exigency, isn't it?" + +"It can be called that--and you can call a skunk 'Kitty' on your way +home from the club, but that fact won't change your wife's opinion of +you when you come in. You walk up to Dave Everett now with your +political exigency in your hand, Luke, and it would turn to a political +_ax_egency, and you'd have a pack of rebels on your back that would down +you sure! No, sir! You can't afford to smash a man that way." + +"Then we'll ram him through the convention, reformers or no reformers!" + +"You haven't got your crowd." + +"Thelismer, you're right! I wouldn't have admitted it yesterday, but +after seeing how they came roaring up against you, I'm scared. I'm going +to pull Everett out of the fight and set up another man--one of the +young and liberal fellows. I'll do it within twenty-four hours!" + +The Duke replaced his clippings and shoved the big wallet into his +pocket. + +"Sudden remedies are sometimes good in extreme cases, Luke," he drawled, +"but administering knockout drops to a sick party is not to be +recommended." + +The chairman's patience left him then. + +"What kind of a trick is this, standing up here at the eleventh hour and +putting the knife into your party?" he demanded, wrathfully. + +"I had a dog once, Luke, that was snapping at flies in general as he was +lying on the porch here, and he snapped at a brown hackle fly that was +hitched onto a fish-line. And he ran off down the road with a hook in +his mouth and sixty yards of line and a pole following him. You'd better +spit out that last fly, Luke. Now will you take a little advice from me, +on the condition that I'll follow up that advice with some practical +help?" + +"That's what I'm waiting for." + +"Then you get back onto your job, and leave Everett just where he +is--not one word to him or his friends. That's the advice part. The help +will come when I've got a few things straightened out a little more." + +"The convention is less than three weeks off. What's your plan? I want +to know it now." + +"Well, you won't." + +"Do you think for a moment that I, the chairman of the Republican State +Committee, am going into a convention with blinders on?" + +"You can go in any way you want to," retorted the Duke, calmly. "But +that's all you're going to hear from me to-day, Luke. Faith without +works is no good. You furnish the faith, and I'll furnish the works." + +"I never heard of any such devilish campaign management as this," +grumbled the chairman. "You're talking to me as though I didn't know any +more politics than a village hog-reeve." + +"Well, I'm the doctor in this case, providing I'm called," said the old +man. "Just now I'm feeling of the pulse and making the diagnosis, and am +getting ready to prescribe the dose. I'll call you into consultation, +Luke, when the right time comes, and I'll guarantee that nothing will +leak out to wound your pride or your political reputation. But I want to +say that if you stand here to-day waiting to hear any more about what I +intend to do, you'd better shut off that automobile. You won't be +leaving for quite a spell." + +The chairman knew his man. He trotted down the steps and got into his +car. + +"When you get ready to let me know how you're running this campaign, +you'll find me at headquarters," he said, wrathfully, by way of +farewell. Then he departed, with the news of how Thelismer Thornton was +still boss of the northern principality--but that Thelismer Thornton, +Nestor of State politicians, had calmly arrogated to himself the sole +handling of the biggest question in State politics, the chairman kept to +himself. He was in too desperate straits to rebel at that time. +Furthermore, he knew that Thelismer Thornton in the years past had +served as kedge for many a political craft that a lee shore threatened. +He was measurably contented, after reflection, to have the old man take +the thing into his own hands in that masterful fashion. + +The Duke pulled his chair to the end of the porch, where he could look +across to the far hills beyond the river. He lighted one of his long +cigars, put his feet on the rail, and began to smoke, squinting +thoughtfully, pondering deeply. + +To all practical intents and purposes he was holding there on the porch +of "The Barracks" the next State convention of the Republican party. The +birds were busy about the old blockhouse opposite, coming and going. He +seemed to be studying their movements through his half-open eyes, as +though they were prospective delegates. And at last a grim smile of +satisfaction fixed itself upon his face. + +His grandson found him in this amiable mood when he came with the losers +by the Jo Quacca fire. Each man submitted his list rather defiantly. +They sat down and scowled while Harlan told what he had discovered in +his investigation of the circumstances. + +"I have not tried to beat them down," he concluded. "I even reminded +them of a few items they had overlooked. What happened yesterday was +enough to make almost any man forget things." + +He was inclined to be a little defiant, too, fighting the battles of the +property owners, even though his own pocket must suffer by the +settlement. + +But the Duke preserved his unruffled demeanor. He slowly made some +figures on the bottoms of the papers and passed the sheets to his +grandson. + +"Fill in the checks and bring them out here and I'll sign 'em," he +directed. And as Harlan bent over him, he whispered: "You're playing +good politics now, boy. Stand up for the under dog. I see you're +remembering that you're a candidate." + +"I'm only doing what's right," protested the young man. + +"When you can be right and still play politics, you're getting ahead +fast," murmured the Duke. "Fill in the checks!" + +"But you've increased their own appraisal! You're giving them more than +they've asked for!" Harlan was careless of the presence of the three +farmers. + +"Well, wasn't it your own suggestion that we use these men right?" +demanded his grandfather. He gazed benignantly on the claimants. "I'm +square, myself, when it comes to my debts, boys. You all know that. But +Harlan argued your case last night in a way that's worth the extra +money. If he can do that here at home, first crack out of the box, when +it's our own money at stake, don't you think he'll do a pretty good job +for you down at the State House, where it'll be a case of the public +money?" + +His grandson had gone into the house. He had found himself at a loss for +words, suddenly. + +"Harlan is as straight as a stilya'd, and allus has been," admitted one +of the men, gratefully. He was wondering how much the Duke had added to +the amount. + +"All of you think now that a fellow like that will make a pretty good +sort of a representative, don't you?" + +They muttered assent. + +"Well, why did you back-district chaps come in here yesterday and try to +lick him in the caucus?" + +They had no answer ready. They looked at the porch floor, and rasped +their hard hands together and cracked their knuckles in embarrassment. +The old man kept his complacency. + +"I'll tell you how it was, boys. You got fooled, now, didn't you? You +let 'em use you like old Samson used the foxes. Now, the next time one +of those disturber fellows ties a blazing pine knot to your tail, you +sit right down and gnaw the string in two before you start to run. +Because a man holds office it's no sign he's a renegade. You'll usually +find the renegades standing outside and slandering him and trying to get +his office away for their own use. They got you going, didn't they, when +they went around telling that I thought I owned you in this district, +body and soul? Got you jealous and suspicious and mad? Can you afford to +be jealous and mad when you've got a fellow like Harlan Thornton willing +to go down to the legislature and work for you? Do you want one of those +blatherskites to represent you? Now tell me!" + +"Poor men that have to work all the time don't have the chance to look +into public things as much as they ought to," said one of the men, +apologetically. "And sometimes when a fellow comes around who can talk +smooth we get fooled." + +"You've bought a lot of fake things from travelling agents in this +county. Now don't buy fake politics," He took the checks from his +grandson's hand. Harlan had brought them, and a pen. He cocked his knee +and scrawled his signature. They came to him and took their checks. Each +stood there, holding the slip of paper awkwardly pinched between thumb +and forefinger. The Duke waited. + +"I want to say this," stammered the spokesman. "You get fooled +sometimes. Most often in politics. But no one can fool us again--not +about the Thornton family." + +"Pass that word around the district, boys," advised the Duke, +complacently. "There's an election coming, you know." + +They departed, three new and promising evangelists. + +"Campaign expenses, bub," broke in the old man, when Harlan began; +"campaign expenses! It's a soggy lump of dough out back there. That kind +of yeast will lighten it." + +He looked across at the hills, squinting reflectively again, and at last +glanced up at his grandson, who stood regarding him with thoughtful +hesitation. + +"Say it, boy!" he counselled. "A little more bile left over from +yesterday?" + +"No, sir! Not that. But I think I'll send Ben Kyle in with the crews and +let him locate the new camps." + +"I didn't intend to have you go back--not if you'd listen to me. We've +got men enough to attend to that sort of work, Harlan. I want you with +me for a while. I've got some plans for you." + +"And I've got a few plans for myself. Now that I'm in this, I propose to +be in it in earnest." + +"You wouldn't be a Thornton if you didn't get at it all over," commended +the Duke. "You see, I understood you, boy!" + +"I'm going to call on every man in this district and tell him where I +stand. I'm going to tell him that if there are honest men in that +legislature I propose to be counted in with them. I may be a very humble +helper, but I'm going to lift with all my strength, grandfather, on the +square-deal end of every proposition that I find to lay hold of." + +"Good politics, boy, all good politics!" declared the old man. With +humor that had a little malicious fun in it he avoided endorsing this +impulsive zeal as anything except shrewd playing of his own game. But +his eyes told the young man what his lips did not utter. There was pride +in them, encouragement, joy that would not be hidden--and something +else: wistful regret, perhaps; it seemed to be that--the regret that age +feels when it has lost its illusions and beholds them springing again in +the heart of fervent youth; regret conscious that in its turn this new +faith in things present and things to come will be dead and cold, too. + +"I don't think we have to worry much about the election, Harlan. Go out +and tackle the boys. You'll make good. Take two days. That'll be time +enough. And then I want you." + +Harlan's eyes questioned him. + +"You know I opened up a little to you last night, bub. You're all I've +got, you know. I've not been much of a hand to talk. I don't believe +you've realized just how I've felt. But we'll let it stand as it is. +I've got plans for you, boy, better than the little pancake politics of +this district. I know a few things in politics. I'm old enough to +understand how to put you in right. It's one thing to know how, and it's +another thing to find occasion just ripe and ready." + +He rolled his cigar to the centre of his mouth and lifted the corners in +an illuminating grin. + +"Bub, in two days be ready to come with me. I'm going to put you in +right!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A POLITICAL CONVERT + + +For two days Harlan Thornton rode about over the Fort Canibas district. +He talked to men at their doors, in their shops, over the fences of +their fields. He knew that some sneered at him behind his back. Some +even dared to arraign him, boldly and angrily, and flung his motives in +his face, accusing the grandfather of inciting the grandson to this +attempt to catch votes. + +He realized that most of the voters did not understand him aright. They +did not understand sincerity in politics. But his own consciousness of +rectitude supplied his consolation and provided his impetus. Till then +he had employed the Thornton grit only in his business efforts; he +employed it now with just as much vigor in his proselyting. Once in the +fight, he was awake to what it meant. His frank earnestness impressed +those with whom he talked. He did not lose his temper, when men assailed +him and tried to discredit his protestations. Here and there, in +neighborhoods, knots of farmers gathered about him and listened. He +began to win his way, and he knew it. The knowledge that Harlan Thornton +was a square man in business needed no herald in that section. + +That this integrity would extend to his politics grew into belief more +and more as he went about. + +The distrust of him, because of his associations, a suspicion fostered +by the paid agents of the opposition, began to give way before his calm, +earnest young manhood. But in every knot of men he found a few bitter +irreconcilables still. They were those whom change invites, and the +established order offends. One man, unable to provoke him by +vituperation, and in a frenzy of childish rage because Harlan's calm +poise was not disturbed by his outpourings, ran at him and struck him. +He was a little man, and though he leaped when he struck, the blow +landed no higher than the shoulder that Harlan turned to him. And when +he leaped again the young man caught him by the wrist and smiled down on +him, unperturbed. + +"If that's the way you talk politics, Sam, I'll have to adjourn the +debate," he said, quietly. And the story of that went the rounds, +accompanied by much laughter, and the big, sturdy, serene young man who +was master of his own passions met smiles wherever he went. + +Another story preceded him, too. "Fighting" MacCracken, of the Jo Quacca +neighborhood, smarting ever since that day in the yard of "The +Barracks," jealous of his prestige as a man of might, offered obscene +and brutal insult to the name of Thelismer Thornton in the hearing of +his grandson. It had been hinted previously along the border that the +six-foot scion of the Thorntons was a handy man in a scrap, but now his +prowess was surely established. MacCracken went about, a living +advertisement of how effectually righteous anger can back up two good +fists. + +Therefore, respect attended on good-humor and went with, or ahead of, +the candidate. + +He wondered at himself sometimes. He hardly understood the zeal that now +animated him, so sudden a convert. But the zest of youth was in him; the +spirit of the toil of the big woods, of the race with drought when the +drives are going down, the everlasting struggle with nature's forces, +the rivalry between man and man where accomplishment that bulks large in +the eyes of men is the only accomplishment that counts--all these +spurred him to make good, now that he had begun. In the open arena of +life his training had been that of man to man, and the best man taking +the prize. And his reading during the long evenings had been more in the +way of education in public matters than he had realized. As for ideals, +he had followed the masterful men who preached a gospel that appealed to +him, living the life of the open, battling for the weak against the +selfishly strong--so it seemed to the one who studied their achievements +on the printed page. With his own opportunity now thrust upon him, +Harlan Thornton determined to make candor his code, honesty his system. +He entertained no false ideas of his personal importance. But his lack +of experience did not daunt him. He simply made up his mind that he +would go forward, keeping soul and heart open, as well as eyes and ears. +He believed that the square deal could not be hidden from those who +entered public life in that manner. + +He did not discuss all this with his grandfather. If he had, Thelismer +Thornton would have been vastly interested. He might have been amused. +Probably he would have been more amused than interested, for hot youth +and glowing ideals have humorous phases for the man who has lived among +men for more than eighty years. + +But that he had unloosed a bottle imp in his own family would not have +occurred to the old man, even after he had listened, for he still had +the cynical belief that circumstances must control, interest convert, +and personal profit kill the most glowing ardor in reform. + +Lacking the gift of divination, Thelismer Thornton watched the rapid +development of this bottle imp with much complacency. "Whispering" +Urban Cobb brought him reports from the field. Talleyrand Sylvester was +trying to place bets on Harlan Thornton, but there were no takers. It +was even stated that Enoch Dudley was finding it hard work to secure +pledges enough to warrant his running as an independent candidate. + +Harlan Thornton, looking in from the outside, had found politics, as +managed _for_ him, an abhorrent mess. Now, plunged in, he was embracing +his opportunity, and finding good in the contest. + +On the other hand, Harlan Thornton, making his own plea and his own +pledges as a candidate, was embraced by the voters. He was not a mere +legatee forced on them by a boss--he was speaking for himself, and the +sincerity of the young man made itself felt. + +At the end of the appointed two days he knew that his prospects were +safe. One of the other towns in the district and three of the +plantations had endorsed his name in caucus. If Thelismer Thornton had +been responsible for his candidacy, so was his own personality +responsible for this clearing away of difficulties. He felt his +self-respect returning. That cruel wound to his pride was healing. + +He was riding home in the evening of the second day, past the end of the +long bridge, finding comfort in this thought. + +A white figure, framed in the black mouth of the bridge, startled rider +and horse. + +"It's only Clare," she said. "I heard you were up the river to-day, and +I've been waiting for you." + +He rode closer. It was a new and strange Clare who was revealed to him +in the dim light. She was gowned and gloved, and her broad hat hid her +boyish curls. She walked out of the gloom and leaned against the bridge +rail. + +"Ah, the little playmate did ride away from me forever!" he cried, +looking her up and down. "But this young lady--why, she takes my breath +away!" He took off his hat and bowed to the pommel. + +"You needn't make fun of me, Mr. Harlan Thornton," she returned, +crisply. "And a real young lady wouldn't come down in this bridge and +wait for you. I wanted to tell you I'm glad. I hear all about your +success. When I was a little girl I didn't want you to go away and be a +big man. But now that I'm a woman I'm glad you're going. I wanted you to +realize, Mr. Harlan Thornton, that I'm a woman, so if you'll reach down +your hand I'll shake it and congratulate you." + +He took her little hand in both his own. + +"You were a real little woman two days ago right here in this place," he +said, gratefully. "I didn't realize it at that moment, but it was what +you said to me that put some real sense into my head, after all. It set +me to thinking." + +"What kind of laws are you going to make?" she demanded. + +"I don't think I'll have much to do with making laws, Clare. All I can +do is listen and try to be on the right side when the voting comes." + +"Can't you make a law to oblige old men to stop fighting each other," +she demanded, petulantly--"fighting each other, and making all their +folks uncomfortable?" + +"I think it would be a good law, especially in one case I know about. +But sometimes the best laws don't get passed." + +"I'll come down and make a speech for it. You said I talked like old +folks the other evening." + +"A speech from you would convert them all," he returned, indulging her +in this childish banter. "You see, you converted me with only a few +words, and I was a hard case just then." + +"Then I'll come down to your legislature and we'll make it into a law, +and the punishment shall be, if they don't make up and allow their folks +to be comfortable and friends, they must have their old heads bumped +together--bumped harder and harder till they shake hands and make up and +live happy ever after. Old folks haven't any business to stay mad. They +won't get into heaven if they do." + +She withdrew her hand, and went away into the black mouth of the bridge. + +"That's all, Big Boy!" she cried. "It was some business, you see, that I +waited to talk over with you. And a grown-up young lady mustn't stay +after her business is finished." + +"But I'll walk home with you!" he called. + +"No, I'll not be frightened at the dark until I get old enough to be +called an old maid," she said, mischievously. "Good-night!" + +He waited by the side of the river until he saw her white figure safely +through the dark bridge, and on its way up the quiet hillside past the +church. Then he rode to "The Barracks," his mind dwelling a bit more +particularly on the vagaries of womankind than it ever had before. + +He joined his grandfather on the porch after he had eaten his supper +alone. + +"The fences, so I hear, Harlan, will pass the inspection of the most +expert fence-viewers," he chuckled. "So I suppose you'll be ready to +leave with me to-morrow." + +"If you think it's necessary to have me go anywhere with you, +grandfather, I'll go." + +There was silence for a time. The young man was waiting. The old man +smoked placidly. + +"Is there any reason why you can't tell me where we are going?" inquired +Harlan. + +"No especial reason--only I'll be wasting time telling you. You'll see +for yourself. We'll meet a big man or so--that's all!" + +"The man I'd like to meet," began the young man, fervently, "is one that +every young chap in this country can follow and ought to follow, if he's +got red blood and honesty in him. I wish I could meet him now when I'm +starting out, if only to shake his hand." + +"You'd better not meet any man so long as he's wearing a halo, where +you're concerned. You'll find political halos, bub, when you get too +near to 'em, something like restaurant doughnuts--holes surrounded by +poor cooking. Better keep away a spell. That's why I'm not going to tell +you where we're going--not just now. I might go to cracking up the man +too much. I'll let you build your own halo for him--and then maybe you +can eat your own cooking, provided you find the halo a doughnut." + +They left Fort Canibas the next morning, travelling humbly by mail stage +to the railroad terminus. The branch line took them to a populous +junction, and by that time Harlan Thornton began to appreciate that his +grandfather was rather more of a figure in State politics than he had +dreamed. He had made many trips with him through the State in years +past, but never before when men understood, some dimly, some fearfully, +that a political crisis was on. Thelismer Thornton's seat in the train, +his room at the hotel, was besieged by those who respectfully solicited +his opinions. They seemed to realize that some of the wisdom of the +fathers in State politics, of the patriarchs with whom he had trained, +had fallen to him by natural inheritance. But though he listened +patiently, he said but little. Harlan noticed, however, that he did take +especial pains to deprecate some of the suppressive movements advised by +the more hot-headed managers. + +"Let things swing as they're going," he advised. "She'll take care of +herself, give her free run right now. But you can't pinch up a line gale +by putting a clothespin on the nose of the tempest. Let her snort! Brace +the party and face it like a hitching--post! Don't try to choke off Arba +Spinney. Let him froth." + +His grandfather was so insistent on this point that Harlan took notice +of its frequent repetition and the earnestness with which it was +pressed. He began to understand that some plan lay back of his +grandfather's silence to him and to others as to his private reasons for +this appeal. He began to take lively interest in the ramifications of +practical politics as played by the hand of a master. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A MAN FROM THE SHADOWS + + +There was a provoking flavor of mystery about Thelismer Thornton's early +movements the next day. His grandson became still more interested. This +element in politics appealed to him, for he was young. + +They left the city by an early train. The Duke secluded himself and his +grandson in a drawing-room of the car. + +It was an express--train which did not stop at way stations. But when +the conductor came for the tickets the old man inquired whether orders +had been issued to have the train held up at a certain siding. + +"Yes, sir, to leave two passengers," said the conductor. He was +courteous, but he winked at the old politician with the air of one who +thought he understood something. He exhibited his telegram from the +dispatcher. "Can't be much politics there, Mr. Thornton," he remarked, +by way of jest. + +"I'm on a fishing-trip," explained the Duke, blandly. And the conductor, +who knew that the siding had no fishing water within ten miles of it, +went away chuckling in order to applaud the joke of a man of power. + +A few hours later the two were let off at the siding and the train +hurried on. + +There was a farm-house near the railroad. They ate dinner with the +farmer and his wife, who seemed to realize that they were entertaining +some one out of the ordinary, and were much flustered thereby. +Especially did the farmer struggle with his vague memory of +personalities, asking many round-about questions and "supposing" many +possibilities that the Duke placidly neglected to confirm. + +The only definite information the farmer received was that the big +elderly man wanted himself and his companion conveyed to Burnside +Village by wagon, starting in the late afternoon. + +"I'll take you," said the man; "but what sticks me is that you didn't +stay right on board that train. It stops at Burnside regular, and it +don't stop here at all." + +"But it stopped to-day," remarked the Duke. + +"I know it did, and that's what sticks me again." + +The old man rose from the table and smiled down on him. + +"Here's a good cigar, brother. I've often worked out many a puzzle while +having a bang-up smoke." + +He invited Harlan by a nod of the head, and they went out and strolled +in the maple grove behind the house. + +"I suppose you think by this time, bub, that I'm in my second childhood, +and playing dime novel. But there are some things in politics that have +to be done as gentle and careful as picking a rose petal off a +school-ma'am's shoulder." The Duke chuckled and smoked for a time. "When +I've had a job of that sort to do I haven't even talked to myself, +Harlan. So you mustn't think I'm distrustful of you because I don't tell +you what's on." + +"I'm willing to wait," said his grandson. + +"Learn your lesson, Harlan--the one I'm trying to teach you now. I never +knew but one man who could keep his mouth shut under all circumstances +when he felt it was his duty to do so. That was old Ben Holt. He's dead +now. He fell off a bridge on his way to church and didn't holler 'Help!' +for fear of breaking the Sabbath. You don't find any more of that kind +in these days--not in political matters. I'm not distrusting you, I say, +but I'm teaching you the lesson. Keep your mouth shut till it's time to +open it. I'm drawing this thing here strong on you, so as to impress it. +As for the other fellows--if I had got off the train at Burnside to-day +the news would have been in every afternoon paper in the State. They'd +only need that one fact to build fifty stories on--all different. _Most_ +of those stories would have hurt; there'd have been one guess, at least, +that would kill the scheme. Sit down here, and let's take it easy." + +He sat at the foot of a tree, his broad straw hat beside him. He leaned +his head against the trunk, and gazed upward and away from his grandson. +When the question came it was so irrelevant, so astonishing, that the +young man gasped without replying. + +"Harlan, how do you stand with the Kavanagh girl?" + +The old man smoked on in the silence without removing his gaze from the +leaves above his head. + +"I want to confess to you, my boy, that your old grandfather made rather +a disgraceful exhibition of himself the other day. But as I said then, a +man will thrash and swear at a hornet and make an ass of himself, +generally, in the operation. The impudent little fool didn't realize +what a big matter she was trifling with." + +"Grandfather," protested Harlan, manfully, "that's no way to speak of a +young lady. You ask me how I stand? I stand this way--I'll not have the +child mentioned in any such manner--not in my hearing; and that's with +all respect to you, sir." + +"Young lady--child? Well, which is she?" + +"I don't know," confessed Harlan, ingenuously. "And it doesn't make +much difference." + +"Sort of ashamed of me, aren't you?" inquired his grandfather. "A man +that you've seen all the politicians catering to the last day or so, and +small enough to bandy insults with a snippet of a girl! Well, bub, +there's a lot of childishness in human nature. It breaks out once in a +while. Cuss a tack, and grin and bear an amputation! We'll let the girl +alone. I don't seem to get in right when she is mentioned. But I wanted +to have you tell me that you don't intend to marry Dennis Kavanagh's +daughter. You can't afford to do that, boy! Not with your prospects. And +now I'm not saying anything against the girl. We'll leave her out, I +say. It's just that she isn't the kind of a woman--when she gets to be a +woman--that I want to see mated with you." He burst out: "Dammit, +Harlan, I can see where you're going to land in this State if you'll let +your old gramp have free rein! And the right kind of a wife is half the +battle in what you're going into." + +"Have you got that right kind picked out for me--along with the rest? +You talk as though you had." + +It was said almost in the tone of insult. It might have been the +tone--it might have been that the taunt touched upon the truth: +Thelismer Thornton's face flushed. He did not seem to find reply easy. + +"There's only this to say, grandfather. I know you're interested in me +and in seeing me get ahead in the world. You pushed me into politics, +and I'm trying to make good. I'm glad you did it--I'll say that now. I +see opportunities ahead if I stay square and honest. But don't you try +to push me into marriage. I'm going to do my own choosing there. And +that doesn't mean that I'm in love with Clare Kavanagh, or intend to +marry Clare Kavanagh, or want to marry her--or that she wants to marry +me. That's straight, and I don't want to talk about it any more." + +He stood up, and his tone was defiant. + +"You'd better take a walk, bub," commended the Duke, quietly. "I'm going +to nap for a little while. We may be up late to-night." + +He picked up his hat and canted it over his face. "Get back here as +early as five o'clock," he said, from under its brim. + +They were away in the farmer's carryall at that hour, after a supper of +bread-and-milk. + +In the edge of the village of Burnside the Duke ordered a halt, and +stepped down from the carriage. The evening had settled in and it was +dark under the elms. + +"Here's five dollars, brother. You've used us all right, and now so long +to you." + +"But I hain't got you to nowhere yet!" protested the farmer. He had +finally decided in his own mind that these were railroad managers +planning projects, with an eye on his own farm. He wanted to carry them +where he could exhibit them to some one who could inform him. + +But the Duke promptly drew Harlan along into the shadows, and a farmer +hampered with a two-seated carriage is not equipped for the trail. They +heard the complaining squeal of iron against iron as he turned to go +back home. + +"We've come here to call on a man," stated the Duke, after they had +walked for a little time. + +"On ex-Governor Waymouth, I suppose," Harlan suggested, quietly. + +The old man chuckled. + +"How long have you been suspecting that?" + +"Ever since I heard Burnside mentioned, of course." + +"Good! You guessed and kept still about it. You've got the makings of a +politician, and you are learning fast. Now what do you suppose I'm +sneaking up on Varden Waymouth in this way for?" + +"You said I'd see for myself when the time came. I'm in no hurry, +grandfather." + +The Duke patted Harlan's shoulder. "You're one of my kind, that's sure, +boy. I haven't got to put any patent time-lock onto your tongue. And I +can't say that of many chaps in this State. You're a safe man to have +along. Come on!" + +The house was back from the street a bit--a modest mansion of brick, +dignifiedly old. Tall twin columns flanked the front door and supported +the roof of the porch. Harlan had never seen the residence of General +Waymouth before, but that exterior seemed fitted to the man, such as he +knew him to be. + +He admitted them himself, when they had waited a few moments after +sounding alarm with the ancient knocker. Framed in the door, he was a +picturesque figure. His abundant white hair hung straight down over his +ears, and curled outward at the ends; his short beard was snowy, but +there was healthful ruddiness on his face, and though his figure, tall +above the average, stooped a bit, he walked briskly ahead of them into +the library, crying delighted welcome over his shoulder. His meeting +with Thelismer Thornton had been almost an embrace. + +"And this boosting big chap is Harlan--my grand-baby, Vard! Guess you +used to see him at 'The Barracks' when he was smaller. Since then he's +been trying to outgrow one of our spruce-trees." + +The ex-Governor gave Harlan his left hand. The empty sleeve of the right +arm was pinned to the shoulder. + +"The old Yankee stock doesn't need a step-ladder to stand on to light +the moon, so they used to say." + +He rolled chairs close to each other and urged them to sit, with the +anxious hospitality of the old man who has grown to prize the narrowing +circle of his intimates. + +"Smoke, Thelismer," he pleaded. "Stretch out and smoke. I always like to +see you smoke. You take so much comfort. I sometimes wish I'd learned to +smoke. Old age gets lonely once in a while. Perhaps a good cigar might +be a consolation." + +"So you do get lonesome sometimes, Vard?" inquired the Duke. + +"It's a lonesome age when you're eighty, comrade. You probably find it +so yourself. There are so few of one's old friends that live to be +eighty." + +Then they fell into discourse, eager, wistful reminiscences such as come +to the lips of old friends who meet infrequently. The young man, sitting +close in the circle, listened appreciatively. This courtly old soldier, +lawyer, Governor, and kindly gentleman had been to him since boyhood, as +he had to the understanding youth of his State, an ideal knight of the +old regime. And so the hours slipped past, and he sat listening. + +The calm night outside was breathlessly still, except for the drone of +insects at the screens, attracted by the glow of the library lamp. A +steeple clock clanged its ten sonorous strokes, and still the old men +chatted on, and the Duke had not hinted at his errand. + +The General suddenly remembered that he had in the cellar some home-made +wine, and he asked the young man to come with him, as lamp-bearer. + +"The good wife would have thought of that little touch of hospitality +long ago, my son," he said, as they walked down the stairs, "but a +widower's house with grouchy hired help makes old age still more +lonely." + +On their return they found the Duke, feet extended, head tipped back, +eyes on the ceiling. He was deep in thought, and told Harlan to place +his glass on the chair's arm. + +"Varden," he said, "eighty isn't old, not for a man like you; and it +shouldn't be lonely, that age. I'm still older, and I propose to wear +out instead of rust out." + +"I don't feel rusty, exactly," returned the General, smiling into his +glass. "But when I think of all the marches, Thelismer, of the +campaigns, the heartbreaking struggles of the war--of all the cases won +and cases lost, the nights of study and days of labor in the law--the +fuss and fury of politics--of all the years behind me, I feel as though +I'd like to be used as my father used his old boots: Before he took his +bed for the last time he went up into the garret of the old farm-house +and laid his boots there on their sides. 'Let 'em lie down, now, and +rest,' he said. And I've never allowed them to be disturbed." + +The Duke still stared at the ceiling. + +"Varden, you and I have known each other so long that you don't need as +much talk from me as you would from a stranger. When I've asked a thing +from you in the past I didn't have to sit down and talk to you an hour +about the reasons why I wanted it. You understood that I had a good +reason for asking. I'm going to ask just one more thing from you in this +life. I'm going to ask it straight from the shoulder. You and I don't +need to beat about the bush with each other. I want you to say 'yes,' +for if you don't you're abandoning our old State as though she were a +widow headed for the almshouse." + +Thornton leaned forward, grasped his glass and drained it at a gulp, and +then looked the amazed General squarely in the eyes. + +"You're going to be nominated as Governor of this State in the next +convention, and you've got to accept," he declared. "Now hold on! Just +as you understand that I've got good reasons for asking you to do this, +just so I understand all that you're going to say in objection. I +discount all your objections in advance. I know you haven't lost run of +affairs in this State--you know all the mix-up the party is in right +now. They're going to beat Dave Everett in convention, General, just as +sure as the devil can't freeze his own ice. It's going to be +'Seventy-two all over again. People gone crazy for a change and jumping +the wrong way, like grasshoppers in front of a mowing machine. Spinney +means the whole rotten thing over again--State treasury looted, tax rate +reduced to get a popular hoorah, a floating debt that will make us +stagger and keep enterprise out of this State for ten years, petty graft +in every State office, and every strap on the party nag busted from +snaffle to crupper. Now I want to ask you one question: Do you want Arba +Spinney for the next Governor of this State--sitting in the chair that +you honored? You know him! You've heard his mouth go. You understand his +calibre. Do you want him?" + +"No," admitted General Waymouth. + +"Well, you're going to get him if you don't accept that nomination. +You're going to get him, blab-mouth, mob-rule, mortification, and merry +hell--the whole bagful! Do you want that for this State, Vard?" + +"Our State can't afford to have such a man," agreed General Waymouth, +"but--" + +"I'd, myself, rather see a Democrat win at the polls!" shouted Thornton. +"But the Democrat that they've got in line is worse than Spinney. It's a +popocratic year, and they're all playing that game. But they can't +overcome our natural plurality, Varden. It means Spinney if he goes to +the polls! It's up to you to stop him. You've got to do it!" + +The General rose and walked around the room. His shoulders were stooped +a bit more. Then he came and put his hand on Thelismer's shoulder. + +"Your faith in what I am and what I might do is worthy of you, my old +comrade, even if it exalts my poor powers too much. And I thank you, +Thelismer. But I know what I am. I'm only a stranded old man. The +younger generation will not think as you do. Go and find some good man +there. I'm too weary, Thelismer, too old and too weary--and almost +forgotten. Find another man!" + +"What's that? Find a man for Governor of this State, groom him, work him +out, score him down and shove him under the wire of State Convention a +winner inside of two weeks? Varden, you know politics better than that! +_You_ forgotten by the younger generation of this State? Harlan, what +have you to say to that?" + +The young man stood up. He had listened well and listened long that +evening. In the presence of this gracious old knight of the heroic days +of history he had felt his heart swelling as he remembered the record +that all men of his State knew. + +The fervor of his admiration showed so plainly in his glistening eyes +that General Waymouth was touched, and waited indulgently. + +"General, it's only because my grandfather is your old friend and has +commanded me that I dare to speak. I simply have a hope. It has become +dear to me. I'm hoping for a privilege. I honestly believe that outside +of all party preferences there are thousands of young men in this State +who will feel proud to have that same privilege--will esteem it one of +the honors of their lives. Their fathers had the same honor. And that's +to go to the polls and cast a ballot for Gen. Varden Waymouth. It will +make politics seem worth while to us, sir." + +"Good!" ejaculated the Duke. "You're hearing the voice of the young men +of this State now, Varden." He stood up. "Here's my boy for your +service. He'll be in the next legislature. Use him. Depend on him. +You're old--you've earned your rest. I know it. But here's a loud call +for a sacrifice. This boy and such as he can lift a lot of the load. +Varden, give me your hand. Say that you'll do it!" + +"Let's sit down a moment," said the General, solemn gentleness in his +tone. "I have something that it's in my heart to say." + +He drew his chair even closer to them. They waited a few moments for him +to speak. In that room with its dignity of ancient things, with the +silence of the summer night surrounding, that waiting was impressive. +Harlan felt the thrill of it. Even his grandfather was gravely anxious. +The General leaned forward and put his thin hand on the elder Thornton's +knee. + +"Thelismer, you yourself link the past with the present, so far as the +politics of this State go. You link them even more than I do, for you +are active in the present. You have been a strong man--you are strong +to-day. But I want to say to you, and this is as friend to friend, you +haven't always used that strength right. I know what reply you'd make to +that. We've talked it all over many times. You say that you've had to +play the game. That's right. And I've played it myself, too. But in the +years since then, while I've sat at one side of the arena and looked on, +I've had a chance to meditate and a chance to observe. I don't think +matters have been running right in this State--and now I'm not speaking +of Arba Spinney or his ilk. You come to me to-night and you ask me to be +the Governor of this State once more. You want me to come back into the +game. You ask me to appeal to the suffrage of the young men who admire +what little I've accomplished. I want to warn you. I may be putting it +too strong when I call it a warning. I have some ideals to-day. You may +not find them to your liking in politics." + +"I'm willing to trust in your good judgment and your sense of what is +square for all concerned," protested the Duke, stoutly. "In the hot old +days I was hot with the rest, Vard. I've mellowed some since." + +"You may not find me a safe man, Thelismer. I shall come back out of the +shadows with a firm resolve to merit the approval of the young men of +this State--and the young men see more clearly than their fathers did." + +"I'm not here to-night with bridle or bit or halter, Varden. We need +you. The party has got to have you. I know what your name will +accomplish in that convention. You shall be Governor of this State +without making pledge or promise. Will you stand?" + +"I ask you again, Thelismer, if there is no other way?" + +"Any other way means Spinney and mob rule." + +General Waymouth turned to Harlan. "Go out and tell the honest young men +of this State that I will try to satisfy their ideals. That's the only +pledge I'll give. I'm afraid I haven't any promise for the old machine, +Thelismer." He smiled. + +"We don't need any," returned the Duke, briskly. "We know Vard Waymouth. +But there's one pledge I do want from you. This whole thing is to be +left in my hands so far as announcement goes. My plan of campaign makes +that much necessary. We don't want to flush that bunch of birds till we +can give 'em both barrels." + +"I consent. I'll live in the lingering hope that at the last moment +you'll find I won't be needed." + +He rose and gave his hand to each in turn, bringing them to their feet. + +"Now for bed. Of course, you'll remain here the night." + +"No," declared Thornton, decisively. "Out o' here on the midnight! I +want to dodge out of Burnside in the dark. We'll walk down to the +station now. It's settled. I'll keep you posted." + +At the door the General gave Harlan the last word, grasping his hand +again. + +"You brought me a message from the young men that touched me." + +"I spoke for myself, but I believe that all of them would like to have +the same opportunity that I had," faltered Harlan. "I know they would. +Will you let us come to you at the right time and make it plain?" + +"I shall depend upon you in a great many ways in the months to come. You +know it's to be a young man's administration by an old man made young +again. I'm proud of my first volunteer!" + +"He's a good boy, and he's got the makings in him," declared the Duke. + +"I've been too long with men not to appreciate a good chief of staff +when I see him," laughed the General. + +Framed in the big door, with the dim glow of light behind him, he +watched them depart. + +The Duke walked in the far shadows of the station platform in silence, +smoking, until the train whistled. + +"Bub, you remember that I told you I'd put you in right," he said, +climbing the car steps. "Now follow your hand." + +But Harlan Thornton, fresh from that presence, understood that he had +pledged a loyalty deeper than the loyalty of mere politics or +preferment. