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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Candidate, by Joseph Alexander Altsheler
+
+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 Candidate
+       A Political Romance
+
+Author: Joseph Alexander Altsheler
+
+Release Date: April 22, 2008 [EBook #25132]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CANDIDATE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Taavi Kalju, Martin Pettit and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CANDIDATE
+
+A POLITICAL ROMANCE
+
+BY
+
+JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+
+Copyright, 1905, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
+
+PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+THE CANDIDATE
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE NOMINEE
+
+
+The huge convention-hall still rang with the thunders of applause, and
+most of the delegates were on their feet shouting or waving their hats,
+when Harley slipped from his desk and made his way quietly to the little
+side-door leading from the stage. It was all over now but the noise;
+after a long and desperate fight Grayson, a young lawyer, with little
+more than a local reputation, had been nominated by his party for the
+Presidency of the United States, and Harley, alert, eager, and fond of
+dramatic effects, intended to be the first who should tell him the
+surprising fact.
+
+He paused a moment, with his hand on the door, and, looking out upon the
+hall with its multitude of hot, excited faces, ran quickly over the
+events of the last three or four days. Ten thousand people had sat
+there, hour after hour, waiting for the result, and now the result had
+come. The rival parties had entered their conventions, full of doubt and
+apprehension. There was a singular dearth of great men; the old ones
+were all dead or disabled, and the new ones had not appeared; the nation
+was conscious, too, of a new feeling, and all were bound to recognize
+it; the sense of dependency upon the Old World in certain matters which
+applied to the mental state rather than anything material was almost
+gone; the democracy had grown more democratic and the republic was more
+republican; within the nation itself the West was taking a greater
+prominence, and the East did not begrudge it. It was felt by everybody
+in either party that it would be wiser to nominate a Western man, and,
+the first having done so, the second, as all knew it must, now followed
+the good example.
+
+Moreover, both conventions had nominated "dark horses," but the second
+nominee was the "darker" of the two. James Madison Grayson,
+affectionately called Jimmy Grayson by his neighbors and admirers, was
+quite young, without a gray hair in his head, tall, powerfully built,
+smooth-shaven, and with honest eyes that gazed straight into yours. He
+was known as a brave man, with fine oratorical powers and a winning
+personality, but he had come to the convention merely as a delegate, and
+without any thought of securing the nomination for himself. Not a single
+vote had been instructed for him, but in that lay his opportunity. All
+the conspicuous candidates were weak; good men in themselves, a solid
+political objection could be raised against every one of them, and for a
+while the voting was scattered and desultory. Then Grayson began to
+attract attention; as a delegate he had spoken two or three times,
+always briefly, but with grace and to the point, and the people were
+glad both to see him and to hear him.
+
+At last a far-sighted old man from the same state knew that the moment
+had come when the convention, staggering about in the dark, could be
+led easily along any road that seemed the path of light. He mentioned
+the name of Grayson, putting it forward mildly as a suggestion that he
+would withdraw at the first opposition, but his very mildness warded off
+attack. Received rather lightly at first, the suggestion soon made a
+strong appeal to the delegates. Nothing could be urged against Grayson;
+he was quite young, it was true, but youth was needed to make a great
+campaign--the odds were heavily in favor of the other party. Nor were
+there lacking those who, expecting defeat, said that a young man could
+bear it better than an old one, and a beating now might train him for a
+victory four years hence.
+
+Grayson himself was surprised when he heard the report, nor could he
+ever be convinced that he would be nominated; he regarded the whole
+thing as absurd, a few votes, no more, might be cast for him, but, as
+was fit and decent, he withdrew from the hall. All those whose names
+were before the convention were expected to remain at home or elsewhere
+in the city, and Jimmy Grayson and his wife stayed quietly in their
+rooms at the hotel.
+
+Harley had believed this evening that the nomination of Grayson was at
+hand. It was an intuitive sense, a sort of premonition that the
+battalions were closing in for the final conflict, and he did not doubt
+the result. He had just returned from a war on the other side of the
+world, where he had been present as the correspondent of a great New
+York journal on many battle-fields, and he often noticed this strained,
+breathless feeling that the moment had come, just before the combat was
+joined. Now this convention-hall was none the less a battle-field though
+the weapons were ballots, not bullets, and Harley believed in his
+intuition. At midnight the flood-tide swept in, bearing Grayson on its
+crest, and, when they saw that he was the man, everybody flocked to him,
+making the nomination unanimous by a rising vote.