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DEALS AND IDEALS + + +There was no one in the smoking-room of the car, so the Duke discovered +with relief. It was late, and the passengers were in their berths. There +was no one to spy, ask questions, or guess. + +"Complete!" he grunted, satisfiedly, as he sat down. "We've come through +with the job in good shape, Harlan. It'll have to be a mind-reader that +finds out what I've put up to-day." + +He swung his feet upon the seat opposite and sighed. + +"I'm a pretty old man to be tearing 'round nights in this fashion, bub, +but I feel younger by twenty years just this minute. Now I didn't tell +you my plans this morning. Reckoned I'd wait till I had a clear view +ahead. I've got it now. I'll wire ahead to the junction for our baggage +to be brought from the hotel and put on board this train. We'll stay on. +State capital next. Down to Luke's place. We'll stay there till State +Convention. Finger right on the pulse after this." + +He called the porter and arranged for his berths, and ordered the +telegram sent from the next station. + +He began leisurely to unfasten his necktie and collar. + +"Got to tell Luke, you know. A close corporation of four--that's enough +to know it. Can't trust the rest. We'll let 'em keep their old political +hen sitting on their china egg. We'll hatch the good egg in our own +nest. Then for a glorious old cackle! Vard Waymouth will be the next +Governor of this State! Sure!" + +"And this State will have the right man on the job with him as +Governor!" cried the young man, enthusiastically. "I'm proud of what you +did to-night, grandfather. I don't believe he would have listened to +anyone else." + +"Friendship, comradeship, mean something when you get old, my boy." + +"I hope they'll all know who did it when the time comes right. Some of +the men who have been growling about you behind your back will have +their mouths shut for them." + +"You've been hearing the old man cussed thoroughly and scientifically, +eh?" drawled the Duke. He squinted, quizzically. "Well, a man who stays +in politics fifty years and doesn't make enemies, stays too close to the +ground to be worth anything. Good, healthy, vigorous enemies are a +compliment." + +"I wonder whether his party will say that when General Waymouth starts +out in his reforms." + +"What reforms?" demanded the old man, tugging off his collar. + +"You heard what he said--about what he intended to do--the warning, as +he called it." + +Thornton looked at his grandson serenely and with a glint of humor in +his eyes. + +"You don't have any idea, do you, that Vard Waymouth is going to play +politics with sugar-plums instead of with the chips he finds on the +table? Get your wisdom teeth cut, young chap. That's another branch of +the science for you to learn." + +Harlan protested, his loyalty a bit shocked. + +"I believe that General Waymouth meant what he said." + +"Well, what did he say?" + +"You _know_ what he said. I saw you listening pretty closely, +grandfather. He intends a square deal for this State. I may be young, +and I probably don't understand politics, but I know an honest gentleman +when I see one." + +"My boy, there's no question of dishonesty here. Don't pick up any of +the patter that the demagogues are babbling--and they don't know just +what they mean themselves. He _is_ an honest man. Have I known him all +my life without finding that out? But he isn't going to start out and +clinch any reputation for honesty by turning his back on his own party +and its interests--not for the sake of having the cheap demagogues of +the other side pat him on the back and pick his pockets at the same +time. He knows politics too well. But we won't sit up here to-night and +discuss that. Keep your faith in him. He's worth it." + +With his coat on his arm he started for his berth. + +"The idea is, then, the party is going to make him stand first of all +for things that will help the party, without much regard for what will +help the people of this State as a whole? That's politics according to +the code, is it, grandfather?" + +"That's politics, my boy," stated the Duke with decision. "Once in a +while you find a fellow splitting off and trying to play it different, +but he doesn't last. Why the devil should he? It's his party, isn't it, +that puts him on the job?" + +"It's the majority of the people that do it, if he's elected." + +"Don't get fooled on this 'people' idea, Harlan. The people are no good +without organization--and organization _is_ the party. I don't want to +discourage you, son. You'll see some opportunities where you can grab in +and turn a trick for the general good of all hands. But you can't dump +your friends. You've got to stand by your own party first. You do +anything else, and you'll simply get the reputation of being a kicker +and an insurgent. And then you can't spin a thread. Your own party +doesn't want you and the other side is afraid of you. _Ideals_ are +blasted good in their way, but in politics cut out the _I_ and attend to +the _deals_. It's the only way you'll get anywhere." + +Harlan sat alone for a while and thought. Rebellion seethed in him. But +it was rebellion against something vague--protest that was more instinct +than actual understanding. He still lacked the prick of party +enthusiasm; party, as he had seen its operations, stood for some pretty +sordid actualities. One thing comforted him: he had not lost his faith +in General Waymouth. His grandfather's cynicism had not destroyed that. +He realized that his youth and his lack of experience would make him a +very humble cog in the legislative machinery. But he had youth and high +hopes, and his creed from boyhood had been to do everything that he had +to do resolutely and to the full measure of his ability. + +When he looked at his watch he decided that he would not go to his +berth. The train would reach the State capital shortly after four in the +morning. He dozed in his seat, the grateful breath of the summer night +fanning his face through the screen. The Duke found him there, appearing +as he had departed, his coat on his arm, his collar in his hand. He was +full of the briskness of the dawn in spite of his short rations of +sleep. + +"You mustn't think because you've found sins in the party that you've +been picked out for the atonement, boy," he chided, jocosely. "Get your +sleep--always get your sleep. I wouldn't have been alive to-day if I'd +been kept awake by worry and wonder." + +A cab took their luggage to the hotel. They walked up the hill. It was +the old man's suggestion. + +"It'll do us good. This air beats any cocktail you can get over Luke's +bar--and they serve as good a one as you'll get anywhere, even if this +is a prohibition State." + +"Wasn't it Governor Waymouth who signed the first prohibition bill in +this State?" asked Harlan. + +"Still dwelling on visions of reform, eh?" inquired his grandfather, +smiling broadly. He did not reply immediately. He stepped ahead, for +they were obliged to walk in single file past a man who was sweeping +sawdust across the sidewalk. In the windows that flanked the open doors +of his shop dusty cigar boxes were piled. The shelves within were empty. +Harlan recognized the nature of the establishment. It was a grog-shop in +its partial disguise. He got the odor of stale liquors from the open +door as he passed. + +"I was present when he signed it," said the Duke, as soon as they were +walking side by side once more. "Something had to be done politically +with the Washingtonian movement, you know; it had cut the cranks out of +the main herd. You'd think, nowadays, to hear some of the things that +are said about conditions in the old times, that every man in this State +picked up his rum-bottle and pipe and threw 'em to Tophet and got onto +the wagon. You weren't born then. Let me tell you how it really +happened. It was mostly politics. The disorganized mob of +prohibitionists didn't do it--it was our party. We needed the cranks to +swing the balance of power. They were all herded, ready to follow the +bell. Needed a shepherd. Didn't know which one of the old parties to run +to. It's a crime in politics not to grab in a bunch of the unbranded +when it's that size. We put prohibition into the platform and carried +the election. Then the boys went to the Governor and told him, +privately, that they really didn't mean it, and framed it up that they'd +pass the bill in the legislature all right and then he'd veto it--and +the party would be saved, and he wouldn't be hurt, because every one +knew that he couldn't be accused of acting in the interests of the +rumsellers, but only stood on the constitutional law ground--and there +was great talk those days, son, of personal liberty and inherent rights. +But Vard picked up his pen and told us he wasn't much of a hand for +playing practical jokes on the people. He signed it. And he was a +license man, at that, those days. Guess he is now." + +"I don't see how you can say he has played politics--not after he stood +out like that." + +Thelismer Thornton laughed silently. They were half-way up the long +hill. The bland morning was already growing warm. The old man stopped +for a moment, hat off, under a dewy maple. + +"Bub, do you think Vard Waymouth, lawyer that he is, didn't know just +about how much that act would amount to after it got to operating? About +all it did was to proclaim the rum business contraband. No teeth, no +claws, not much machinery for enforcement--and public sentiment cussing +it, after it began to hit men individually. Reform in politics is +popular just so long as it doesn't hit individuals." + +"There's teeth enough in the law _now_", remarked Harlan. + +"Oh, it's easier to put 'em in than it is to fight the mouths of the +professional ramrodders who come down to the legislature. We put in the +teeth right along and leave off the enforcement muscle. The old thing +can't chaw! Then the ramrodders have got the law to hoorah about and +read over in the parlor, and they'll go right past such a place as we +saw down the street there and not know it's a rumshop. After they get +all the law they ask for, it's a part of their game to say that the +rumshops aren't doing business. They're the kind that believe that just +having the law makes every one good--they don't want to go back on their +own scheme. Come along!" He went out into the sunshine. "I don't like to +get talking prohibition. The play is not to talk it. It runs best when +you don't talk about it. It's running good now. Saloons open, and all +the prohibitory law-frills the old fuss-budgets can crochet and hang +onto the original bush! Both sides satisfied!" + +"It may be good politics--it may seem all right to you, because you were +in the thing from the start and saw how the tricks had to be played," +grumbled the young man. "But I haven't had that kind of training. I've +been brought up in business, grandfather. And a State that will do what +this State is doing now--I'm not saying who's at fault--but the State +that will handle a law in this way is a blackleg. I believe in General +Waymouth. I believe he's got something up his sleeve in the way of real +reform. I believe he meant what he said. I don't want to see you hurt +personally in your plans, grandfather, but I want to tell you frankly +I'm with the other side in this thing." + +The Duke glanced at him inquiringly. + +"I mean, politics or no politics, I want to see a law enforced so long +as it's a law. If a party cannot hold together and keep on top with any +other system, then the party is 'in' wrong. I don't believe General +Waymouth intends to straddle. He'll enforce the law." + +"And kill his party?" inquired the old man, sarcastically. "Oh no, my +boy. The party has looked out for that. It isn't taking any chances with +a man who might get morally rambunctious. The Governor of this State +hasn't anything to do with enforcing the prohibitory law. We've kept all +the clubs out of his hands. When the W. C. T. U. converted old Governor +Levett, he got ambitious and tried it on. And the only thing he found he +could do was to issue a proclamation to the sheriffs 'to do their duty.' +The most of 'em framed it and hung it up in their offices; it was too +good a joke to keep hid." + +They walked on in silence. Harlan did not find it easy to continue that +line of talk. His deameanor did not accord with the fair face of the +morning. But the old man sauntered on under the trees, plainly contented +with the world and all that was in it. + +"Let's see, you haven't met Madeleine, Luke's girl, since she was +little, have you?" he inquired, stealing one of his shrewd side glances +at his grandson. + +Harlan was occupied with his own thoughts and shook his head. + +"I was _thinking_ she'd been away at school whenever you've been down +here with me. Beautiful girl, my boy. Brains, too. Polish up your +thoughts. These college girls are pretty bright, you know." + +"I don't think she will notice whether I've got any thoughts or not," +replied the young man, sourly. "She won't pay much attention to a +woodsman--not that kind of a girl." + +"What kind of a girl?" + +"One that's full of society notions and college airs. I know the kind. +Unless a fellow has wasted about half his life in dancing and loafing +around summer resorts they treat him as though he were a cross between +an Eskimo and a Fiji. Life is too short to play poodle for girls of that +sort." + +"Well, you are certainly on the mourners' bench to-day, front row and an +end seat," said the old man, disgustedly. "You'd better go up and take a +nap till breakfast-time, and use sleep, soap, a razor, and common sense +and smooth yourself off. I reckon I haven't got you out of those woods +any too quick." + +Only the earliest birds of the hostelry roost were about the big house +at that hour. The new arrivals dodged scrub-women and sweepers in the +office and on the stairs, and went to their rooms. The Duke, leaving +his grandson at his bedroom door, suggested a bit stiffly that he would +"call around about eight o'clock and open the den and lead him down to a +little raw meat, unless he smoothed up his manners and his appetite in +the mean time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE DUKE'S DOUBLE CAMPAIGN + + +Presson came in with the Duke at eight o'clock, bringing cordial morning +greetings to Harlan's room. + +The old man found his grandson much improved, both in spirits and garb. +In his fresh, cool, summer gray, erect, stalwart, and clear-eyed, he won +a grunt of approval from his mentor. + +"There's nothing like being young, Luke! I was just telling you that the +boy was getting into the dumps--bound to study all the seams before he +put the coat on. But the world looks better now, doesn't it, son?" + +"It's the fit of the coat that counts in politics," observed the +chairman, sagely. "And the one that was built last night fits like the +paper on the wall. Don't bother with the seams, Harlan. The lining +covers 'em." + +"Presson likes the frame-up, Harlan," said the Duke, smiling broadly. +"He isn't even jealous because I thought of it first." + +"Who else could have pulled it off as you have, Thelismer? It would take +more than straight politics to get Vard Waymouth out of his den. And I +could have offered only politics." + +With an arm about each he pushed them to the door, saying that his wife +and daughter were waiting below. When Harlan turned from his respectful +greeting of the mother, whom he knew, he found Miss Presson looking at +him with frank and smiling interest. He had heard vague reports that +Madeleine Presson had blossomed into beautiful womanhood since he had +seen her. He had been prepared to meet a rather vain and pampered young +lady, conscious of her charms and attainments. He assumed a bit of +reserve as armor for his sensitiveness. But this attitude responded so +ill to her good-humored ease in renewing their acquaintanceship that he +was momentarily embarrassed, remembering what he had said to his +grandfather a few hours before. + +"I think I have a most distinct recollection of Mr. Harlan Thornton. +When I was ten years old you brought me some lumps of spruce-gum in a +birch-bark box and I declined it, saying that young ladies did not chew +gum. But I took it when you looked so sad, and I carried it away to +boarding-school, and I found out that young ladies do chew gum--when no +one is watching them. That gift made me very popular, sir, and now I +thank you. I fear I did not thank you then." + +"It's worth waiting all this time to hear you say that. I'm glad the +gift found appreciation, for I culled the winter pickings of a whole +logging crew for those red nuggets. I've been so distrustful of my good +taste ever since that I've never dared to give anything to a young +lady." + +"I'm afraid you didn't realize what you were doing when you snubbed +him," put in the Duke. "I haven't been able to get him out of the woods +since--till now, and I've had to bring him almost by main force." + +The carriage was at the door. The State chairman led the way to it. He +had a home for his family apart from the big hotel, the mammoth hostelry +of the State--one of his many business ventures. + +"We are on our way home from our morning ride--it's the real jolly part +of the June day, the two hours before breakfast," explained the girl, as +they went down the steps. "When we called here for father you may +imagine how delighted we were to find your grandfather. I know you +understand, Mr. Harlan Thornton, what a dear old man your grandfather +is!" + +"He has been mother, father, brother, and sister and best friend--all +those to me. He has seemed to have some of the elements of all. + +"I know of the good things he has done, and how ungrateful some of the +folks are he has helped. Your grandfather would be a real saint if it +were not for politics. You know we folks at the State capital hear +politics talked all the time. I suppose my good father has the same +wicked things said about him--though, of course, I don't hear them." + +"And I've been too deep in the woods to hear." + +Presson ushered his wife and the young people into the carriage. + +"Thelismer and I would rather walk," he said. "We have some more matters +to talk over." And he sent them away. + +Harlan took his seat opposite the ladies, and now, in this close +proximity, he realized how charming the young girl was. From the close +braids of her brown hair to the tips of her bronze shoes she was womanly +grace and refinement personified. There was a cordial frankness in her +tone and eyes that attracted him, and put him at his ease. Yet there was +no hint of coquetry. He liked her at once and instinctively, because +somehow she seemed to meet him on a manly plane of good-fellowship--and +yet she was so thoroughly and deliciously feminine. There was just a bit +of a drawl in her voice, a suggestion of jocoseness, continual +appreciation of the humor of life and living. And her laugh was an +inspiration. + +He was a little surprised at himself when he found that he was chatting +with her so easily. Later, when he reflected, he understood. She had +almost a masculine breadth of view in addition to her culture. In that +first day of their meeting she gave voice to some of his own unexpressed +views regarding the trend of the times in public matters. She +apologized, half-humorously. "But as I said to you a while ago, we hear +politics talked much at the State capital." + +Following the after-breakfast chat, he walked back to the hotel with his +grandfather. + +"By-the-way, I didn't lie to you any about Luke's girl, did I?" remarked +the old man, casually, and as though the matter had occurred to him in +default of better topic. "But she's too advanced in her ideas for a +woman. She'll be suffragette-ing it next." + +When Harlan began to defend the right of women to interest themselves in +the larger affairs, only a twinkle in the Duke's eye betrayed his +amusement. If Harlan, in his first quick suspicions, had secretly +accused his grandfather of planning a matrimonial campaign in +conjunction with his political one, he was now ashamed of those +suspicions, for they concerned Madeleine Presson. Having met her, he +realized that if he should dare to connect her in his thoughts with +anything that his grandfather might be scheming he was making of himself +a very presumptuous and silly ass. Now that he had seen her, now when he +was spending days of waiting at the State capital and seeing her +frequently, he found that Madeleine Presson's personality eliminated +possible matchmakers. He felt very humble in her presence--and still +ashamed. He had never taken stock of his own deficiencies very +particularly. His environment had not prompted it. He had been superior +to the men he had ruled. He realized now that the little amenities of +life which make for poise and ease must be lived, not simply learned. +In taking thought lest he err he found himself proceeding awkwardly. His +training in the past had led him to set work and achievement ahead of +all the rest. He understood now that those essentials in a life that is +to yield the most appear better as superstructure. Mere achievement may +attract respect. Erected on culture, it wins still more. Respect feeds +only one appetite of ambition. True ambition is hungry for affection and +friends, placing lovers ahead of sycophants. And the finer qualities, +the softer virtues, attract more surely than mere fame. + +These and similar reflections came to young Thornton rather +incoherently. It was not that he desired the affection or the admiration +of Madeleine Presson. But this young woman represented for him a new +phase of the world he was meeting in its broader sense--and he was +ambitious with the zest of youth. Often he was obliged to spur himself +out of diffidence in her serene presence. At other times she put him at +his ease with a tact which made him realize his own shortcomings. And +under those circumstances ambition droops like a plant in a drought. + +He had time to think during the two weeks he was at the State capital +waiting for the big convention. His grandfather made no demands upon +him. + +Thelismer Thornton had quietly appointed himself the dominant figure in +the back room at State headquarters. Under his big hand all the strings +met. Even Luke Presson took subordinate post as a lieutenant. + +The Duke of Fort Canibas _knew_ that he was in control. + +The Hon. David Everett _believed_ that _he_ was. Thornton blandly +cultivated that belief in Everett. When Everett talked he listened. When +Everett counselled he agreed. He invited all the confidence of that +gentleman; he made sure that "the logical candidate" used him as +repository of all his political secrets; he was careful to assure +himself that Everett's strength was entirely in his hands and under his +control--for he intended to shatter that strength so instantly, so +thoroughly, that not one fragment would be left to hamper his own plans. + +And yet day by day, word by word, hint by hint--his eye on the future +loyalty of the Everett faction at the polls--he made the candidate +understand that Arba Spinney was a man to be reckoned with--that the +convention was not an open-and-shut certainty for the machine. Without +realizing how it had come about, Everett found himself discussing +"political exigencies." Without knowing that he had been selected as a +martyr for his party, he committed himself in lofty sentiments regarding +the duty of a man in a crisis. Not that he suspected that his chances +were endangered. He felt that he was truly the man of destiny; he was +urging other men to forget their slights and their disappointments and +rally to him. But the fact remained that--thinking wholly of other +men--he had committed himself, and in a way that he could be reminded of +when the time came. + +The Duke planted that kedge well out, to serve in the stress of weather +at the polls in the fall, should Everett and his men be silly enough to +confound "party exigency" with treachery. + +All men are forgetful. The Duke feared that some men had forgotten the +details of Gen. Varden Waymouth's notable life. The publicity bureau, +obeying crafty suggestions and not understanding just what it was all +about, began in the stress of that campaign to recall stories of the old +days. And no man represented the old days as did Varden Waymouth, hero, +scholar, and statesman. There were giants in the old days, and every +machine newspaper in the State hailed General Waymouth as chief of the +giants. They contrasted the present with the past. General Waymouth's +picture gazed forth in stately benignity from every broadside--his life +story filled the columns of newspapers and the mouths of men. + +With Arba Spinney's activities Thornton was in touch at all times. More +than ever before Mr. Spinney merited his title "Fog-horn." He was +striking the high places in the State, pouring language from under the +mat of his mustache, warning all men off the political shoals of "the +machine." From those shoals he was scooping up mud in both hands, and +spattering all men and all measures. He found plenty of listeners, for +protest was abroad. But the persistent defamer irritates even his +friends. He offends the innate sense of patriotism and loyalty which +slinks even in the breast of the rebel. The Duke noted with satisfaction +the outward symptoms of Mr. Spinney's campaign; he was winning a +following in those days of unrest. Through the columns of his newspapers +the old politician exploited Mr. Spinney, seeing to it that he was well +advertised as a man who persistently branded his own State as a den of +infamy. Thus he made Spinney strong enough to play against Everett and +weak enough to fall far in the estimation of men when the time came for +him to fall. + +And then at last, in the latter days of June, all roads led to Rome. The +Republican Convention was called for the twenty-eighth, in the big hall +of the State's metropolis. + +On the day before, Thelismer Thornton emerged from the back room of +headquarters at the State capital, and with Chairman Presson and Harlan +journeyed to the scene of the conflict. Before their departure the Duke +had been obliged, smilingly, to refuse a request of Mrs. Presson's. + +She had asked that young Mr. Thornton be delegated as squire of dames to +accompany herself and her party to the convention. + +"I'm afraid you haven't realized for a week or so that the boy is in +politics, Lucretia. I've let him run to pasture with a pretty long cord +on him. He'll have to come in under the saddle now. We'll have one of +the young beaus from the Governor's staff on the lookout for you at the +hall. This fellow here"--he patted Harlan's arm--"he hasn't been broken +to the society bridle yet. He was allowing to me the other day that he +didn't propose to be, either." + +Miss Presson had overheard. + +Harlan, remembering, flashed a glance of rebuke and anger at the old +man. It was a shock to him to have his own sentiments thrust back at him +in that manner. + +"We haven't found Mr. Harlan ungallant," protested Mrs. Presson. She +treated the matter in jest, though the young man's face did not indicate +that he especially appreciated the humor. + +"Oh, he's probably just been playing 'possum--practising dissimulation, +getting used to being a politician! You be watching out, Lucretia. He'll +forget himself and make a bolt pretty soon. The test of the thing will +be in seeing whether he holds out or not!" + +In his indignation, Harlan was too confused just then to grasp the fact +that his tormentor was craftily handing him over to the Presson +womenfolk, bound, branded, and supple--unless he proposed to merit his +grandfather's label in their estimation. + +"Now, look here, grandfather"--he began, wrathfully; but the Duke pulled +him away, drowning his protests in a laugh. + +"You have placed me in a ridiculous position, and that's a mighty mild +way to put it," complained the indignant victim, when they were outside. +"I don't understand, grandfather, why you do something to me every now +and then that knocks all the props out from under me. It isn't +decent--it's vulgar--it's shameful, the way you do some things!" + +"Operate in a queer way, do I?" inquired the old man, blandly. + +"You certainly do." + +"Did you ever stop to think, boy, that human nature is a queer thing?" + +"Whose human nature are you referring to--yours or mine?" + +"You know what the old Quaker said to his wife: 'All the world's queer, +dear, except thee and me--and thee's a little queer!'" + +The angry young man would have liked to get a little more light on the +question, but Chairman Presson was ready for them and hustled them into +the carriage. And on the ride to the station, during the journey by +train, at the convention city, there were other matters uppermost +besides a young man's pique. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE BEES AND THE WOULD-BES + + +Men--a swarm of men--a hiveful of men. Lobbies, parlors, corridors, +stairways of the big hotel packed with men. + +Men in knots, in groups, in throngs, pressing together, disintegrating +to form new groups, revolving in the slow mass of the herd, shaking +hands, crying greetings, mumbling confidential asides. An observer who +did not understand would find it all as aimless as the activity of an +ant-heap--as puzzling as the slow writhings of a swarm of bees. Clouds +of cigar smoke over all--voices blended into one continual diapason; +medley, and miasma of close human contact. + +After supper, in the crowded hotel dining-room, Harlan Thornton +accompanied his grandfather through the press of jostling men. + +The night before a State Convention was a new experience for him. He +walked behind the Duke, who made his slow, urbane way here and there, +drawling good-humored replies to salutations. He had quip ready for +jest, handclasp for his intimates, tactful word for the newer men who +were dragged forward to meet him. Even the Governor of the State, a +ponderous dignitary with a banner of beard, did not receive so hearty a +welcome, for the Governor was accorded only the perfunctory adulation +given to one whose reign was passing. + +"Governors come and Governors go, Thornton, but you've got where you're +an institution!" cried one admirer. "I'll be sorry to miss you out of +the legislature this winter." + +"But here's another Thornton--and you can see that he won't rattle +'round in the seat," returned the Duke, his arm affectionately about his +grandson's shoulders. + +As he went about, in this unobtrusive way, varying his manner with +different men, he presented his political heir. + +At that hour there was no surface hint of the factional spirit that +divided the gathering which had flocked from the ends of the State. +Jealousy, spite, apprehension, rivalry were hidden under the gayety of +men meeting after long separation. The political kinship of party men +dominated all else in those early hours. It was a reunion. Food nestled +comfortably under the waistbands. Tobacco--cigars exchanged, lights +borrowed from glowing tips--loaned its solace. Bickerings were in +abeyance. Men were sizing up. Men were trying out each other. Courtesy +invites confidences. The candidates had not "taken their corners." The +suites that they had selected for headquarters were now occupied only by +the lieutenants who were arranging the boxes of cigars and stacking the +literature ready for distribution. + +The Hon. David Everett, serene in the consciousness of approval by his +party machine, held preliminary court in one corner of the spacious +office lobby. The State chairman was with him--his executioner skilfully +disguised. + +Thelismer Thornton forged through the crowd in that direction. He paid +his respects publicly and heartily. In that hour when congratulations +sugared the surface of conditions, after he had pump-handled men until +his arm ached, Everett forgot that he ever had entertained doubts. + +"There's nothing to this!" he had been assuring the State chairman over +and over, catching opportunity for asides. "They're all coming into +line. The sight of you and Thornton backing me has reminded them all +that they can't afford to rip the party open. There's nothing to it!" + +Presson agreed amiably. But studying his men, searching for insincerity, +he saw what Everett closed his eyes to. He exchanged a significant +glance with the Duke as the latter turned to resume his promenade. + +Above the continual, distracting babble one sonorous voice rose +insistently. Laughter and applause broke in upon it occasionally. There +was a din in that corner of the lobby that attracted many of the +curiosity-seekers in that direction. + +"There's Fog-horn Spinney holding forth," Thornton informed Harlan, +ironically. "Come along. We mustn't slight any of the candidates." + +They made way for him. Men grinned up into his face as he passed. They +scented possible entertainment when the big boss met the demagogue. Many +of the men wore badges--long strips of ribbon with this legend printed +thereon, running lengthwise of the ribbon: + +HONEST ARBA + +Candidate Spinney had a thick packet of ribbons in one of his +gesticulating hands. He was flushed, vociferous, and somewhat insolent. +Like Everett, he was not analyzing the acclamation that greeted +everything he said; applause had made him drunk. But under the hilarity +of his listeners there was considerable enthusiasm for the man himself. +The Duke perceived it, for he realized what times had come upon the +State. Spinney's bombast expressed the protest that was abroad. +Rebellion, thirsty, does not seek the cold spring of Reason. It fuddles +itself with hot speech, it riots--it dares not pause to ponder. + +"The men that are running this State to-day are running it for +themselves," he declaimed, as Thornton and his grandson came into the +front rank of his listeners. "They want it all. I brand 'em for what +they are. I could take glue and a hair-brush and make hogs out of every +one of 'em!" + +A shout of laughter! There was more zest for the mob in the point of Mr. +Spinney's remarks, with the Duke of Fort Canibas, lord of the north +country, present to listen. + +"I'm not ashamed of my platform. I'm willing to promulgate it. For I'm +going to stand behind it. It ain't a platform fixed up in a back room of +this hotel the night before convention, sprung at the last minute, and +worded so that it reads the same backward and forward, and doesn't mean +any more than whistling a tune! What kind of a system is it that taxes +the poor man's family dog, the friend of his children, a dollar, and +lets the rich man's wild lands off with two mills on a valuation screwed +down to pinhead size?" + +Applause that indicated that the bystanders owned dogs! + +"If you're hunting for something to tax, pick out bachelors instead of +dogs. Dogs can't earn money. Bachelors can. There are forty thousand old +maids and widows in this State who can't find husbands. Tax the +bachelors. Give the single women a pension. Hunt out the tax-dodgers. +There are things enough to tax instead of the farms and cottages of the +poor men." + +He now fixed the Duke with his gaze. + +"You don't dare to deny, do you, that the system in this State is +screwing the last cent out of the exposed property and letting the +dodgers go free? Tax the necessities of the poor, say you! I say, tax +the luxuries of the rich!" + +"In some countries, I believe, they get quite a revenue by taxing +mustaches," stated the Duke, thus appealed to. + +Spinney indignantly broke in on the laughter. + +"You've carried off oppression so far as a joke, but you can't do it any +longer, Squire Thornton. The people are awake this time. They've got +done electing lawyers and dudes and land-grabbers for Governors. They're +going to have a Governor that will make State officials work for fair +day's wages, as the farmers and artisans work. No more high-salaried +loafers in public office! No more dynasties, Sir Duke of Fort Canibas! +You'll be having a coat of arms next!" + +This last was said in rude jest--the public horseplay of a man anxious +to win his laugh at any cost. + +"I've got a coat of arms, Arba; I won the decoration when I retired from +hard work at the age of fifty. That was about the time you were starting +in life by selling fake mining stock around this State. My coat of arms +is two patches on a homespun background, surrounded by looped galluses. +And I can show you the mile of stone walls I built before you were +born." + +Spinney did not relish the merriment which followed that sally. + +"You've outgrown that coat of arms, then, in these days," he retorted. +"They all know you by a different stripe since you set the other chap at +work, Squire Thornton. And the pendulum of power is swinging the other +way! The people are behind _me_. You'd better get aboard." His style of +humor depended most on its effrontery. He held out one of his badges. +"Better put it on," he advised. "Get aboard with the rush! They're all +for 'Honest Arba.'" + +The Duke stepped forward and presented his breast. + +"Pin it on, Arba. When a man shifts his business and is introducing a +brand-new line of goods, different from what he ever carried before, he +needs all the advertising he can get. Pin it on!" + +But Mr. Spinney did not pin it on. He had been sure that the old man +would indignantly refuse, and his discomfiture was evident. + +"You're showing your regular disposition, I see," he growled. "Grabbing +everything you can get hold of. But a joke is a joke--let this one rest +right here! Thornton, I say it here to your face, where all the boys can +hear me: the people want a change in this State. I am not going behind a +door to talk with you--that's been done too much! I stand in the open +and say it! Open fighting after this--that's my code. I fight for the +people. The people shall be put wise and kept wise to all that's going +on." + +"It's a good plan," counselled the Duke, unperturbed. "I see I can't +tell you anything about advertising." He tapped a badge on the breast of +a man near him. + +"I'm for the people!" shouted Spinney. "The old wagon needs a new +wheel-horse. I don't insist I'm the right one--or the only one. I merely +say I'm willing to take hold and haul, if the people want me to. I offer +myself, if no better one is found." + +The crowd applauded that sentiment generously. + +Thornton did not lose his amiability--his tolerant yet irritating +good-humor. + +"Speaking of wheel-horses, Arba--a man up my way started out to buy a +horse the other day. He found a black one that suited--but the man who +owned that horse was mighty honest, as most of my constituents are. 'You +don't want him,' he told the man. 'He's too blamed slow.' 'That doesn't +hurt him a bit for me,' said the buyer. 'I want him to mate another +black horse to haul my hearse. I'm an undertaker!' 'Then you certainly +don't want him,' insisted the fellow. 'The _living_ can _wait_, but the +_dead_ have got to be _buried_.'" + +The Duke had made his way out of the crowd before the laughter ceased. + +"Apply it to suit, Arba!" he called over his shoulder. + +Arm in arm with his grandson, the Duke traversed the lobby and went up +the broad stairs to the State Committee headquarters--double parlors on +the floor above. The men who were sitting in the main parlor saluted the +old man in the offhand manner of intimates. He drew his grandson into +the privacy of the rear room. + +"Now, my boy, get your hat, take a carriage and meet General Waymouth at +the nine o'clock train. I've had him on the telephone. He's coming here +to-night. Between us, he's grown lukewarm on our proposition. I want you +to talk with him after you meet him. Take your time on the way from the +station." + +"I'm a pretty poor agent to send on such a job as that," said Harlan, +deprecatingly. + +"You're just the one," insisted the old man. "Don't you suppose I knew +what I was doing when I took you with me that night? Talk for the young +men of this State! He's tired of politics and politicians. I am, myself, +sometimes. He's got to dwelling on the political side. Get it out of his +mind. Thank God, you don't know enough politics to talk it to him! You +can talk from your heart, boy. The younger generation in this State does +want a change. I realize it. But that change has got to be tempered with +political wisdom. It must be managed through politics. I'll attend to +that part. It's your task to make Vard Waymouth see that he ought to +stand. You can do it. Begin with him where you left off." + +Harlan hesitated. + +"Well?" inquired the Duke, a bit petulantly. + +"I've been used to talking straight out to you, grandfather. I'm willing +to help as far as it's in my poor power. But I want you to tell me that +I'm not being used as a decoy-duck in this thing." + +"I reckon you'd better explain that, son," said the Duke, stiffly. + +"It's your own fault that I'm saying a word about it. But you did some +talking after we came away from General Waymouth's house. It wasn't so +much what you said; it was what you intimated. I believe in General +Waymouth. But if I'm any judge of what has been framed up, he isn't +going to be allowed to do what he wants to do." + +"Did I say so?" + +"No. But you did say that he would play the game with the chips that are +on the table, not with sugar-plums." + +"And you construe that to mean that I'm pulling him into this thing so +as to be able to work him in the interests of the machine, eh?" inquired +the Duke, putting into brutal speech even more than his grandson's vague +suspicions suggested. "Now, look here! You remember Pod McClintock and +his epileptic fits? You know he fell into a barbed-wire fence in a fit, +and told around afterward how he had been to heaven, and the devil met +him on his way back and clawed him for spite? Well, now don't you go to +imitating Pod. There's more or less barbed wire in politics--any man +gets afoul of it. But don't lay it to the devil. That will be elevating +accidents onto too high a plane. If Vard Waymouth is the next Governor +of this State there'll be some wire fences that he won't be able to sit +on. There'll be too many barbs. We'll put top rails onto all the fences +we can. But you can't make any fence safe for those that are bound to +butt head-first into barbed wire. Waymouth isn't the kind to do any +butting. I'll tell you this, Harlan, and it's straight: if I help to +make Waymouth our next Governor, I'll help to make him a good +one--provided he needs any of my help in that line. Now go and attend +to your business." + +There were few at the railroad station, and those few paid little heed +to General Waymouth when he stepped down from the train. The young man +greeted him with eager respect, and explained why he was there. + +The General took his arm and walked to the carriage. "This is restful. +I'm glad to see you here," he said. "But to-morrow," he added, bitterly, +"if I am fool enough to be dragged back into politics, I'll be met +wherever I go by men that fawn and men that seek--by that crowd I +thought and hoped I had escaped forever. I was very hasty, Mr. Thornton, +when I gave my word to your grandfather. I fear I must hold you +responsible just because you were present." He smiled as the young man +took his seat opposite. "But you constituted a new element in politics. +I had been having my dreams in the peace of my home--and one of those +dreams was to see the young men of this State breaking away from the +political bondage of the fathers. But I'm afraid I am older than I +thought. I have an old man's fears. I have had enough--too much--of the +contact of men. Now this next idea is fanciful--another proof that I'm +old--in my dotage, perhaps." His tone was gently playful. "I told you +the other day that you seemed to typify the young strength of the State. +So I'm going to appeal to you, young man--I cannot very well appeal to +the rest, for they are not in the secret--I'm going to beg of you, Mr. +Second Generation, to release me from my promise. What say you?--and +remember that I'm an old man who has fought the good fight and is very +weary." + +"I've got to confess there isn't much wit and humor in me--there doesn't +seem to be just now," stammered Harlan, after groping some moments for +suitable reply to what he accepted as badinage. + +"Oh, I don't want jest in answer to that, sir," protested the General. +"I am in earnest." But his tone was still a bit whimsical. "You know, +even so great a man as Caesar consulted the oracle and the omens and the +soothsayers. Why should not I practice a little divination? Now answer +me, young man--or I'll say, young _men_ of the State?" + +"Yet I can't think you really mean that, General," protested Harlan, +wholly confused by this persistent banter. + +"Call it in fun, call it in earnest, still I demand my answer." General +Waymouth was serious now. "I came here resolved to tell Thelismer, face +to face, that I could not sacrifice the last strength of my life in the +way he has asked. But when you met me at the station all my ambitions +for this newer generation, as I have dreamed them, came up in me. My +boy, this State of ours is in a bad way. In one respect it is especially +bad. We have one solemn law in our constitution that is made our own +political football and the laughing-stock of the nation. We forbid the +sale of liquor. Look at that saloon we are passing at this moment! It is +a law that affects nearly every person in our State--comes near to every +one, directly or indirectly. The manner of its breaking, publicly and +protected by politics, has bred disrespect for all law in the boys who +are growing up. And they are the ones who will run our State when we +oldsters are gone. I'll not say anything about the other reforms that +conditions are calling for. There's _one_--the big one that flaunts +itself in our faces. I'm of the old school, Mr. Thornton. I don't +believe in the prohibitory principle as applied to the liquor question. +It hasn't the right spirit behind it--it is invoked by bigots and +fanatics who refuse helpful compromise. But it's a law--our law! Every +day that passes under present conditions adds its little to the +damnation of the moral principle in our boys and girls, growing up with +eyes and ears open. God, I wish I were twenty years younger! But I'm old +enough to have fantastic notions; old enough to insist on an answer to +my question, in spite of what you may think of my mental condition. Will +you release me from that promise? I made it to the young men of this +State--in my disgust at conditions, in my passion to do something to +clean out this nest!" + +The lights from the brilliant shop-windows shone into the carriage. +Harlan leaned forward. The General's face was serious. + +"Still, I can't understand it!" he cried. "I'm only--" + +"I tell you, you typify for me at this moment the young men of my State! +I choose to decide in this fashion. Do you feel that an honest Governor +would help your self-respect?" + +"I can answer that question, sir. I believe in you. Ever since you +promised my grandfather that you would accept the nomination I have +depended on that promise. I know what you can do for our State. If you +are not to be our next Governor the heart has gone out of me, and the +young men of this State have lost their best hope." + +The carriage wheels had grated to a standstill against the curb in front +of the big hotel. The buzz of the crowded hive came out to them through +the open windows. General Waymouth glanced that way and frowned. But +when he turned and looked into the glowing face of the young man +opposite, his countenance cleared slowly. His smile returned. There was +a hint of pathos in that smile, but his eyes shone. He put out his hand +and took Harlan's in a firm clasp. + +"That sounds like my call to duty, Mr. Thornton," he declared. "I +listen. I obey!" Then he dropped his earnestness. "Let this little talk +remain a secret between us. These practical politicians wouldn't +understand. A bit of an old man's weakness; perhaps that was it. A +little eccentric, eh?" + +The driver had opened the carriage door. + +"I believe I understand, sir. I do now. And I'm sorry." + +The remark was a bit cryptic, but the General understood. + +"And you'll appreciate better what this means to me when you are as old +as I. But that's the last of talk like this, my boy. There's one more +fight still in me. We'll just go ahead and find out how much honesty is +left in this State--and you shall help me hunt for it, for old eyes need +the help of young ones, and I'm going outside the politicians to find +honesty." + +He led the way across the pavement to a side door of the hotel. + +"We'll go in this way, quietly," he said. "I haven't any appetite for +that kind of a stew just yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SITTING IN FOR THE DEAL + + +On the second floor of the hotel Thelismer Thornton was pacing the +corridor, hands behind his back, puffing his cigar. He was paying no +heed to the men who were streaming past him in both directions, going +and coming from the rooms of the candidates. Everett and Spinney were in +their suites, extending hospitality with questionable cigars and +ice-water. + +Delegates were flocking up from the hotel bar in squads. They were +meeting other delegates, forming new combinations which offered fresh +opportunities for "setting 'em up," and after paying their respects were +hustling back downstairs again to interview the gentlemen in white +jackets. + +Out from open transoms over the doors of sleeping-rooms floated cigar +smoke and voices. There were boys running with ice-water and glasses to +the noisiest rooms. From some of these rooms the familiar bacchanalian +songs were resounding even at that early hour of the evening. The chorus +of "We're here because we're here" mingled with the words of that +reminiscent old carol, "When we fit with Gineral Grant, by gosh." + +The Duke, towering, abstracted, swaying along ponderously, close to the +wall of the corridor, eyes on the head of the stairway, was as +indifferent to the uproar as he was to those who passed. + +A man who was somewhat flushed and a bit uncertain in his gait came out +of the State Committee headquarters. He planted himself in front of +Thornton. + +"Thelismer," he said, familiarly, "I've been trying to get something out +of Luke. He won't say. Now what do you know about it? Is the party going +to be honest? Are we going to get that resubmission plank in the +platform this year?" + +"They haven't asked me to write the platform, Phon." + +"I tell you, the people want a chance to vote on this prohibitory +question. It's been stuck into our constitution where the people can't +get at it. I ain't arguing high license, but I tell you the people want +a chance to vote on the question, and the Democrats are going to offer +'em a chance." + +"That's a Democratic privilege," said the Duke, calmly, preparing to +push past his interlocutor. "The Republican party stands for +prohibition, and hasn't had any trouble in rounding up the votes for the +last twenty-five years." + +But the disputant caught hold of him when he started away. + +"Look here, Thelismer, you ain't so much of a hypocrite as the most of +'em. Why don't you help us make a break in this thing? Damn it, let's be +decent about it! Rum enough running in that bar-room downstairs to drive +the turbine-wheel in my woollen-mill! Half the delegates to this +convention with a drink aboard, and a third of 'em pretty well slewed! I +am myself. But I'm honest about it. They're drinking rum in about every +room in this hotel. And they're going into convention to-morrow and nail +that prohibitory plank into the platform with spikes. By Judas, I'm +honest in my _business_; now I want to have a chance to be honest in my +_politics_!" + +The Duke gazed down on him good-humoredly. He was accustomed to +overlook the little delinquencies of his fellows on such festal +occasions as State Conventions. + +"You're asking too much out of party politics, Phon," he declared. +"There are drawbacks to all the best things; seeing that the National +platform won't let you vote as you think, you can hardly ask the State +platform to be perfect and let you vote as you drink." + +But his friend was not in the mood for jovial rallying. + +"By the gods, if you old bucks that have been running things ain't going +to give us a show--if we ain't going to get our rights from our own +party--I know what I can do! I can vote the Democratic ticket, and I +know of a lot more that will. You're asleep, you managers!" + +"Well, Phon, when you vote as you drink--voting the Democratic +ticket--you'll vote for a popocratic tax on corporations that will make +your woollen-mill look sick. And that's only _one_ thing!" + +"I know what I will do," insisted the rebel. + +The Duke took him by his two shoulders. + +"So do I," he returned. "You'll have a bath, a shave, four hot towels, +and a big bromo-seltzer--all in the morning, and you'll go into the +State Convention and stick by the party, just as you always have done. +But as for to-night--why, Phon, I wouldn't be surprised to see you +pledge yourself to Arba Spinney." + +He gayly shoved the man to one side and went on. + +"Well, even Fog-horn is getting more votes corralled than you old blind +mules realize!" shouted the other after him. "This party is sick! You're +going to find it out, too!" + +"Sick it is, but I reckon here's the doctor," muttered the old man, +hurrying toward the top of the stairs. + +General Waymouth had appeared there, Harlan close behind him. + +The Duke forestalled those who hastened to greet the veteran. Taking +his arm, he marched him promptly across the corridor and into the rear +room of State Committee headquarters. He locked the door behind them +after Harlan had entered. + +"I don't think we're exactly ready for that public reception yet," he +observed with a chuckle, turning from the door. He glanced at the +General, anxious and keen in his scrutiny. + +"Vard!" he cried, heartily, noting the resolution in the countenance, +the light in the old soldier's eyes, "you're looking better, here, than +you sounded over the telephone a few hours ago. You're going to +stand--of _course_ you're going to stand!" + +"I'll take the nomination, Thelismer--that is, providing you want me to +stand as a candidate who will go into office without a single string +hitched to him." + +"I guess the party isn't running into any desperate chances, Vard, with +you in the big chair. Sit down now and take it easy. I'll call Luke in. +After we've had our talk with him, we'll begin to enlarge our circle a +little--it's a pretty close combination up to now." + +The porter at the door summoned the chairman of the State Committee. + +"The Senator is just in from Washington," he announced, after his +enthusiastic greeting of the General. "I took him right up to Room 40, +where the Committee on Resolutions is at work. He wanted to attend to +that first. Then he'll be down here." + +The chairman was referring to the United States Senator who would, by +party custom, preside at the convention next day for the purpose of +tinkering his own fences. + +"Is Senator Pownal dictating the platform?" inquired the General, rather +icily. + +"He's got a few little ideas of his own he wants to work in," affably +explained the chairman. "Nothing drastic. A little endorsement of some +things he's gunning for. It'll be all safe and sane. We backed those +resubmission fellows out of the room." + +"By-the-way, keep a sharp eye out for those chaps, Luke," counselled the +Duke. "I've been hearing around the hotel this evening that they're +going to introduce a resubmission plank from the floor to-morrow." + +"I'll rush an early vote in the convention, providing that all +resolutions shall be presented to the Committee on Resolutions without +argument," stated the chairman. "All that foolishness can be killed +right in the committee-room. We've got trouble enough on hand in the +party this year without letting the convention express itself on the +liquor question, even if the split only amounts to a sliver." + +He pulled his chair to the table, spread some papers there, and +commanded attention by tapping his eyeglasses on the sheets. + +"Here's the programme for the routine: Called to order at ten-thirty by +chairman of State Committee. Call read by secretary. On motion of Davis +Bolton, of Hollis, proceed to effect temporary organization--Senator +Walker Pownal, chairman--and so forth. On motion of Parker Blake, of +Jay, ten minutes' recess declared for county delegations to choose +vice-president, member of State Committee, and member of the Committee +on Resolutions." + +As he read on, Harlan opened his eyes as well as his ears. The +convention of the morrow had been blocked out to the last detail. Every +motion that was to be made, every step that was to be taken, had its man +assigned to it--and that man had already been notified and tagged. +Fifteen hundred men, assembled presumably as free and independent agents +to take counsel for the good of the party, were here bound to the +narrowest routine, with programme cut and dried to such an extent that +one who dared to lift his voice to interrupt would be considered an +interloper. And he knew that even then, from what Presson had said, the +little band of the select were formulating the resolutions that the +committee would take in hand as delivered--accepting that platform as +the dictum of the party, and free speech on the convention floor denied. + +"Now," said the chairman, at the close, "let's fill in the rest, and +finish this thing now. Spinney's name will be presented by Watson, of +his county, and seconded by three other counties. I'm limiting the +seconding speeches to three. And you know the men Everett has picked +out! Of course, I've left the--the big matter in your own hands, +Thelismer." Presson glanced over his glasses at General Waymouth with a +significant smile. "Have you decided? Are you going to let both the +other candidates be put in nomination before you spring the trap?" + +"Sure!" snapped Thornton. "I want that convention to realize how little +good can be said of either of them. By the time that gets through those +fifteen hundred skulls, they'll be in a state of mind to appreciate the +man of the hour!" + +General Waymouth was leaning back in his deep chair, his head on the +rest, his eyes upturned to the ceiling, fingers tapping the chair's arm. +He was offering no comment. + +"Vard," said the Duke, "we've got to let a few more into the case now. +Overnight is short notice, at that, for a man to get his nominating +speech ready. But we're safe. It won't be the speech that will take that +convention off its feet. It'll be your name--and the fact that you're +willing to stand. Who've you got in mind?" + +"No one," replied the General, briefly. + +"Any choice?" + +"No." + +"You're willing to leave it to me?" + +"I am." + +"Then I'll admit I've picked the men in my mind. One is Linton, that +young lawyer that's been taking the lead in the referendum and the +direct primaries campaigns--both of them devilish poor political +policies; but that doesn't prevent him from being the most eloquent +young chap in the State. And he'll tole along the liberals. We'll need +only one other--that's old Colonel Wadsworth. You see the scheme of that +combination, of course! We don't need any more. The convention will be +off its feet before the old Colonel gets half through his seconding +speech. Linton is a delegate, Luke, and I saw to it that the old Colonel +was fixed out with a proxy after I got here. Now, Harlan, you go out and +hunt up those two gentlemen, and bring them here quietly. They're in the +hotel. Come to the private door, there. You say you haven't suggestions, +Vard?" + +"Not now," said the General, not shifting his position. "The time for my +suggestions has not come yet." + +Harlan went out into the throng, searching, asking questions. The first +man of whom he made inquiry recognized him as Thelismer Thornton's +grandson, and invited him to the bar to have a drink. + +"Busy?" he ejaculated when the young man declined. "H--l, there ain't +any one really busy here to-night, except Senator Pownal and Luke +Presson. They're running the convention. The delegates don't have to do +anything--they are just here for a good time. Come on!" + +As Harlan walked away from him, he remembered what Chairman Presson had +just delivered from his papers, and decided that truth often spoke from +the depths of the wine-cup. + +He did not find either of his men in the Hon. David Everett's +headquarters. The rooms were packed. Perspiring delegates were edging in +and oozing out. Everett was industriously shaking hands, his rubicund +face sweat-streaked, his voice hoarse after his hours of constant +chatter in that smoke-drenched atmosphere. Harlan stood a moment, and +looked at him with a sort of shamed pity. The plot seemed unworthy, in +spite of its object. The sordid treachery of politics was turned up to +him, all its seamy side displayed. + +Two men crowded past him, talking low; but in that press their mouths +were near his ear. They were halted by the jam at the door. + +"What did you stab him for--how much?" asked one. + +"Got ten," said his companion--"ten on account. I get fifty for the +caucus." + +"Too many machine Republicans in my town, and he knows it," said the +other. "The best I could do was fool him out of twenty-five. But that's +doing well--in these times. This Spinney stir has made it cost Everett +more than it has cost any candidate for ten years. I really didn't have +the heart to crowd him for any more. He's been jounced down good and +hard as it is." + +Harlan took one more look at the unconscious and fatuous Everett, and +went out of the room. Twenty feet away, as he knew, sat his grandfather, +ready and able to smash the candidate's dreams and chances as a child +bursts a soap-bubble. And the man's money--thrown to the winds when a +word might have held his hand and closed his pocket-book! Harlan, +grandson of Thelismer Thornton, tried to put the thing out of his mind. + +"Politics," said a man in the corridor in his hearing, "has got the pelt +off'm second-story work, as they're running the political game in this +State right now. But it's only petty larceny. And that's why the whole +thing makes me sick." + +"Me too," said his listener. "You could brag some about a political +safe-blowing, but we all have to turn to and hush up this sneak-thief +work." + +Harlan, walking on, wondered whether the coup that was then in process +of elaboration in State Committee headquarters would not be considered +by Everett and his supporters as arising to the proper dignity of +political crime. + +To his surprise Spinney's rooms were practically deserted. The candidate +was there, perched on the edge of a table, nursing his knee in his +clasped hands and talking vigorously to a few of his intimates. The +defection was not bothering him, apparently. Harlan promptly understood +why. As he stood for a moment, making sure that neither Linton nor +Wadsworth was there, he heard the mellow blare of distant band music. +Spinney jumped off the table. + +"The boys are coming!" cried one of his friends, and stepped out through +the window upon a balcony. "Wait till after I call for the cheers, +Arba!" he called back. "Step out when they strike up _Hail to the +Chief_." + +"This will make the Everett bunch sit up and take notice," said a man at +Harlan's elbow. "There'll be a thousand men in line behind that band +when she swings into the square, here! And a Spinney badge on every one +of 'em!" + +He was challenged promptly. The corridor was full of Everett men. + +"Ten dollars to a drink that your man Spinney pays for the band! And +when a band starts up street you can get every yag, vag, and jag in the +city to trail it! You can't fool doubtful delegates that way, Seth! Go +hang your badges on a hickory limb. They're only good to scare crows. +You can't scare us!" + +This speaker heard Harlan making inquiries for his men. + +"The Colonel is down in the office," was his information, "over in the +farther corner, behind one of those palms, telling war stories to +Herbert Linton. Just came past 'em." + +It seemed a rather happy augury to Harlan; that out of that throng his +two men should have paired themselves struck him as an interesting +coincidence. He found them, and quietly delivered his message. + +Colonel Wadsworth stood up, gaunt, straight, twisting his sparse +imperial, and blinking a bit doubtfully at the messenger. But Linton was +not so much at a loss for reasons. He was an earnest young man with +slow, illuminating smile. + +"Has the committee seen new light regarding my two planks, Mr. +Thornton?" he asked; and without waiting for answer, he led the way. The +three were admitted at the private door. + +United States Senator Pownal was there, evidently newly arrived from the +committee-room. + +The band was just coming into the square under their windows. + +Its deafening clamor beat in echoes between the high buildings, the mob +was roaring huzzas. The bedlam blocked conversation. + +Thelismer Thornton pulled down the windows and twitched the curtains +together. + +"Let 'em hoorah," he said. "With Spinney's band on tap, any fellows that +try to listen at our keyholes will be bothered. I'm glad his band is out +there. Now, gentlemen, I have something to say to you." + +They listened to him, all standing. Only General Waymouth kept his seat, +his head tipped back, his finger-tips together. + +The Duke was brief, but he was cogent and he was emphatic. He explained +what he had done and why he had done it. He was frank and free with that +selected few. He delicately made known the General's reluctance, but +stated in his behalf his willingness to step into the breach at this +eleventh hour for the sake of his party. Then Thornton went first to +Colonel Wadsworth, drew him along to Linton, and told them what their +party asked of them. + +Senator Pownal did not wait for this explanation to be finished. He was +the first to reach General Waymouth with congratulations and +endorsement. + +"You cannot understand how immensely relieved I am to know this plan," +he declared. "I have been here only a few hours, but I was just +beginning to realize what the situation had developed into. I hadn't the +proper perspective at Washington. Thornton is right. We're on the edge +of an upheaval in this State; I'm afraid Everett would have plunged us +straight into it." + +Thornton had made no mistake in his selection of advocates. Colonel +Wadsworth rushed to the chair of his old commander, and Linton, with a +young man's loyal zeal, followed. The lawyer came back to Harlan, his +eyes shining. + +"We've got a _man_ to follow now, Mr. Thornton, not a political effigy +nor a howl on two legs! I was down there hiding myself. I hadn't stomach +for either of the others." + +There had been a brief silence outside. Then the band struck up _Hail to +the Chief_, and the uproar broke out once more. + +"That's our tune, and they don't know it yet!" cried the Senator, gayly. +"Let's have the benefit of that to spice our little celebration, now and +here!" He started for the window to open it, but General Waymouth put +out his hand and checked him. He had stood up to receive their +handclasps. + +"One moment, Senator," he entreated. "I have a word to say for myself +now. You have just come from Room 40. Have they finished drafting the +platform?" + +"It's in shape--practically so." + +"Will you send for it?" + +The Duke nodded to Harlan, and the young man arose. "Tell Wasgatt I want +him to come down here with the resolutions," he directed. + +And while he was gone there was no conversation in the parlor. It might +have been because the band was playing too loudly; it might have been +because General Waymouth's visage, grave, stern, almost forbidding, +rather dampened the recent cordiality of the gathering. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE HANDS ARE DEALT + + +When Committeeman Wasgatt came into the room in tow of Harlan Thornton +he found silence prevailing there. It was silence that was marked by a +little restraint. The band outside was quiet now. A human voice was +bellowing. It was Arba Spinney's voice--a voice without words. + +Wasgatt, short, stout, habitually pop-eyed and nervous, clutched his +papers in one hand and held his eyeglasses at arm's-length in the +other. + +The others were in their chairs now, ranged about the sides of the room. +The General, alone, was standing near the table. Wasgatt turned to him +after a rapid scrutiny of the make-up of the party. + +"I'd like to have the resolutions read," remarked the General, quietly. + +"Go ahead, Wasgatt," commanded Presson; and the committeeman advanced to +the table under the chandelier and began to read. + +The preamble was after the usual stereotyped form; the first sections +endorsed the cardinal principles of the party, and Mr. Wasgatt, getting +into the spirit of the thing, began to deliver the rounded periods +sonorously. General Waymouth leaned slightly over the table, propping +himself on the knuckles of his one hand. The light flowed down upon his +silvery hair, his features were set in the intentness of listening. + +"'We view without favor the demagogic attempts to throttle enterprise, +check the proper development of our State, lock up the natural resources +away from the fostering hands of commerce and labor, thereby preventing +the establishment of industries that will extend their beneficent +influence to the workingman, dependent upon his daily wage.'" + +"One moment, Wasgatt!" The General tapped a knuckle on the table, and +the reader waited. + +Waymouth turned his gaze full upon the Senator when he spoke. + +"Gentlemen, understand me aright at the start. I'm not here to try to +dictate. That would be presumptuous in me, for I am not yet your +candidate. To-morrow is not here." + +Wasgatt's pop-eyes protruded still more. He stared from man to man, and +it became necessary for Thelismer Thornton to take one more into the +secret. He did it a bit ungraciously. He had not expected the General to +be so blunt and precipitate. The candidate waited patiently until the +brief explanation was concluded and Wasgatt had pledged fidelity. + +"I want you fully to understand my spirit in this," went on the General. +"We'll be honest with each other; we know that the floor of a convention +is not the place to discuss the platform frankly; I don't want to wash +our linen in public. We'll settle it now between ourselves. That plank, +there, comes out of the platform if you expect me to stand on it." + +The Senator, challenged by his eyes, spoke. + +"You don't take exceptions to honest efforts to develop our State, do +you, General Waymouth?" + +"I do not. But that proposition, no matter how good it sounds, is the +sugar-coated preface to an attempt to steal the undeveloped water-powers +of this State." + +The Senator's fat neck reddened. + +"You may be inclined to modify that rather rash statement, General +Waymouth, when I tell you that I suggested the insertion of that +resolution." + +"I recognized it as yours, Senator. Some time ago my bankers gave me the +personnel of the group behind the Universal Development Company. In +making my statement, I understand perfectly what legislation that +resolution is leading up to." + +"Vard," broke in the Duke, conciliatingly, "don't take so much for +granted. Why, there are folks suspicious enough to accuse Saint Peter of +starting Lent and ticking off Fridays from the meat programme simply +because he was in the fish business. Let's not get to fussing about a +set of convention resolutions. They're mostly wind, anyway." + +But General Waymouth was not appeased. + +"I know what resolutions stand for--how much and how little. I'm taking +this occasion, gentlemen, to set myself right with you. That resolution +will do for a text! I want no taunts later that I led you on into a +trap." + +He struck the table with the flat of his hand. + +"I'm laying my cards face up. Here's my hand! I halt right here on that +resolution. I'm certain I know what it means, no matter how it sounds. +I'm willing to take my hat and walk out right now. But if I stay--if you +promise to nominate me--I propose to have the saying of what kind of a +Governor I shall be!" + +"That's rather blunt talk to make to gentlemen," protested the Senator, +showing a spark of ire. + +"At my age there isn't time to make long speeches to shade the facts," +returned General Waymouth. He was calm but intensely in earnest. + +"Then you are all for reform--one of the new reformers, eh?" inquired +the Senator. He cast a look of reproach at Thornton, as though that +trusted manager had loosed a tiger on their defenceless party. + +The General smiled--smiled so sweetly that he almost disarmed their +resentment. + +"No, the Arba Spinneys of this State are the reformers. I'm not under +salary to run round and make disturbances in settled order. I'm not a +bigot with a single idea, nor a fanatic insisting that the world ought +to follow the diet that my dyspepsia imposes upon me. I'm merely an old +man, gentlemen, who has got past a lot of the follies of youth and the +passions of manhood, and has had a chance to reflect for a few years. I +have not asked to return to public life. But if I do return, if you put +power into my hands, I propose to render unto the people the things that +are the people's, and that term includes every man in this room. It is +not a programme that should alarm honest gentlemen!" + +There was appeal in the tone--there was a hint of rebuke in that final +sentence that troubled the conscience of even Senator Pownal. Thelismer +Thornton was in a chair close to him. + +"Don't let a few little cranky notions about a platform scare you," he +mumbled in the Senator's ear. "You know Vard Waymouth as well as I do. +He's safe and all right. Give him his head. You don't want Spinney, do +you?" + +"But that was devilish insulting," growled Pownal. + +"Tipping backward a little, trying to stand straight, that's all. Blast +it, a Governor can't run the State. What are you afraid of? You've got a +lobby and a legislature, haven't you?" + +If Waymouth noticed this _sotto voce_ conference he gave no sign. + +"General," said Pownal, getting hold of himself manfully, even +desperately, "the resolution is not essential. I fear you misunderstand +what it really means, but we'll not discuss it now. I withdraw it." + +The General bowed acknowledgment, and signed to Wasgatt to resume. + +"'We believe in dividing the burden of taxation equitably and justly, +and will bend our efforts to that end.'" + +"That is simply empty vaporing!" cried the General. "And it has been in +every platform for twenty years without meaning anything. The platform +that I stand on this year must declare for a non-partisan tax +commission, empowered to investigate conditions in this State--wild +lands, corporations, and all--and report as a basis for new +legislation." + +In the silence that ensued they could hear Arba Spinney continuing his +harangue. + +"Gentlemen, you've got to do something in this party to stop the mouths +of him and men like him," declared the General, solemnly. "You may make +up your minds that you've either got to pay in money, or else you'll pay +in votes that mean the bankruptcy of the party." + +"I suppose you have the resolution all drawn," suggested Thelismer +Thornton, dryly. + +"I have, and drawn according to good constitutional law," replied the +General. He drew the paper from his breast-pocket. + +"Incorporate it, Wasgatt, ready for the final draft, and we'll all go +over the thing to-morrow morning." The Duke was grimly laconic. That +resolution whacked his pet interests. + +Senator Pownal gave the proposer of this prompt surrender a glance of +mutual sympathy out of the corner of his eye, but the Duke remained +imperturbable. Wasgatt received the paper and went on. + +"'We reaffirm our belief in the principle of the prohibition of the +liquor traffic, and pledge our earnest efforts to promote temperance.'" + +Across the corridor revellers were bawling over and over in chorus: + + "'Let's take a drink, +Let's take it now, +God only knows how dry I am!'" + +"That's a good thing to reaffirm--I don't mean the song they're singing +in that room across there! It's a good thing to pledge ourselves to +promote temperance," said the General, "but that isn't the point at +issue. I have another plank that I've written for our platform." + +He drew a second paper from his pocket. + +"Gentlemen, some politicians, more than half a century ago, simply to +use a temperance movement for bait in a political campaign, dragged into +our party a moral, social, and economic question that belongs to the +whole people--not merely to us as a party. Let the people, when the +right time comes and they decide the matter differently, make a law that +the majority desires and will stand behind. Just now we have in our +constitution a law that forbids the manufacture and sale of intoxicating +liquors in this State. There is no option in the matter. Just so long as +our party, the dominant political power, uses that option, it is in +disgrace with all decent men. I--" + +There was a knock at the door--the private door. + +Harlan started up, but his grandfather pulled him back into his chair. + +"Go on, General," he said. + +"I have drawn a resolution. Here it is: 'As a party, we deplore the fact +that temperance, through the so-called prohibitory law, has become a +matter of politics, its football to the extent that holders of public +office, sworn to enforce the laws, turn from that enforcement in order +to cater to public opinion which otherwise might deprive them of office. +We declare against this intolerable system of protection of lawbreakers. +Until the people shall repeal the law, we, the dominant party of the +State and in control of enforcement, do pledge ourselves to faithfully +enforce it, employing such law as we now have and invoking new powers +through the legislature to assist us, so long as the prohibitory law +shall remain in our constitution.'" + +It was now Chairman Presson's turn to look uncomfortable. + +"Look here, Vard," exploded Thornton, "I've been pretty patient while +you've been amputating a few fingers and toes of the Republican party of +this State, but I'll be damned if I propose to see you cut its throat." + +There was fresh knocking at the door, but the group within the parlor +had enough to think about just then without entertaining callers. + +"Now you're talking simply about yourselves and your office-holders and +your dirty profits. You're calling that mess of nasty confederacy 'Our +Party,'" declared General Waymouth, passionately. "When honesty kills a +party, let it die--let its men get out and organize another one. But I +tell you, you can't kill it by being honest, Thelismer. The trouble is +you're sitting here and building for to-night--for to-morrow. I'm a +Republican--you can't take that name away from me. But the badge doesn't +belong on men who are using that name to cover up a rum-selling +business." + +Chairman Presson was livid. He leaped from his chair and drove his fist +down on the table, + +"Now you're insulting me personally!" he shouted. + +"I deal in no personalities, sir. So long as I hide myself under the +name of Republican and allow this thing to go on as it's going, I'm in +the traffic myself; and I don't propose to continue in it--not when I +have power placed in my hands." + +"By the eternal gods, you won't have the power placed there!" roared the +chairman of the State Committee. + +Now some one called to them from outside the door, repeating the +rapping. + +"When you say that, you're confessing that the Republican party is a +sneak, Presson," declared the General. + +The Duke came along to the table. He ticked his forefinger against the +paper that Waymouth was holding. + +"Vard, you're pledging yourself in advance of election to the most rabid +of the prohibition fanatics." + +"I'm pledging myself to obey the one State law that occupies the most +space in public attention, causes the most discussion, makes the most +row. It's a damnable bloodsucker to be hitched on to any political +party! But it's on ours, and I'm going to grab it with both hands!" + +"Hold a proxy from the ramrodders, eh?" sneered the State chairman, +thoroughly a rebel. + +"No, nor from the State rumsellers. If the people of his State want to +have rum sold, let 'em vote to have it sold. But as it now stands, they +can't enlist me to head the lawbreakers and shield the lawbreaking. I'm +through playing the hypocrite!" + +"We've got to set ourselves above petty bickerings and personal +differences," interposed the Senator, cracking the party whip. "I'm a +Republican, first of all!" + +"Talk sense, Pownal!" snapped the General, impatiently. "This isn't a +political rally. We're grown men and friends that can talk plain. His +principles make a Republican--or ought to--not his protestations! And +establishing a system of low license and sheriff-made local option under +a prohibitory law is unprincipled, and you know it!" + +Thelismer Thornton, god of that particular machine that was then +grinding so ominously and rattling so badly, felt that he needed a few +moments in which to mend belts and adjust cogs. He wanted an opportunity +to think a little while. He had discovered a new Waymouth all of a +sudden. He wanted to get acquainted with him. He wished to find out +whether he would be really as dangerous as his astonishing threats +indicated. + +The persistent man at the door was now clamorous. The Duke strode that +way and flung it open. Whoever it might be, the interruption would give +him time to think, to plan, to investigate. + +The intruder was the Hon. David Everett. He stepped in, and Thornton +relocked the door after him. + +Mr. Everett was not amiable. His little eyes snapped from face to face +suspiciously. It was immediately and perfectly plain to him that he had +forced admission to a conference that had not expected him, did not want +him, and was embarrassed at finding him present. In the state of mind +they were in, the men in that room would have glowered at any one. +Everett detected something more than mere personal resentment at his +intrusion--he sniffed a plot against him. There was no hand outstretched +to him, no welcome, no explanation offered why these leaders of the +party had met thus without intimation to him that anything was afoot. +Choleric red suffused his face--it had been gray with passion when he +entered, because a corridor filled with curious men is not a happy arena +for a candidate shut out of committee headquarters. + +He realized that he had been a spectacle inciting interest and some +amusement while he was hammering on the door. + +One object of the Duke had been attained when he admitted Everett--the +wrangling ceased. But the embarrassment was intensified. The situation +was more complex. + +"I beg your pardon, gentlemen, if I am interrupting serious business," +began Everett, intending to force some sort of explanation. + +He waited. No one spoke. The others were waiting, too. + +The candidate looked from one to the other, and then surveyed Wasgatt +and the papers he was clutching. He eyed General Waymouth with much +interest and some surprise. He had not been informed of that gentleman's +presence in the hotel. The General returned the gaze with serenity, +creasing his sheet of manuscript on the table with his thin fingers. + +"I expected to be called in when you were ready to go over the +platform," continued Everett, sourly. "I'm supposed to know as early as +any one, I presume, what it is I'm going to stand on." + +Thelismer Thornton decided that it was up to him to speak. He leaned +against the table, half sitting on it, and swung his foot. + +"You have a perfect right, Dave, to inquire about any platform that +you're going to stand on. And when we get your platform ready for you +we'll call you in and submit it. But allow me to remind you that you +haven't been nominated yet." The band was blaring again outside. "The +convention is yet to be held, and has yet to declare its platform." + +"I don't expect you to call Arba Spinney in here and consult with +him--if that's what your hints mean. But there's no need of your using +that 'round-the-barn talk with me, Thelismer. You know that so far as +the real Republican party is concerned Spinney is an outsider; I'm the +logical candidate, and I demand to be taken into the conference. I don't +recognize that there are two Republican candidates before the +convention." + +"I do," said the Duke, firmly and with significance. He was preparing to +resent this autocratic manner. + +"Well, I _don't_!" cried the State chairman. Secretly he had been +offended by Thornton's high-handed assumption of control, ever since +their talk on the morning after the Fort Canibas caucus. He had promptly +recognized the political sagacity of the old man's plan. In his fear of +the Spinney agitation--in his apprehension lest all control should be +wrested from his faction of the party--he had been eager to compromise +on General Waymouth, hoping that he would prove to be as amenable to +party reason as he knew Everett already was. But this intractable old +Spartan, with his dictation of party principles that meant the loss of +policy, power, and profits, had angered him to his marrow. He was ready +to declare himself now, Thornton or mo Thornton. He turned on the Duke. + +"Perhaps you can lick me--that's the only way you can get it!" he +declared. "But you needn't expect me to stand here and grin and hand it +over." + +Thornton stared at him understandingly, accepting the challenge. + +"There was a man up our way, Luke, who fought two highway robbers a +whole hour, and when they had finally torn his clothes all off him, he +only had two cents in his pockets. He told the robbers, then, that he +hadn't fought to save his two cents, but because he didn't want his +financial condition revealed." + +Candidate Everett was finding this conversation hard to follow. + +"There's something here that isn't on the level, and I suspected it the +minute I came into this room. Presson, is the State Committee behind +me?" + +"It is, and it's behind you to stay," declared the chairman. Again he +turned to Thornton. + +"It's up to you, now, whether Arba Spinney gets the nomination or not. +If you keep on and split us, he gets it; but I shall make it mighty +plain to the boys as to whose fault it was, Thelismer." + +"What's all this about?" demanded Everett. + +Presson hesitated only a moment. + +"There was a movement on inside the party to run General Waymouth as a +compromise candidate. It has been talked over. I declare myself now. +I'm against it. The State Committee stands for you, Everett!" + +The candidate revolved slowly on his heels in order to study the faces +of all of them. He did not find much enthusiasm to back up Presson's +declaration. He realized that he was in the company of those who had +been plotting to shelve him, and he had the wit to understand that only +their quarrel over some issue had availed to save him from being knifed. + +His temper got away from him. + +"You've held your nose up pretty high in this world, General Waymouth! +Do you call a trick to steal my nomination away from me at the last +moment gentlemanly or decent? I've put in my time and my money and my +efforts. I've made a campaign. And I've waited for this!" + +"You needn't insult the General in that fashion, Dave," broke in +Thornton. "Address your talk to me. I'm responsible." + +"I think I'm the one that is responsible at this stage," insisted +General Waymouth. "I'll talk to you, Mr. Everett, if you please. You +addressed me. Any Republican in this State is entitled to seek +nomination as Governor. It is a worthy and proper ambition. It is an +honor that belongs to the people. It isn't a heritage to be passed on +from one bunch of politicians to another. It isn't to be bought and +bartered. I realize that precedent has given you that impression. But +it's a pernicious precedent. It's time to do away with it. That's why +I'm here to-night, dipping into slime that I hoped never to be soiled +with again. I've been frank with these other gentlemen. I'm going to be +frank with you, Mr. Everett. I know you stand for The System. I don't +have to tell you what that is. You propose to continue the nullification +programme, bar-rooms tolerated on payment of fines, tax reform slicked +over, water powers and other State resources peddled out to favorites. +It's useless to deny. We've all been in politics together too many +years." + +Mr. Everett did not deny. It was too intimate a gathering for that. + +"This is not the way I'd like to be called to the Governor's chair of my +State," went on the General, "but it's the way of politics. I've got to +meet you on the politician's level, so far as securing the nomination +goes. But I stand here and tell you, Mr. Everett"--he took two steps +forward and stood close to the other candidate, and his voice +rose--"that I can be a better Governor of this State than you--in the +sort of days that are on us now. This is not egotism--it's truth. I say +it because I know you and the men behind you as well as I know myself." + +"It's a sneak trick, just the same!" shouted Everett. + +"So are many tricks in politics--and, God help me, I'm back in +politics!" returned the General. He looked them over there in the room, +from face to face and eye to eye. "You cannot accuse me of vanity, +self-seeking, or ambition at my age, gentlemen. I've been Governor of +this State once. I didn't enjoy the experience. I'm going into this +thing again simply because I believe that I can put some honesty into +public affairs. This State is calling for it. And that object justifies +me in what I'm doing. I am a candidate!" + +"By ----!" roared Everett, furious, realizing how this candidacy +threatened his hopes, "run if you want to. But I'll see to it that these +delegates know how you're running--cutting under a man that's made an +honest canvass!" He started for the door, tossing his arms above his +head--a politician beginning to run amuck. + +Presson grabbed his arm and held him back. + +"Don't be a lunatic, Dave," he buzzed in his ear. "If you go to +advertising this around the hotel to-night you'll be giving Spinney the +tip and starting Waymouth's boom for him. Damn it, you want to keep your +teeth shut tight and your tongue behind them! There'll be no blabbers go +out of this room--I'll see to that! I'll put a dozen members of the +State Committee at work on the delegates to-night." He was walking +Everett toward the door, getting him out of earshot of the others. +"Weymouth has got a platform there that sounds as though it was drawn up +by the House Committee of Paradise. He's got to be licked--great Judas, +he's _got_ to be licked! I've got five thousand that the liquor crowd +has sent into the State for the campaign, but this is the place to use +it--right here now! And it'll be used. Don't you worry, Dave! And keep +your mouth shut!" + +It was a colloquy that no one else in the room heard--Everett putting in +suggestions as the chairman whispered hoarsely in his ear. Harlan +Thornton, looking on, guessed what it might be. Linton, at his side, +ironically hinted at the possibilities of that hurried conference in the +corner. Senator Pownal walked about the room, chewing his short beard +and incapable of a word--for his re-election came before the next +legislature, and to jump the wrong way now in the gubernatorial matter +was political suicide. + +Thelismer Thornton remained in his place on the corner of the table, +staring reflectively at General Waymouth. + +Presson ended his whispered exhortations with a rather savage reference +to the manner in which the Duke had involved the campaign. Everett shot +a baleful glance at the man who had so cold-bloodedly planned his +undoing. + +"Look here, Thornton," he called out, as he started for the door, "you +and I will have our reckoning later. We use old horses for fox bait up +our way, too, but we always make sure that the horses are dead first." +He went out and slammed the door. + +Thornton did not turn his head. He kept his eyes on Waymouth. + +"Vard," he said, "I reckon I haven't been keeping my political charts up +to date. I had you down as a peninsula, jutting out _some_ from the +Republican party, but still hitched on to it. I find you're an island, +standing all by yourself, and with pretty rocky shores." + +"Perhaps so," admitted the General. + +"This has been a sort of a heart-to-heart meeting here to-night. In the +general honesty I'll be honest myself. I can't support you." + +"Then you lack honesty." + +"No, but your scheme of honesty takes you right into the king-row of the +ramrodders, and I can't train with the bunch that will flock to you. +Your theory is good--but the _practice_ will break your heart just as +sure as God hasn't made humans perfect! You'll be up against it! You're +going to test man to the limit of his professions--and it isn't a safe +operation, if you want to come out with any of your ideals left +unsmashed. If you start on that road you'll have to travel it without +me." + +"Well, there's a little common sense left in the Republican party," +snapped Presson. "General Waymouth, you've had considerable many honors +in your life, and the party gave 'em to you. That calls for some +gratitude. You can show it by keeping your hands off this thing." + +"That would have been an argument once, when I was a wheel-horse with my +political blinders on; it has been an argument that has kept a good many +decent men from doing their duty. It will not work with me now." He put +his folded paper into his pocket, and reached and took the other +document that he had handed to Wasgatt earlier in the evening. "I'll not +disfigure the perfect structure of your platform now, Presson, but I'll +see how these sound from the floor of the convention, in spite of your +resolutions to shut off free speech! Good-night, gentlemen." He turned +to leave, still serene with the poise of one who has experienced all and +is prepared for all. "I used to have pretty good luck playing a lone +hand in our old card-playing days, Thelismer. I'll see what I can do in +politics." + +"General Waymouth, have you a few moments to give me if I come to your +room now?" inquired Harlan Thornton. "I want to offer my services!" + +"I'll join the party too, if I may!" suggested Linton. + +Colonel Wadsworth was twisting his imperial with one hand and fingering +his Loyal Legion button with the other. + +"I'm not the kind that waits for a draft, General," he said. "I didn't +in '61. I volunteer now." + +General Waymouth smiled, bowed the three ahead of him through the door +of the parlor, and softly closed it behind himself and his little party. + +"Well, Thelismer," raved the State chairman, "you can certainly take +rank, at your time of life and after all you've been through, as a +top-notch hell of a politician. You start out to run a State campaign, +and you wind up by not being able to run even your grandson!" + +"What I started running seems to be still running," said the old man, +undisturbed by the attack. + +"And it's costing the Republican party something, this mix-up," Presson +went on. + +"You think it looks expensive, taking the thing right now at apparent +face value?" + +"Look here! I don't relish humor--not now! I'm not in a humorous mood. +You can see what it's costing--blast that infernal band!" + +Mr. Spinney's serenaders had not had their fill of music. There was din +outside. The tune, "A Hot Time in the Old Town To-night," won a grunt +of approval from Mr. Wasgatt, still holding his documents, more pop-eyed +than ever. + +"Pretty expensive, eh?" said the Duke, lifting his knee between his +hands and leaning back on the table. "You heard about--" + +"I don't want any more of your cussed stories! Not to-night!" Presson +rushed out. He went into the main parlor, where the members of the State +Committee were in informal session. + +Wasgatt was left with the Duke, and the latter fixed him with benevolent +gaze. + +"Old Zavanna Dodge, up our way, got to courting two old maids, trying to +make up his mind which he'd take--and the one he didn't take sued him +for breach o' promise. After Zavanna put in his evidence in court, he +sat across from the court-house in the tavern window, waiting for the +arguments to be made and the case to be decided. Toward night Squire +Enfield, his lawyer, came across. 'How did she end out?' says Zavanna. +'Agin ye--for eight hundred,' says the Squire. 'Pretty expensive, Zav!' +Zavanna tucked a spill of whisker between his lips and chewed on it and +rocked for a little while. 'Unh huh!' says he, figuring it over. And +then he spoke up cheerful: 'Well, Squire, I reckon there's that much +difference between the two women.'" + +Wasgatt chuckled. + +"The point to that is--but no matter! It was to Luke that I was going to +show the point." + +The old man got his hat from the window-sill and trudged toward the +private door, saying, partly to Wasgatt, partly to himself: "I reckon +I'll go to bed! Just at this minute the campaign doesn't seem to be +needing my help." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE ODD TRICK + + +Thelismer Thornton was one of the first to stir next morning in the big +hotel. All night roisterers had flanked his room, there had been the +buzz of eager argument overhead, riot of dispute below, and continual +thudding of hurrying feet in the corridors. He had gone to sleep +realizing that the hive was in a state of upheaval extraordinary, but he +slept calmly in spite of it, and woke refreshed. + +He picked his way past cots in the corridors. Men were snoring there. + +His grandson had not returned to their apartments. But the Duke divined +his whereabouts. He had ascertained by the house telephone the number of +Linton's room. He tried the door when he arrived there. It was not +locked. He entered. Linton was asleep on the bed. Harlan was on a cot. +They had taken off only their coats and waistcoats. They did not wake +when he came in. He pulled a chair to the centre of the room and sat +astride it, his arms on its back. In a few moments both sleepers woke, +stirring under his intent regard. They sat up and returned his gaze. + +"Well, my boys, what's the programme?" he inquired, pleasantly. + +Heavy with sleep, perturbed, a bit apprehensive, neither answered. + +"You didn't come back to your room last night, Harlan. You weren't +afraid of this old chap, were you? Didn't think I'd be running around +the room on all fours, eh, or climb the wall, or growl and try to bite +you?" + +"I didn't want to disturb you, and Mr. Linton and I wanted to talk after +we left General Waymouth," said Harlan. + +"It's all right if you weren't afraid of me, my boy. We can't afford to +have politics put us in that state of mind. Now, own up! You thought I'd +pitch in and pull you over to the machine--you were afraid of that, now, +weren't you?" + +"To be perfectly honest, I didn't want any argument with you, +grandfather, but I wasn't afraid you'd convert me. You couldn't do +that." + +"Bub, 'politics before friendship' is all right for a code. I practice +that myself, but it hurts me to have you put politics before +relationship--the kind that's between us." + +"Grandfather," replied the young man, firmly, "you remember that you +told me you were going to put me into politics right. I consider that +you've done so. I'm going to stay where you put me." + +"Oh, you mean one thing and I mean another, my boy, as matters stand +just now. You're in wrong. A man isn't in right when he's playing on the +losing end." + +"I stay where you put me," insisted Harlan, doggedly. "I'm with General +Waymouth." + +"General Waymouth was a winner till he committed hari-kari there last +night. He had Luke's machine, and he had my scheme. He kicked over the +machine, and the scheme won't work now; it could have been _snapped_ +through, but it can't be _bulled_ through--not with the bunch forewarned +and on the lookout. Your political chances with Vard Waymouth, Harlan, +don't amount to that!" He clicked his finger smartly above his head. +"You may as well go back up-country and boss the Quedaws." + +"And yet you know that General Waymouth is right, Mr. Thornton," broke +in Linton, pausing in lacing his shoes. "There's no chance for argument +about that. Why is it the big men of this State--men like you, that have +the influence to set things straight--won't back the man that's honest +and right?" + +"Linton, that's the kind of a question that's asked by the man whose +experience in practical politics is limited to a term on the School +Board and the ownership of a subscription edition of _American +Statesmen_, bound in half morocco. I'll tell you why we don't: we're +dealing with conditions, not theories. The chap who writes for the +'Kickers' Column' in the newspapers can tell you all about how politics +should be run, but that's the only privilege he ever gets. It's the chap +who keeps still and runs the politics that gets what's to be got out of +it. And that's because mankind wants what it wants, and not what it says +it wants." + +He went to the window, snapped up the shade, and let the morning light +flood the room. + +"Wake up, my boys! Dreams are rosy--I've had 'em myself. But they don't +buy the breakfast next morning. Martyrs get a devil of a reputation +after they're dead. It doesn't do 'em a mite of good, not as human +beings. As long as you're taking the curse that belongs with a human +being, get some of the good, too. I tried to operate on a different plan +long ago--about the time I had the dreams--but I had to give it up if I +was to get anything out of life. Vard Waymouth can't build over the +human nature in this State. I've had to drop him. I hadn't realized he +was in such a bad way. Get aboard with the winners this trip! Then at +least you can be in the swim--you can find some good to do on the side, +and be able to do it. But you won't amount to anything sitting on the +bank and bellowing." + +The vigils of the night had fortified their faith, the loyalty of youth +was in them, and they were the disciples of one who had enlisted their +enthusiasm. Linton, however, was less assertive than Harlan. The Duke +did not lose his patience. + +"Boys," he said, at the end of his exhortations, "I see that you've got +to have your little lesson (I'll have to be going now, for I've a few +things to attend to), and I'll tell you frankly I propose to make that +lesson a lasting one." + +A few hours later the young men went in to breakfast together. The early +trains had brought other delegates and visitors. The great room was +crowded with a chattering throng. The head waiter intercepted them; he +seemed to be waiting for them. They followed obediently, and he led them +to an alcove. + +Here a breakfast-party was already installed. + +Miss Presson was first to greet them, giving a hand to each--radiant, +fresh, and altogether charming in her tailored perfection. + +"We left word at the door," she smiled, "for I wanted to behold you +before the blood and dust of the arena settled over all." + +Mrs. Presson and her ladies were cordial. They did not seem to remark +that the State chairman kept his seat and was brusque in his greeting. +Political abstraction excused general disregard to conventions among the +men-folks that morning. The Duke was there. He patronized them with a +particularly amiable smile. + +"May I?" asked Linton, touching the chair next Madeleine. + +"Yes," said the girl. "You know, Herbert and I are very old friends, Mr. +Thornton." There was a hint of apology to Harlan behind the brilliant +smile she gave him. He had moved toward the chair. He flushed when he +realized that he felt a queer sense of hurt at her choice. It was +another new experience for him who had made the woods his mistress--a +woman had chosen another, slighting him. As he took his seat beside his +grandfather he was angry at himself--at the sudden boyish pique he felt. +He had not been conscious till then that he had been interested +especially in Madeleine Presson. It needed the presence of this other +young man, selected over his head, to make him understand that one may +not draw near beauty with impunity, even though one may be very +certain--telling his own heart--that love is undreamed of. He wondered +whether he might not be afflicted with asinine pride. + +He did not relish the glance that Linton bestowed on him; it seemed +there was just a flash of triumph in it--that bit of a boast one sees in +the eyes of a man who becomes, even briefly, the proprietor of a pretty +woman. + +"We were just talking over the latest news--or, rather, it's a rumor," +said Miss Presson. With quick intuition she felt that something, +somehow, was not just right. She hastened to break the silence. "They +are saying that Mr. Spinney has withdrawn, and that his name will not go +before the convention. Of course, you've heard about it, Herbert--and +Mr. Thornton!" + +They had not heard it. They looked guilty. They had been all the morning +with Colonel Wadsworth, locked away from the throng, finishing matters +of the night before. The expression on their faces was confession of +their ignorance. + +"If you're going to be early political fishermen you'll have to look for +your worms sharp in the morning or you'll fetch up short of bait," +suggested the Duke, maliciously. + +"Three cheers and a snatch of band-music take on a hopeful color when +they're lit up by red fire overnight," remarked the State chairman. "So +do some other things. But a fellow with good eyesight usually comes to +himself in the daylight." + +"Is that true about Spinney?" asked Harlan, scenting mischief and +treachery, and not yet enough of a politician to understand instantly +just what effect this would have on the situation. + +"I don't know anything about it," snapped Presson. "I don't care +anything about it. It isn't important enough. The man's strength was +overrated. It was mostly mouth. Just as soon as the delegates got +together last night and shook themselves down it was plain enough where +Spinney stood." + +"But you yourself and grandfather have been saying all along that +he--" began Harlan. + +"We say a lot of things in politics," broke in the chairman, testily. +"But it's only the final round-up that counts. And be prepared for +sudden changes, as the almanac says! I tell you, I don't know anything +about this Spinney rumor--nor I don't care. But it's probably true. +Everett has got pledged delegates enough to nominate him by +acclamation." + +"But last night--" persisted Harlan. + +His grandfather interrupted this time. + +"Don't you remember that old Brad Dunham wrote to New York one spring +and asked a commission man if he would take a million frogs' legs? +Commission man wrote that he'd take a hundred pairs; and the best old +Brad could do, after wading in the swamp back of his house all day, was +to get a dozen. Wrote to the commission man that he'd been estimating +his frogs by sound and thought he had a million. That's been the way +with Spinney and his delegates, Harlan." + +Mrs. Presson took advantage of the merriment to change the subject from +politics. It was a topic that did not interest her, and she had learned +from her husband's disgusted growlings that morning that there had been +trouble the night before. + +Harlan did not join in the chatter that went about the table. Under +cover of it his grandfather gave him a few words of compassionate +counsel. + +"You'll have to swing in with the new deal, bub. You can't cut party +sirloin too close to the horn, and that's what Vard did. He wants to sit +on the mountain and slam us flat under a rock with the new ten +commandments on it. We can't stand for it. I didn't dream that he had +grown to be so impractical in his old age. No one wants any such deal as +he's framing up for the State. As I told you, he's trying to build human +nature over, and he can't do it. I'm sorry it's turned as it has--he +could have been just a little diplomatic and made us a good Governor. +But Everett will make a good one--you needn't be afraid of him. We'll +put through a few measures that will smooth things down a little. Now +you've got to remember that you're going to the legislature. You might +just as well not be there if you don't stand clever with the +administration. I haven't put you in just as I intended. But get into +line now, quick. I can smooth it all right for you. I've squared myself +with Everett--he needed me!" + +Harlan listened patiently, keeping his eyes on his food. + +"Right after breakfast Luke is going to have a talk with you and +Linton." + +"It will do Mr. Presson no good to talk to me. I'm with General +Waymouth." + +"But General Waymouth has been eliminated, you young idiot. It was the +combination of circumstances that made him a candidate. But those +circumstances have been changed. I can't explain to you how, Harlan--not +here and now. But a brand-new trump has been turned. It had to be done. +You stay behind here with Linton and talk with Luke." + +The ladies were rising from the table. + +Harlan did not reply. He did not remain. He stepped aside and allowed +the ladies to pass, and followed them from the alcove. Presson stared +after him angrily. Linton, obeying his request, sat down after Mrs. +Presson and her party had retired. + +"You've got a fool, there, for a grandson, Thelismer," stated the +chairman with decision. + +"He doesn't seem to be a politician," returned the old man, gazing after +him. "There are a few joints in a man that he ought to be able to bend +in politics, but Harlan seems to be afflicted with a sort of righteous +ossification. He'll have to have his lesson, that's all!" + +The young man was not in the mood to accept Miss Presson's invitation to +accompany them to the hotel parlor. In the corridor he refused so +brusquely that she stood and gazed at him, allowing the others to go on +without her. + +"You seem to be taking politics very seriously, Mr. Harlan Thornton." + +"I'm taking honesty and my pledges seriously, that's all." + +"Then your honesty puts you in opposition to my father, does it, sir?" +It was said with a spark of resentment. "Do you realize how that +sounds?" + +"I do not say so, Miss Presson." + +"But I have heard queer rumors this morning. Take a woman's advice once, +Mr. Thornton: it may be worth something, because I have seen more of +this game than you have. Don't kill your career at the outset by trying +to realize an impossible ideal. It's bad enough in love, but it's much +worse in politics!" She hurried away, joining the others. + +Harlan paced the corridor impatiently, waiting for Linton to come out. +Few men of the hundreds thronging past recognized him, and he was not +accosted. + +He caught fragments of talk. It was evident that the rumor concerning +Spinney had found as many disbelievers as believers. Some charged that +the story was started simply for the purpose of hurting the reform +candidate by decrying his strength and inducing the wavering +opportunists to come over to the winning side. Others said a trade had +been effected, and that the story of it had leaked out prematurely. At +any rate, the buzz of gossip showed that the situation was badly mixed. + +Linton came alone. He had left the Duke and the chairman in conference. +He took Harlan by the arm, and walked to the end of the corridor. They +were alone there. + +"Of course you know how I came to be in on the Waymouth side," he began, +promptly. "Once I was in I didn't propose to quit so long as there was +any hope. I did what mighty few young men in politics would do, Mr. +Thornton--I stood out last night against Presson and your grandfather +when they dropped the General. I just say that to show you I'm not a +cur. But it's hopeless. The thing has turned completely over." + +"You're going to desert the General?" + +"It isn't desertion. That isn't a word that belongs in this situation. +General Waymouth will not call it that after I've talked with him." + +Harlan did not speak. At the breakfast-table he had been ashamed of that +little gnawing feeling of rancor when he looked across at the young +couple who seemed so wholly contented with their conversation. Now he +indulged himself. He began to hate this young man cordially. He excused +the feeling, on the ground that it was proper resentment on behalf of +the General. + +"I don't want you to think that I'm disloyal or a deserter in this +matter, Mr. Thornton. But I'm going to the next legislature, and I'm +interested in certain measures that will help this State if they're +adopted. I can't help General Waymouth now; you can't help him. He has +no one behind him, as the thing has turned." + +"He's got the square deal behind him!" + +"Meaning nothing in a political mix-up such as this is. I can't afford +to dump all my future overboard and kill myself for the next legislature +by an absolutely useless and quixotic splurge in to-day's convention. +The General has made no canvass--he isn't even very much interested +personally in the affair. I hope I stand straight with you now. I'm +going up and tell the General exactly how I feel about the thing. I +advise you to do the same. You'll be very foolish to butt your head +against every political influence in this State that counts for +anything. I told your grandfather--" + +"I don't want your advice in politics," blazed Harlan, letting his +grudge have rein, "and I don't thank you to tell me how to get along +with my own grandfather!" + +He hoped that young Mr. Linton would resent that manner of speech. + +Young Mr. Linton, as stalwart as he, raised his black eyebrows, pursed +his lips, and was not daunted by the outburst. + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Thornton," he said, "but I fear you did not have +enough sleep last night." + +He started for General Waymouth's room, and Harlan followed him. There +seemed to be no other haven for the latter just then. He was hung +between the political sky and earth. He had no hope left that the +General could prevail over the conditions that had so suddenly presented +themselves. But his loyalty was not shaken. Now it had become +unreasoning loyalty, dogged determination to stick to his choice; and as +he looked at Linton's back preceding him along the corridor, he was more +firmly determined than ever. Suddenly he was glad of the fact that this +young man was on the other side, and he did not stop to analyze why he +was glad it was so. + +General Waymouth's parlor was crowded with men. The size of that levee +astonished the two new arrivals. The General was not in sight. He was +closeted with some one in the bedroom. Harlan and Linton noted that the +men in the parlor did not wear the demeanor of ordinary visitors calling +to pay their respects to a "has been." Some of them were talking eagerly +in bunches, some were waiting--all were serious and anxious. + +General Waymouth, coming to his bedroom door to usher out three men and +admit others, saw his young lieutenants. He called them to him. He was +straighter. He was stern. Fires within had given his eyes the flash of +youth. All his usual gentle pensiveness was gone. + +"My boys," he said, earnestly, "a week ago I didn't think I wanted to be +Governor of this State again. But I want that office now with the whole +strength of my soul. The devil is running our State to-day through his +agents. I've got a duty to perform. I haven't time now to tell you what +I've discovered since you left my room. I want you to--" + +"I ask your pardon for interrupting, General," said Linton, manfully, +"but I want to be as square with you as I can. Interests that belong to +others will suffer if I continue with you--things being as they are. I +make haste to speak before you tell me any more. I ask to be released." + +"As a soldier I might question a resignation on the eve of battle, but +as a politician I want no half-heartedness in my ranks. Good-day, Mr. +Linton." He stood very erect, and his air admitted no further +explanation. Linton bowed, and went out of the room. + +"There is no half-heartedness here!" cried Harlan, passionately. "Is +there anything I can do, General Waymouth?" + +"Go and bring Arba Spinney to this room at once. Understand the +situation before you go: I have already sent men for him. He has +refused to come. Tell him this is his last opportunity to save himself +from such deep disgrace that it will drive him from his State. I wish I +could tell you to take him by the collar and lug him here. I venture to +say you have the muscle, young man. But minutes are valuable--bring +him." + +Harlan hurried away. + +Mr. Spinney was not in evidence in the parlor of his suite, but Harlan +heard his tremendous voice in the bedroom--that voice could not be +softened even in an exigency. + +Several men whom Harlan recognized as members of the State Committee +were seated near the door; and when he approached to knock, one of them +informed him that Mr. Spinney was too busy to be seen. + +"But my business is important." + +"What sort of business is it?" + +"Is Mr. Spinney afraid of visitors?" demanded the young man. His mien +impressed the men. They knew that he was Thelismer Thornton's grandson. +They conversed among themselves in whispers. Without waiting, and before +they could stay him, he flung open the door. + +Spinney stopped in his discourse with several men, and faced about +apprehensively. He, too, recognized the young man, and was unable to +decide whether to class him with friends or foes. + +"Mr. Spinney, I have been sent to bring you with me instantly. Will you +come?" + +"Where?" + +"It's a matter for your ear, sir. But you must come." + +The men with Spinney promptly counselled him to remain where he was, but +the candidate was impressed by the young man's determined appearance. +Harlan strode to him, and took him by the arm. He had been used to the +command of men since boyhood. "I have some very positive instructions. +It will be a serious matter for you, Mr. Spinney, if you don't come--and +you can't afford to take the advice of these men here." + +He propelled his man toward the door, and Mr. Spinney went. It is likely +that he concluded that no very serious damage could come to him in the +presence of Thelismer Thornton's grandson. But when they arrived near +the door of General Waymouth's parlor, Spinney recognized what it meant +and resisted. + +"It's a trap!" he gasped. "I thought your grandfather--" + +The State Committeemen were following along the corridor, growling +threats. Now they understood that this was practically an abduction. +They hastened up to the scene of the struggle. But the young man was not +deterred. He was obeying orders without question. With him it was not a +matter of politics; he did not pause to wonder how the affair would be +looked upon. The man to whom all his loyalty had gone out had commanded; +he was obeying. But the others were resolute too. They were about to +interfere. At that moment Thelismer Thornton appeared in the corridor. + +"Let the boy alone," he commanded, thrusting himself among them. + +The diversion gave Harlan his opportunity. Clutching Spinney with one +hand, he threw open the door and pushed him in, followed him, and closed +the door. He locked it, and stood with his back against it. + +In that moment he did not reflect that in obeying General Waymouth so +implicitly he might be playing traitor to his own flesh and blood. But +the Duke, in his cynicism, had never attracted his grandson's political +loyalty. That had seemed a matter apart from the family ties between +them. His grandfather had set him on the trail of decency in politics, +and had given him a leader to follow. + +The frankness with which his grandfather had exposed the code by which +he and his ilk operated in politics, making tricks, subterfuge, and +downright dishonesty an integral part of the game and entitled to +absolution, had divorced Harlan's straightforward sympathies when the +question came to issue between his own relative, complacently +unscrupulous, and General Waymouth, heroically casting off bonds of +friendship and political affiliations, and standing for what was +obviously the right. It was chivalrous. It appealed to the youth in +Harlan. His manhandling of the amazed Spinney was an unheard-of event +among gentlemen at a political convention, but there was more than +impulse behind it. Harlan Thornton was a woodsman. Social conventions +make the muscles subservient, but in the more primitive conditions the +muscles leap ahead of the mind. + +Therefore, he came with Mr. Spinney and tossed him into the presence of +the chief, who had sent for him. + +Then he set his broad shoulders against the door, for fists had begun to +hammer at it. + +It was evident at once that Spinney recognized the nature of the +conference that had assembled in General Waymouth's room, and knew what +the personnel of the group signified. + +He looked around him and started toward the door. + +"I've got witnesses to that assault, and you're going to suffer for it," +he blustered. Harlan did not give way. + +"You can't leave here yet, Mr. Spinney--not until General Waymouth +finishes his business with you." + +The General had viewed Mr. Spinney's headlong arrival with astonishment. +He stepped forward to the centre of the room. There was a note in his +voice that quelled the man as much as had Harlan's resolute demeanor at +the door. + +"Spinney, it will be better for you if you listen." + +The candidate turned to face him, apprehensive and defiant at the same +time. The panels of the door against which Harlan leaned were jarred by +beating fists. Harlan heard the voice of his grandfather outside, +calling to him impatiently. A moment more, and Chairman Presson added a +more wrathful admonition to open. + +"Mr. Thornton, will you kindly inform those people at the door that this +is my room, and that I command them to withdraw?" directed General +Waymouth. + +Harlan flung the door open and filled the space with the bulk of his +body. Both parties stood revealed to each other, the young man dividing +them, and disdaining intrenchments. + +"What kind of a crazy-headed, lumber-jack performance are you +perpetrating here?" demanded the elder Thornton. "You're not handling +Canucks to-day, you young hyena!" + +"This is a scandal--a disgrace to this convention!" thundered Presson. +He started to come in, but Harlan barred the doorway with body and arms. + +"Do you want any of these gentlemen inside, General?" he asked. + +"Neither Mr. Presson, nor Mr. Thornton, nor any of the rest," declared +Waymouth. "And I want that disturbance at my door stopped." + +"You hear that!" cried the defender of the pass. "Now, Mr. Presson, if +you intend to disgrace this convention by a riot, it's up to you to +start it." And then the choler and the hot blood of his youth spoke. He +did not pick his words. His opinion of them was seething within him. He +talked as he would talk to a lumber-crew. "I'm keeping this door, and +I'm man enough for all the pot-bellied politicians you can crowd into +this corridor. And if there's any more hammering here, I'll step out and +show you." + +He slammed the door, locked it, and set his shoulders against the +panels. + +"Luke, keep away," counselled Thelismer. "The boy is just plain +lumber-jack at the present moment, and he's a hard man in a scrap. We +can't afford to have a scene." + +"They're going to turn wrongside-out that wad of cotton batting with two +ounces of brains wrapped in it!" raved the State chairman. But the Duke +pulled the politician away, whispering in his ear. + +Spinney faced the General, blinking, doubtful, sullen. + +The old soldier knew how to attack. He flung his accusation with fierce +directness. "Spinney, you have sold out. You're a traitor. And you're a +thief as well, for you've sold what didn't belong to you. You solicited +honest men, in the name of reform, to put their cause into your hands. +It was a trust. You've sold it." + +"I'll prosecute you for slander!" roared the candidate. He hoped his +defiance would be heard by those outside. + +"You may do so, but I'll give you here and now the facts that you'll go +up against. That's how sure I am of my ground!" + +He shook papers at the man. + +"Last night, or rather this morning at one o'clock, to be exact, you met +Luke Presson and members of the State Committee, and for two thousand +dollars, paid to you in one-hundred-dollar bills, you agreed to pull +out. The secret was to be kept until it should be time for the +nominating speeches to be made on the floor of the convention to-day. I +have here affidavits signed by responsible parties who heard the entire +transaction." It was accusation formal, couched in cold phrases, without +passion. + +Spinney started. The perspiration began to stream down his face. But in +spite of the staggering blow the fight was not out of him. He thought +quickly, reassuring himself by the recollection that his bedroom door +had been locked, and men were on guard in his parlor. There could have +been no eavesdroppers. This must be a bluff. + +"That's a damnation lie!" he shouted. + +"Don't you bellow at me, sir! I'm not trying to extort any confession. +But you're wasting time, denying. I'm sure of my ground, I repeat. +That's why I'm talking now. I'm an old man, and I was in politics in +this State before you were born. And there were tricks and tricksters in +the old days. And I knew them. I played one of those tricks on you, sir, +last night. It's the last one I hope I shall ever play, for tricks are +to be taken out of the politics of this State. The god of good chance +lodged you in 'Traitor's Room,' last night, Mr. Spinney." + +The man stared at him, frightened, not understanding. + +"There's a false door and a slide in the wall of that bedroom, Spinney, +and the old politician who put it there years ago passed the knowledge +on to me. I'm willing every one should know it now. When you go back I +will have it shown to you. It will convince you that these affidavits I +hold in my hand are not guess-work. These men in this room now--for your +own men brought me word that you were hiding from them--made those +affidavits. Look at them, and deny--deny once more, Spinney!" + +But the candidate had no voice now. He glanced furtively from face to +face. + +"Spinney," one declared, bitterly, "we've got you dead to rights. There +ain't any use in squirming. We suspected you when you hid away from us, +and General Waymouth put us in the way of finding out just who was with +you. You might as well give in." + +The General did not wait for Spinney to speak. He was in no mood then +for listening. He was in command. He was issuing orders. The battle was +on, and he was in the saddle. + +"I propose to have your name go before the convention, Spinney. You +must walk out of this room and deny the rumors that are afloat. I +propose to have two of these men go with you and stay with you. And if +you deny half-heartedly, or if you attempt any more sneak tricks, or if +your name is not put into nomination to-day, I'll stand out and declare +what is in these affidavits. If you want to save yourself and the men +who bribed you, obey my orders." + +"I don't understand why you want me to go ahead now," Spinney ventured +to protest. + +"And I don't propose to take you into my confidence enough, sir, to +inform you. I simply instruct you to do as I say, and if you obey, I and +these men here will do all we can to cover up this nasty mess in our +party. It's in your hands whether you go to jail or not." + +The General signalled to Harlan, and the young man opened the door. +Spinney went out with his watchful guardians. + +"Now you ought to be able to hold your men together until we need them, +gentlemen," said the General, addressing those who remained. "But you'd +better get out among them and see that they stay in line. Defend +Spinney! God knows, the words will stick in your throats, but show a +bold front to the other side. Gather in your stragglers." + +They filed out, plain and stolid individuals from the rural sections. + +Harlan was left alone with the General. + +"There go the kind that the demagogues always catch, Mr. Thornton. The +demagogues understand human nature. They prey on the radicals who will +follow the man who promises--sets class against class and eternally +promises! Promises the jealous ascetics to deprive other men of the +indulgences they seem to enjoy--promises to correct things for the great +majority which dimly understands that things are out of joint in their +little affairs, and as dimly hope that laws and rulers can correct those +things and make the income cover the grocery bills. Spinney had them by +the ears, that he did! But the knave was shrewd enough to understand +that the machine would probably whip him in convention. They used my +name to scare him into selling out--threatened to stampede the +convention for me. That's why I'm so angry." + +"Let me ask you something, General. It was Spinney, was it, Spinney and +the kind I've seen training with him in this thing, that stirred up the +opposition in this State--the kind of opposition we found at our Fort +Canibas caucus?" + +"From all reports, yes. I know some of the agents that have been working +in the State. The men behind have hidden themselves pretty well, and I'm +not exactly certain where their money is coming from. But I suppose the +liquor interests are putting in considerable, as usual." + +"The liquor interests! Backing reformers?" + +The General smiled. + +"Remember that I've had better chances to see the inside than you, young +man. I've watched it operate from the start. In case of doubt you'll +find the liquor interests on both sides. It's an evil that prohibition +opens the door to. The saloons are to be tolerated and protected, or +they are to be persecuted--the programme depends on the men who get +control. If they are to be tolerated, the wholesale liquor men have to +stand in right, so that they may have the privilege of doing business +with the retailers. If the saloons are to be closed, the liquor men want +to stand in right, so that they can do business direct with the +consumer; and then there are the increased sales through the legalized +city and town agencies when the saloons are closed--the liquor men need +that business. The liquor is bound to come in anyway, whichever faction +is in control. So the big rumsellers cater to both sides." + +"Isn't there any decency anywhere, in any man, General Waymouth, when he +gets mixed into such things?" + +"Don't lose your faith that way, my boy! You see, I'm even playing a few +political tricks myself. Your grandfather is more than half right--we +have to play the game! But I'm trying a last experiment with human +nature before I die. I haven't the things to lose that a young man has. +I am forcing myself on my party--using some means that disgust me, but I +have to do so in order to prevail. I want to be Governor of this State +again, and I want to be Governor with more powers than I had before. You +and I both know what the party managers want, I'd like to find out if +the people are willing to be governed that way, after they've learned +there's a better system. I want to find out if every man in this State +is willing to pay his own just share of taxes, if the people will wake +up and stand behind a man who shows them how to keep from private greed +what belongs to the people. And most of all, young man, this State is in +a condition of civil war over this infernal liquor question. The +radicals are away off at one side, and the liberals as far away from +them as they can get, and both sides plastering each other with mud. +There's no common ground for a decent and honest man to stand on +between; that is, he's too much disgusted with both sides to join +either. I want to see whether there's good sense enough in this State to +take the thing out of the hands of the fanatics so that we can get +results that decent men can subscribe to--_results_ instead of the ruin +and rottenness we're in now." + +He stopped suddenly with a word of apology. + +"You mustn't think I'm inflicting a rehearsal of my inauguration speech +on you, Mr. Thornton. I talked more than I intended. But my feelings +have been deeply stirred this morning." + +"It's wicked business, General Waymouth! I don't understand how you've +kept so calm through it. But, thank God, you can show 'em all up now, as +they deserve to be shown to the people of this State. I can hardly wait +for that convention to open!" + +The General put his papers into his breast-pocket and buttoned his close +frock-coat. He gazed on the young man's excitement indulgently. + +"My boy, you have yet to learn, I see, that what would make a good scene +in a theatre would be a mighty bad move in politics. This, to-day, is a +convention that a good many thousands of voters are waiting to hear +from. If they should hear the whole truth, I'm thinking that the +Democratic party would win at the polls. So, you see, I must continue to +be a politician. We'll be going along to the hall, now, you and I. It's +near the hour. I want to be the next Governor of this State" (he smiled +wistfully), "so you and I will go out and hunt for enough honest men to +make me Governor." + +The hotel was pretty well deserted as they walked down the stairs and +through the lobby. + +"Ours doesn't seem to be the largest parade of the day, Mr. Thornton," +said the veteran mildly, when they were on the street, "but we'll +see--we'll see!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP + + +Like a beacon marking shoals, Thelismer Thornton stood at the head of +the broad granite steps that led up to the convention hall. An unlighted +cigar was set hard between his teeth. Men flocked past him with +obsequious greetings, but he merely grunted replies. He was watching for +some one. He swore under his breath when he saw his man. General +Waymouth and Harlan came up the steps together. He swung between them, +and went along into the hall. + +From open doors and windows band-music blared, welded with the roar of +two thousand voices, each man shouting his conversation to be heard +above his neighbors. It still lacked ten minutes of the hour set for the +opening of the convention. + +Under the cover of the uproar, as they walked along, the Duke delivered +some very vigorous opinions to his grandson, expressing himself as to +the latter's state of intellect, judgment, and general fitness to be +allowed loose among men. + +Harlan did not retort. He took his cue from the General, who smiled and +listened. + +"I'll tell you what I ought to do with you, boy! I ought to skin you. +I'd find a ready sale for the hide. They could use it to make bindings +for New Testaments. Your're too d--n--d righteous, altogether! I've been +easy and patient with you, but I don't propose to stand at one side +now, and see you ruin yourself politically. Why are you letting the boy +do it, Varden?" he demanded, turning on the General. "You're old enough +to know better. He's no help to you now. I supposed I had a grandson +until you got hold of him!" + +"You've still got a grandson, but you haven't got a political tool to +use in prying open a new governorship deal every fifteen minutes," +declared the young man. "You took me to General Waymouth, you pledged me +to him--I pledged myself to him. I don't propose to discuss this matter +any further. I'm my own man when it comes to politics!" + +"Thelismer, I wouldn't say any more just now," suggested the General. +"You are angry, and I've told you many times in past years that your +judgment is not good when you are angry. But this is no place for +talking these matters!" + +The curious had already begun to throng about them. General Waymouth was +a marked figure in a gathering. It had not become a matter of general +knowledge that he was attending the convention. He had not appeared +frequently in public since his retirement, and men were glad to see him. +The early buzz that greeted his first appearance in the hall grew louder +and louder, and swelled into an uproar as delegates turned in larger +numbers and recognized him. + +The vast body of the auditorium was crowded with men. Posts supporting +huge placards indicated the division of delegates into counties. The +General's own county was nearest the door by which he had entered. At a +call from some one these delegates climbed upon their settees. They gave +three cheers for him. It was a spontaneous tribute to the one great man +of the State--their county's favorite son. + +The word passed rapidly. Other counties came to their feet. The band was +playing, the early enthusiasm of the day was fresh, men had not had +opportunity to exercise their voices till then, and as the General +passed down the side aisle of the hall he was cheered by every +delegation. Harlan followed him closely, and the Duke was at their +heels. Every man in the hall saw the little group. It seemed eminently +fit that Thelismer Thornton should escort General Waymouth. But the Duke +did not realize that the General was shrewdly using that opportunity of +displaying Thornton, the elder, in his retinue. The accident fitted with +some plans of his own. + +Spurred by the excitement of that tumultuous moment, Harlan could not +restrain a bit of a boast. + +"How do you like the sound of that, grandfather?" he flung over his +shoulder. + +"There's no politics in that, you young fool. A hoorah isn't a +nomination." + +But he could not hide from himself the plain fact that Varden Waymouth +was a tremendously strong figure in State affairs. + +There was sincerity behind that outburst. Eyes glistened. Faces glowed +with admiration and respect. The Duke wondered bitterly how much of that +extraordinary tribute was inspired by the publicity work for which the +State Committee had spent its good money. + +The General led the way in at the side door that admitted to the stage. +He was on familiar ground. Behind the stage there were several +anterooms. He appropriated an empty one, hanging his hat on a hook. + +"Not an elaborate lay-out for a candidate, Thelismer," he remarked, +pleasantly, "but headquarters to-day is where we hang up our hat." + +"Vard, you don't mean to tell me--seriously, at this hour--that you mean +to be a candidate?" Thornton had put aside his anger. That had been +bitter and quick ire, because his grandson had seemed so blind to his +own personal interests. There was solicitude now in the old man's air. + +"I got you into this myself," he went on. "I coaxed you in, for the +situation was right and ripe. You kicked it over yourself. I haven't any +compunctions, Vard. I stayed with you just as long as I could stay. But +I'll be dod-jimmed if I'll shove a Governor onto my party that's a +hybrid of Socialist and angel. Now you can't swing this thing. Everett's +got it buttoned. I tell you he has! You're too big a man, to-day, to get +before that convention and be thrown down. I've got a better line on the +situation than you have. Vard, let's not have this come up between us at +our time of life. It's bad--it's bad!" + +"It _is_ bad," returned the General, quietly; "but not for me! And it's +too late to stop. I'm going through with it, Thelismer." + +There was dignity--a finality of decision--that checked further +argument. Thornton shifted gaze from Waymouth to his grandson, started +to say more, snapped his jaws shut, and walked away. + +The door of the anteroom afforded a view across the stage. The hour had +arrived. The secretary of the State Committee appeared from the wings +and waited until the delegates were in their seats and quiet. He read +the call, and then the temporary organization was promptly effected, the +tagged delegates popping up here and there and making the motions that +had been entrusted to them. + +A clergyman invoked Divine blessing, praying fulsomely and long, +beseeching that the delegates would be guided by the higher will in +their deliberations. + +"It's the only prayer I ever find amusing--God pardon me!" whispered the +General at Harlan's side, watching the preliminaries. "To call a State +convention, as the machine runs it, a deliberative body is a sad jest of +some magnitude. The managers intend to hold the real convention the +night before in the State Committee's headquarters at the hotel. But +to-day I hope that prayer proves prophetic." + +He studied the faces on the platform. The United States Senator, smug +and now satisfied that he had chosen aright for his personal interests, +sat in the chairman's central seat, and studied his people from under +eyelids half lowered while the parson prayed. + +After the prayer, the routine proceeded hurriedly. For five minutes the +convention seemed to be in a state of riot. Men were bellowing and +yelping, and standing on settees. The counties were holding simultaneous +caucuses for the purpose of selecting, each its vice-president of +convention, its State committeeman, and member of the Committee on +Resolutions--the resolutions then reposing in the breast-pocket of the +Hon. Luke Presson. + +The secretaries were announced, the temporary organization was made +permanent, and, advancing against a blast of band-music and a salvo of +applause, the Senator-chairman began his address. + +"Now," remarked General Waymouth, grimly, "I am ready to open +headquarters in earnest. My boy, in that anteroom across the stage +you'll find your grandfather and Mr. Presson, and certain members of the +State Committee. David Everett will be there, too. Inform them I send my +urgent request that they meet, at _once,_ the Hon. Arba Spinney and a +delegation in my room here. I think that combination will suggest to +guilty consciences that they'd better hurry. If they show any signs of +hesitating, you may intimate as much to them." + +The plain and stolid men came in just then. They brought Mr. Spinney +through the side door. The unhappy conspirator, jostled by his +body-guard, was near collapse. He was now traitor to both sides. +Circumstances hemmed him in. But more than he feared the recriminations +of Luke Presson and his associates, he feared the papers in the +breast-pocket of Varden Waymouth. + +Harlan went on his errand, crossing the stage behind a backdrop. Senator +Pownal had got well under way, and was setting forth the sturdy +principles of the Republican party with all the power of his lungs. + +Harlan did not knock at the anteroom door; he walked in, and for a +moment he thought that the enraged chairman was about to leap at his +throat. + +"Spinney, eh?" he blazed at the young man's first word. "Explain to me, +Mr. Thornton, what is meant by your assault on a decent and honest +citizen? What do you mean by teaming him from the hotel to this +convention hall with a body-guard to insult men who have business with +him?" + +The question was confession that the chairman had been unable to get at +the political property he had paid dearly for. It indicated that he +suspected but did not realize fully how deeply Spinney was in the toils. + +"Explain!" shouted Presson, standing on tiptoe to thrust features +convulsed with rage into the young man's face. + +"General Waymouth is waiting to explain, sir. He's across the stage, +there! And Mr. Spinney is with him. I'd advise you to hurry." + +"I don't need any of your advice! If you've got him on exhibition at +last where the public can be admitted, I can't get there any too quick." + +He rushed out, charging like a bull, and the others followed. + +The State committeeman who closed file with Harlan did not appreciate +the gravity of the situation. + +"You seem to be introducing new features into a State Convention to-day, +cap'n," he observed, sarcastically. "The way you're handling Brother +Spinney is like the song about + +"'Old Jud Cole, who went by freight To Newry Corner in this State; +Packed him in a crate to get him there, With a two-cent stamp to +pay his fare.'" + +He added, "Spinney is light enough to travel on that tariff, but you're +going to find he's got friends that are heavier." + +Young Thornton waited till all had entered the anteroom, and again took +his post as guard on the inside of the door. + +General Waymouth checked Presson at the first yelp of the outburst with +which he had stormed into the room. Probably there was not another man +in the State who could have prevailed by sheer force of dignity and +carriage in that moment when the passions of his opponents were so +white-hot. But he was, in intellect, birth, breeding, and position, +above them all, and they knew it. There, boxed in that little room, they +faced him, and anger, rancor, spite, itch for revenge gave way before +his stern, cold, inexorable determination to prevail in the name of the +right. + +"Gentlemen, I haven't called you here for the purpose of arguing or +wrangling. You'll waste time by trying to do either. You are here to +listen to what _must_ be done. You represent the warring factions. There +are enough of us to straighten the matter out. There are not so many +that the secret of this shameful mess cannot be kept, and our party +saved at the polls." + +He paused to draw the fateful documents from his pocket. + +In the hush of the little room they heard Senator Pownal declaiming: +"And it is upon these firm principles, bedrock of inalienable rights +guaranteed to the people, upon the broad issues of reform, inculcation +of temperance, and the virtues of civic life, that the Republican party +is founded." + +Harlan, at the door, younger than the rest, found a suggestion of humor +in what the orator was saying compared with what the party managers had +met to hear. But there were no smiles on the faces of the group. The +demeanor of the stricken Spinney, anger fairly distilling in his +sweat-drops, hinted the truth to Presson. Thelismer Thornton tried to +get near Spinney, understanding it all even better than the State +chairman, but the plain and stolid men flanked their captive with +determination. + +"I have here five affidavits from eye-witnesses, swearing that Arba +Spinney was bribed to sell out his faction at the last moment to-day, +leaving only David Everett in the field. I have no time to waste in +giving the details of that transaction to men who know them just as well +as I do. And I want no interruption, sir!" He brandished the papers +under the nose of Presson, who attempted to speak. "I do not propose to +have my intelligence insulted by denials from you or any one else. If +you don't believe I have full proof of what I charge, you walk out of +that door and put the matter to the test! And I hasten to assure you, +sir, that you'll be eternally disgraced!" + +He waited a moment, because a roar of applause that greeted one of +Senator Pownal's utterances resounded even in the remote anteroom. + +"It all means, gentlemen, that I'm to be the nominee of this convention +to-day. It's time for a clean-up, and I'm going to start one. The men +who are running our party are not fit to be in charge of it. The voters +deserve a better show. I've called you here to give you an opportunity +to save yourselves, personally. I'm willing to submit to a little +by-play for that purpose. You are to allow Spinney's name to go before +the convention, according to the regular programme. That's to divert the +attention of the convention and the State-at-large from what otherwise +would seem a split in the recognized management of the party. Spinney +has been only a rank outsider, politically considered. We have to +consider the campaign, gentlemen, and the material we may furnish our +friends, the enemy. Then, you gentlemen of the State Committee, each in +his county delegation, are to start a demonstration in my behalf. This +is no time for me to be mock-modest. On the heels of that demonstration +Everett's name is to be withdrawn with the explanation that such an +apparently spontaneous demand from the voters should be recognized. Mr. +Everett is to declare that under the circumstances he does not wish to +stand in the way of popular choice, and he is to announce that much and +present me to the convention. I assure you, Mr. Everett, that I ask this +last with no intent of wounding your feelings or indulging in cheap +triumph--it is necessary in order that the mouths of political gossips +may be shut." + +A rather stupid silence followed that declaration of programme. The +voice of the Senator rose and fell without. + +The General met their staring eyes calmly. "It may be a rather +surprising development of the convention," he said. "But as soon as the +surprise is over it will commend itself as a perfectly natural and +graceful concession to public opinion--as public opinion can be set in +motion by the members of the State Committee on the floor of the +convention. In fact, the plan commended itself to my friend Thelismer, +here, and Chairman Presson some weeks ago." + +The State chairman was stirred as though galvanically by that statement. +The bitter memory of how he had groomed the dark horse that was now +kicking his master's political brains out rose in him. + +"By the everlasting gods," he shouted, "I'll go down fighting! If the +house has got to come down, I'll go down with it." + +"Samson had two arms. I have only one," returned General Waymouth. "But +I've got that arm around the central pillar of your political roof, +gentlemen--and I've got the strength to handle it! You've stated your +position as a politician, Presson. Now I'll state mine. Rather than see +the Republican temple made any longer a house of political ill-fame I'll +pull it down on you prostitutes." + +It was bitter taunt--an insult delivered with calm determination to +sting. Presson stamped about the room in his wrath. + +"I'm making no pact or promise," went on the General. "I declare that +you are the men who are wrecking our party. Now if you propose to wreck +it completely, we'll go smashing all together in the ruins. It may as +well be wrecked now as later!" + +There was another hush in the room. + +"So I call upon you, men of office, shop, and farm, bone and sinew of +our grand old party," exhorted Senator Pownal from the forum outside, +"to forget the petty bickerings of faction and stand shoulder to +shoulder in your march to the polls. Nail the principles of justice, +truth, and honesty to the flagstaff, and follow behind that banner, +winning the suffrages of those who believe in the right." + +"It sounds as though the Senator might be arriving close to his amen," +suggested General Waymouth, ironically. "You have only a few minutes in +which to decide. I hold the proxy of one of these delegates to the +convention." He pointed to one of the stolid and plain men. "You know +that I can get the ear of that convention--you can't work any gag-rule +on me--I have been listened to too often by the men of this State when +I've had something to say. And you know what effect these affidavits +will have!" + +There was further silence, broken only by the voice of the Senator +without and Presson within, who was scuffling about, babbling disjointed +oaths. + +Suddenly a great outburst of applause signified that the Senator had +concluded. + +"Go ahead out and kill your party!" barked Presson. "Give it your +strychnine! It may as well die right now, in a spasm, as to have a +lingering death later with you at the head of it, Waymouth. You can't +team _me_!" + +"You let me say a word right here!" blustered Everett. "I wash my hands +of any deal with Spinney. I've got the bulk of that convention behind +me. I don't propose to be shunted." + +"I supposed you all remembered the details of what you did last +evening," returned the General, coldly. "Is it necessary for me to +remind you, Mr. Everett, that Chairman Presson turned over to Spinney a +paper in which you agreed to appoint him to a State office? That +transaction was noted along with the rest, sir." + +"I'll have as many witnesses as you," declared Presson, "I'll--" + +"Stop!" It was a tone that cowed the chairman, struggling with his +guilty conscience. "I have warned you that I'm not here to argue this +matter with you. I'll not be drawn into any discussion. What I have, I +have!" He waved his papers above his head. "What I can do that I'll do! +I would remind you, gentlemen, that the convention is waiting." + +Thelismer Thornton caught the secretary of the State Committee by the +arm and propelled him toward the door, ordering Harlan to open it. +"Signal that band! Start it to going!" he directed. "Keep those +delegates easy." He turned on the chairman. "Now, Luke, you're licked. +And it's your own deadfall that's caught you. I know just how you feel, +but here's a laundry-bag that you've got to draw the puckering-strings +on. Shut up! I'm going to save you from yourself. You're running amuck, +now. You're a lunatic, and not responsible." He dragged the defiant +chairman back into the room. He held him in firm grip. "There's a new +bribery law in this State. You haven't forgotten it, have you! It's +State prison!" + +"Look here, gentlemen," he went on, addressing the members of the State +Committee, "you've got just five minutes leeway between a devilish good +political walloping and striped suits. Get out on the floor. Get busy +with those delegations. And the man of all of you who dares to say one +word too much about what's been done here to-day will peek through bars +and wish his tongue had been torn out by the roots before he talked! +Presson, this thing is out of your hands. You shan't cut your own +throat, I say! Get onto that floor, men!" + +They went. It was the rush of men to save themselves. Each man as he +passed out cast a glance upon the papers that General Waymouth clutched, +and a second glance at Harlan, brawny guard, at his side. + +"Take Everett across to the committee-room and call in the men who were +to present him," directed the Duke, releasing the chairman. "And it's up +to you two to give 'em a story that will hold 'em. It's short notice, +but you've got General Waymouth for a text! Look here, Dave," he whirled +on Everett, who was frantically protesting, "your strength was the +strength the boys of the machine put behind you. It hasn't been personal +strength. You can't afford to be a blasted fool now, even if you are +crazy mad. You've been lecturing considerably the past few weeks on +'party exigencies.' This is one. It's an exigency that will put you +before a grand jury if you don't tread careful. Get across there, you +and Presson! I'm eating dirt myself. Get down on your hands and knees +with me, and make believe you like it!" + +He hustled them out. + +The band was rioting through a jolly melange of popular melodies. + +The old man hesitated a moment, and then walked across to the General. + +"Vard, politics is most always a case of dog eat dog, but I want to +assure you that I'm not hungry just now if you are not! And my grandson +seems to have more political foresight than I gave him credit for. I'm +getting old, I see!" + +He did not give them opportunity to answer. He swung about and went to +Spinney. + +"I reckon they'll raise your guard, now, Arba," he said, nodding at the +stolid and plain men. "There isn't much more that you can do, either to +harm or help. You'd better pull a chair out to the edge of the stage +there, and listen to what a h--l of a fellow you are when your orators +nominate you. Then before the applause dies away, you'd better start for +home. It'll be a good time to get away while Presson is busy!" It was +plain that, lacking any other object, the Duke was venting the last of +his spleen on this wretched victim of the game. "Before you go, give me +one of those 'Honest Arba' ribbons. I keep a scrap-book of jokes!" + +The abject candidate had no word to offer in reply. He was white and +trembling, for after Presson's early declaration it had seemed that the +whole shameful story was to be thundered in the ears of those two +thousand men sitting yonder. + +"You can suit yourself as to your further movements, Spinney," said the +General, noting the man's distress. + +"There's a rear exit from this hall," remarked the Duke, significantly. + +Spinney went out, hanging his head. + +"Well, there's at least one cur eliminated from the politics of this +State," blurted Harlan, gratefully. + +"Eliminated!" sneered his grandfather. "The first man you'll meet in the +legislative lobby next winter, sugar on his speech and alum on his +finger, so that he can get a good firm grip of your buttonhole, will be +Arba Spinney, drawing his salary as the paid agent of half-a-dozen +schemers. He may seem a little wilted just now, but he's a hardy +perennial--you needn't worry about _him_." + +"I think you're the man to take these documents to the Committee on +Resolutions, Thelismer," stated the General, drawing out the planks he +had submitted the evening before. "You can explain why they should be +inserted--and I have modified them somewhat. I have no desire to +frighten the party at the outset." + +The Duke took the papers, and departed without a word. The men of the +affidavits returned to their delegations on the floor of the convention, +gratification in their faces, as well as a sense of the importance of +the secret they were guarding. + +The band gave a final bellow, and the business of the convention +proceeded. + +General Waymouth and Harlan took chairs into their little room and sat +down to wait. The sounds came to them mellowed by distance, but +distinct. They followed the procession of events. + +Spinney's name was presented by an up-country spellbinder who had copied +logic, diction, and demagogic arguments from his chief. But all the +thrill, swing, and excitement of the Spinney movement were gone. Red +fire, hilarity, and stimulants could not be used to spice this daylight +gathering of men ranged in orderly rows on their settees--and subtle +suggestion had already gone abroad. Yet the undercurrent of opposition +to the further dictation by the party ring was shown by the applause +that greeted every reference by the speaker to the conditions that +existed in the party. On the text of Spinney, personating Protest, the +orator preached to willing converts who clamored for change, even though +no better leader than Spinney offered. Spinney got perfunctory applause; +suggested change was cheered tumultuously. + +The convention was ripe for revolution against dominant conditions, +without exactly understanding how to rebel wisely and well. + +Suddenly a clarion voice raised itself from the convention floor. They +in the little room could hear every word. + +"That's Linton," said the General, calmly. "He balked under my pat, but +he's plunging into the traces handsomely under the whip!" + +"Linton! After refusing? Is he presenting your name?" + +"Oh, he's a politician, and one must allow a politician to weigh out his +stock of goods on his own scales, and hope that he will give good +measure. I'll be grateful in this instance, Mr. Thornton. They've picked +out an able young speaker!" + +In spite of his resentful opinion of Linton, an opinion into which he +would not admit to himself that jealousy entered, Harlan, as he +listened, had to acknowledge the ability of the young lawyer. + +First he caught the attention of his auditors, then he skilfully +suggested that he was preparing a surprise. With appealing frankness +that won the interest and sympathy of the Spinney adherents, he agreed +with them that the times demanded changes and reforms. He urged that +these should be undertaken within the party, and then, earnestly but +delicately, he hinted that the reformers had not picked the right +leader. As delicately he suggested, next, that an extreme partisan, +bound far in advance of nomination by factional pledges and trades that +he must carry out, was not the right man to extricate the party, either. +Lastly, he came to the crux of his speech, plunging into the theme with +passionate eloquence that brought moisture to the eyes of Harlan. That +young man was not thinking of the orator, then. His thoughts were on the +old man at whose side he sat--the old man who listened in dignified +patience. + +Now the delegates sniffed the truth. A word had put them on the trail. +They were not sure. But they suspected. And mere suspicion sent them +upon their settees, cheering wildly. Distrust of Spinney, sullen +disloyalty to the machine-created Everett, furnished a soil in which +hope for another solution of the tangle sprang with miraculous growth. + +Linton waited until the roar of voices died away. They again listened +breathlessly, wondering whether their own hopes had beguiled them. + +"From the storied past, gentlemen of the convention, we draw precept and +example, lesson and moral, hope and inspiration. As nature has stored in +the bowels of the earth the oil that serves the lighthouse beacons of +to-day, so life has stored in various reservoirs human experience that +can light the path through troublous times in these latter days. Written +on the scroll of history, limned on the page of law, we find the words +of the fathers, sane and helpful thought and good counsel. In days of +doubt and worry and despair we may meet the fathers on the written page. +But, oh, how grand a blessing for the human race could we sit at their +feet beholding them in the flesh and receive their teachings! If only +they, the fathers, might take us by the hand and lead us through the +devious tangles of public policy! To-day we meet here in perplexed +division as to the standard-bearer for our next campaign. If up from +that past of sage counsel and unfaltering faith there might come one +who could stand forth and expound the lessons that we need, we might +take heart and travel boldly on. But, gentlemen, I bring you a message +of greater hope--more profound a blessing. Up from that past comes the +standard-bearer _himself_! His wise kindliness meets every test of +honest gentleman; scholarship crowns his brow, Law holds her torch aloft +that his feet may tread the safe way; war from him has taken tribute, +but to him has given a hero's deathless laurels. Once in her history +this State welcomed him to her councils as her gracious overlord, and +now--" + +There was no doubt in their minds now. A window-shaking demonstration +bore down his voice. + +Linton seized upon the beginning of silence. + +"Now once again his State, groping for a hand to lead her forth to +stability and progress, sees his hand and seeks to grasp it, +supplicating him: 'O father, guide me! O wise man, teach me! O hero, +save me!' And I name to you, gentlemen, for the candidate of the +Republican party--" + +He leaped upon a settee and voiced the name of General Varden Waymouth +with all the strength of his trumpet voice. But no one heard what he +said. They all knew what he was to say. They did not need the spoken +name. + +That convention had been ripening for a stampede. Its component +delegates had contained the stampede fever for weeks before they +assembled. Men leaped and screamed. It was a storm of enthusiasm; two +thousand feet furnished the thunder-roar; hats went up and came down +like pelting rain; and voices bellowed like the bursting wind volleys of +the gale. + +Here and there, gesticulating men were trying to make seconding +speeches, but the words were lost. The chairman of the convention, grim +and pale and wondering just how much damage this overturn signified to +his personal interests, nodded recognition to these speakers, and +allowed them to waste their words upon the welter of mere sound. + +He also recognized other men who arose. He knew them for Spinney's +adherents and divined what they were trying to say. And having divined +it, he was promptly inspired to get in with the rush of those who were +climbing aboard the band-wagon. + +He advanced to the edge of the platform, and by tossing his arms secured +a moment of silence. He had his own salvation to look after. + +"I am glad, inexpressibly pleased, that as chairman of your convention I +can now declare myself for General Waymouth; for the convention has but +one name before it--the name of Arba Spinney has been withdrawn!" + +When the tumult began again--almost delirium this time--David Everett +appeared from the wings, white, stricken, overwhelmed by the suddenness +with which the prize had been snatched beyond his reach, driven out upon +the stage by the State Committee like a whipped cur forced to perform +his little trick in public. He began to speak, but the delegates did not +listen--they knew what he was saying, and were cheering him. Not all of +it was enthusiasm for General Waymouth; men instantly realized that a +nasty split in the party had been bridged; men felt that in this new +candidate both factions had the ownership that puts one "in right." A +united party could now march to the polls. + +The nomination was by acclamation! + +They came to General Waymouth, where he stood patiently at the door of +his room--the committee appointed to escort him before the convention. +He signalled for them to precede him--his hand was inside the arm of +Harlan Thornton, and he did not withdraw it even to shake the eager +hands that were outstretched. He walked upon the stage with the young +man, and, still holding his arm, faced the hurricane of enthusiasm until +it had blown itself out. + +It was a breathless hush in which he spoke. + +"Our party, in State Convention assembled, has to-day declared for +honesty." They did not exactly understand, but they gave voice like +hounds unleashed. That sentiment complimented them. "I pledge the last +strength of my old age to the task you have imposed upon me. Give me +your pledge, man to man, in return. Shall it be for all of us: honesty +in principle and unswerving obedience to every party profession we make? +I await your 'Yes'!" + +It came like a thunderclap--two thousand voices shouting it. + +He stood there, his hand upraised, waiting again until the hush was upon +them once more. They were ready for the usual speech of acceptance. But +he said simply this: + +"I accept the trust!" + +He put his hand behind Harlan's guarding elbow and retired. + +"A carriage at once, Mr. Thornton," he directed. "I must save myself for +performance, not parade." + +They were away before even the eager platform notables could intercept +them. The cheering was still going on when the carriage started. From +the open windows of the hall the riot of the convention--voices and +music--pursued them until the racket of the busy street drowned it out. + +"At the present moment, Mr. Thornton, it is not likely that the +Republican State Committee is in a mood for poetry," remarked General +Waymouth. Gayety that was a bit wistful had succeeded his sombre +earnestness. + +"But something in the sentiment of this old song might appeal to them +while they are thinking of me just now: + +"'The mother may forget the child + That smiles so sweetly on her knee; +But I'll remember thee, Glencairn, + And all that thou hast done to me.'" + +Harlan did not reply. At that moment, strangely enough, something +besides the fury and the results of that tremendous convention occupied +his thoughts. While he had stood beside General Waymouth he had not +looked down into the pit of roaring humanity. He had looked straight up +into the eyes of Madeleine Presson, whose gaze, by some chance, caught +his the moment he stepped upon the platform. She had leaned on the +gallery-rail and studied him intently. In spite of all else that had +happened and was happening, he could not help wondering why. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE RAMRODDERS RAMPANT + + +Though Mrs. Luke Presson was not especially interested in the practical +side of plain politics, yet it was a part of her social methods to make +tame cats of men of State influence as far as she was able. She did this +instinctively, rather from the social viewpoint than the political. Luke +Presson did not take her into his confidence to the extent that he +desired her to cultivate men of power for his own purposes. He only +dimly and rather contemptuously recognized that women had any influence +in political matters. But it did occur to him, after that State +convention, that perhaps he needed his wife to assist him in beginning a +reconciliation with General Waymouth. + +Mrs. Presson came to him, directly the convention had adjourned. The few +men who were lingering in headquarters dodged out, for they perceived +that the chairman's wife had something on her mind. + +He endured her indignant reproaches for some time. She taxed him with +betrayal of her personal interests. + +"I've never tried to pry into your schemes. I don't care about them. But +when you make a fool of me in regard to the next Governor of this State, +you shall answer for it to me!" + +"I did no such thing," he protested, wanting to placate her for private +reasons of his own. + +"I say you did. You're chairman of the State Committee. You knew which +man would be nominated--you must have known it all along. You wouldn't +be State chairman if you didn't know that!" + +The unhappy magnate was ashamed to tell her the bitter truth. + +"You allowed me to come here to-day with Mrs. Dave Everett and her +daughters. Here is the bouquet I brought to present to her husband!" She +shook it under his nose and tossed it into a corner. "You never told me +a word about the plan to nominate General Waymouth. It was deliberate +deceit on your part--for what reason I cannot understand." + +Presson tried to think of a story that would explain and shield him, but +the convention had not been an affair to promote clear thinking. + +"Here's a legislative session at hand, and you've allowed me to stay +entirely out of touch with the next first gentleman of the State! I'm +like all the rest of the trailers, now. I haven't any prior social claim +on him. And I can't even find him at this late hour to offer my +congratulations." + +"I haven't been able to offer mine, either," said the chairman, grimly. + +"I'll endure no more of this foolery, Luke! If you propose to make a +plaything of your own wife from now on--" + +"I'm telling you the truth. General Waymouth hurried out of the hall +before I could get to him. That devilish Canibas bull moose picked him +up, like he's been picking up--" + +But the astonishment in his wife's eyes stopped him. He was revealing +too much of his secret. + +"Why, Harlan Thornton went away with him--Thelismer's grandson! Some one +told me who saw them in the carriage together. What do you mean by +Canibas moose?" + +"Can't you see that I'm all stirred up by the excitement of this +convention?" he demanded. "I don't know what I'm saying. I'll explain to +you later, Lucretia." + +"I think you'd better. Where did General Waymouth go?" + +"To the hotel, I suppose." + +"No, he's not there. I have telephoned. Luke, we must have him at lunch +with us. It's his place to lunch with us--you're the chairman of the +State Committee! It's a late start for me--and it's your own fault +because it is so. But you must find the General and make him come to +luncheon. I have arranged for the party in the English Room at the +hotel. You _must_ have him there!" She hurried away to where the ladies +were waiting for her. + +Presson, the politician's instinct of self-preservation now getting the +better of his rancor, promptly determined that his own interests would +be helped by his wife's luncheon-party, provided the victor could be +cajoled and coralled. He put pride behind him. It was not so easy to do +as much with his shame and the downright fear that assailed him when he +reflected on his plot and its outcome. But he decided that although +little might be gained for him by making up to the victorious General, a +great deal would be surely lost if the antagonism were emphasized. + +He put on his hat and hurried to the street. Inquiry at the cab-stand +afforded him the information that General Waymouth and his companion had +not given a definite destination. "But there's the man who took them," +said the manager. "He's just back. Ask him." + +The driver said that he had dropped them at the park, at their request, +and the chairman jumped into the carriage, directing that he be conveyed +to the same place. + +He found them sitting democratically on a bench, taking the air. + +Without preliminary the chairman extended Mrs. Presson's invitation. +"There will be a very small party of us, and it may save you from the +annoyances of the public rooms," added Chairman Presson, humbly. + +The General arose and accepted with cordiality, somewhat to Harlan's +surprise, for his unbending youth could not yet understand how political +hatchets could be buried so quickly. + +"I want to congratulate you, General," said the chairman on the way to +the carriage. "And I want to tell you that the State Committee will +swing into line behind you for the campaign. You'll find us loyal. +There's a good deal more I'd like to say, but there'll be time enough +for that later. I'll merely say this: both of us have been in politics +years enough, I believe, to be able to wash a convention slate clean, +when it's a question of a State campaign against the opposite party." + +"I'll meet you frankly on that plane, Mr. Presson. I have too much ahead +of me to waste time in quarrels. It isn't my nature to retaliate. I have +understood the situation better than some men would." + +Harlan, hoping that the chairman appreciated that magnanimity, gave +Presson a look that expressed much. But in his new humility the latter +was getting rid of ancient grudges as fast as he could. While the +General was entering the carriage, the chairman offered rather +embarrassed apology. "But you introduced some original specialties in +politics that took me off my feet, young man!" he added, with a sickly +smile. + +Harlan was still a little stiff. It was not easy for him to get into the +state of political pliability that he saw others assume so readily. + +"I'm a countryman, and pretty awkward in most everything I undertake," +he said. "I have no business meddling in the big affairs of this State. +I'll take my place where I belong, after this, Mr. Presson. If I don't, +I'll not have a friend left--not even my own grandfather." + +The chairman glanced at him curiously, scenting something like duplicity +under this bitter frankness. He was not used to seeing men throw aside +such advantages as this young man had gained. + +The three entered the hotel through the side door, and at the General's +request the chairman accompanied him and his young lieutenant to their +headquarters. It was near the luncheon hour, and Presson had suggested +that he conduct them to Mrs. Presson. + +A party of men had taken possession of the General's suite. They rose +when he entered. They paid no attention to Harlan, but surveyed Chairman +Presson with disfavor that was very noticeable. + +Several of the men were clergymen, advertised as such by their white +ties and frock-coats. Those who attended them had the unmistakable air +of zealots. Their demeanor showed that they had come on business that +they considered serious. + +General Waymouth knew them. He addressed one or two by name, and was +gracious in his greeting of the others. + +"We wait on you," began their spokesman, one of the ministers, "as a +committee from the United Temperance Societies." + +"My time is not my own just now, gentlemen," explained General Waymouth. +"I have a luncheon engagement with Mr. and Mrs. Presson. I will see you +at some other time." + +The faces of all of them grew saturnine at that announcement. For +Chairman Presson was not recognized as the especial friend of +prohibition by the fanatics of the State. + +The clergyman, following his line of duty, was not in a mood to accept +delicate hints regarding social engagements. He stood his ground. + +"Our business will occupy but a short time, and I suggest that it will +be for your personal interest to listen now, sir." + +It was an unfortunate bit of obstinacy. + +"I regulate my own hours for engagements, Mr. Prouty. You have come on +your own business, and it must await my convenience." + +"It's _your_ business I come on, General Waymouth, and I advise you to +listen! And I will add that it will not help you with the temperance +people of this State if they are told that within two hours after your +nomination you are consorting with the arch-enemy of temperance reform +in our midst!" + +With two strides the General was back at his door. He opened it. + +"Be so kind as to leave the room, gentlemen," he invited, icily. "I'll +not detain you even to have you apologize for your intrusion on my +privacy or ask pardon of a guest whom you've insulted!" + +They obeyed him, sullenly. Even their effrontery could not withstand +that dignity. But they muttered among themselves, and one man called +back over his shoulder: "It isn't the first time, General, that a man +brave enough to lead battle charges hasn't shown that he's got the +spirit to declare for the right against the wrong, when politics stands +by with open ears!" + +"There go some of the reformers you were asking your grandfather about a +few weeks ago, Harlan," sneered the indignant chairman. "Those are the +men who are holding themselves up as examples for all the rest of men to +follow. Every one else is a rummy and a hellion, according to their +ranking." + +"As bad an element as the rumsellers themselves," declared the +General--"men of that type! I'm speaking now of the interests of true +reform--reform that gets to the individual and is something else than +this everlasting wrangle and racket between factions. I like fighting, +but I like to have a natural fighter admit he's in it just for the sake +of fighting--not claim it's all for morality's sake!" + +"Then what are you?" blurted Presson, but checked himself in evident +confusion. + +"Eh?" inquired General Waymouth, mildly. + +"I--I don't know what it was I had in my mind--guess I was thinking +about something else." + +But the General smiled as though he understood. Then he went into the +inner room, explaining that he wished to make himself presentable to the +ladies. + +The chairman took a crafty survey of Harlan. + +"Between you and me, my boy," he said, getting back upon his old-time +footing with Thornton's grandson, "the General has got both of my eyes +put out, so far's his politics go. Did you hear him just rip into those +ramrodders? And yet he's been stiffer and straighter than the worst of +'em since he struck this city. I'd like to know who in thunder he _is_ +playing with, anyway! What does he say to you, on the side?" + +"You'd better get General Waymouth's plans from himself, Mr. Presson." + +"I'm not asking you to betray anything. But he's got a policy, of +course. I only want to know it, so that I can grab in with him. But I +can't figure anything, so far." + +"I thought he made himself pretty plain last night." + +"He made himself plain, I'll admit that. Plain that he's against +everything that the party management stands for. But now he turns around +and kicks out the other crowd! He's got to pick his gait and take a +position somewhere!" + +"That's something I know nothing about, sir." + +The chairman grew testy. He felt that he was being played with. + +"Seeing that you're in close to the Amalgamated Order of Angels, you'd +better drop him a hint that running a political campaign isn't like +stampeding a convention. The State Committee stands ready to help, and +before he gets much further along he'll find he needs the help. You'd +better make that plain to him." + +His guest of honor reappeared then, and the chairman led the way. Harlan +had been included in his invitation, and attended his chief. + +With old-fashioned gallantry, General Waymouth made his compliments to +the ladies whom Mrs. Presson had assembled to grace the occasion. Her +little crust of social earth had been tossed alarmingly by the political +earthquake, but she felt that now she was finding safe footing once +more. + +Thelismer Thornton was there, so were Senator Pownal and the secretary +of the State Committee, and a few other favored ones whom the hostess +had sought as being close to the new order of things. She led forward +Linton. + +"And now, General, we're all wondering just how nice a compliment you'll +pay to the orator whose eloquence makes you the next Governor of our +State," chattered the good lady, poorly informed as to real conditions, +but anxious to force a situation for her favorite. "Herbert has been so +modest about it! We've been telling him just how grand we thought it +was." + +"I thank you, Linton, for what you said." The General took the young +man's hand. "You have wonderful gifts of eloquence." + +But there did not seem to be the enthusiasm which the importunate Mrs. +Presson desired. + +"With all due respect to your greatness, General, isn't it true that he +turned the convention--has made you Governor?" she insisted, half in +jest to cover her earnestness. + +"If it comes about that I'm the next Governor of this State," he +returned, gently, "it will be due entirely to this young man." He patted +Harlan's shoulder affectionately. "Just how he has accomplished it is a +very deep political secret between us two. I present my grand vizier, +ladies and gentlemen!" They understood that seriousness lay behind his +whimsical manner of speech. + +Two very round eyes testified to Mrs. Presson's amazement. But once more +she found her social feet after this echo of the main quake. She took +Harlan's hand, and placed it on the chair next to that of her daughter. + +"You'll sit here, if you please, Mr. Thornton," she said, urbanely. + +For a little while a trifle of embarrassment shaded the few words the +young couple addressed to each other, under cover of the general +conversation about the board. Then Harlan, glancing down the table, saw +Linton staring gloomily in his direction. And at that look his spirits +leaped like a steed under the spur. What he had not dared, considering +himself on his own merits, he ventured now. If vague, hidden sentiment, +as he had thought of Clare Kavanagh, had restrained him in the past, it +no longer restrained him now. + +The excitement of the day had given him a queer exaltation. He had been +one of the chiefs in the arena where all the great State looked on at +the combatants. The overlord had just given him soul-stirring proof of +his affection, half in jest as Harlan realized, remembering the occasion +for it, but it was none the less gratifying. Madeleine Presson had +looked at him with strange, new interest in her gaze when the General +spoke out. It had occurred to Harlan that it was not the same +good-humored tolerance which she had so frequently shown in her past +relations with the bashful woodsman. His unquiet grudge against Linton +spiced the whole. + +He turned to the girl. + +She seemed altogether desirable. Something in her eyes responded to his +own feelings. And after that he seemed to be listening to himself +talking--and wondered at the new man he had become. + +When it was over, and the ladies rose from the table to follow Mrs. +Presson, he tried, feeling guilty for a moment, to remember the look +that Linton had given him and to excuse himself as one who had simply +shown the proper spirit of revenge. But when he took her hand he said: +"My grandfather carried me away from you and your mother in very +ungallant fashion yesterday. And he tried to put ungallant words into my +mouth. I trust you'll allow me to disprove them. I'd like the privilege +of being your obedient squire on the trip home." + +"So now that you've become a very big man you've decided that +grandfathers shall no longer be indulged in tyranny?" she asked, with a +dash of malicious fun. + +"I view matters in a new light," he replied. + +"And there's a wonderful psychology in light, so they who have studied +the matter tell us," she said, mischief in her eyes. "But we'll not go +so deeply into the matter. Let it be a light that will guide your +footsteps to our rooms at train-time. You will find us awaiting our +squire!" + +General Waymouth excused himself as soon as the ladies had retired. The +little group of men had promptly begun to canvass the outlook and plans, +but he demurred politely when they desired to drag him into the +discussion. + +"Not yet, gentlemen! We have had enough of talk in the last few hours. +Let me escape to the old brick house up in Burnside for a while. My +train goes shortly. Will you accompany me, Harlan?" It was the first +time he had used the young man's christian-name Harlan flushed with +pleasure. "I will see that you get back here in good season to bring +that guiding light," he murmured, to the other's confusion. + +"I do not like to seem too exacting--too persistent in requiring your +attendance," protested the General, as they returned along the corridor. +The great hotel was nigh deserted. The delegates had hurried away on the +convention specials. "But you have protected me from a great many +annoyances, to put the situation mildly. I am calling you away now to +make a very special request of you. We will speak of it on the way to +the station." + +Ranged in front of the door of his suite was the delegation from the +temperance societies, patiently waiting, more saturnine than before. + +The Reverend Mr. Prouty intercepted them with determination. + +"I do not like to seem too persistent in this matter, but we feel that +we have a right to a few moments of your time, sir. You are accepting +public office, and--" + +"I do not care to have any lessons in politics read to me, Mr. Prouty. +State your business." + +"We prefer to see you in private." + +"And I prefer to have you talk before a reliable witness. Mr. Thornton +is such, and he is entirely in my confidence." + +He did not invite them into his room. + +"We represent the united temperance societies of this State," began the +clergyman. + +"I understand perfectly," put in the General. "And in order that we may +thoroughly understand each other I will inform you that I know exactly +what corporate interests are furnishing money to you and your campaign +managers. I have been very careful to keep posted on these matters, +gentlemen!" + +For a moment Mr. Prouty was visibly taken aback. + +"It is necessary to finance even righteousness," he said, at last. + +"Beyond question," admitted the General. "I only ask you to meet me on +the business basis where you belong. I'll not allow you to mask +factional interests behind religion or a moral issue. I don't mean to be +curt or disobliging, gentlemen, but you must get out in the open. You +have something to ask me? Ask it. You'll receive a plain answer." + +"Do you intend to enforce the prohibitory law?" + +"I question your good taste, Mr. Prouty, in selecting one law and asking +a prospective Governor whether he intends to do his sworn duty in regard +to it." + +"But other Governors have not done so. We propose to have pledges after +this. We'll vote for no more nullifiers." + +"Other Governors have had no direct power to enforce the law, sir. I had +no power when I was Governor. But I'll assure you that if I am the next +Governor I shall demand that power from the legislature, and I'll +enforce that law with all the resources of the State treasury. If it's +in the power of man to accomplish it, the sale of liquor shall be +stopped in this State." + +They plainly had not expected that. His attitude toward them, his +association with the nullifier Presson had suggested that he intended to +carry out the usual "let it alone" programme. They applauded. + +"One moment, gentlemen. That doesn't mean that I or any other man, or +that the prohibitory law, as we have it, or any other mere law, can stop +the drinking of liquor in this State. I'm speaking only of the open sale +of it. I know perfectly well that my attempt to make men sober by law +alone will fail miserably. As it is administered now, the law still +caters to appetite and public demand for privileges, and the public goes +along without especial disturbance. But as I shall enforce the +prohibitory law, conditions will be so intolerable in this State that +the way will be paved for a common-sense treatment of the liquor +question. I shall enforce in order to show how wrong the prohibitory +principles are. They have not been shown up so far, for the law has not +been enforced." + +The delegates were disconcerted. The spokesman's face grew red. + +"Do you dare, sir, as a candidate for Governor of a prohibition State, +to stand up here before these representatives of the temperance +societies and say you are opposed to prohibition?" + +"I certainly do," declared the unruffled General. "For this State is not +a prohibition State! It fatuously thinks it is when the citizens can get +all the liquor they want without trouble. I merely propose to put it to +the test of honesty." + +"You declare yourself an enemy, then, do you?" + +"Mr. Prouty, there you launch yourself into your usual intemperance! At +the first word of another man's dignified difference of opinion you +shout 'enemy' and prepare to fight! I want to ask you and your +supporters here a question: Will you meet with representatives of all +the interests concerned in this matter, including the liquor men and +those who use liquor in its various forms, and endeavor to arrive at +some compromise in this State which shall put a stop to what is +practically civil war, in which we are expending all our energies +without accomplishing any real betterment of conditions? Will you agree +to some middle ground, if it can be shown that more men can be made +sober and less men hypocrites?" + +"I stand solely for the principle of prohibition, unswerving till +death," announced the clergyman. His partisans applauded. + +"You won't stop and listen to what may be for the actual best interests +of our State, then?" + +"I'll not license crime nor compound felonies with criminals." + +"Mr. Prouty, as Governor I signed the first prohibition law passed in +this State. It was on trial. I was liberal enough to bend my own +personal views to give it that trial. When I'm thinking of my State I +don't insist that _my_ way is the _only_ way. Now, sir, if you knew +that, as citizens, not mere partisans, we could all get together and +frame something better than a law that has bred evils of political +corruption through all the years without altering the appetites of the +people--if you knew that, wouldn't you remould some of your opinions and +help us bring about the best good for the whole of us?" + +"I'll not abate my loyalty to prohibition one jot or tittle!" + +"In your case and in the case of the kind of fanatics who train with +you," declared the General, with disgust in tone and mien, "that word +'prohibition' is simply a fetish--a rally-call for a fight. It is you, +sir, and such as you, who are holding this State back from real +progress. I'm not discussing the liquor question alone. I haven't +patience to discuss it with you. I'm referring to the spirit that +actuates you. Your kind sat as judges in the Inquisition. Prohibition +now offers an opportunity for your bigotry--that's why you cling to it. +You cling to it in spite of the fact that it has made more than +drunkards--it has made liars and thieves and perjurers and grafters out +of men who would not otherwise have been tempted. When men arise to tell +the truth about it, you get behind your morality mask and accuse them of +the basest motives and claim immunity for yourselves from attack in +return. I fear I am a little severe, sir, but your attitude showed that +you came to me with appetite for a quarrel." + +"I'll see to it," declared Mr. Prouty, hotly, "that five hundred +ministers in this State denounce you from their pulpits as an enemy to +temperance." + +"You don't know what temperance is!" General Waymouth brushed past them. +"Your definition slanders the word. I shall be glad to have your +support, gentlemen, at the polls. But I am for the State, not for your +faction or any other faction. I know you are not used to hearing a +candidate tell you the truth--it has not been the style in this State. +If the truth from me has shocked you, blame the truth, not me." + +He ushered Harlan before him and closed his door upon the delegation. + +"It's a sad feature of public affairs in this State, my young friend," +said he, when they were alone, "that so large a mass of the people, who +naturally are sane and moderate, allow those paid agents of so-called +reform to serve as popular mouth-pieces. Reform for reform's sake +supersedes reform for the people's sake. Candidates have been afraid of +those mouths. Such mouths as those outside there assert that they are +talking for the whole people in the name of morality, but there are only +a few mouths of that kind. It is time to test it out. I propose to see +whether the people will not follow the real thing in honesty instead of +the mere protestation of it." + +On the way to the station the General preferred his request. It was that +Harlan become his executive officer in the approaching campaign--his +chief of staff, his companion, his buffer, protecting him from the +assaults of the politicians. + +"Before the campaign really opens there will be three weeks or so in +which you may attend to your own affairs. You remember that it was you +that dragged me into this, young man!" It was the old jest, but it had +taken on meaning within twenty-four hours. "You have seen with your own +eyes, heard with your ears, how I stand alone between factions which are +willing to sacrifice the State in order to win for their own interests. +I have planted my standard between 'em! I'll try to rally an army to it +that will leave the extremists of both those sides hopelessly deserted +by the rank and file of the honest citizens. I need you with me, for you +have been with me from the start, and you have shown your fitness" (he +smiled), "even to securing an audience with the Honorable Spinney. Is it +yes, my young friend?" + +"It is yes, General Waymouth. I question my ability--I know it is poor. +But of my loyalty there is no question." + +The General grasped his hand. They were at the car steps. "It shall be +'Boots and saddles!' three weeks from to-day!" + +Linton was in the parlors of the hotel with the Presson party when +Harlan arrived, glowing with his new enthusiasm, confident in his new +elevation in the affairs of men. In the affairs of women he was not +quite as sure of his desires or his standing, but his mood was new, and +he realized it. He went straight to Madeleine Presson. Twenty-four hours +before the presence of Linton at her side would have held him aloof. + +He put out his hand to the young lawyer, and Linton took it. + +"I extend my congratulations rather late, but they are sincere. It was a +noble speech. You put in words my own thoughts regarding a noble man." + +"Perhaps you could have expressed those thoughts just as well as I did." +Linton was not cordial. + +"No, sir, not with a woodsman's vocabulary, though with such a text I +certainly should have felt the true inspiration." + +"You'll have to claim considerable political foresight, even though you +cast doubt on your eloquence," said Linton, rather sourly. "I'll +confess that I jumped wrong. But I had my interests to protect. Let me +ask you--is General Waymouth offended, very much so, because I withdrew +my support this morning?" + +"General Waymouth has not made any comments on the matter in my +hearing." + +"I know you can explain to him--" + +Harlan broke in, impatiently: + +"I am not cheeky enough to advise such a man about picking his political +support. I beg your pardon, Miss Presson!" He bowed. He turned to +Linton. "I hope you won't open this subject with me again, Mr. Linton. I +am so loyal to General Waymouth that you cannot explain satisfactorily +to me any reasons why you should have deserted him to-day! You will see +now why the topic should not be referred to again between us." + +Linton bristled. + +"If you take such an unjust view of it as that, I certainly feel that +the matter should be referred to again between us--at the proper time!" + +"I'd advise you to take my hint," retorted Harlan. + +They stared at each other, eye to eye, both plainly wishing with all +heartiness that no feminine presence hampered them. + +The girl laughed. + +"Coffee and pistols for two! If each other's company makes you so +impolite, I'll be compelled to separate you. Come, Mr. Harlan Thornton, +baron of Fort Canibas, you have volunteered to see me safely home." + +He offered his arm, and they followed Mrs. Presson, who had already +started for the carriage. He rode with them to the station, flushed and +silent, and the girl studied his face covertly and with some curiosity. + +On the train, in the first of their tete-a-tete, she sounded him +cautiously, trying to discover if his feelings toward Linton were +inspired wholly by political differences. She seemed to suspect there +was something more behind it, even at the risk of flattering herself. +But she had detected certain suggestive symptoms in the demeanor of +Harlan at the breakfast-table that morning. He did not betray himself +under her deft questioning. But he promptly grew amiable, and before the +end of their railroad ride that day she had proved to her own +satisfaction that her ability to interest young men had not been thrown +away upon him. The light in his eyes and the zest of his chatter with +her told their own story. He left her at her home with a regret that he +did not hide from her. + +And yet, when he was at last in his room at the hotel that night, he +wrote to Clare Kavanagh the longest letter of all those he had written +to her since he left Fort Canibas. + +It might have been because he had so much to write about. + +It might have been because a strange little feeling of compunction +bothered him. + +But Harlan did not have the courage to examine his sentiments too +closely. Only, after he had sealed the letter and inscribed it, he lay +back in his chair awhile, and then, having reflected that after three +weeks he would no longer be his own man, he decided that he'd better run +up to Fort Canibas and attend to his business interests. + +And he departed hastily the next morning, in spite of the Duke's puzzled +and rather indignant protests that business wasn't suffering beyond what +the telephone and mails could cure, and that he himself would go home +the next week and see to everything. + +There are some men who are strong enough to run away from weakness. Not +that Harlan Thornton admitted that he was weak in the presence of +Madeleine Presson. But he felt a sudden hunger for the big hills, the +wide woods, the serene silences. He wanted to get his mental footing +again. He had been swept off in a flood of new experiences. Just now he +found himself in a state of mind that he did not understand. + +"I'll go back and let the old woods talk to me," he whispered to +himself. + +Then he tore up the letter he had written to Clare Kavanagh. + +It had occurred to him that he could tell it to her so much better. + +So when he came to Fort Canibas in the evening of the second day he +mounted his horse and rode across the big bridge. + +He went before he had read the letters piled on the table in the gloomy +old mess-hall. And he brusquely told the waiting Ben Kyle to save his +business talk until the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A GIRL'S HEART + + +He walked his horse when he reached the farther shore. He was wondering +just what he was to say to Dennis Kavanagh. They had not parted in a +manner that invited further intimacy. From twin windows of the house on +the hill lights glowed redly, as though they were Dennis Kavanagh's +baleful little eyes. Fear was not the cause of the young man's +hesitation. But he dreaded another scene in the presence of the girl. +Kavanagh and his grandfather had brutally violated an innocent +friendship. They had put into insulting words what neither he nor Clare +had dreamed of--he hastily assured himself that they were not lovers. +More than ever before he now felt infinite tenderness toward +her--compassion, sympathy--an overpowering impulse to seek her. He had +much to tell her. He could not think of any one in all the world who +would listen as she would listen. The red eyes glowering out of the +summer gloom did not daunt him; they suggested tyranny and insulting +suspicion, and he pitied her the more. He rode on past the tall cross of +the church-yard. A voice out of the silence startled him. A white figure +stood in the shadow of the church porch. + +"Come here, Big Boy," she said. "I'm not a ghost. I'm only Clare. I've +been waiting for you." + +He left his horse, and hurried to her. + +"Waiting for me? I did not write. Have you second sight, little Clare?" + +"No, only first news. This isn't one of the big cities where the crowds +rush by and do not notice each other. It's only a lonesome little place, +Harlan, and gossip travels fast. I heard you were home five minutes +after the stage was in. So I came here and waited." + +He took both her hands between his broad palms, caressing them. + +"And you knew I'd hurry to come across the long bridge? That makes me +happy, Clare, for you must have been thinking about me." + +"I haven't many things to do these days except think," she returned, +wistfully. "You'll understand why I came down here. I'm not trying to +hide away from my father, and I know you are not afraid of him. But +lectures on the subject of not doing the things you don't have any idea +of doing are not to my taste, and I know they don't suit you. So we'll +sit here in peace and quietness, and you shall tell me all about it." + +He turned his back on the two red eyes of the Kavanagh house, and sat +down on the step below her, and began his story, eagerly, volubly. + +Once in a while he looked up at her, and she gave wise little nods to +show she understood. In relating the early episodes of his journey, he +ventured to leave out details. But she insisted that he give them. + +"I want to know about the world--how they all look, and how they speak, +and what they do. I've been lonely all these weeks. I've been wondering +all the time what you were doing. Now I want it to seem that you've come +to take me with you, back through it all. I want it to seem just as +though I were travelling along with you--that will make me forget how +lonely I've been, waiting here on the edge of the big woods." + +And he humored her whim, for he had always understood her child's ways. +The woods had trained him to note the details of all he saw; his +experiences had been fresh and stirring, and he told his story with +zest. + +Then he came to his mention of Madeleine Presson. "Her father is the +State chairman--the man you saw at 'The Barracks.' I was at their house +a few times. Her mother--" + +"But about her! You are skipping again, Big Boy." + +"There is not much about her," he said, stammering a bit. "I saw her +here and there, and talked with her, that's all." + +"But I'm seeing with your eyes and hearing with your ears as I go along +with you," she insisted. "I want to know how other girls are in the +world outside. I have been waiting to have some one tell me. You saw +her, you heard her. Begin, Harlan: her looks, her clothes, her manners, +what she said, what she talks about. I have only you to ask." + +His self-consciousness left him after he began. He drew his word-picture +as best he could. + +"That makes her beautiful," she said, when he paused, searching his mind +for some word of description. "I think I can see her with your eyes, Big +Boy. Tell me what she knows; and how does she talk?" + +In the dusk he could not see the expression on her face. He knew that +she listened intently, leaning above him. He was not conscious that he +praised Madeleine Presson's gifts of mind or person. But as he had found +her, so he portrayed her to the isolated girl of the north country, +describing her attainments, her culture, her breadth of view, her grasp +of the questions of the day, her ability to understand the big matters +in which men were interested. + +She made no comment as he talked. She did not interrupt him when he had +finished with Madeleine Presson and went on to relate how he had been +forced into the forefront of the State's political situation. + +"So, then, you have become a great man," she faltered. "I remember. I +was selfish. I did not want you to go away." + +"No, I am not a great man, little Clare," he protested, laughingly. "I'm +only a little chap that a great man is using. And you were not selfish. +It was you that first put the thought into my mind that I ought to use +my opportunities. That night at the end of the bridge, you know! I was +sullen and obstinate. But you talked to me like a wise little woman. All +the time I was with my grandfather later that evening, trying to be +angry with him, I kept remembering your advice." + +"I lied to you!" she cried, so passionately that he leaped to his feet +and stared down on her. "I said it. I remember. But I lied. I was +punishing myself because I had been selfish about you. But I didn't +believe what I was saying--not deep in my heart. I wanted you to say you +wouldn't go--but I didn't want you to look back ever and blame me for my +selfishness. You see now how wicked and wrong and weak I am. I didn't +want the world to take you away from--from us up here: from the woods +and the plain folks. You'll hate me now. But I have to be truthful with +you!" Her voice broke. + +"The world has not won me away from my friends, dear. You must know me +too well for that suspicion to shame me." + +She crouched on the step before him. Her hands, fingers interlaced, +gripped each other hard to quiet their trembling. In her girlish +frailness, as she bent above her clasped hands, huddled there in the +black shadow of the porch, she seemed pitifully little and helpless and +forsaken. The woe in her tones thrilled him. She was trying hard to +control her voice. + +"You see, Harlan, I can look ahead and understand how it will be. A +woman does understand such things. That's the awful thing about being a +woman--and looking ahead and knowing how it must be before it ever +happens!" + +"Before what happens, Clare? I'm trying hard to understand you." + +He leaned forward, and could see her eyes. He had seen that look in the +eyes of a stricken doe. + +"The world is all outside of this place, Harlan. You know we have always +spoken of all other places than this as 'outside.' You have stepped +through the great door. Now you see. You can't help seeing. It's all +outspread before you. No one can blame you for not looking back here +into the shadows. The great light is all ahead. I am--I ought not to +speak about myself. I have no right to. But you'll forgive me. I didn't +have any one to tell me! I didn't have any mother to advise me. I have +played through all the long days, I don't know anything. Other girls--" + +"Clare! God save you, little Clare--don't--don't!" he pleaded. + +"You have been away only a few days, and yet you have found out the +difference. You told me about her. She is beautiful, and she is wise. +She has not wasted the long days. She can help you with knowledge. She +can--" + +He put out his arms and tried to take her, cursing himself for his +thoughtless cruelty. Infinite pity and something else--fervent, hungry +desire to clasp her overmastered all the prudence of the past. But she +eluded him. She sprang away. She retreated to the upper step of the +church porch, and he paused, gazing up at her. + +"Oh, Blessed Virgin, put your fingers on my lips!" she gasped. "Why did +I say it?" + +"Listen to me, Clare," he urged, holding his arms to her. "I know now +that I've been waiting for you. I thought it was friendship, but now +I--" + +She cried out so loudly, so bitterly, that he stopped. + +"If you say it--if you say it now, Harlan, it will shame me so that I +can never lift my eyes to yours again. I realize what I have said. It is +I that have put the thoughts into your mind--almost the words in your +mouth. Don't speak to me now. Oh, you can see how little I know--what a +fool I am, forward, shameless, ignorant about all that a girl should +know! Do not come near me--not now!" He had started to come up the +steps--he was crying out to her. "Oh, Harlan, don't you understand? +Don't you see that I can't listen to you now? I have driven you to say +something to save my pride. I say I _have_! You are good and honest, and +you pity me--and my folly needs your pity. But if you should tell me now +that you love me, I'd die of shame--I'd distrust that love! I couldn't +help it--and I've brought it all on myself. Oh, my God, why have I grown +up a fool--why have I wasted the long days?" + +She ran down past him. He did not try to stay her. He understood women +not at all. He obeyed her cry to be silent--to keep away from her. + +She turned to him when she reached the ground. + +"I haven't even known enough to understand how it stands between us. +Between us!" There was a wail in her voice. She sobbed the rest rather +than spoke it: "That river out there is between us! I don't even belong +to your country!" + +She pointed at the great cross of the church-yard. It stood outlined in +the starlight. + +"Religion stands between us! My father and your grandfather are between +us!" + +She came back two steps, her face tear-wet, her features quivering with +grief. + +"But there's something else between us, Harlan, blacker and deeper than +all the rest. Don't try to cross it to come to me. You will sink in it. +Fools for wives have spoiled too many men in this world. I understand +now! Your grandfather knew." She raised her eyes, and crossed herself +reverently. "Mother Mary, help me in this, my temptation!" + +She turned, and ran away, sobbing. + +Harlan hurried a few steps after her, crying appeals. But he did not +persist. Her passionate protests had come from her heart, he knew. He +did not dare to force himself on her when she was in that mood. + +He sat down again on the church steps. He remained there in deep thought +until the red eyes in Dennis Kavanagh's house blinked out. He did not +find it easy to understand himself, exactly. His feelings had been +played upon too powerfully to permit calm consideration. He felt +confident in his affection for her. But her youth and the obstacles he +understood so well put marriage so out of immediate consideration that +he merely grieved rather than made definite plans for their future. With +moist eyes he looked up at the dark house on the hill and pledged +loyalty to the child-woman, knowing that he loved her. But that the love +was the love that mates man and woman for the struggles, the prizes, the +woes, and the contentment of life he was not sure--for he still looked +on Clare Kavanagh as more child than woman. + +Marriage seemed yet a long way ahead of him. He rode slowly back to "The +Barracks." His problem seemed to be riding double with him. The problem, +one might say, was in the form of a maid on a pillion. But he did not +look behind to see whether the maid bore the features of Clare Kavanagh +or Madeleine Presson. At that moment he was sure that only Clare's image +rode with him. But in thinking of her he understood his limitations. +For, woodsman and unversed in the ways of women, he had not arrived at +that point in life where he could analyze even a boy's love, much less a +man's passion. + +The next morning he left Fort Canibas with big Ben Kyle, to make a tour +of the Thornton camps. It was a trip that took in the cruising of a +township for standing timber on short rations and in the height of the +blackfly season, an experience not conducive to reflections on love and +matrimony. + +But when he returned to Fort Canibas, on the eve of his departure to +take up his duties as General Waymouth's chief of staff, he saddled his +horse and rode across the long bridge. + +This time there was no white figure on the church porch and no wistful +voice to call after him. He kept on up the hill. He was not thinking +about what Dennis Kavanagh might say to him. He had resolved to ask +Clare manfully if she would continue to trust him for a while until both +could be certain that their boy and girl love signified to them the love +that life needed for its bounty and its blessing. That seemed the honest +way. It seemed the only way, as matters lay between them and their +families. + +Dennis Kavanagh was seated on his veranda, smoking his short pipe and +inhaling the freshness of the shower-cooled summer air along with the +aroma of his tobacco. + +"I would like to see your daughter, Mr. Kavanagh," announced the young +man, boldly. "And I have not come sneaking by the back way. It will be a +good while before I can see her again." + +"That it will," responded Mr. Kavanagh, dryly, "and it will be a good +long while before ye'll see her now--that may be mixed, but I reckon +ye'll get the drift of it!" + +"It will be better for all our interests if I have a few words with +her," persisted the young man, trying to keep his temper. + +"Will ye talk to her through the air or over the telephone?" inquired +the father, sarcastically. "She is not here, she is not near here, and +if ye wait for her to come back ye'll best arrange to have your meals +brought." + +He did not pause for Harlan to ask any more questions. He came down from +the porch on his stubby legs and handed up an envelope. The flap of the +envelope had been opened. + +"She left this," he said; "and having opened it and seen that it held +nothing but what ye might profitably know, Thornton's grandson, I here +give it into your hand, and ye needn't thank me." + +Harlan, wondering, apprehensive, fearing something untoward, took out +the single sheet of paper. He read: + +"BIG BOY,--Go on and let the world make you a great man. I'm groping. +Perhaps I'll see my way some day and can follow. But just as there's a +cure for ignorance, so there's a cure for hearts, maybe. Your friend, +CLARE." + +Harlan looked over the edge of the paper into the twinkling little eyes +of the father. Mr. Kavanagh seemed to be getting much satisfaction from +the expression on his victim's face. + +"Can't you tell me what this means, Mr. Kavanagh? I beg of you humbly, +and in all sincerity." + +"The Kavanaghs are never backward in politeness, Mr. Harlan Thornton. It +means that my girl is done playing child and riding cock-horse. She's off +to learn to be the finest and knowingest lady in all the land--she's off +because she wanted to go, and she's got all of Dennis Kavanagh's fat +wallet behind her!" He slapped his breast-pocket. + +"Off where?" + +"Where they know things and teach things better than they do over in +your Yankeeland of airs and frills. And now good-day to ye!" + +He climbed the porch steps, and relighted his pipe, gazing with much +relish past the flame of the match, studying Harlan's dismay. + +The young man suddenly came to himself, struck his horse, and galloped +wildly away. + +The next morning he departed to offer political hand and sword in the +cause of General Waymouth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +STARTING A MULE TEAM + + +Some men are extremely good and loyal politicians so long as the machine +runs smoothly, and they are not called upon to sacrifice their interests +and their opinions. Luke Presson and his associates on the State +Committee were of that sort. But Thelismer Thornton was a better +politician than they. + +The Duke had saved the chairman and his committeemen from themselves at +that critical moment in the little room off the convention stage, when +they were ready to invite ruin by defying General Waymouth. It had been +as bitter for Thornton as it had been for the others. Beyond question, +he would have gone down fighting were the question a private or a +personal one. But when the interests of his party were at stake he knew +how to compromise, taking what he could get instead of what he had +determined to get. After the convention he gave fatherly advice to the +committee, and then Presson went up to Burnside village with the +olive-branch. But while he extended that in one hand, he held out his +little political porringer in the other. He couldn't help doing it. The +chairman was no altruist in politics. He didn't propose to cultivate the +spirit. + +He put it plainly to General Waymouth--that while he sympathized to some +extent with the latter's desires for general reform, there were certain +interests that propped the party and must be handled with discretion in +the clean-up. He had already drawn some consolation from the fact that +General Waymouth had modified in a measure the planks that he submitted +for the party platform. He followed up this as a step that hinted a +general compromise, and at last frankly presented his requests. He asked +that tax reform be smoothed over, that the corporations be allowed an +opportunity to "turn around," and finally that the prohibitory law +should be let alone. He argued warmly that General Waymouth could not be +criticised by either side if he left the law as he found it. The +radicals were satisfied with the various enactments as they stood, and +if there were infractions it became a matter of the police and sheriffs, +and the Governor could not be held accountable. And he laid stress on +the fact that the people did not want a Governor to tarnish the dignity +of his office by fighting bar-rooms. + +But Chairman Presson found an inflexible old man who listened to all he +said, and at the end declared his platform broadly and without details. +Those details of proposed activity he kept to himself. The platform was: +That it behooved all men in the State to be prompt and honest in obeying +the law. That the man who did not obey the law would find himself in +trouble. Moreover, position, personality, or purse could purchase no +exceptions. + +That was a platform which Mr. Presson could not attack, of course. + +He listened to it sullenly, however. He was angry because common decency +prevented him from expressing his opinion. He had heard other candidates +pompously declare the same thing, but he had not been worried by fear +that saints had come on earth. + +This calm old man from whose fibre of ambition the years had burned out +selfishness, greed, graft, and chicanery was a different proposition. +His words sounded as though he meant what he said. And when he asked +the chairman if he had any objection to offer to a system of +administration that carried out exactly what the party had put in its +pledges to the people, Presson glowered at him with hatred in his soul +and malice twinkling in his eyes, and could find no language that would +not brand him as a conspirator against the honor of his State. + +But he went back to headquarters swearing and sulking. + +In this spirit did candidate and managers face the campaign. + +It is not easy to hide family squabbles of that magnitude. The men +concerned in the principal secret of the State Convention kept their +mouths shut for the sake of self-preservation. But unquiet suspicion was +abroad. The Democrats nosed, figured, guessed, and acted with more +duplicity than had characterized their usual campaigns against the +dominant party. Their leaders gave their party a platform that invited +every one to get aboard. Every question was straddled. It was a document +of craft expressed in terms of apparent candor. It elevated a demagogue +as candidate for Governor, and promised every reform on the calendar. +These were the rash pledges of the minority, more reckless than usual. + +An united dominant party could have met the issues boldly and frankly +without fear as to results. + +But General Waymouth promptly discovered that he had a loyal army with +rebel officers. He was soldier enough to understand the peril. He had +more faith in the inherent, unorganized honesty of "The People" than +Thelismer Thornton had. But, with just as shrewd political knowledge as +the Duke, he held with him that the "The People" amount to mighty little +as a force in politics unless well and loyally officered. + +A campaign will not run itself. Left to run itself, the issues are not +brought out to stir up the voting spirit. "The People" have to be poked +into the fighting mood--their ears have to be scruffed--they need +speakers, literature, marshals, inciters--hurrah of partisanship. It was +the off year for the national campaign. No money came into the State +from the Big Fellows. + +The State Committee was looked to by the county and town committees to +start the ball rolling and guarantee the purse to push it. "The People" +were, as usual, too busy getting daily bread to be spontaneous in +political movements. + +General Waymouth sat in the old brick house in Burnside village, and did +the best he could during the long hot days of July and the sultry first +fortnight of August. Harlan Thornton worked with him. The library +resounded with the click of typewriters, and men came and men went. But +there was no up-and-moving spirit to the campaign. + +An old man writing letters--even such an old man as General Varden +Waymouth was in the estimation of his State--is a small voice in the +wilderness of politics. + +The Democrats had vociferous orators. Those orators had for text State +extravagance, unjust taxation, and all the other charges "the unders" +may bring against the reigning rulers. They were not answered on the +stump. Even the Republican newspapers were listless and halfhearted. + +At last came Thelismer Thornton. It was one afternoon in middle August, +barely three weeks before the day of the State election in September. It +was his first visit to the brick house in Burnside. He had been +sojourning at the State capitol. Men had told Harlan, from time to time, +that he was spending his days sitting on the broad veranda of Luke +Presson's hotel, apparently enjoying the summer with the same leisurely +ease that the State chairman was displaying. Men were sometimes +inquisitive when they mentioned this matter to Harlan. They did not +presume to ask questions of the General. But the young man had nothing +to say. It must be confessed that he did not know anything about it. + +He obeyed the instructions the General gave him and toiled as best he +knew, but that the main campaign was hanging fire he did not realize. +For the General, who knew politics, did not complain to him. The veteran +was a little whiter, a bit more dignified, and directed the movements of +his modest force of office assistants with a curtness he had not shown +at first; but no other sign betrayed that he knew his State Committee +had "lain down on him." + +The Duke sauntered up the walk, whipping off his hat and swinging it in +his hand as soon as he arrived under the trees of the old garden. He +came into the house without knocking. The front door was swung inward, +and only a screen door, on the latch, closed the portal. + +"I'm making myself at home as usual, Vard," he said, walking to the +General and stroking his shoulder as the veteran leaned over his table +above his figures. "I've been waiting for an invitation to come up here. +But I didn't dare to wait any longer. It's getting too near election." + +General Waymouth looked up at his old friend, studying his face. He +found only the bland cordiality of the ancient days. + +"I've been waiting, myself, Thelismer," he returned. "And I'll add that +I don't intend to wait much longer. I'm not referring to you, now. I +refer to Presson and his gang. I presume you are still close to them. +Will you inform them that I don't intend to wait much longer?" + +Thornton did not lose his smile. He sat down. He nodded across the room +to Harlan with as much nonchalance as though he had been seeing him +every day. + +"I would have run in before this, Varden, but somehow I got the +impression from you and the boy that you were fully capable of operating +things yourself. But with election only three weeks off I'm getting +ready to change my mind. What are you going to do with that steer +team--no, mule team--that's better?" + +"Meaning?" + +"Meaning Luke Presson and the members of the State Committee. I'm a +politician, Varden. I'm out of a job just now. Both crowds of you seem +to think you can get along all right without me. Probably you can. Luke +knows _he_ can, so he says. He doesn't seem to like my management or my +advice--not after that convention! But I can't help being a politician. +I can't sit on that hotel piazza any longer and see this mess scorch. +I'm too good a cook to stand it." He hitched forward in his chair and +spoke low. "Varden, it sounds like the devil making a presentation copy +of the Ten Commandments on asbestos, but I can't help that! I'm giving +it to you straight. We've got body-snatchers for a State Committee. +They'd rather see the Democrat the next Governor than you. That's how +mad they are. That's how sure they are that you propose to put their +noses to the grindstone. That's how rotten politics is in this State. +The Democrat won't give us reform. They know it. They'd rather see the +State officers go by the board than have the kind of reform you've +promised 'em. They can get rid of their Democrat after two years. Your +reform may hang on a good while, once get the laws chained. Now what are +you going to do?" + +"I know exactly what I'm going to do." + +"Yes; but, grinning Jehosaphat, how much time have you got to do it in? +Three weeks to election now!" + +"This campaign, Thelismer, will be started, as it ought to be started, +within the next twenty-four hours. As to how it will be started I'll +have you present as a witness, if you'll accept an invitation." + +The Duke was obliged to be contented with only that much assurance and +information. + +"There's a train back to the State capital in half an hour, Thelismer," +the General stated. "I'll be pleased to have you go along with Harlan +and myself. If you'll excuse me now, I'll finish signing these letters." + +The old man was not disturbed by this abruptness. He rose. + +"I reckon you know how to play the game, Vard," he said. "I'm perfectly +satisfied, now that I know you are playing it. But you'll excuse me for +being a little uneasy about your starting in." + +He did not interrupt Harlan, who was busy at his desk. He picked up one +of the newspapers that covered the General's table, and marched out into +the garden. + +He joined them when they came out. The General's old-fashioned carryall +conveyed them to the railroad station. They made the journey to the +capital without a word of reference to the purpose of their trip. +Unobtrusively chatting about the old times, the Duke and his friend made +their way back to their old footing. It was mutual forbearance and +forgiveness, for they were old enough to be philosophers, and especially +did they understand the philosophy of politics. + +Chairman Presson was in his office at his hotel when they entered. He +came out to greet General Waymouth, suave but circumspect, and furtively +studied word and aspect of his visitor. + +"Mr. Presson," said the General, breaking in upon the chairman's vague +gossip regarding the political situation, "this is short notice, but I +presume you can reach a few members of the State Committee by telephone. +I wish to meet them and you at my rooms in the hotel at nine this +evening. It is important." + +They came. There were half a dozen of them--men who hurried in from such +near points as the chairman could reach; and at the appointed hour +Presson ushered them into the General's room. Harlan Thornton was +waiting there with his chief. The Duke arrived in a few moments, alone. +He sat down at one side of the room, bearing himself with an air of +judicial impartiality. The chairman scowled at him. Judged by recent +experience, Thelismer Thornton was a questionable quantity in a +conference between the machine and General Waymouth. + +The committeemen took their cue from the chairman. They were sullen. +They bristled with an obstinacy that betrayed itself in advance. + +The General got down to business promptly. It was not a gathering that +invited any preamble of cheerful chat. He understood perfectly that the +men were there only because they did not dare to stay away. + +"Chairman Presson, it is now close upon the election. I have canvassed +the State as best I could through the mails. With Mr. Harlan Thornton's +assistance and through my friends in various towns, I have secured a +pretty complete list of doubtful voters. I will say in passing that I +have tried to enlist the help of your town committeemen, but they seem +to be asleep. I have thanked God daily that I have personal friends +willing to help me. I have the names at last. I have accomplished alone +the work that is usually attended to by the State Committee." + +Presson started to say something, but the General stopped him. + +"One moment, Mr. Chairman. Let me tell you what _I_ have done. One of us +at a time! When I've told you what I've done, you can tell me what +_you've_ attended to. I have those names, I have pledges of support, I +have plans for getting out the vote. But I have no literature for +distribution to those doubtful voters, I have no speakers assigned by +the State Committee to help the men who are trying to get the vote out, +I have no fund provided for the usual expenses. Now I will listen to +you, Mr. Chairman. Will you tell me what you have done?" + +"It's an off year, General Waymouth," said Presson. "I asked the +Congressional Committee for money, but I couldn't interest 'em. And I'll +tell you frankly that the regular sources in this State are dry. There +isn't the usual feeling. You're a good politician. Perhaps you know why +it's so." + +"You haven't answered my question, sir. I asked you what your State +Committee has done." + +"What is there we can do when every interest in this State sits back on +its wallet like a hen squatting on the roost, and won't stand up and let +go until some assurances are given out? It isn't my fault! I went to +you! I laid the case down! You didn't give me anything to carry back to +'em." + +"I'm here to talk business, Mr. Chairman. You are too vague." + +"Well, I'll talk business, too." Presson snapped out of his chair. He +stood up and wagged his finger. He was too angry to choose words or +gloss brutal facts. + +"You want to be Governor, don't you? You're asking men to support you +and back you with money? That's what it amounts to. Campaign funds don't +come down like manna--there's nothing heavenly about 'em--and you know +it as well as I do, General. You've scared Senator Pownal's crowd with +that anti-water-power-trust talk; they've got money to put into the +legislature, but none for you. The corporations won't do anything; your +tax commission talk has given them cold feet as far's you're concerned. +Even the office-holders are sore; you've been talking about abolishing +fees, and if that's the case they'd just as soon give up the offices. +And where's your party, then? You say you're going to enforce the +prohibitory law! I can get a little money out of the express companies, +the jobbers in gallon lots, and the fellows that get the promise of the +State liquor agency contracts. But the big wholesalers, the liquor men's +associations, the retailers--the whole bunch that's got the real money +and is willing to spend it haven't a cent for you--they'll even back the +Democrat against you! You wanted business talk. There it is." + +He strode up and down the centre of the room in agitation, and then sat +down. + +The other committeemen sighed with relief. Their chairman had said what +they wanted to say, said it bluntly and boldly, and they were glad it +was over. + +"That is," drawled Thelismer Thornton, "the State Committee says, as the +fork says to the cook: 'I'm willing to be used for all reasonable +purposes, but not to pick your teeth with or pull out carpet tacks.'" + +The pleasantry did not relieve the gloom. + +"The State Committee can't do anything without money, General Waymouth," +added the chairman, getting bolder as he allowed his rancor full play. +"You've fixed it so that we can't get the money." + +"Then the State Committee would be able to go ahead and do what it ought +to do if I should assure Senator Pownal that he and his crowd may help +themselves to the water-powers of this State--if I let the rumsellers +sell and the office-holders filch? It's on those terms, is it, that I'm +to get the help of the men the Republican party has selected as its +executives?" + +"That isn't a square way to put it," objected Mr. Presson, with heat. "I +simply say it was all right to open this campaign with prayer, as we did +at the State Convention, but as to carrying it through on the plane of +a revival meeting, that's a different proposition! You've asked for +business talk, General. I've given you straight business. You're asking +something from some one else, just now. In politics it's nothing for +nothing, and d--n-d little for a dollar! You know it just as well as I +do. Now suppose we have some business talk from you!" There was a sneer +in the last sentence. + +General Waymouth swung one thin leg over the knee of the other. He +leaned back in his chair. His elbow rested on the chair-arm, his fingers +were set, tips on his chin, and over them he surveyed his listeners with +calmness. He did not raise his voice. It was his mild manner that made +what he said sound so balefully savage. Bluster would have weakened it. + +"The legitimate expenses of a campaign are considerable, even when the +party organization, from you, Mr. Presson, down to the humblest town +committeeman, does full duty in time and effort. But if one has to buy +it all, it needs a deep purse. From what you say, it is plain to me that +I am now left to run my own campaign. I tell you very frankly, +gentlemen, my means are limited. I have not made money out of politics. +One course only is left open to me. I notify you that I shall issue a +statement to the people of this State. I shall inform them that I have +been abandoned by the State Committee and the party machine. I shall +state the reasons very plainly. I shall say I am left to defeat because +I refused to betray the people's interests. Then I shall appeal to the +people as a whole--to Republicans and Democrats alike--for support at +the polls. If there are enough honest men to elect me, very well. If the +majority wants to hand the thing over to the looters and tricksters +after the fair warning I give them, they will do so with their eyes +open, and I'll accept the result and leave this State to itself." + +Chairman Presson pushed himself slowly up out of his chair, his arms +propping him, his face shoved forward. + +"You mean to say, General Waymouth, that, being a Republican, a man who +has had honors from our hands, you'll advertise your party management as +crooks simply because we don't cut our own throats, politically and +financially?" + +"I say, I shall state the facts." + +"Let me inform you that I've got a little publicity bureau of my own. +I'll post you as a deserter and a sorehead. I'll fix it so you can't +even throw your hat into the Republican party and follow in to get it. +I'll--" + +"One moment, Luke," broke in the elder Thornton. "For some weeks now, +when things have come to a crisis, you have set yourself up as the whole +Republican party of this State. But when you get to talking that way you +represent it about as much as Parson Prouty represents the real +temperance sentiment. There's quite a bunch of us who are not in the +ramrodding business. General Waymouth is the nominee of our convention. +No one has delegated to you the job of deciding on his qualifications. +It's your job to go ahead and elect him. If you don't propose to do it, +then resign." + +"No, sir!" shouted Presson. + +"Then get busy--collect a campaign fund and make these last three weeks +hum! This is largely a matter between friends, right here now. I've told +Vard what I think of him, and I haven't minced words. It's bad enough +for a man to try to be absolutely honest in politics. That's where he's +making his mistake. But he can get past with the people--they'll think +it more or less bluff, anyway, even it's Varden Waymouth talking. But +the kind of dishonesty you're standing for, Luke, won't get past. +They'll ride you out of this State on a rail--and I'll furnish the +rail." + +"I'll furnish something more!" cried Harlan, unable to restrain himself +any longer. "To-morrow morning I shall put ten thousand dollars into +General Waymouth's campaign fund--my own money." + +"You see, Luke," drawled the Duke, "it really looks as though Vard would +be elected anyway. I might subscribe a little myself if only I had a +rich grandfather, the same as Harlan has." + +The unhappy chairman sat down in his chair again and struggled with his +anger. He could not give it rein--he realized that. Party and personal +interests were all jeopardized. But he knew he could not afford to have +utter personal disgrace accompany his defeat. Desertion of the party +candidate, if advertised in the fashion the General threatened, meant +ruin of his name as well as his fortune. He could have sulked and +excused himself, but there was no excuse for inaction after demand had +been made upon him in this fashion. + +There was silence in the room. + +"Fellow up our way used to be a mighty good mule teamster," said +Thelismer Thornton, tipping his great head back into clasped hands, and +gazing meditatively at the ceiling. "Had a gad for the wheel mules, whip +for the swing team, and a pocketful of rocks for the leaders. One day +the rocks gave out just as the wagon sunk into a honey-pot on a March +road. But being a good teamster, he yanked out his pipe and threw it at +the nigh leader just at the critical second. Sparks skated from crupper +to mane along the mule's back, and he gave a snort and a heave, and away +they went." + +Chairman Presson, deep in his trouble, was disgusted by this levity, and +growled under his breath. + +"If a fellow had been off ahead of the team with a bag of oats perhaps +the pipe wouldn't have been needed," pursued the Duke, meditatively. +"Anyway, gentlemen, I'll tell you what I'll do. I've been waiting to be +called on for my contribution for the fund, but for some reason business +hasn't been started in this campaign as soon as I hoped. Harlan was a +little excited just now. I think, seeing that the State Committee is now +going to take hold of the campaign, he'll be able to get out of it a +little cheaper. A lot of the other boys will chip when they're asked. +For the Thornton family I lead off subscriptions with a pledge of five +thousand dollars. I'm that much interested in seeing my--my original +choice for Governor elected by a good majority." + +Presson got up, and stamped down his trousers legs. + +"I know when I'm licked," he admitted. "And I've been licked in the +whole seventeen rounds of this campaign. Look here, General Waymouth, +I'm done fighting. I simply throw myself on your mercy. I know how you +feel toward me. But I've got just this to say: it's a poor tool of a man +that won't fight for his own interests and his friends. I've done it. +And I'm no more of a renegade than the usual run of the men who have to +play politics for results. I don't believe you are going to get results, +General. But that's neither here nor there. There's no more squirm left +in me. I'll take hold of this campaign and elect you. If there's any +crumbs coming to me after that, all right! I'm at your mercy." + +"I tell you again I've no time or inclination for petty revenge. That is +not my nature." General Waymouth was as cold and calm as inexorable Fate +itself. "I accept your pledge, Chairman Presson. Not one interest of +yours that is right will suffer at my hands. On the other hand, not one +interest that is wrong will be protected. It's simply up to you!" + +"I don't suppose you care to go over the plans with me to night?" + +"I shall ask you to confer with Mr. Harlan Thornton on all matters. He +knows my wishes and plans. He will remain here at headquarters as my +representative." + +If the chairman felt that he was being put under guard and espionage, +his face did not betray it. He took leave of the General, and escorted +out his associate committeemen. + +"Reminds me of the time Uncle Stote Breed went with the boys on a +fishing-trip," remarked the Duke, after they were gone. "They ate the +sardines out of the tin before Uncle Stote got in off the pond, and put +in raw chubs they'd been using for live bait. Uncle Stote ate 'em all. +'Boys, your ile is all right,' said he, when he cleaned 'em out, 'but it +seems to me your leetle fish is a mite underdone.' But Luke will eat +anything you hand him after this, Vard." + +He took his grandson by the arm, and started him toward the door. + +"Let the General get to bed," he advised, jocosely. "He ought to have +pleasant dreams to-night." + +Harlan expected that his grandfather would have some rather serious talk +for his ear. But he merely remarked, leaving him at the door of his +room: "If you keep on, son, I'll be passed down to posterity simply as +'Harlan Thornton's grandfather.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +FROM THE MOUTH OF A MAID + + +Under a sudden stimulus of rallies, red fire, and band-music, the +campaign blossomed promisingly. Democracy's dark hints that the dominant +party had been rent by factional strife were suddenly answered by an +outrush of spellbinders from Republican headquarters, a flood of +literature, and an astonishing display of active harmony. Chairman Luke +Presson received compliments for the manner in which he had held his +fire until he "had seen the whites of the enemy's eyes." He replied to +such compliments with fine display of modest reserve, and in private +gritted his teeth and swore over the statement that General Waymouth +issued to the voters of the State--a document that bound the party to a +professed programme of honest reorganization. The treasurer of the State +Committee drew checks amounting to more than fifteen thousand dollars to +pay for the printing, postage, and mailing of those statements--a bitter +expense, indeed, considering the nature of the promises. Presson saw +only gratuitous stirring of trouble in the hateful declarations the +General made. It was his theory that in politics voters never arose and +demanded reforms until some disturber shook them up and reminded them +that reforms were needed. + +General Waymouth did not take the stump. His age forbade. He remained +away from headquarters. But Harlan Thornton was posted there, his +vigilant representative and executive. In his attitude toward Harlan the +State chairman ran the gamut of cajolery, spleen, wrath, and +resentment--and final disgust. It was a situation almost intolerable for +Presson. But a chain of circumstances--events unescapable and unique in +politics--bound him to the wheel of the victor. + +Harlan understood the chairman's state of mind. Day by day he made his +discourse with that gentleman as brief as possible, and he kept away +from the Presson home. His action was dictated by a feeling of delicacy, +in view of the father's sentiments. Presson treated him in business +hours as a prisoner would treat his ball and chain. And Presson showed +no desire to take that badge of his servitude home with him. Enduring +Harlan in the committee headquarters strained his self-possession daily. + +So the young man lied brazenly in reply to the blandly courteous notes +of invitation from Mrs. Presson, who continued alert to the promising +social qualifications of General Waymouth's chief lieutenant. He pleaded +work. It was true in a measure. The day was filled with duties to which +he applied himself unflaggingly. + +But from the supper-table he hurried out each evening into the country, +escaping from the city by the side streets, tramping miles of lane and +highway and field. His muscles craved the exertion. The city oppressed +him. His unwonted toil within four walls sapped his energy. + +One evening he stepped aside from the highway. A horse, trotting +smartly, was overtaking him. But the horse did not pass him. It slowed +down to his stride, and Madeleine Presson called him from her trap. She +was alone. + +"As this is the campaign of 'honesty,' I'll be honest with you," she +said. "This is not an accidental meeting. I have been guessing at the +roads you might take, and have been on your trail for days. That's a +bold confession for a girl to make; but I've got even a bolder request: +please climb up here and ride." + +He climbed up. He went up with alacrity. From the first of their +acquaintance the girl had interested him--and yet it was more than mere +interest or feminine attraction. Her culture, her keen analysis of +events and men, her knowledge of conditions informed and instructed him. +Her subtle humor and droll insight into the characters of those who +attempted to pose in the public eye entertained him, for he lacked +humor. But, most of all, her satire gave him a truer perspective. Fresh +from the north country, where his knowledge of public men had been +limited to the information which newspapers had given him, he had +classed them wrongly. His own gravity had given them too eminent +qualities. The girl, knowing them, had pricked their assumptions with +good-humored satire, and he looked at them again and found them as she +said. As he sat beside her and the horse walked on, he was conscious +that in avoiding her he had been depriving himself both of entertainment +and valuable instruction. It was a rather selfish reflection, but he +could not help it. + +"Now, Mr. Harlan Thornton, from what my father says about the house, +when he's so angry that he really doesn't know what it is he's saying, I +understand you're playing hob with all the traditions of politics. In +order to be honest, do you find it necessary to oppose all the things my +father wants to do? If you dare to say so you'll be called on to have +some very serious conversation with my father's daughter!" + +"I don't want any differences with your father--or with you, Miss +Presson," he declared, earnestly. "I honestly don't! It all seems to be +a mighty mixed-up mess. I sometimes wish I'd stayed back home in the +woods. I'm too little a fellow to be in such a big game. I'm afraid I'm +so small I can only see one side of it." + +"You admit there are two sides?" + +"My grandfather and your father have impressed that on me pretty +strongly." + +"Isn't there any good in the other side? Do you mean to tell me that all +the men in politics in this State are wrong except you and old General +Waymouth?" + +"No, but it's the way of doing things. I guess it's that." + +She drew her horse to a stop. The country road was quiet. The hush of +the starry August night was over all. + +"Mr. Thornton," she said, looking him squarely in the eyes, "with all +due respect to the mighty masculine, I believe you are in need of a few +suggestions from a woman's standpoint. You haven't acquired the art of +flattery. If so, you'd be gallant and say I have just as much acumen as +you have honesty." + +"I'll say it! It's so!" he protested. + +"No, you're too late. I very unmodestly gave myself the compliment. Now +I'm going to tell you where you are wrong in this whole matter, Mr. +Thornton. You are reckoning without the human instruments that you must +employ. I'll wait just a moment and let that remark sink into your mind. +You are a bit slow about grasping the full purport of remarks, Mr. +Harlan Thornton." There was a touch of her satiric humor in her tone. +"Now, you don't fully understand, even yet. I think I'll have to +illustrate. I've already told you that I've watched matters pretty +closely at the capital. I like to see young men come here with ideals +and succeed, but, alas, they do not." + +"They let themselves be bought or bribed or bossed, probably," blurted +Harlan. + +"I'm not talking about that kind. They are too obvious and too common. +I complimented my own self. Now you are insulting yourself by jumping at +conclusions. You should have a better opinion of yourself, sir. I have. +I do not believe you could be bought or bossed or even coaxed from what +you considered your honest duty. You do not need to assure me. But you +might be _convinced_, Mr. Thornton--convinced by good reasons--that it +is not a young man's duty to ruin his own prospects and his own +influence by undertaking something as impracticable as though he tried +to be a meteor by holding a candle in his hand and jumping off a roof. I +could praise his imagination, but not his judgment." + +She waited a moment. She gazed at him with sudden sympathy. + +"You are a straightforward young man, used to winning your way by direct +means--axe to the tree, cant-dog to the rolling log, but that isn't the +way in politics. I know this preachment from me sounds strange. It may +offend you, but you mustn't allow yourself to be offended. You have +simply quarrelled with the men who have tried to tell you--it's no use +for your grandfather or my father to talk with you. Men do quarrel too +easily. I am taking a woman's advantage of you, sir. I said I would +illustrate. I will. One of the finest young men I ever knew came down to +the legislature and started in to expose and hold up every appropriation +measure that had the least appearance of being padded. Just straight-out +and blunt honesty, you understand. A little affectation, too. A bit of +self-advertising as well. But we all excuse a little self-consciousness +in youth. Well, he simply became a red rag to the House. They sneered +and hissed when he stood up. Just in blind rage they voted for every +appropriation he opposed. He did much more harm than he did good. He +didn't get his own appropriations for the district he represented. And +it killed him in politics and in his law business. The happy people did +not acclaim him as their faithful watchdog of the treasury. They merely +pronounced him a bore with a swelled head. You see, I can talk political +talk with all the phrases, Mr. Thornton." + +"But he was right, wasn't he--fundamentally right?" + +"He _meant_ to be right--that's the term to use. But he forgot that he +must use human instruments in order to accomplish anything. And he just +failed miserably." + +"What would you expect him to do--join in, and be just like the others? +Where would any good come out of anything?" + +"Now, you are insisting again that there is good only on one side of the +question. That's bigotry. It's what I'm trying to warn you against. Some +one has said that life is compromise. It's true of politics, if you're +going to get the most out of it. I know what you are undertaking. +General Waymouth hasn't left much to the imagination in his letter. And +I've talked with others. And so I know how visionary you are." + +"You've talked with Linton--that's the one you've talked with!" declared +Harlan, indignantly. "And if he's told you what I have told him in +confidence he's more of a sneak than I've already found him out to be." + +"Mr. Linton did not consider that you were making any secret of your +principles. And you'll excuse me, but I think his principles are exactly +as good as yours. You are talking now like the ramrodders. Their first +retort to any one who differs with them is to call names." + +"But he deserted General Waymouth under fire. He promised, and went back +on that promise." + +"According to all political good sense and in any other times but these, +when men seem to be running wild, General Waymouth was politically out +of the game. It's all fine and grand in story-books, Mr. Thornton, for +the hero to sacrifice everything for his ideals, but in these very +practical days he's only classed as a fool and kicked to one side." + +"You defend Linton, then? Is that the kind of a man you hold up as a +success, Miss Presson?" His grudge showed in his tone. + +"You will please understand, sir, that we are not discussing theories +just now. This isn't a question of what the world ought to be. It's the +plain fact about what a man must be if he's to get results. You and I +both have heard your grandfather say many times that he'd like to play +politics with angels--if only he could find the angels. It's hard to own +up, when you're young, that human nature is just as it is. I understand +how you feel. I know you feel it's a very strange thing for me to +do--talk to you like this. But I want you to understand that my father +has had nothing to do with it." + +He turned to her accusingly. + +"But I know perfectly well," he said, bitterly, "that it isn't any +personal interest you take in me that makes you say it. You don't think +enough of me for that." It was resentment so naively boyish that her +astonishment checked her remonstrance. He rushed on. "You hold up Linton +for me to follow. That's the kind of a man you admire. He's an orator, +and he's smart, and he wins. I'm only an accident. You meant that when +you said that General Waymouth won out only because matters were mixed +up in politics. You don't care anything about me, personally. But you're +talking to me because my grandfather asked you to. That's it." He +guessed shrewdly. + +That outburst betrayed him. This young man from the north country was +very human after all, she decided. + +"I have said before, this is a campaign of honesty. Your grandfather did +ask me to talk to you. I didn't have the heart to refuse him, for I'm +very fond of him." + +It was an acknowledgment that stung his pride. But more than all, it +stirred that vague rancor he had felt the first time he had seen Linton +appropriate her. + +He did not choose gallant words for reply. + +"He has set you on me, has he, to pull me away from what I think is +right? He wants me to be like the rest of 'em, eh? I can be an +understudy for Herbert Linton and an errand boy for the State machine! I +didn't think, Miss Presson, that you--" + +"You'd better not go any further, Mr. Harlan Thornton. My affection for +an old man who has set his heart on your success has brought me into +this affair, and I assure you I don't enjoy the situation. You are not +asked to betray any one, or desert any high moral pinnacle, or do +anything else that the moralists say all these fine things about without +knowing what they mean half the time. You are reminded of this: that +there's only one General Waymouth. There's a sudden big call for him +because factions have got into a row with each other. Folks will rally +around him for a little while--it's a sort of revival sentiment. But you +are not a General Waymouth. He'll be excused by sentiment, you'll simply +be branded as one of the common run of ramrodders who try to achieve the +impossible with human nature--a disturbing element in State +politics--and your career will be spoiled. Now I've delivered my +message, and done what I promised your grandfather I'd do." + +She turned her horse, and started him back toward town. + +There was silence between them for a time. + +"So, if I weren't Thelismer Thornton's grandson you wouldn't take any +interest in me at all?" he inquired, sourly. + +"A very impudent and unnecessary question, Mr. Harlan Thornton. I'm +afraid your grandfather is right--you have stayed in the woods too +long." + +Longer silence. + +He was more humble when he spoke again. "I don't want you to think I'm +what I may seem to be, Miss Presson. But what is there I can do in +politics, just now, different from what I'm doing? I have taken my side +with the General. I propose to stay there, of course. But I do not want +to have people think I'm a fool. And I haven't heard much else from any +one since I started out." There was wistfulness in his voice. He +suddenly felt drawn to her. He craved her counsel. It was the mastery of +the woman, more worldly-wise. He was bewildered and ashamed. The image +of Clare Kavanagh was not dimmed in his soul. She had been with him +daily in his thoughts. He knew that he felt affection for her. It was +tenderness, desire to protect, the real impulse of the man toward his +mate. But the feeling was all unexpressed and incoherent. + +And yet Madeleine Presson, more than ever before, attracted him +powerfully. She had the elements that he had never seen and experienced +in womankind. Just at that moment she dominated, for his passion had +betrayed him into a rather puerile outbreak. + +Subtle analysis of the emotions was beyond him. He did not understand. +His life had trained him along more primitive lines of selection. But he +realized now that he was trying to probe something in his soul that +defied his rather limited powers of judging. He had not given his heart +unreservedly, he had not pledged himself. Clare Kavanagh had repented of +a child's weakness and had run away from him, vaguely hinting that she +would forget him. This masterful young woman, driving him back to town, +her determined profile outlined against the gloom as he gazed shyly at +her, did not appear to be interested in him, except as a rebel to +authority and needing chastisement. + +The child of the woods, as he thought of her, stirred all his +tenderness, his sympathy, and the soft ties of long intimacy and +understanding bound him. + +But this girl, with beauty and brains, on his own level of independence +of thought, stirred new desires and ambitions in him. She was helpmate +and counsellor. He wondered if newer times and conditions did not demand +stronger qualities than mere womanhood in the wife who was to accompany +a man into the vicissitudes of public life. Not that he felt that he was +more than an humble instrument of the real power. But he fell to +considering the subject from the general viewpoint. His own experiences +had awakened new ideas that he pondered, having a very provocative +suggestion at his side. + +Still more humbly he asked her: "If you have been thinking the matter +over, Miss Presson, what advice do you give me?" + +"I advise you to have a serious talk with your grandfather. He has had +much experience. Use your own judgment, too, but be ready to hear the +evidence. You have not shown that willingness, yet, so far as I can +determine. I haven't any advice of my own to offer. I'll not presume. +Only this: be as honest as you can, but don't be so impractically honest +that you chop down all your bridges behind you and neglect to gather +timber for the bridges ahead of you." + +Even in the gloom she understood that he was puzzled. + +"Really, you know, I haven't written any handbook on practical politics, +Mr. Thornton," she said, her humor coming to the rescue. "I have talked +to you as though I had. But I've only talked to you with a woman's +intuition in such matters--and you remember, too, I've seen much of +legislative life. You can be good in politics--but, oh, don't be +impractical! I want you to succeed." + +"You do?" + +"I most certainly do." She said it heartily. + +No other word passed between them until they arrived in front of the +hotel. + +He reached up, after he had alighted, and grasped her hand. She had +impulsively put out her own to meet his. + +"I'll try to be--" he began, and then hesitated. He had been pondering. +But his thoughts were still so confused that he could not think of the +word that expressed exactly what he desired to make himself. + +"Be human," she said, smiling down on him. "You won't find yourself of +much use in the world unless you cultivate the faculty of personal +contact, and you musn't try to leap into politics in this State right +from the pedestal of a demigod. You may be able to elevate yourself +later, but just now, my dear young friend, you should be _reasonable_. +That's a word that means much in handling men and affairs. Now I hope +I've softened you so that you will listen to your good grandfather when +he has advice for you." + +She did not allow herself to be too serious. There was the delicious +drawl in her tone that had attracted him at first. + +He went to his room and sat down to digest that political philosophy. If +some one beside Madeleine Presson had said it, it would have seemed to +him like the voice of the temptress. But she had already won his +confidence in her sincerity. He wished that he could feel that her +interest in him had more of a personal quality than she had admitted. He +did not like to remember that it was simply affection for his +grandfather that prompted her. He did not understand very well what he +was to do to obey her suggestions. He did not understand himself exactly +at that moment. But along with his loyalty to General Waymouth a new +desire sprang into life within him. He wanted to show Luke Presson's +daughter that Harlan Thornton could play the game of practical politics +as well as Herbert Linton, and in the end would be more deserving of her +respect. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A TRUCE + + +Gen. Varden Waymouth was elected Governor. In spite of the sullen torpor +of his party managers and the snarls of the Reverend Prouty and his +radical ilk, he surmounted by mere momentum of his party a certain bland +and trustful and destructive indifference of the general public, and won +at the polls. The narrow margin by which he won would have scared a +really loyal and conscientious State Committee. But the before-and-after +gloom of Chairman Presson and his intimates was not caused by any +worriment over the size of the plurality. They were languid spectators. +They felt like dispossessed tenants. They took little interest in the +temple of the party faith. + +"When they buried old Zenas Bellew up our way (Zenas weighed three +hundred and fifty, and lived in a cottage about the size of a wood-box) +the undertaker found he couldn't get the coffin into the house or get +Zenas out--not through doors or windows. A half-witted fellow we call +'Simpson's Rooster' spoke up, and said they'd better bury the old man in +the house and move the family out into the coffin." That was Thelismer +Thornton's comment on the political situation in the Republican party on +the morning after the election. The chairman heard it with the gloom of +a mourner. He could see nothing bright in the jest or the prospects. + +There was a frigid truce during the four months that elapsed between +the election and the assembling of the legislature. + +General Waymouth retired to the brick house in Burnside, and gave ear to +those who promptly made his home the Mecca of the State. There were +office-holders who wanted to hold to their jobs, office-seekers who +suspected that there would be a break in the plans of party patronage; +there were officious gentlemen suggesting new legislation for the next +administration to consider; there were crafty gentlemen trying to +discover what the administration would recommend. The day was full of +cares, duties, annoyances, and the nagging pleadings of persistent +petitioners. + +Harlan Thornton, now representative-elect from the Fort Canibas +district, became still more indispensable in General Waymouth's daily +life. Duties at a desk had worn upon him. This everlasting mingling with +men was more to his taste. He had natural adaptability. He was a good +judge of human nature. He had serene good nature. Physique and manner +made him master of many situations at the old brick house that otherwise +would have sadly tried the General's strength and temper. Therefore, his +chief placed greater dependence upon his lieutenant with every day that +passed, solicited his opinions as his knowledge of men increased and his +judgment became worth more, relied upon his instinctive estimates of +character, and shifted many burdens to the broad shoulders that seemed +so well fitted to carry them. + +Harlan Thornton was slow to realize what a tremendous power, as +chamberlain, he really exercised in the State. + +He awoke to that fact more slowly than did the men who came to solicit. +He did not try to use his power for his own ends. He promptly noted the +deference that men paid him; as promptly he penetrated certain plans +men made to corrupt him, if they could. These attempts were made slyly, +and did not proceed very far. Something in his demeanor prevented the +plotters from openly broaching their desires and their willingness to +make their interests worth his while. They knew that one of the +Thorntons could not be won by money, but they were rather surprised to +find out that he could not be beguiled by other inducements. He was so +big and manly, and he had rapidly become so self-poised, that they did +not realize that in experience he was only a boy, with the ingenuous +faith and simple aims and candor of boyhood. He perceived what he might +win. But the pride of serving General Waymouth loyally was worth more to +him than anything they could offer. + +His duties took him often to the State capital. The chairman of the +State Committee was coolly courteous, often gloomily deferential, +sometimes frankly cordial--uneasily trying to find the proper level to +stand on in his intercourse with one who was the grandson of Thelismer +Thornton, and also the chosen confidant of the man who had wrested from +him control of State affairs. + +In the case of Madeleine Presson, there was none of this embarrassment. +He saw her often. She met him half-way with a frank interest in his work +and a sympathy which, in those days of truce, did not question his +ideals. + +He became a welcome intimate of the Presson household. When he was there +the master himself put aside all the brusqueness he displayed in their +down-town discourse on politics. The girl welcomed him. There were many +hours when they were alone together, in the home or on long drives into +the country. She did not refer to their talk on that evening when she +read to him his lesson on practical politics. He avoided that subject. +He did not want to risk any further disagreement between them on the +matter of ideals--or, for that matter, on any other subject. Association +with her had become too delightful to be put to the test of discussions +of political methods. He was still drawing upon her fund of worldly +wisdom. There was a little touch of the cynic in her. He became secretly +ashamed of some of his ingenuous beliefs, after she had deftly shown him +the other side of things. She did show him the other side, quite in a +matter-of-fact way. It was not that she was trying to break down his +faith. There was nothing sly nor crafty in her methods of improving his +views. But by informing him, she made him wiser, and, at the same time, +more distrustful of motives, more searching in his investigations of +methods. He began to doubt some of his earlier ideas of what a public +man should be. He felt that his views were broadening. That was a +comfortable way of excusing certain surrenderings to her ideas. + +The more he drew from her the more he was drawn to her. + +It was not the love that comes with a rush of the emotions and sweeps a +man away. + +Through the intellect, through his hunger for information and wider +views, she was making herself indispensable to his welfare and his +ambitions. + +And yet Madeleine Presson was not trying to make this young man of the +north country fall in love with her. Her interest in him was first of +all based upon his winning earnestness and the elements of success that +she divined in him, were they properly cultivated. She had studied men +at the capital from childhood. The development of men in public life and +service had been the one theme that she had heard most discussed. Her +impulse of assistance had been directed toward this grandson of +Thelismer Thornton. + +But as the days went by, and opportunity gave them their hours together, +they were drawn more closely, each insisting in secret meditation that +it was not love. He found himself gradually rebuilding his creed of +living on the foundation she had laid in that first long talk of +theirs. He had arrived at such a point of belief in her that he was glad +that she had opened his eyes. He was finding men--meeting them by the +hundred--even as she had pictured them to him: selfish, scheming, +crafty, and not understanding in the least his occasional attempts to +meet them on the upper level of perfect candor. For her part, she found +more in this young man than she had expected to find. + +Harlan considered Herbert Linton the single jarring note in this new +symphony of mutual interests. + +Linton came to the capital with more or less regularity, and called on +the Pressons with fully as much appearance of being entirely at home as +his newer rival. When they were together the girl treated both with +impartial interest and attention. She listened to each in turn, and if +they chose to sit and scowl at each other she did the talking for all +three. Deftly she arranged that they should leave together, and they +always promptly separated as soon as they reached the sidewalk, as +though they were afraid to trust themselves in each other's company. + +So the new year came in, and the hordes of lawmakers, lobbyists, +lookers-on, and laymen descended on the State capital. + +The first few days of a legislative session, though packed full of +politics and business, rush, and routine, are festival days, after all. +There are the old friends to greet and the new friends to meet. There +are ten spectators to every legislator, and the spectators are on hand +for a good time. Outside of the factional clinches of the House and +Senate caucuses the early days have little serious business. + +Presson's great hotel and the lesser lights of the capital's houses of +entertainment were packed to their roofs. The State House on the hill +sent sparkling radiance at night from all its hundreds of windows out +across the snow which loaded the broad lawns. Senator Pownal, +renominated in joint caucus, spoke to crowded floor and galleries on the +second evening. Harlan Thornton, in his seat in the House, listened and +wondered if that convention had not been a dream. + +This later convocation seemed so entirely harmonious. + +The Republicans ruled House and Senate by safe majorities. Presson, +sauntering about hotel or State House lobby, seemed bland and contented +again. The wounds in the party seemed to have been healed. + +On inauguration day Governor Waymouth added to the general spirit of +harmony. + +He came unobtrusively to the State House from the modest mansion he had +leased in the capital city for the legislative winter and took his oath +of office before an admiring throng. He had made a confidant of no one +regarding his inaugural speech. There were vague rumors that the +Governor would follow his hand, as he had shown it in his letter of +acceptance, and deliver an inaugural address which would blister the +ears of the politically unregenerate. + +In that ancient State House, its accommodations for spectators limited, +there were no hard-and-fast rules regulating admission to the floor. +Harlan Thornton had a chair placed in the aisle beside his seat, and +entertained Madeleine Presson there. He had anticipated Linton, who came +with a similar invitation. Harlan was still enough of a boy to feel +delight in the discomfiture of his rival, and to be gratified by the +open admiration his fellow-members showed for the girl at his side. He +relished the sour looks which Linton sent in that direction. + +Under cover of the general buzz and bustle that accompanied the +convening of the joint session of House and Senate for the purpose of +the inauguration the girl rallied him a bit. + +"The beginning of the righteous reign seems to be sane and sweet, after +all," she said. "Even my father is complacent and purring this morning. +Which has he eaten, do you know--the raven of contention or the dove of +peace?" + +"I think every one understands that Governor Waymouth has straightened +matters out for all of us," he replied. + +"How? By simply talking about it? As one who should say, 'Let it be +done,' and it was done, and just what was done nobody, nobody knew--but +it was done--something was--and all the folks felt better and went on in +the same old way! Is that it?" + +He smiled at her while she teased him; the nature of the armistice that +prevailed, according to outward appearances, was not understood by him. +For several weeks his intimacy with General Waymouth had not been as +close as at the first. Not that there was distrust or even coolness +between them. The veteran still depended on the young man for the +services a trusted lieutenant could render. His plans, however, his +future programme of reorganization--if he had any definite plans--the +General kept to himself. It was not mere reticence. But there was an +atmosphere about the old statesman as though he had withdrawn himself to +a higher altitude to think his thoughts and formulate his plans alone. +If he had heard of the intimacy of Harlan Thornton with the family of +Luke Presson he made no comment on that fact. + +"Now what is he going to say in his address?" she asked. "Every one will +know in a few moments. Tell me ahead--tell me the big utterance that +will make the people sit up. I want to be ready to watch their faces!" + +"Why, I haven't a single idea what he will say," he blurted. + +"Oh, safe repository, I salute you!" + +"But I haven't! The Governor hasn't opened his mouth to me!" + +"Have a care! One very easily steps from polite diplomacy into very +impolite falsehood. You must always be truthful with me, Harlan." + +His eyes grew brighter and his tanned cheeks warm. It was the first time +she had addressed him without hateful formality. + +"I propose to tell you the truth, always," he assured her. "But I mean +what I say--the Governor has kept his address to himself." + +"I should resent that. It would have been a delicate compliment, and he +owed that much to you. I'm afraid he has been a politician long enough +to be like all the rest--to walk up to power on men as one uses a flight +of stairs, and then to put the stairs behind his back; for one doesn't +walk up-stairs backward." + +He flushed more deeply. + +"I'm not that kind of a fellow--jealous, or petty, or expecting a great +deal for what little service I can render." + +"Put a value on yourself, though," she advised him. "It really isn't +human nature, you know, to pick up the things that are thrown away by +the owners--to pick them up and keep them and value them, I mean. That +applies to purses and all other possessions, including hearts and +loyalty." + +He started to say something to her--even though the throng pressed about +them he would have said it; but the voice of the crier at the door +announced what all were waiting for. + +"His Excellency the Governor, the Honorable Council, and his Excellency +the Governor-elect and party!" + +They filed along in dignified procession down the centre aisle, the +uniforms of the officers of the staff giving a touch of color and +brightness to the formal frock-coats. + +The Secretary of State announced the official figures of the vote +electing Varden Waymouth as Governor, and after his sonorous final +phrase, "God save the State of ------," Governor Waymouth repeated the +oath of office administered by a gaunt, sallow lawyer who was the +president of the Senate. + +The clerk of the House set a reading-desk on the Speaker's table and +arranged the Governor's manuscript. As the old man read he made a +striking picture. He stood very erect. His snowy hair, the empty sleeve +across his breast, the lines the years had etched on cheeks and brow +gave those who looked on him a little thrill of sympathetic regret that +one so old should be called from the repose of his later years to take +up such public burdens as he had assumed. But his voice was resonant, +his eye was clear. Nature seemed to have given him new strength to meet +what he was now facing. And yet, thought some of those who listened, it +might be that he did not propose to make a martyr of himself, after all. +His address did not threaten or complain. The radicals who sat there +with set teeth and bent brows, hoping to hear denunciation after their +own heart, were disappointed. The politicians who had feared now took +new grip on their hope--it probably was not to be as bad as they had +anticipated. + +Harlan Thornton listened to the calm, moderate statement of the State's +general financial and political situation with growing sense of mingled +disappointment and relief. His fighting spirit and his knowledge of +conditions, as they had been revealed to him, made him hope that at last +an honest man proposed to clean the temple--entering upon his task with +bared arms and a clarion call. This mild old man, confining himself to +the details of the State's progress and needs, was not exactly the +leader he had expected him to be. And yet Harlan was relieved. He looked +at the girl beside him, and that relief smoothed away his +disappointment. As matters were shaping themselves he no longer +anticipated that he would be driven into pitched battle, forced to fight +intrenched enemies of reform--Luke Presson's face most conspicuous of +all those behind the party wall of privilege. As he listened to the +address he comforted himself with the thought that probably political +disagreements loomed more blackly as a cloud on the horizon than their +real consistency warranted. He was not in retreat--he would not admit +that to himself as he listened. But he felt that compromise and a better +understanding were in the air. There would be no more occasion for +troubled arguments between himself and the girl at his side. He did not +understand exactly in what way it would be done, but he felt that +Governor Waymouth knew how to win his reforms without such party +slaughter as the first engagements hinted at. He put himself into a very +comfortable frame of mind, and the girl at his side, by her mere +presence, added to his belief that this was a pretty good old world, +after all. + +He had lost some of his respect for "reform." It had been exemplified +for him mostly by such men as Prouty and his intolerant kind--by Spinney +and his dupes. He felt that he might call decency by some other name, +and arrive at results by the calm and dignified course which Governor +Waymouth now seemed to be pointing out. He suddenly felt a warm +appreciation of the wisdom of Madeleine Presson as she had made that +good sense known to him in their talks. + +"For it is by my works, not my words, that I would be judged," concluded +the Governor, solemnly, and bowed to the applause which greeted the end. + +Neither Harlan Thornton nor any other listener in the great assembly +hall took those words as signifying anything more than the usual pledge +of faithful performance. + +After the dissolving of the joint caucus he escorted Madeleine to the +council-chamber, where the new Governor was holding his impromptu +reception. There were no shadows on the faces which pressed closely +around him. All the politicians of the State were there, eager to be the +first to congratulate him. Their fears had been somewhat allayed. In +political circles it was well understood that Waymouth stood for a +clean-up. It had been hinted that his programme would be drastic. The +members of the machine, more intimately in the secrets of the +convention, had expected that the old Roman would sound the first blast +of the charge in his inaugural address. His moderateness cheered them. +Harlan found congratulation sweetening every comment. + +The General received the young couple with marked graciousness. + +"Governor Waymouth, you have convinced me to-day that you are the +apostle of universal salvation for the wicked--in politics," said the +girl. "I hope the doctrine will be accepted." + +"In that belief you are safe companion for my first disciple," he +returned, humoring her jest. The crowd carried them on. + +"I believe that, too," Harlan murmured. + +"Universal salvation according to the new political creed?" + +"I'm not thinking about politics. I'm not thinking much about anything +else just now except you. During the Governor's address it came over me +suddenly what wise counsel you gave me. If I had you for an adviser all +the rest of my life I could amount to more in the world than I ever can +without you." + +She glanced at him sharply. + +"I mean that," he insisted. "Will you be my adviser for the rest of my +life?" + +It was crude, blunt, and sudden proposal. The throngs were eddying about +them. They were jostled at the moment by the Toms, Dicks, and Harrys of +the legislative concourse. Curious eyes surveyed them. Ears were near +by. + +"I can't help saying it here and now," he rushed on. "I--" + +"My dear Harlan, you don't mean to say that you are proposing to me here +in the face and eyes of this crowd?" She said it with sudden amazed +mirth dancing in her eyes, but with a note of satire in her tone. + +"I do mean it!" He cried it so loudly that men turned their heads to +stare at this earnest young man who was protesting his faith to the +handsome daughter of Luke Presson. + +"Hush!" she cried, sharply, and then pulled him along. She spoke low. "I +don't think you have enough humor in you to realize just what you have +done, Harlan. I have found humor lacking in you. You have picked out the +lobby of the State House, in the middle of the biggest crowd of all the +year, as the 'love's bower' for an offer of marriage. You say you mean +it as an offer of marriage. But what you really did was to ask me to +attach myself to you as general adviser. You can hire a clairvoyant who +will do that much for you, and I doubt if you would engage the +clairvoyant as publicly as you have just tried to engage me." + +"I understand just what a fool I made of myself," he muttered, huskily. +"But I couldn't wait--and I mean it." + +"No, you don't realize just how much of a fool you are where women are +concerned," she returned, judicially. "A woman--a young woman--is +generally interested in hearing first of all a little about love and +devotion and loyalty, all unselfish and uncalculating. Now be patient! +Listen to me! A woman can detect real love. And real love seeks its +opportunity sweetly and shyly. It doesn't preface itself with remarks +about a woman's brain and advisory ability. I believe it has a lot to +say about eyes and hair and lips and such things. However, since you +admire me in my capacity as adviser, I'll advise you to be sure that you +love a woman before you propose to her, and then when you propose pick +out some place that's suitable for convincing her that you do love her. +I see mother yonder. Take me to her." + +Turning away, flushed and angry, from her demure smile, he became +bitterly conscious that even had they been alone, under most favorable +circumstances, he would have lacked speech for real love-making. He felt +that conviction inwardly. He wondered whether he had the capacity for +loving as he had read of men loving. It made him a bit ashamed to think +of himself as violently protesting, hungrily pleading. A moment before +he had been angry because she doubted his love. He knew that he admired +her, respected, desired her. Now he argued with himself, and convinced +his soul that his emotions constituted love. And having convinced +himself, he determined to seek further opportunity of convincing her. It +was truly an academic way of settling matters so riotously impatient of +calculation as affairs of the heart, and his determination would have +appealed to Miss Presson's sense of the humorous more acutely still had +he undertaken to explain his emotions of that moment. + +Thelismer Thornton, strolling amiably through the lobby throng, came and +put his hand on Harlan's shoulder. + +"The best way to make good sugar is to simmer the sap slowly, my boy." +Harlan glanced sharply at him, but the Duke was not discussing love. +"Vard has got into the simmering stage at last. I reckoned he would. +He's too good a politician to boil the kettle over as he started in +doing. What's the matter with you? You look as though you'd been +listening to a funeral oration instead of an address that has put the +party back on Easy Street." + +His grandson was careful not to explain the cause of his gloom. He was +willing to let politics be answerable. + +Chairman Presson, more cheerful than he had been for weeks, came and +crowded between them in a cosey, confidential manner. + +"Say, the old fellow is getting smoothed down," he chuckled. "That +address was milk for babes. He's got good sense. The thin edge of that +plurality made him think twice. I reckon he's going to play a safe game +after this. I don't know what he wanted to throw such a scare into us +early in the game for! But as we get old we get cranky, I suppose. I may +be that way myself when I grow older." + +"Vard preached the theory to us for all it was worth," commented the +Duke, "but I reckon he's up against the practice end of the proposition +now--and he was a politician before he was a preacher." + +"Hope he'll stay a politician after this. He got onto my nerves. It +wasn't necessary to be so almighty emphatic about things going wrong in +this State." + +"Old Pinkney up our way is always careful to keep an eye out for the +drovers," said the Duke. "When he sees one coming he hustles out into +the pasture and shifts the poker off'n the breachy critter onto the best +one in the bunch. And that's the way he unloads the breachy one. Vard +has been wearing the poker the last few weeks, but I don't believe he +intends to hook down any fences." + +In the eyes of the politicians, therefore, Governor Waymouth had become +safe and sane. They construed his earlier declarations as the ambitions +of an old man dreaming a dream of perfection. The legislature swung into +the routine of its first weeks in the usual fashion. The business +consisted of the presentation of bills, acts, and resolves. The daily +sessions lasted barely half an hour. The committee hearings had not +begun, and the legislators found time hanging heavy on their hands. + +Harlan Thornton continued to be a frequent caller at the Presson home. +But he did not seem to find an opportunity for a tete-a-tete with +Madeleine. She did not show constraint in his presence. She did not +avoid him. She treated him with the same frank familiarity. But he did +not find himself alone with her. He did not try to force such a +situation, in spite of the provocation she had given him once. He was +not yet sure that he could command the words that real love might demand +for expression. That was his vague excuse to his own heart for +delaying--for his heart insisted that he did love her. He had to admit +to himself that this was not the headlong passion the poets described, +but he consoled himself with the reflection that he was not a poet. So +he made the most of her cordial acceptance of him as he was, and felt +sure that Herbert Linton had won no more from her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A GOVERNOR AND A MAID + + +The Honorable Arba Spinney was in the lobby as usual that winter. The +Duke's sarcastic prediction was fulfilled. He appeared promptly at the +session's opening, and was the most insistent and persistent member of +the "Third House," as the paid legislative agents were called. Most of +the men who wormed their way here and there operated craftily and tried +to be diplomatic. Spinney strove by effrontery. As usual, he made the +country members his especial prey. The story of his knavery at the State +Convention had been smothered in the interests of the party. He +reappeared among men with as much assurance as ever. He even approached +Harlan Thornton to solicit his support of one bill. It was a measure to +grant State subsidy, through exemption of taxation, to assist a railroad +to extend its lines into the timber-land country. + +Harlan checked him promptly. "I don't propose to discuss that question +or any other with you, Mr. Spinney." + +"If that road is built it will double the value of half your lands," +insisted the lobbyist. "It's business for you and it's business for us, +and there's no reason why you shouldn't talk business, is there?" + +"It doesn't interest me, Mr. Spinney." He went on, hotly: "I know just +as much about the matter as you do. It's an attempt to evade the State +constitution, which forbids subsidizing railroads. Governor Waymouth has +explained it to me. I don't propose to profit by any such methods. And +I'll inform you, further, that it's just about the sort of a scheme I'd +expect to find you working for. Do you understand me?" + +"I know what you're referring to. But that matter is over with. I got +the worst end of it. You helped to pass it to me. You can't afford to +carry on any quarrel with me, Thornton. Holding grudges is bad business; +so is making a fool of yourself by playing little tin saint in public +matters." + +"I hold no grudge against you. That would be getting down on your level. +I'm simply disgusted with you as a man, Mr. Spinney. That's all. You +know why. Now leave me alone." + +But Spinney boldly intercepted him. Harlan had started to leave. The +lobbyist realized what a powerful foe young Thornton could be to his +project, and he was desperate. + +"I've been up through your country, Mr. Thornton. I've been spending +some time at Fort Canibas. I've been posting myself generally on +railroad and other matters--_other_ matters! I don't want to say too +much, but I'd like to have you run over in your mind what those other +matters might be. Now, you and I can't afford to be enemies. I got the +tough end, and I'm willing to overlook and forget. You owe me a little +something. I hope you're going to square it. Let me remind you that I'm +a bad man with my tongue. I'm free to say it, I depend on my tongue for +what I get out of life." + +It occurred to Harlan that this brazen threat referred to the scandal of +the Fort Canibas caucus. + +"Bring them on," he sneered: "Ivus Niles and his buck sheep and Enoch +Dudley and the rest of the petty rogues that you hired with your +corporation money to defeat me." + +"You're on the wrong trail," replied Spinney. "I can hit you harder than +that, and in a tenderer spot." + +He returned Harlan's amazed stare. + +"I've been keeping my eyes open down here, Mr. Thornton, and I kept my +ears open up in Fort Canibas." His face grew hard. "D--n you, I'll never +forget what you did to me! I'm coming right out open with you. I'd like +to do you in return. I can do it. But I'll give you a chance; it's for +my interest to do so, providing you buy the let-off. If you don't stand +by me in that tax rebate, I'll launch the story. What I lose in support +I'll more than make up in seeing you squirm. I'm pretty frank, ain't I? +Well, I play strong when I've got enough trumps under my thumb." + +"Spinney, I've had enough of that kind of talk. What do you mean?" + +"Don't you have the least idea?" + +"Not the slightest." + +"A good bluff! Well, I know about the girl up country! See? It's a bad +story to be passed up to another girl. And I know how to get the details +to my friend Presson's daughter in time to spoil your ambition in that +quarter. Now, how about that?" + +They were in one corner of the State-House lobby, and the presence of a +hundred men about them probably saved Spinney from a beating there and +then. Harlan quivered with rage. He did not grasp the full purport of +Spinney's hints. He only understood that the man had grossly intruded on +his private affairs. He could not speak. He dared not trust his voice. + +"Now do you want to let it go further?" inquired the lobbyist. He felt +that the proximity of others protected him. + +"I'll meet you alone--I'll hunt you out, and I'll mash that face of +yours into pulp!" choked the young man, and hurried away before he lost +control of himself. The most he could make out of the episode was that +Spinney was seeking cheap revenge by offering insult to his face under +circumstances that prevented him from retaliating. He did not understand +the reference to Clare Kavanagh. His friendship for the girl was no +secret in the north country. That Spinney had made so much account of it +by his insinuations was the astonishing feature, in Harlan's estimation. + +Fortunately for his peace of mind at that moment, he was not allowed to +dwell upon the matter. The Governor's messenger came seeking him. He +followed the man into the presence of his Excellency. + +Harlan had not recovered his self-possession, and the Governor surveyed +him with some interest. + +"Cares of State, young man?" he asked. "And the session still as calm as +a millpond?" + +"That cur of a Spinney has just insulted me--no politics, sir, but just +plain, personal insult. Why, he went out of his way to do it!" + +"You make much out of nothing if you allow that blatherskite to disturb +you," said the Governor, with mild reproof. "Pay no attention to him. +Now to my business with you! I'd like to have you dine with me this +evening. I have some serious matters to talk over with you alone--and +the executive chamber, here, is no place for a quiet talk." + +Harlan hesitated a moment. + +"Have you another engagement?" + +"I was to dine with the Pressons." + +"I am sorry to ask you to do it, my boy, but if it is merely a social +engagement, will you not beg to be excused? I assure you that my +business is such that it cannot well wait another twenty-four hours. I +am ready to leave the State House now. We'll ride past the Presson +door, and I'll wait while you present your regrets. Tell the fair +Madeleine that duty calls." He smiled. "I hear interesting reports, +young man. Again I say I'm sorry to keep you from your engagement, but +Miss Presson has been near enough to politics to understand what a +duty-call means. Come!" + +The young man flushed. Reply failed him. He followed the Governor to his +carriage. It was late afternoon, and the State House was emptying. + +As Harlan ran up the steps of the Presson house, Spinney's ugly threat +came to him. The man dealt in gossip. It was an incredible form of +attack. It was slander of the innocent. He could not forewarn Madeleine +Presson. That would be caddish. + +But he felt a sudden panic. The impulse of admiration; covetous desire +to win her away from Linton, a desire pricked by his increasing dislike +of that young rival in love and politics; the charm she possessed for +him who had met in her his first woman of intellect and culture--all +drove him to her. The other love was a vague something that troubled +him. Madeleine Presson was near and visible, and he did not dissect the +emotion which prompted him to seek her. + +She came down to the reception-room. He had sent up an urgent request. + +"No," she said, with a smile, after she had listened, "I think I'll put +your loyalty to the test! If I'm always to be the minority report in +your estimation, Mr. Legislator, it's time now to find it out. You put +Governor Waymouth and your politics first, do you?" + +"But you haven't given me the right to put you first," he returned, +boldly. + +"Just how was I to go about giving you that right?" she inquired, with +demure sarcasm. "Memorialize you, Mr. Representative, or throw it at you +from the House gallery, concealed in a bouquet?" + +In spite of the waiting Governor outside he started toward her, his +arms outstretched, his heart rushing to his lips. Her taunt--it seemed +like that--made him desperate. + +"Madeleine, I tried to tell you--I know it seemed a strange place, but I +couldn't wait--I want to tell you now--" + +She eluded him, and stopped him with a word. He was not impetuous enough +to persist. + +"Oh, you master of the art of love-making!" she cried. Pique mingled +with mirth in her tone. "First, you propose to me in the midst of the +mob; then you propose to me, bursting in like a messenger-boy, and +yonder the Governor of this State, with anxious head out of his carriage +window, scowling because you don't come along! Admirable occasions for +pledging passion and life-long devotion! Dear Harlan, your ingenuity +must be puzzled by this time. I'll make a suggestion: fly over our house +in a balloon and shout your declaration down the chimney. I'll sit in +the fireplace from two to four, afternoons." + +"I'll not be put off!" he cried. + +"You shall be put out, and I'll do it!" Laughing, she took him by his +arm and led him out into the hall. Protesting, he went. "I have some +respect for the feelings of our Governor on a chilly afternoon, even if +you haven't. You are excused from our little dinner. Go, now, Harlan. +I'm serious." + +"There's one thing you have given me," he said, red, half-angry, and +thoroughly subdued, "and that's the promise that I may take you to the +legislative ball. That's to-morrow night--and we'll see!" He bolted out +upon the steps. + +"Delightful!" she cried after him. "What an opportunity the stage of +City Hall will afford for another!" She shut the door before he could +reply. + +The Governor rallied him a bit on his disturbed looks as they rode on, +but Harlan was in no mood to relish jokes on that subject. + +Governor Waymouth had no other guests at dinner. He did not broach his +business until they were seated in the little parlor of the modest +mansion. The room had been converted into a study. + +"To date the session has hardly been what you hoped--perhaps that's too +strong a word--what you expected it would be, has it?" inquired the +Governor, his earnestness showing that he was ready to begin. He did not +wait for a reply. + +"Matters have run in the old rut. Every one seems to be satisfied, +eh--even the radicals in the prohibition movement? Isn't that so? Their +men have introduced some new legislation, adding on more penalties that +no officer will ever enforce--but the mere legislation satisfies 'em. +Everybody satisfied, apparently." The Governor uttered that last +sentence in meditative manner. Then he straightened, and slapped his +hand upon his chair-arm so suddenly that Harlan started. "But I am not +satisfied!" he shouted. "I have let them run along. I have let them +introduce their bills. I have waited for the lawmakers of this State and +for the people to take some initiative. I gave them their call last fall +in my letter. I hoped that some part of this State was awake. But those +few who have shown some signs of civic interest have only pecked around +the edges of reform. Nothing has been done, Harlan Thornton. Not one +sweeping bill has been introduced. I have waited, hoping. I hoped the +people would arise and help me with this burden. But I've waited in +vain. There are only two more days in this session allowed for the +introduction of new business. + +"My boy, I talked first with you about my becoming Governor of this +State. That's why I'm talking first with you about this matter. I shall +call every man of this legislature to me and talk with him privately, +and in that work I want your assistance. I want you to bring them to me. +I called you here to-night because to-morrow night folly and fashion +will rule all in this city, and I must be there with the rest. Let me +tell you, my boy, that when the men of this legislature awake, after +that night of frivolity, it will be to open their eyes on some serious +business. Not one word about what I intend to do until then. The session +has been a very sweet cake till now--let the ball sugar-coat it! +There'll be bitter eating provided day after to-morrow!" + +He waited a moment, recovering from sudden passion. + +"Ah," he said, gentle once more, "that sounds like senile raving. Pardon +me. But while I've waited for the politicians of this State to show some +signs of decency, waiting in vain, I've been swallowing back a lot of +bitterness. No more of it! To our business now. I want you to know what +is coming. I depend on you, as I have depended before, to be my master +of ceremonies--and rather grim ceremonies they will be. For I have +prepared several bills. You will introduce the House measures. I can +depend on Senator Borden, from my county, for what I choose to have +originate in the Senate. They are bills that will put our party and this +State to the test of honesty. It's strange, isn't it, that what sounds +so innocent should be so bitter?" + +He opened a drawer in his desk. He took out papers and spread them +before him. He selected one. + +"Abolishment of fees (a blow at every grafting officeholder); no more +railroad passes for public officials; a bipartisan tax commission that +shall haul the rich dodger out into the open--all these matters are +covered here. But into your hands, young man, I put the one measure that +is to be the most savage test of our honesty. I have put the most +thought on it. Every lawyer in this State will try to find a flaw in +it. But if I know anything about constitutional law it is framed to beat +them all. I'll not bother to read it to you. Carry it away, and guard it +and study it." + +He held it up, waving it. His heart was plainly full. He talked as one +addressing the careless multitude--and talking, at the same time, to +himself. + +"You may divine what it is. It handles the great topic in our State. The +source of dishonor, corruption, perjury, and hypocrisy! The prohibitory +law! Let me tell what it will do when it has been enacted into law. It +will make the Governor of this State the grand high sheriff to enforce +personally and actively this one law; it's in our constitution, and the +State should enforce its own. He will have all the resources of the +State treasury behind him. He shall have for the first time PROHIBITION. +Prohibition enforced, prohibition as the statutes have ordered it, +prohibition in actuality instead of its pretence. The pretence has +satisfied the rumsellers who sold, the rum-drinkers who drank, and the +radicals who have boasted of the law, for all have got out of it what +results were desired: appetite was catered to, vanity was satisfied, and +graft engendered for the benefit of the office-holding class. + +"I'm not going to predict what I think will be the result of this +enforcement--not now. What I propose to do as an honest man is to put +the prohibitory profession of this State to the test. When this is law, +Luke Presson cannot pose as an honest man and continue to sell liquor to +all-comers, he cannot bribe sheriff and police; I'll send my own men to +smash every bottle in his place, and I'll put him into just as dark a +cell as any Cheap John who peddles poison from his boot-leg. The rich +man must stand on the level of the poor man. It's the test of our +State's honesty--that bill is--and it shall be called 'The Thornton +Law.'" + +He arose, and placed the document in Harlan's hand. + +The young man received it rather gingerly. He held it with somewhat the +appearance of one who has the custody of a loaded weapon. His face +expressed consternation rather than appreciation. + +"Study the measure. I think you'll find it interesting. Introduce it in +the House day after to-morrow. Our gallant lawmakers will be sleepy +after the ball. That will wake 'em up." The old man's nostrils dilated. +He had the air of one who saw battle ahead and yearned for it. + +"Move that it be referred to the Committee on Temperance," the Governor +went on. "The fight will be on then and there, just as soon as they get +their breath. They'll want to get it before a _safer_ gang! Let 'em +refer it to the Judiciary Committee if they've got the votes to do so. +I'm not afraid they'll find any constitutional flaws. And that first +vote will give me a line on the general situation. I'll find out just +what men need to have the gospel put to 'em straight!" + +"Governor," stammered the young man, still holding the document at +arm's-length, "wouldn't it be--don't you think a--a--some representative +who has had more experience than I should be the one to see this bill +through?" + +"I want that bill sponsored by a man that I can trust absolutely. I'm +sure of you, Harlan! When once it is introduced I'll see that you have +plenty of help before the committee and on the floor." + +It had come like a thunderclap on a moonlit night. It was sudden tempest +prefaced by the lull of perfect calm. It was the signal to combat +sounded when peace seemed assured. The young man perceived now how much +of his early zeal had deserted him. He shrank from the task the Governor +had assigned to him. It was a blow that was aimed at the tenderest point +of his own party; it was obliging the party, as the dominant power, to +thrust upon the mass of the people the radical execution of a law which +public opinion secretly opposed--that opinion even slyly welcoming the +breach of it. And Governor Waymouth had emphasized what that new measure +meant by citing the name of Luke Presson. It set the situation before +Harlan in a flash. He was summoned to carry out his pledge of loyalty to +Governor Waymouth by attacking the pet policy of nullification that kept +his own party off the shoals to which extreme radicalism would surely +drive it. The first man who would be hit--both as chairman of the party +State Committee and in his personal interests--would be the man whose +daughter he was seeking. Harlan wondered how that marriage proposal +would sound, either on the heels or on the eve of the introduction of +"the Thornton bill." + +His uncertainty showed so plainly in his face that the Governor walked +around his table and scrutinized him closely. + +"My boy," he asked, "has the enemy captured you while you've been +resting on your arms? Remember, there are slick and specious ways of +making the wrong seem right in politics! I hope you haven't been +tampered with!" + +For a guilty moment Harlan remembered the admonitions of Madeleine +Presson. He was promptly ashamed that they had come to his mind when the +Governor spoke his fears. + +"I'm going to tell you just why I'm a bit slow in this matter," he said, +manfully. "It may seem a trivial reason to you, Governor Waymouth. I +stopped to wonder how it would affect my friendship with the Presson +family if I should introduce that bill." + +"Oh, I see how the land lies! You can understand now how old I am--old +and cold with all the romance burned out of me! I'd forgotten that +there's anything except politics left in the world. So--" He paused, +beaming kindly on the young man, and pursing his lips ready for the +jocose supposition that Harlan foresaw and anticipated. + +"No," he declared, flushing, "it isn't that way. It hasn't gone that +far, Governor. I ask your pardon for mentioning my personal affairs, +especially an affair of this sort. But I should be very sorry to break +off my friendship with the Pressons." + +The Governor went back to his chair, and sat down in it. He wrinkled his +brows and took a long survey of his embarrassed caller. + +"I'm afraid I spoke of the case of our mutual friend Presson in rather +harsh terms. It would not work like that. Of course, he would bow to the +inevitable if such a law were passed. But if it becomes a personal +matter in any respect, Mr. Thornton, do you believe that any member of +Presson's family would be offended if Presson were made to obey the +law?" + +"Well, if he persisted against the new law, it would be a pretty hard +position for any fair person to defend," admitted the young man. + +"I think we may depend on it that this young person, admittedly +'fair'--at my age I can be allowed to bestow that compliment--will +respect your integrity. I do not command you to do the service--I cannot +do that. But I shall be disappointed if you allow personal reasons to +interfere with your public duties. I have depended on you to do it. I +have only a few that I can trust." + +At that instant, in the presence of this man who had sacrificed so much, +Harlan felt that his own interests were too petty for consideration. + +He put the document into his pocket. + +"Forgive me for hesitating, Governor Waymouth. I'm afraid I'll never +make a very good public servant. But I'll try to hold my eyes straight +ahead after this." + +"Keep the paper in your pocket. Think it all over. You're at the place +every man reaches. What you want to do and what you ought to do split +very sharply sometimes. I'll let you decide. I have no more to say." + +Harlan walked back to the hotel, trying to adjust himself to this new +phase of the question. Once more he had been called upon to lead the +charge of the forlorn hope. He had not the same thrill of zealous +loyalty as before. He was a little hurt because the Governor had made +the affairs of his heart of so small importance. An old man's austerity +could not understand, perhaps, but nevertheless Harlan felt that he was +entitled to some consideration. He had not acquired an old man's calm +poise--he was not entirely willing to put politics ahead of everything +else, now that he found there were so many other things in life. Was it +not true that the mass preferred to pay court to high ideals in the +abstract, and bitterly resented any attempt by sincere individuals to +enforce the actual? He understood rather vaguely that he would be +applauded by the radicals--he had met their leaders and did not like +them--he would get the applause the mob gives to "a well-meaning +fellow," but more than all he would be sneered at behind his back as "a +crank trying to reorganize human nature," and therefore to be shunned. +He had been mingling intimately with the chief men of the State; he knew +what kind of comment they had for others. Most of all, he knew that the +mild applause of the mob would not be loud enough to drown out those +familiar voices nearest him--he had heard those voices many times +before: there was his grandfather, there was Luke Presson, there were +the political associates with whom he had already begun to train on the +basis of compromise. + +There was Luke Presson's daughter! + +He strode into the lobby of the hotel, his face gloomy and his thoughts +dark. Linton stepped forward to meet him, hat and overcoat on. It was +evident that he had been waiting. The sight of him did not improve +Harlan's temper. From the first day of the session they had eyed each +other malevolently. They had bristled at every possible point of +contact. Linton's last exploit had been a speech favoring the railroad +tax rebate, a speech in which he scored those who opposed it as enemies +to the development of the State. The fervor of his eloquence had made +even Harlan Thornton doubt, sourly, whether a constitution that was +framed before the exigencies of progress were dreamed of should be too +rigidly construed. That was still another point where he and his +grandfather disagreed, and the cogent speech of Linton had been the +cause of further dispute between them. The Duke was disgusted because +his grandson could be so scrupulous that he could not be progressive. +For Harlan the straight path of rectitude was fringed with signs set +there by friends, every sign inscribed "Fool." From the first, Linton +had seemed to aggravate his difficulties, politically and personally. + +"Can you give me a few minutes of your time?" he asked, stiffly. + +"If it's business, and important, yes," returned Harlan, scowling. + +"I should not bother you with anything except business. And as this is +of a private nature, I must ask you to invite me to your room." + +Harlan led the way to the elevator. + +Linton did not remove his overcoat when they were closeted together. He +stood with hat in his hand. + +"It may surprise you to learn that my business concerns Miss Presson and +the legislative ball to-morrow evening," began Linton, but Harlan +indignantly broke in. + +"You can have no possible business with me, sir, in which Miss +Presson's name may be mentioned. Don't you use her name--not in any way. +Do you understand?" + +"I understand this: I know what I'm talking about and exactly why I've +come here, and you're going to listen. Miss Presson has accepted your +escort to the ball to-morrow evening. Don't you know, Thornton, why you +can't take Madeleine Presson into public, this whole State looking on? I +hate to say any more than that. I don't think it's necessary for me to +say any more than that!" His face was hard, his tone accusing. + +"I tell you, you have no right to mention Miss Presson to me!" cried the +other. + +"I'm taking it on myself, and I'm giving you a chance by doing it," +retorted Linton. "The story is bad enough now. But you'll be drummed out +of this State if you insult an innocent girl in the way you plan to do." + +In his indignation Thornton had been slow to grasp the fact that his +rival was making hints that both affronted and threatened. His +conscience accused him of nothing. He felt the crackle of paper in his +breast-pocket. He promptly suspected that Linton had gleaned a hint of +the proposed legislation which would involve Madeleine's father. + +He tried to control his anger. + +"Will you kindly explain to me by just what right you say this," he +sneered--"except, possibly, that you're jealous because Miss Presson +chose me as her escort." + +"I have a right as a friend of her mother, if nothing else! I am keeping +this thing as still as I can for your sake, for in this case protecting +you means protecting her. I don't want to say any more! But sudden +illness must prevent you from accompanying Miss Presson into public at +that ball." + +Harlan beat a palm upon his own breast. + +"I've had enough of this, Linton. You tell me what you're driving at." + +It was plain that Linton hated to be more explicit. This culprit did not +seem to quail before vague accusation, as he had expected him to do. He +was faced by a young man whose face was lighted by wrath, curiosity, and +kindred emotions that were obviously not those of guilt. + +"Let me say this in my own defence," pleaded Linton. "Spinney was going +right to Mr. and Mrs. Presson with the story. I got it from him almost +by accident. We were talking over our railroad bill this evening, and he +mentioned your stand. Then he out with the story that he picked up when +he was in Fort Canibas. I do not listen to gossip, Mr. Thornton, but it +is plain that Spinney has facts. I have inquired in a prudent way of +other men from your section. He has the story, but what they say +confirms it." + +Harlan listened, his blank amazement depriving him of speech. + +"I've said enough now, haven't I?" asked Linton, significantly. + +"No, by God, you haven't!" shouted the other, coming out of his lethargy +of astonishment. The recollection of Spinney's sinister hints came to +him. "What do you mean?" + +"I mean that a man who will fool and throw over a girl in a way that +drives her away from home and friends is no fit escort--" + +He got no further. He knew a thoroughly maddened and dangerous man when +he saw one. He stepped back when Harlan dashed at him, and Thornton +halted of his own accord. After a time he calmed himself enough to +speak. + +"I'll not begin with you, Linton. I'll begin with the man who started +that damnable lie. Oh, that--that--!" He flailed his arms about his +head, unable to express himself. "You've been lied to. You don't know +any better than to say that. If you hadn't been jealous you'd never have +brought the story to me. I'll make allowances," he raved on; "but the +man who started that story will swallow it with teeth and blood mixed." +He stamped about the room. It was so horrible that he could not grasp +the enormity of the lie all at once. + +Linton was impressed but not routed. He waited till Harlan was quieter. + +"I hope you'll get it straightened out," he said, coldly. "But with a +story like that extant, of course you'll see the wisdom of the course +I've suggested. You cannot afford to drag Miss Presson's name into your +affair." + +"Into my affair! You dirty pup, do you dare to intimate--are you lunatic +enough to take stock in any such story about me?" + +The epithets sent the color into Linton's face. But he restrained +himself. + +"Your own grandfather had to take you in hand about the matter before +you left Fort Canibas, Thornton. I heard him say that much myself. He +gave no details. I don't care for any. I merely came to you to bring a +hint as to what you ought to do. You don't seem to take the hint. If you +haven't got manliness enough yourself to keep away from Miss Presson +until this story--well, put it mildly, and say until this story is run +down--then I propose to insist that you do so." + +"Look here, Linton, I've usually got pretty good control of myself. I'm +trying to hold myself in now--trying as hard as I can. What you have +told me is a lie--a damnable lie. See? I say it calmly." He was +quivering. "You don't know what you're talking about. I haven't the +patience to explain to you. It's none of your business. You keep away +from me. Now don't put any more strain on my self-control--in God's +name, don't do it, Linton!" + +"I am making no secret of my hopes in regard to Miss Presson," stated +Linton, firmly. "I have been waiting until I could offer her what she +has been accustomed to. You have the advantage of me in money, Thornton. +But you're welcome to that! My hopes give me the right to guard her from +scandal. I insist that you relieve her of your presence to-morrow +evening!" + +Harlan, shaken, gray with passion, his teeth set over his lower lip, +rushed to the door and threw it open. + +"D--n you, you get on the outside!" he panted. "I'm in the mood to kill +you!" + +Linton went. By his visit and his warning he had thrown a sop to his +conscience. He had approached Harlan Thornton with something like +desperation. Under his calmness he had long-hidden, consuming passion +for Madeleine Presson--a love that had grown through the years, and now +waited a fitting time of expression and the endorsement of assured +position. If he had any doubts of the truth of the shameful story he had +brought he concealed those doubts--he would not admit them to himself. +He proposed to win the girl. He chose any weapons that would rout the +interloper. + +"I warn you that I shall protect her," he said, from the corridor. + +"Take a warning from me, too: you get into my affairs, and you'll find +hell fires cooler!" + +"Your affairs do seem to have that flavor," declared Linton, walking +away. + +Thornton hurried to the headquarters that the corporations maintained in +the hotel for Spinney. Spinney was not there. He ran back to his room +and telephoned to the clerk of the hotel. He was informed that Mr. +Spinney had gone away for a few days. + +It was late, but he threw on his coat and hastened up street to the +Presson home. The windows were dark. He did not have the assurance to +arouse the family at that time of night. + +By that time, walking in the crisp air of the winter night, he had +soothed, somewhat, his fever of anger, sorrow, and shame. + +Calmer, he had thoughts only for the bitter wrong that had been done +Clare Kavanagh. Somehow it seemed that all were leagued against her--and +him! Memory of her unselfishness, her simple faith in him, her +abnegation, her true, little-woman trust in his career--it all rushed +upon him. For a time he was almost ashamed to face what memory brought +to him. Then manfully he set himself to read his heart--at least, he +tried to. In the end, hidden in his room, he wept--honest tears of a +strong man conscious that he was unable by his strength to hold disaster +from an innocent. Even his attempt to find the rogue, Spinney, was +futile. He wept, thinking of Clare Kavanagh--exiled from her home, +bravely solving her problem of life alone. He went to sleep thinking of +Clare Kavanagh. + +It was fortunate for his self-respect that she filled his mind so +completely at that moment. Otherwise the reflection that he had led +himself by degrees to covet the brains and beauty of Madeleine Presson +would have convinced him that in his relations with women he was either +fool or knave. + +Youth, untried in the ways of women and the wiles of loving and the +everlasting problem of what the heart most truly desires, has wondered +and wept the long ages through! + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +WOMEN, AND ONE WOMAN + + +The next day brought the reign of woman. That festal day in mid-session +which preceded the legislative ball had been made woman's field-day by +long custom. The politicians arranged the programme in order to bunch +events: for the women demanded that they be heard each session on the +suffrage question; and the women pleaded for one opportunity to show +their best gowns in parade for fashion's sake. So the politicians made +one bite at the cherry; "took a double dose and had it over with," as +Thelismer Thornton ungraciously expressed it. Frivolity was combined +with feminine fervor on the suffrage question. One element was invited +to neutralize the other. The politicians could endure the combination +better than they could face each faction separately. The advocates of +suffrage made their plea while their sisters promenaded the State House +corridors to the music of the band. The festival spirit dominated. + +The members of the Judiciary Committee wore fresh waistcoats, pinks in +their buttonholes, and a genial air--and had not the least idea of +granting the suffragists anything except a benignant hearing. The report +of "ought not to pass" was a foregone conclusion. + +But there were potted palms in the lobbies, decorations in the rotunda, +and masses of flowers in the House chamber which was given over to the +hearing. And sweet music softened legislative asperities. The women +asked, smiling. The men refused, smiling. + +The federated women's clubs of the State had the suffrage matter in +their keeping. The delegates were not hard-faced women clutching +umbrellas. They were the strictly modern suffragists--radiant matrons, +fresh-complexioned girls, women who led in culture and fashion in their +respective communities. + +At the previous session the Legislative Committee had asked that the +delegation of women be restricted to the usual number of persons that +appeared at legislative hearings. When a dozen came with their petitions +and arguments the Committee blandly stated that there seemed to be no +general demand in the State for woman's suffrage--witness the attendance +of women interested! + +This year the women proposed to disprove that assumption. Every woman's +literary, social, art, and economic club in the State sent two +delegates. The State was raked for women, even the schools were +ransacked. At ten o'clock in the forenoon the State House was packed and +women were still crowding in. The galleries, aisles, and standing-room +of House and Senate were choked with silks, furs, and feathers which +decorated the beauty and brains of the State. + +The routine was hurried through. Callous man, gasping for breath, wanted +to escape. + +The few in the lobby who dared to smoke soon hid their cigars under +their coat-tails and departed to the hotels. The cuspidors were hidden. +Gay frocks swept cigar stubs out of sight. + +When the members of the Judiciary Committee attempted to enter the House +chamber to conduct the hearing on suffrage, it required full ten minutes +of persuasive eloquence and courteous pushing on the part of the +messengers to break the jam of women that filled the door and packed the +lobby floor adjacent. The fair lobbyists did not want to give up even +that vantage-point in order to admit the men who were to listen. And +after the committee had managed to wriggle its way in single file to the +platform they had not the heart to expel the women who were occupying +their chairs. They gallantly stood in a row against the rear wall of the +Speaker's alcove and listened to the petitioners--each woman allowed two +minutes! Not one member of the legislature, outside the committee, +heard. It would have been an ungallant man, indeed, who did not +surrender his place in the chamber to a woman who had come to present +her cause. So the women amiably listened to themselves, and the +committee listened to them in all politeness, and both sides understood +that it was only a genial social diversion out of which nothing would +come. In that gathering a suffragette would have been squelched by her +own sex. + +Harlan Thornton came to the State House early. + +Morning had brought him wiser counsel. He felt no impulse to rush to the +Presson house. He wondered now what he would have said if he had gained +access to Madeleine Presson the night before. The astounding insult by +Herbert Linton troubled him less. It had been a jealous +outburst--Linton's confession of his love for the girl had revealed his +animus. Probably Linton regretted it--in Harlan's calmer mood he trusted +that such was the case. Conscious of his innocence, it did not seem to +Harlan that any man would dare to deal further in such outrageous +slander after what had been said in their interview. + +Harlan was one of the first to escape from the House through the press +of women. There were too many of them. Officious gentlemen had begun to +introduce him to wives and daughters and friends. He was not shy, but +the presence of so many women--chattering, vivacious, exchanging +repartee, challenging retort from him, was disquieting. He made his way +to his committee-room. It was in a far corner of the building and was +quiet. He had not been able to inspect the bill that Governor Waymouth +had placed in his hands. He determined to put behind himself for a time +the presence of women and the thoughts of women--even those thoughts +which had so occupied him the night before. + +There was no one in the committee-room. The State House holiday had +attracted his associates. He examined the measure that he was expected +to sponsor. + +It provided for a commission of three men to be appointed by the +Governor and to remain under his direct control--a bipartisan board. +These men were to appoint special deputies to any number desired. To any +county, city, or town these deputies were to be dispatched when it +became apparent that police or sheriffs were lax or dishonest in +enforcing the prohibitory law. No limits were placed on the number of +these men empowered to kill saloons and put liquor-peddlers out of +business. No special amount of money was to be asked of the +legislature--the bill provided that the State treasury should stand +behind the movement. + +The young man was quick to understand the tremendous power granted to +the Governor by that bill. Under it no party management, no group of +politicians, could club or coax the liquor interests into line at the +polls by manipulation of the traffic. No sheriff could enrich himself by +selling privileges. No city could govern itself in that +respect--declaring that public opinion favored the saloons and making +local law superior to the constitutional law of the State. The bill +provided that a judge must impose both fines and imprisonment when +convictions were secured, and, therefore, no judge could carry on any +longer a practical system of low license by imposing fines alone. + +It was the principle of _enforced_ prohibition put on trial. + +In the past the Luke Pressons of the State had laughed at interference +by a Governor. Local politics, easily handled, had controlled the +actions of cities, and police had kept their hands off the traffic for +years. + +Authority in liquor matters had been vested in the county high sheriffs, +and these men were controlled from State headquarters wholly in the +interests of politics. + +Harlan was sufficiently familiar with the old plan to know how this new +system would upset the entire political machine of his State. That folio +of document was a bombshell. + +He was holding it outspread in his hands when the door opened so +suddenly that it startled him. Thelismer Thornton came in, shaking his +shoulders disgustedly. + +"Feathers and cackle!" he muttered. "This State House turned into a +poultry yard! And half of 'em braced back trying to crow! When a hen +crows and a woman votes--well, it's all the same thing!" + +He relighted the cigar that he had brought through the press hidden in +his big palm. He eyed his grandson keenly and with some disfavor as he +puffed the cigar alight. + +"Look here, bub," he burst out, "there are enough women around here +to-day to remind me that I want to have a word with you on the woman +question. You intend to marry Madeleine Presson, don't you?" + +"_Intend_ to marry her!" blazed his grandson. "You talk as though it was +the fashion to grab a girl and carry her off as they did in the Stone +Age." + +"You know what I mean very well, sir. I take it you are still decent, +and if you're decent you'll marry the girl you've beaued around for six +months--providing she'll have you. That was the style in my day--and +decency doesn't change much--at least, it ought not to." + +Had it been the day before, Harlan Thornton would have declared to his +grandfather what his intentions were toward Madeleine Presson. The +thoughts of the past night's vigil came upon him now--he hesitated. He +was angry with himself--angry with this blunt and persistent old man. He +did not know whether resentment held him back from acknowledging that he +had been a suitor for the hand of Luke Presson's daughter or whether it +was the strange, new feeling toward Clare Kavanagh since he had learned +that her good name was in such piteous need of his protection and +defence. + +"Have you asked her to marry you?" demanded the Duke. + +"Yes, I have--that is--" he paused. His air irritated still more the +testy humor of the old man, plainly provoked by earlier matters. + +"'That is'!" he sneered. "'I have.' 'Perhaps I have!' 'Maybe I +have--let's see what my notes say!' What in the devil is the matter with +the young men nowadays, anyway? Blood in your veins about as thick as +Porty Reek molasses! You say you have asked her to marry you? Well, if +you've asked her and mean it, have you got anything to do with that +Kavanagh girl being around this State House to-day?" + +Harlan sprang to his feet. He threw the document upon the table. His +heart leaped within him. Even while his emotions bewildered him he found +himself asking his conscience why he had not searched for her in spite +of Dennis Kavanagh and her own plain desire to avoid him. The bare +knowledge that she was near sent the blood into his face. Her coming to +him seemed reproach for his acceptance of her flight. + +"Do you mean that?" + +"You are certainly giving me a fine imitation of a man who is +surprised," stated his grandfather. "Maybe you are! I hope so. But she's +here. She's with a bunch of girls from some school or other, paraded +around by a hatchet-faced woman--another crowing hen that's trying to +teach parliamentary law, I suppose. Harlan, I hope you've been square +with me about that girl! Now, if you're honest, and don't know she's +here, keep out of sight. I've given you the tip. She'll be speaking to +you--and it will mix matters for you. She'd like nothing better than to +do it!" + +"I'm sick of that kind of talk from you," protested the grandson, +angrily. "Can't you mention the name of that innocent girl without a +slur or an insult? And there's no reason why I cannot meet Clare +Kavanagh any time and at any place." + +"Your political rule of out-and-open, as you've been tutored by Vard +Waymouth, may work with men, but I'm telling you that it won't operate +with girls," replied the Duke. "You may mean all right, but I'm +suspicious of you. You sneaked back to Fort Canibas last summer to see +her--now didn't you?" + +"I saw her." + +"You don't pay much attention to my wishes, do you, Harlan?" + +"I claim the right, in a few matters, to be my own master." + +"Even to making a devilish fool of yourself! You want Madeleine Presson. +I can see that you want her. I've been watching. And I'm coming out now +and say that I want you to have her. She's my idea of a wife. Now you +needn't go to talking about that Kavanagh girl and _friendship!_ There's +no such thing as that kind of friendship." + +Harlan had no time then to vent the anger that was seething in him. It +seemed that every one who willed took the liberty to intrude upon the +affairs which he tried to keep sacred. While that thought was uppermost +in his troubled emotions, Linton, the other chief offender, came in, +Presson with him. + +The chairman began briskly. He was serious, but he spoke kindly. + +"I don't usually interfere in these matters, but we'd better have this +thing straightened out for the good of all of us. I'm glad you're here, +Thelismer. I want you to stand by and listen. Here are two mighty good +boys, these two--and now we'll leave out all political differences. We +can afford to. We're all better friends than we were when the session +opened." In spite of his absorption in his own affairs Harlan thought of +the legislative morrow and its possibilities. "Now, this isn't politics! +As I say, I don't usually meddle in my wife's or my daughter's--" + +"Just one moment, Mr. Presson!" Harlan strode forward. "Has this lying +scoundrel dared to bring his dirty scandal to you?" + +He looked over the head of the chairman into the defiant face of his +rival. The little man threw up his hands, standing between them. + +"Hold on! Hold on! You haven't come to me in the usual way, but as near +as I can find out both of you are after my daughter. I know of my own +knowledge, Harlan, that you have been interested up-country. I simply +want to have a general understanding. I brought Linton here with me. No +use in running between! Let's have our say face to face." + +Harlan controlled himself. + +"I think I understand just what prompts you, Mr. Presson," he said. "I +respect your motives. You've been imposed upon. But you're not to blame. +I know what you're going to ask me. I'll save you the trouble. I admire +your daughter greatly. I have intended to ask her hand in marriage." He +was suddenly conscious that the determination to persist in that suit +was not acute. + +"That wasn't what I was going to ask you," said Presson with decision. +"It's about the girl whom I saw--" + +"The name of no other person belongs in this discussion," broke in +Harlan, firmly. "I refuse to permit that name to be dragged in, for it's +insult and scandal." + +There was silence in the room. The chairman looked at Harlan, impressed +by his demeanor. He knew the young man well enough to think twice before +he persisted. Thelismer Thornton smoked hard, scowling. He was a little +cautious about thrusting himself further into a matter that he knew +would test the Thornton spirit in his grandson. + +But Linton was determined to win his point. He thought he saw his +opportunity. He hoped he could force a break between Presson and the +other suitor. + +"I'm interested in this matter as much as any one," he declared. "I have +not told you the full story, Mr. Presson. But I'm here to see this +matter straightened out for good and all, and unless you get an answer +from this man, as a father ought to, I'll see that you have the facts to +put you right." + +"Linton, didn't I tell you last night that you were circulating a lie?" +Harlan's face was gray. + +"If it's a lie why are you afraid of telling Mr. Presson the whole truth +and explaining the matter?" insisted Linton with a lawyer's pertinacity +in extracting evidence. He realized that if young Thornton talked, even +to admit the facts that information from the north country seemed to +prove, a bit of impromptu cross-examination might yield results that +would help the Linton cause. + +"I refuse because every word that is said on the subject is a gross +insult to an innocent girl," declared Harlan, passionately. "And I warn +you that if you open your mouth again you'll get the only thing a man +can give you and remain a man!" + +"You'd better take the hint, Linton," advised the Duke. "I don't know +exactly what you're driving at, but you're heading toward trouble. They +don't do things up our way as they do in a city court-room." + +Linton was angry, desperate, and he was as stalwart as the other. He was +not inclined to let that opportunity pass. + +Defiantly he plunged into the story that Spinney had reported. To his +astonishment Harlan rushed for the door. He went out and slammed it +behind him. + +A project had come to him, prompted by his furious rage which mocked +common-sense. A man more accustomed to the conventions would not have +attempted it. But all his north-country passion rioted in him at that +moment. + +The night before he had wept because the peace and good name of Clare +Kavanagh were threatened and he could only beat the ugly phantom of +scandal helplessly. + +Now suddenly he found work for his hands--and his hands had always been +his means of expressing his soul in toil, achievement, and in passion. + +He hurried down the stairs into the State House rotunda where the +throngs were. The hearing before the committee was adjourned. The band +was playing. He thrust himself through the press of the women. Maids and +matrons stared after him. His face was pale, his lips made a +straight-edge and his eyes swept every group with eagerness that was +almost wild. It was search that was distracting. There were women, +women. There were so many faces to scan! Chance led him to her--good +fortune and the sudden thought that she would probably be found near +some object of interest, were she escorted by a teacher. He saw the +group near the great case that held the State's battle-flags. He caught +her arm and her startled face was turned up to his. + +"Come," he whispered, hoarsely. "Come! Do not ask me why. Only come. +Hurry!" + +With the trustfulness she had always shown in him she did not hesitate. +She did not even offer excuses to the tall woman who stepped forward to +inquire the intentions of this abrupt young man. She went, as she went +in the north country when he called to her. Clinging to his arm she +hurried up the broad marble stairway. + +She did not ask why. Her faith was complete. But his demeanor frightened +her. + +"I was sorry after I got here," she gasped, as they hurried on. "But the +others came from the school, and I thought it would be such a great +place here that no one would notice me. I thought you would not see me, +Harlan. But I wanted to learn about--about what you did--what the +lawmakers did, so that--so that--" + +"Hurry," he urged her. He feared that they would be gone. + +This brusqueness, his haste, his sternness troubled her more and more. +They were alone in the corridor that led to the committee-room. She +stopped, holding him back with her strong young arms. He had hardly +looked at her till then. She had changed in the months since he had seen +her. Womanly dignity was mingled with the high spirit that had inspired +the child. Her garb, her new mien made her beauty brilliant. + +"I never lied to you yet, Big Boy," she cried. "I came here because I +was hungry for a sight of you. Then I would go back to my work +comforted. Now my conscience is clear. Take me where you will." + +In that moment his heart was revealed to him. In the stress of new +emotions he understood himself at last. He understood that the love +which mates, which sweeps away all calculation, which welds, trusts, and +never pauses to analyze or compute, is love that disdains mere +admiration of intellect or lure of beauty. + +His quiet nature had depths. They had never been stirred till then. The +child-love had been budding there ready for blossom. It had been fed by +faith and ripened by association. Passion now brought it to fruition. +Madeleine Presson had appealed only to one side of him. This girl +rounded out the whole philosophy of love. She was not a divinity. His +nature did not crave divinity. In his strength, sincerity, +ingenuousness, his man's soul, primitive as the free woods, required the +mate--one to be cherished and protected. And so, now, when all his soul +was stirred, this girl, so bitterly in need of protection--the girl whom +the years had endeared to him--came into his heart to reign there. + +Words, emotion choked him. But he could not wait, then. She saw +something in his eyes she had never seen there till that moment. But +before she could understand he carried her along with him. + +"Come! I can't wait!" he cried. + +When he flung open the door of the committee-room the men in it were +standing in silence. Presson had picked up the "Thornton Bill" and was +reading it, scowling. Whatever Linton had said, it was plain that the +father of Madeleine Presson had just found something which diverted his +attention from family matters. + +Harlan shut the door behind. He locked it. He stepped away from the +girl, leaving her standing there. She was a picture to confute slander. + +The chairman gazed at her in astonishment. He had not expected such +prompt incarnation of the topic. + +"I know what foul lies have just been uttered in this room by that +fellow!" Harlan leaned forward and drove an accusatory finger at Linton. +"Now here stands the woman you have insulted. Look at her, you lying +hound! There's only one thing you can do! Acknowledge yourself a liar +and apologize!" + +Linton did not speak. He raised his eyebrows; it was unspoken comment on +the peculiar actions of this young savage from the woods. + +"Presson, get out of here and bring help," muttered the Duke. "Hell is +going to break loose!" + +The chairman slipped the document into his pocket and tiptoed around the +side of the room. Harlan paid no attention to him. His eyes were for +Linton. + +"Are you going to apologize?" + +"I'll wait until--" began the lawyer, but he got no further. + +The Thornton temper had been strained beyond the breaking-point. Harlan +was upon him. + +"Bring a dozen!" yelled the Duke after the chairman who had been tugging +at the door, and now escaped. + +Linton was tall and muscular, but law-practice is not lumbering. He +struck viciously at Harlan, ducking to and fro with the briskness of the +trained boxer. But the woodsman merely leaped upon him, heedless of his +blows. He bore him down. He drove resistless knees into his shoulders. +He thrust Linton's face against the floor and ground it against the +boards. Then he dragged the limp figure past the cursing Duke toward the +girl. She had fled to a corner, covering her eyes and sobbing in terror. + +"D--n you, you'll apologize to the girl who's going to be my wife," +raved Harlan. + +When Presson returned at the head of volunteers the victor was grinding +the bleeding face on the floor once more and Linton was screaming +appeals. + +There were enough of them to separate the men. They dragged Harlan away +out of the room in spite of his struggles. The mere sight of the lawyer +seemed to infuriate him more. + +The Duke hurried the girl out and away while the peacemakers were +struggling with the young combatants. + +"Stop that blubbering," he commanded, roughly. "If you've got any grit +left in you, brace up. Don't let people here notice!" + +He was trying to hide as much of the true reason for the affray as he +could. He wanted to get the girl out of sight. + +"I didn't know--I did nothing--if it was about me I didn't--" He stopped +her brutally. + +"About you, you little fool? Of course it wasn't about you! My grandson +is going to marry Luke Presson's daughter." + +She stiffened in the hook of his arm. They were in the corridor and had +not come into the view of the people. + +"Every one knows it," he hurried on. He saw an opportunity to get in a +cruel blow at the romance he suspected and hated. "They have been going +together for months. She'll be the right kind of a wife for him. They +were fighting about her--those two young hyenas." + +She pulled away from him. The tears were on her cheeks, but she held +herself straight and looked him in the eye. + +"That's a lie, Mr. Thornton!" + +"It's the truth. He'll marry her if you haven't spoiled it all for +him--spoiled his good name and stirred up all this scandal for him just +as he was getting ready to amount to something in the world, with a wife +that could help him! You get away from here as quickly as you can. You +hear me? If his career is spoiled you've done it. Don't stay around here +and disgrace him any more. It's bad enough, as it is, for him and Miss +Presson!" + +She stared at him, stricken and puzzled. Then she left him. + +"I don't need any further escort," she informed him, turning after she +had gone a few steps. It was Dennis Kavanagh's girl speaking now. "I +have been escorted by the Thorntons quite enough during the past ten +minutes. I tell you again, I believe you lie. But I propose to +understand something more about this--and I'll not disgrace you nor your +grandson!" + +"Go ask some questions!" he called after her. He felt sure that gossip +would confirm him. But to make sure that Harlan did not follow her and +find her and discredit gossip he turned back down the corridor purposing +to keep that belligerent young man under watch and ward for a time. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE WAY OF A MAID WITH A MAID + + +The Duke found his grandson in an anteroom where the half dozen excited, +wondering men had conveyed him. + +The old man and the young man stood for a few moments and gazed at each +other. Harlan was breathless, disheveled, his knuckles were bleeding. + +"Where is she?" + +The Duke came close to him. "She went away. Now keep your mouth closed. +You talk about disgracing a girl," he muttered in his grandson's ear; +"if you haven't disgraced her and yourself and all of us here to-day it +isn't because you haven't done your best! God only knows why I didn't +leave you in the woods where you belong!" + +"I'm going out to find her," insisted his grandson. "This is my own +business from now on." + +"You try to leave this room in the shape you're in and I'll have you +committed to the insane asylum across the river. The girl has more sense +than you've got." + +While he was speaking Presson came in. He pulled the House bill from his +pocket. + +"Thornton," he said, walking up to Harlan, "I didn't think there could +be anything more important just now than the damnable performance you've +just been through and the part my family plays in it. But here's +something I propose to take while it's hot!" He shook the document at +the young man. Harlan swept it out of his grasp before he could prevent, +and buttoned it in his breast-pocket. + +"That is mine," he stated, not flinching under the indignant protest. + +"If it's yours will you inform me what you intend to do with it?" + +"I intend to introduce it in the House at to-morrow's session and work +for its passage." + +"He's got a bill there," roared the chairman, turning to the Duke, +"that's written by the Devil himself! It makes old Waymouth archfiend of +all the ramrodders in this State! Our sheriffs are made his deputies and +the Russian Tsar becomes a hog-reeve beside him." He blurted out the +purport of the measure, garnishing the recital with good, round oaths. + +"So you're loaded with that, are you?" inquired the elder Thornton. He +was as careless of the presence of the listeners as the chairman had +been. He began invective, but the young man broke in. + +"Grandfather," he said, firmly, "I've listened long enough to that kind +of talk from you and Mr. Presson--I've listened to all kinds of reasons +why a man should come here and sell his soul for the sake of getting +ahead in politics." He was thinking of the temptation that had come to +him in the form of Madeleine Presson. "I don't want any more of it. I +don't know of any reason why this State shouldn't obey its laws so long +as they remain laws. As to my private business, I suggest that the two +of you keep still." + +They had no appetite for further discourse with this young madman just +then. + +The Duke turned on his heel and walked out. Presson followed. + +"Gentlemen," said the young man to those who remained, "I have no +quarrel with you. I do not want any. Do you understand?" He wiped his +hands with his handkerchief, smoothed his hair, and walked past them. + +As calmly as he could he hurried through the lobbies and the rotunda of +the State House. The crowds were thinning. The band had gone. The women +had scattered to prepare for the ball of the evening. Among the few that +were left he could not find her. + +He went back to his committee-room and pondered until dusk fell. + +One matter presented itself to his mood as a duty. He called a carriage +and was driven to the Presson home. + +Madeleine came down in answer to his card. But as she entered the +reception-room her father followed at her heels, beginning threats as he +came in. + +"Father," she said, quietly, "I have just listened to you. You need not +fear that I do not understand myself and my duty. I ask you to retire." + +He stood there a moment, still muttering his wrathful protest, but in +the end her dignity mastered him. He went away. + +What she did next amazed the young man who stood there waiting. She came +to him and patted his cheek. + +"My poor boy," she said, softly, and drew him down beside her on a +couch. + +For a moment the words he had come prepared to say deserted him. He +could not speak. He found sincere compassion in her eyes--sympathy and +something else which he did not fathom. + +"I can do at least one decent thing to-day," he burst out. "I can come +to you man-fashion and ask you to release me from our engagement of this +evening. I know, of course, you wouldn't go to the ball with me after +what has happened. But there's a deeper reason. I am going to tell it to +you. Don't misunderstand me. I don't know the right words to use. Any +way I put it may sound as though I were a cad. But understand me, +Madeleine--as my friend, understand me--for God's sake, do! You have +been wise. You have counselled me. I need a friend now!" His voice +broke, and she waited. "I've come to my senses. Oh, it's no discredit to +you that I thought I loved you. I thought so." + +"Your love would honor any woman, Harlan." + +He looked at her piteously. He understood how his confession would +sound. Only his resolve to be honest with her availed to drive him to +the confession he intended to make. + +"I couldn't say it to some girls," he cried. "They would not see how it +was. But I can only tell you the truth!" + +"Wait a moment," she said, interrupting. "You are not just yourself. Let +me talk to you. Only a little while ago a girl came to me." + +He started up, but she restrained him. + +"Listen! She had heard. There were plenty to tell her when she asked. We +have given occasion for gossip. Gossip has eyes and ears and good +imagination. It has even been reported that our engagement would be +announced after the legislative ball. Wait! She heard all that from the +first one she asked. She has told me so. She believes it!" + +"Believes it! What did you tell her?" + +"Wait, I say! I have shown patience this afternoon. I waited for her to +speak. Let me tell you what she said while I waited. She said she wanted +you to be a great man. She knew, so she told me, that she only brought +trouble and distress to you. She wanted to see me so that she might know +if I were the one who could help you in your career. I'll not tell you +what she said to me about myself. She is a sweet and gracious girl, that +little Clare, Harlan! She said she knew I could help you in your work in +life. And she wanted to tell me the little story of you two--she wanted +to forestall gossip that might hurt you in my eyes. And she gave you to +me. Harlan, I have heard of that kind of love--but I didn't believe it +existed. Did you?" + +Tears were on his cheeks. + +"I know her!" he choked. + +She understood his answer. She waited a little while. + +"And I love her above all the honors and treasures of this world!" + +She stood up. + +"I'm going to find her," he went on. "You understand me, don't you, +Madeleine?" + +"I understand. But you shall not go to find her"--she smiled into his +startled eyes--"for she is hidden in my room, waiting to tell me +more--waiting until I tell her something that will take the burden from +her heart. I had been listening to her when my father came in with his +story; I had not made my confession. It would have comforted her--it +will comfort her, for I can tell her truthfully I have not yet met the +man I can love, Harlan--you were not the one!" She left with him the +consolation of a smile and hastened away. She did not even reproach him +because of his affair with Linton. + +He stood waiting at the door. He heard the steps on the stairs. He was +ready to clasp her. + +But Madeleine Presson came in alone. "The girl has gone, Harlan. The +maid said she ran away after I left her. I was a fool. I dropped your +card!" + +He stood dumb and motionless. + +"Gone, believing that!" he gasped. + +She shook him. "But you can find her. Remember that she is young. She +believed gossip too quickly. You must find her. Hurry! She will only +have to see your eyes to know that they all lied." + +He rushed to the door. + +"Bring her to me," cried the girl. "I'll know how to help you." + +At the railroad station he was told that the special trains had gone +with the visitors who were not in town for the ball. + +He did not even know the name of the school from which she had come. + +At the State House he at last found some one who had seen and known the +group--an attache of the State educational department. There was no +train that way until midnight. He took it. How he passed the time of +waiting he never knew. He was at the doors of the institution as early +as decency permitted. He did not wish to compromise her. + +He was assured in a manner that left no room for doubt that Miss +Kavanagh had not returned with the others. They were much worried and +had notified her father. + +Harlan sent an appealing telegram to him, daring even to solicit that +ogre of the North. But no word came to him. + +He wired orders to his caretaker at "The Barracks" to investigate at +that end, and returned to the State capital, distracted, baffled, not +knowing what step to take next. The session had not closed for the day +when he arrived at the State House. + +Men in the lobby stared at him as he passed. It was evident that tongues +had been busy with his affairs. His grandfather, striding up and down, +tried to intercept him, but he kept on to his seat. All the eyes of the +House were on him. Word of the "Thornton Bill" had gone abroad. Now, in +spite of his mental distress, he remembered his duty. + +When he rose to ask the privilege of introducing a bill, interrupting +the order of business, he anticipated objection. + +No objection was made. + +The opposition did not propose to waste effort on pettifogging +preliminaries. + +The bill went in and on its way--and that night the capital buzzed with +the discussion of it. + +Harlan Thornton spent half the night at the telegraph-office, his mind +intent on something far from prospective legislation. + +But no word came to comfort him--no clew that he could pursue. + +Days grew into weeks. He did not attempt search in person. It would have +been vague wandering about the country. He remained to hold up the hands +of Governor Waymouth, finding relish for fight in the rancor that +settled within him. + +He and Linton silently faced the gossip that beat about them in regard +to their encounter--and kept away from each other. Theirs was a balanced +account. + +And Madeleine Presson somewhat ostentatiously permitted the attentions +of the young Secretary of State! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE EVERLASTING PROBLEM + + +Day after day, during that session, an old man sat in the executive +chamber of the State House. His face grew as white as his hair. There +were deeper lines in his countenance than mere old age had tooled across +the skin. One after the other the men of the two branches of the +legislature came before him at his summons. He did not entreat of them. +There was no more of that suave political diplomacy in the executive +chamber, after the fashion of the old days of easy rule. This Governor +declared himself to be the mouthpiece of the people of his State. He +showed to the legislators their path toward absolute honesty. He ordered +them to follow it. One or two of the first ones who were called upon the +carpet dared to refuse--attempted to evade. He promptly issued +statements to the press, holding those men up to the people of their +State as traders and tricksters. Voters had always understood that +trades and tricks were in progress in the legislature, and had never +bothered their heads much about the matter. But this incisive showing up +of individuals was new and startling and effective. It afforded no +opportunity for the specious reasoning along mere political lines which +had excused dishonesty in the past. + +Protests poured in on the would-be rebels. Their experience warned the +others. The State was in a mood to try reform. The reform was promised +on the usual broad lines. Individuals did not stop to reflect what +effect the suggested legislation would have on their own interests. +Every man was after "the other fellow." + +"I'll keep you here until you pass these laws," stated the grim old man +in the executive chamber, "even if you stay here till snow flies again." + +Legislators are paid by the session, not by the week. The prospect of +spending the summer fighting an obstinate old man, with the people +behind him, was not alluring when personal expenses were considered. +Even lobbyists and corporations and political considerations fail to +hold sway under such conditions. + +The Governor's bills went through. + +"They've abolished fees," drawled Thelismer Thornton, one day in the +lobby, "to get square with Constable Emerson Pike up my way. Em went +down to replevin some hens, and after he'd chased each hen a dozen times +around the barn he sat down and charged up mileage to the county. The +rest of this legislation is on the same basis. Here's a legislature +that's like Dave Darrington's hogs. After old Dave lost his voice and +couldn't holler to the hogs, he used to rap on the trough with his cane +at feeding-time. Then a woodpecker made his home in the pig-pen and the +hogs went crazy. Vard Waymouth is all bill! I'd reckoned I'd go home. +But I guess I'll stay and see just how far dam foolishness can go!" + +So he patrolled the lobby, puffing everlastingly at his cigar, watching +the activity of Harlan with a disgust that he did not try to conceal and +occasionally flinging a sour remark at that devoted young man. + +"A calf leaving the cow to chase a steer," he growled. "He'll know +better when it comes supper-time!" + +One day a man halted him. "You may be interested in what's going on in +the House, just now, Mr. Thornton. Your grandson is making a speech." + +"Then he _has_ lost his mind!" snapped the Duke. "I'd only suspected it +up to now!" + +But when he edged in at the door he discovered that his grandson was not +making the usual spectacle which the untried orator affords. The zeal +which had driven him into the fight was supporting him as he faced the +men who were his associates. He stood at his desk, pale--but +unfaltering. He was talking to them, man to man. + +"It has met me to my face, it has followed at my back through all these +weeks," he was saying. "I'm accused of helping to wreck my party. You +know better than that, gentlemen. You know who did the wrecking. It has +been going on for years. And we have been asked to hide the retreat of +the wreckers. I refuse to allow those men who have wrecked our party to +call themselves the true prophets and summon us to follow them. Our +party is not simply the men who hold office for their personal gain. If +making them honest or putting them out is destroying the party, then +let's destroy and rebuild. + +"We need to rebuild. + +"Up in our woods it's dangerous to leave slash on the ground after a +winter's cutting. The politicians have left a lot of slash in this +State. The fire has got into it. It is burning up the old dead branches +and tops, but it is hurting the standing timber, too--I understand that. +Why not see to it after this that the men who leave political slash +shall not be allowed to operate! + +"It's a bad litter, gentlemen, that has been left around the roots of +our prohibitory law. I have introduced the bill that's now under +consideration. It has nothing to do with the principle of +prohibition--the theory of that was threshed out in these chambers +before I was born. But isn't it time, gentlemen, to have a test of the +_practice_ of prohibition? + +"I know little about politics. I am merely one of the hundreds of young +men in this State who stand on the outside of politics and want the +opportunity to be honest when we vote. We appeal to the older men of +this State to drop the game for a little while and give us a chance to +start fair. The biggest corporation in this State is the State itself, +and I like to think that all of us, young or old, are partners or +stockholders. I've been brought up in business. We know what we'd all do +in straight business. Why can't we do it in State affairs? Too many +influences surround a legislature to make its work really deliberative. +After the heat and arguments of this session have died away we ought to +have a meeting on a real business basis. + +"Let the churches, the grange, the radicals, the liberals, the hotel +men, the liquor men, all send their delegates. Let that assemblage take +thought on a plan which will lift out of politics a question that +doesn't belong there. Let's end civil war on this question. Give the +young men some other picture as their eyes open on the politics of this +State." + +It was the earnest, ingenuous appeal of one crying out of the wilderness +of human uncertainty--of one who saw the evils in those attempts of men +to curb greed and appetite--of one earnestly seeking a remedy, but not +clearly understanding that so long as the world shall endure, with men +and women weak and human, some problems must remain unsettled. + +"I'll suggest a place for that convention," muttered Thelismer Thornton +to those who stood about him. "Hold it in Purity Park in Paradise! +Settle the rum question!" he sneered. "Noah hadn't been stamping around +on dry ground long enough to get his quilts aired out before he was +drunk on Noah's Three Star! And Japheth probably got mad and passed a +prohibitory law and thought he had the trouble fixed forever." + +When the legislature finally adjourned the protestations that had been +wrung out of it promised much in the way of honest reorganization. + +Harlan Thornton remained with Governor Waymouth for a time. His +Excellency found him indispensable. + +The commissions were at work. + +Office-holders whined, taxpayers squirmed. Honesty was greeted +everywhere by wry faces. + +But the "Thornton law," its deputies superseding county and city +authority, was the bitterest political pill of all. The results +discouraged the righteous--Governor Waymouth predicted them accurately +with the old-age cynicism of one who understood human nature. The +flagrantly open places were closed. But innumerable dives thereby +secured the business which had gone to the open places in the days of +toleration. An army could not have closed the dives--the proprietors of +which, in most cases, carried their villanous concoctions on their +persons. Express companies were organized for the sole purpose of +dealing in liquors by the parcel system, and the State's liquor +agencies, established under the protection of the prohibitory law +itself, were besieged by patrons who stood in queues of humanity like +buyers at a theatre ticket-window. + +Reformation of human nature by mere statute was a failure! + +But mere political disaster did not daunt the stern old man who held his +commissioners to their task. The people themselves began to complain of +the cost of the new system of enforcement--the money paid to make them +obey their own laws. When their complaints were loudest the Governor +allowed himself the luxury of a smile. + +Reform for the mass. Admirable! + +Reform for the individual. Atrocious infringement of personal liberty! + +"I cannot make them good," he said to Harlan. "But I can give them such +a picture of their own iniquity that perhaps they'll realize it and make +themselves good. You can't reform folks in this world on much of any +basis except that!" + +It was late summer and they were in the garden of the brick house at +Burnside. + +Harlan had been at his chief's side day after day, shielding him as much +as possible from those who came to solicit, to threaten, to complain. In +the opportunity given him to meet every man of importance in the State +he had won respect, even regard. His personality removed him from the +ranks of the radicals and relieved him from the imputation that attached +to them. His sincerity was evident. He was frank to express his +disappointment at the results of the legislation he had assisted in +procuring. He listened attentively to the suggestions of others. He made +it plain that he was not unalterably wedded to a law because he had been +instrumental in adding it to the code. He made known to all his +willingness to compromise on everything except honesty, and day by day +he made men understand better the basis of the system advocated by his +chief and himself. + +They had burnished the mirror of politics; they held its new and +brighter surface up to the people that they might gaze on themselves. +And in time the people came to realize what service had been done. And, +as they realized it, the name of young Thornton went abroad in the State +from mouth to mouth--men speaking of him as one who was entitled to the +praise that attaches to honesty unsmirched by bigotry. + +His optimism softened the asperities which men found in the character of +the Governor. He attracted to the grim old man the loyalty of the youth +of the State, and at the same time won that loyalty for himself. He had +come forward at a time when men were ready to accept new ideals, even +if they were obliged to wade to them through such mire as now soiled the +execution of the new laws. + +That proposed convention for the unprejudiced consideration of the +liquor laws was taking form. The intemperate radicals were the only ones +declaiming against "compromise with the devil." But the new conditions +were revealing the real colors of those impractical zealots, and it was +plain that their noisy minority would no longer be allowed to bluster +down the truer and more equable spirit of "the best for all the people." +The men and women of the State were taking time to analyze some of those +high-sounding phrases with which so-called temperance had disguised +vicious theories which left human nature out of the equation. + +The politicians of the old school remained aloof. + +They were pointing to "the wreck of the party." + +"And I'll be passed down to history as the wrecker," said the Governor, +talking to Harlan under the big elm. "But you've got strong arms, my +boy. I can see that you'll have much to do in building anew out of the +wreck, you and those who are beginning to appreciate you. I can see a +future of much promise for you, Harlan." + +"I'll be politely, but firmly, invited to go back to the woods," +protested the young man. + +"You'll not be allowed to do it," replied the Governor, quietly. "You +have been tested for your honesty. These newer times have eyes to +recognize that quality. And the rogues are being smoked out. But +remember that even the end of time will not find all questions solved. +That thought will have to serve you for consolation." + +That was hardly the consolation that would satisfy impetuous youth and +zeal in accomplishment. + +But Harlan had been learning lessons in consolation. + +The thought of Clare Kavanagh was with him night and day. In spite of +all his searching she remained hidden. He did not confide his grief to +any one. It brought pallor to his face and listlessness in the daily +duties that bore upon him. Governor Waymouth took note at last. And when +the young man asked for permission to go home to the north country for a +time he reluctantly sent him away. + +On the eve of his departure, which had been announced by a press that +now followed his movements with the attention accorded to a man of +importance in State affairs, he obeyed a summons from Madeleine Presson. +She put a letter into his hands. It was addressed to Clare Kavanagh. + +"You will find her, Harlan," she said, comfortingly. "Love will search +her out. And when you find her, give her this letter. There are words +from woman to woman that woman understands." + +Harlan found his grandfather sitting on the broad porch of "The +Barracks," smoking and looking out across the river valley. + +The spirit in which he had left that hateful legislature seemed to have +departed from the Duke. The old quizzical glint was in his eyes as he +grasped Harlan's hand. After their greeting they sat together in +silence. + +"It's a beautiful game, hey, my boy?" remarked the Duke, at last. "I see +that some of the country papers have already begun to talk of you for +Governor of the State. The editors haven't seen you, but from what +they've heard they probably think you're a hundred years old and have +grown to enormous size!" + +"Don't make game of me, grandfather," said Harlan, coloring. + +"Oh, I'm only expressing a wicked hope. There are some men in this State +that I'd like to see punished to that extent." He chuckled. "Put me down +for fifty thousand dollars, first subscriber to your campaign fund." + +"I can appreciate the humor of that joke," said Harlan. "For I've had a +liberal education in the past year--I've found out just how little I +know." He added wearily, "And I've found out how hard it is to be what +you want to be." + +His grandfather tipped his head back into his clasped hands, his +characteristic attitude. He squinted out across the hills. + +"Bub," he said, "I had the first real blow of my life the other day. A +man pointed me out on the train and told another man, loud enough so +that I overheard him, that I was Harlan Thornton's grandfather--'and I +forget his first name,' he said, 'it begins with T.'" + +They ate supper together in the old mess-hall, back on their former +footing. Word by word it came out of the Duke--his admiration for this +boy who had made his own way. Every blow he had dealt his grandfather's +personal pride had brought the reactionary glow of appreciation of this +scion who could hit so hard and so surely. + +He watched him saddle his horse after supper. He did not ask where he +was going. + +Harlan did not know. His longing drew him down the long street and +across the big bridge, his horse walking slowly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +ONE PROBLEM SOLVED + + +The dusk was cool and soft. Below him the current gurgled against the +piers with sounds as though the river's fairies laughed there in the +gloom. Doves nestled against the rafters of the bridge above, stirring +with tired murmurings. + +When he came out under the stars he saw the red eyes of Dennis +Kavanagh's house. The sight of them put the peace of the sky and fields +out of his heart. He spurred his horse and galloped up the hill. + +Even as Thelismer Thornton found true haven on his porch in the summer +evening, so Dennis Kavanagh had his solace in his own domain, smoking +his pipe. He sat there when Harlan swung close to the steps. + +"Mr. Kavanagh," said the young man, sternly, "I am Harlan Thornton. Do +you know any ill of me?" + +"I know that you're old Land-Grabber Thornton's grandson! I also know +that you have shaken him in politics until his old teeth rattled. And +I'm much obliged to you!" + +"I'm not here to talk about politics or my grandfather. I'm here on my +own account. You know where your own daughter is. I've come to ask you +honorably and fairly where she is. Will you tell me?" + +Mr. Kavanagh was silent a long time. He seemed to be struggling with +some kind of surprise. + +"No, I'll not tell you," he declared at last. + +"Then I want to tell _you_ something, sir. I love your daughter. I love +her so honestly--so devotedly that I propose to search for her through +this world. And when I find her--" he hesitated. + +"If you find her?" + +"I stopped because I do not want to threaten or boast. But I will say, +Mr. Kavanagh, that when I find her I'll beg of her to be my wife, and if +she consents I promise you that no two sour old men are going to spoil +our happiness! I want a fair understanding with you." + +"Queer notions you have of a fair understanding," retorted Mr. Kavanagh. +"You'd call it a fair understanding, would you, to come here and tell me +to get off my own doorstep because you claimed the place?" + +"I mean that no man has the right to refuse happiness to his own or to +others simply to curry his own personal spite. That's all, sir." + +He whirled his horse and galloped away. He halted at the church, threw +the reins over the animal's head and went and sat on the steps. He +wanted to think. He wanted to calm himself. He hoped that the place +would console him with its memories, afford him some hope, some +suggestion. + +He wondered now why he had allowed anything to delay that search. Yet he +understood vaguely that she had hidden herself from him by her own +choice. She had fled with wounded heart. He had not dared to seek her +too eagerly. + +The red eyes of Kavanagh's house mocked him. + +Suddenly he started up. A figure, flitting and wraith-like, was coming +toward him from those eyes. It was running. He could hear the swift +patter of feet. She came straight to him where he stood; he had not +dared to run toward her. + +"I heard--I followed!" she gasped, and the next moment was sobbing in +his arms. + +All his talk to her for a long time was incoherent babbling of love and +remorse. Then he held her close. + +"Little girl," he said, "I've learned in the world outside. I've learned +many things. But this--this I've learned bitterly and forever! There's +love of fame and of power and of mere beauty--but there's only one love +after all--that's the love that gives all, is all--that's my love for +you and the love I think you have for me. It is ours--that love. Oh, my +sweetheart, how we will cherish it all the years through!" + +After a time he drew her down on the steps and they sat in silence +through long minutes, listening to the muted calling of the crickets in +the grasses, the rustle of the river current, all the soft noises of the +summer night. + +Then he bethought himself and drew Madeleine Presson's letter from his +pocket. He gave it to her with a word of explanation. + +Looking into his eyes, her own eyes brilliant as stars, she slowly tore +the letter to bits and scattered the snowy fragments upon the grass. + +"A woman does know," she said; "knows without reading what some other +woman writes. I do not need her words, Big Boy. I know of my own heart. +I knew long ago. I listened too readily to others. I have listened to my +own love since. I have been waiting for you to come." + +After another silence which needed no words to interpret it, he rose and +lifted her to her feet. With his arm about her he walked to his horse. +He mounted and drew her up, and she clung to him, as maid to knight. + +"So, to your father now," he told her. + +"But not to speak to him harshly," she said, a ripple of merriment in +her voice, "for I'll tell you a secret. He did not try to stop me when I +ran away--he even called after me, 'He's turned in at the church, you +wild banshee!' They have told him things that have given him new +respect for Harlan Thornton. But your grandfather?" + +"He has learned that my love is my own affair, along with my politics." + +"Let me do my part, Harlan," she said, proudly. "Love will light the +waiting, and it will not seem waiting. When I take my place at your side +he shall not be able to say that I am not the wife for you." + +"It's enough for me to-night that I love you and you love me. The years +must take care of themselves. Love will mark off the calendar for us, +little sweetheart, not in months or in years, but in one dear summer of +waiting that will make work worth while and life worth living." + +He patted the horse's neck and they went slowly up the road toward the +Kavanagh house, their arms about each other, the gracious dusk hiding +them. Life's future hid its problem. Love's present was enough. + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ramrodders, by Holman Day + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAMRODDERS *** + +***** This file should be named 15278.txt or 15278.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/2/7/15278/ + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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