+
+Harley now stood a moment at the door, listening to the cheers as they
+swelled again, then he stepped out and ran swiftly down the street. A
+fat policeman, taking him for a fleeing pickpocket, shouted to him to
+stop, but he flitted by and was gone.
+
+It was only two or three blocks to the hotel, where Mr. Grayson sat
+quietly in his room, and Harley was running swiftly, but in the minute
+or two that elapsed much passed through his mind. After his long stay
+abroad he had returned with a renewed sense, not alone of the power and
+might of his own country, but also of its goodness; it was here, and
+here alone, that all careers were open to all; nowhere else in the world
+could a relatively obscure young lawyer have been put forward, and
+peacefully, too, for the headship of ninety million people. It was this
+thought that thrilled him, and it was why he wished to be the first who
+should tell the young lawyer of it. He had made the acquaintance of
+Jimmy Grayson the day before; the two had talked for a while about
+public questions, and each had felt that it was the beginning of a
+friendship, so he had no hesitation now in making himself an unannounced
+herald.
+
+He ran into the hotel, darted up the stairway--Jimmy Grayson's rooms
+were on the first floor--and knocked at the door of the nominee. A light
+shone from the transom, and he heard a quick, strong step approaching.
+Then the door was thrown open by Mr. Grayson himself, and Mrs. Grayson,
+who stood in the centre of the room, looked with inquiry at the
+correspondent.
+
+"Why, Mr. Harley, I'm glad to see you," said Mr. Grayson, with a
+welcoming tone in his voice. "Come in, but I warn you that you cannot
+interview me any further I'm not worth it; I've told you all I know."
+
+Harley said nothing, but stepped into the room, closing the door behind
+him. He saw that they yet knew nothing--there had been no messenger, no
+telephone call, and the news was his to tell. He bowed to Mrs. Grayson,
+and then he felt a moment of embarrassment, but his long experience and
+natural poise came quickly to his aid.
+
+"I do want to interview you, Mr. Grayson," he said, quietly; "and it is
+upon a subject to which we did not allude in our former talk."
+
+Mr. Grayson glanced at his wife, and her look, replying to his,
+indicated the same puzzling state. Both knew that the chief
+correspondent of one of the greatest journals in the world would not
+leave a Presidential convention in the hour of birth to secure an
+irrelevant interview.
+
+"If I can serve you, Mr. Harley, I shall be glad to do so," said Jimmy
+Grayson, somewhat dryly; "but I really do not see how I can."
+
+"I am quite sure that you can," said Harley, with emphasis.
+
+He listened a moment, but he did not hear any step in the hall nor the
+jingling of any telephone bell. Both Mr. and Mrs. Grayson waited
+expectantly, curious to see what he had in mind.
+
+"If you were to be nominated for the Presidency, I should like to tell
+the _Gazette_ what your programme would be--that is, what sort of a
+campaign you would conduct," said Harley, deliberately.
+
+Mr. Grayson laughed and glanced again at his wife.
+
+"It is a wise rule for a man in public life never to answer
+hypothetical questions; of that I am sure, Mr. Harley," he said.
+
+"I am sure of it, too," said Harley.
+
+Jimmy Grayson bit his lip. It seemed to him that the correspondent would
+make a jest, and the hour was unfitting.
+
+"I shall answer your question when I am nominated," he said.
+
+"Then you will answer it now," said Harley.
+
+A sudden flush passed over Mr. Grayson's face and left it white. Mrs.
+Grayson trembled and glanced again at her husband, still in a puzzled
+state.
+
+"Your meaning is not clear, Mr. Harley," he said.
+
+"It should be. When I left the convention-hall, two minutes ago, they
+had just made the nomination unanimous. I wished to be the first to tell
+the news, and I have had my wish."
+
+The eyes of the nominee looked straight into those of Harley, but the
+correspondent did not flinch. It was obvious that he was telling the
+truth.
+
+"The notifying committee will be here in a few minutes," he said. "Ah, I
+hear their step on the stair now."
+
+The tread of men walking quickly and the sound of voices raised in
+eagerness came to the room. The powerful figure of Jimmy Grayson
+trembled slightly, then grew rigid.
+
+"I did not dream of it," he said, as if to himself; "nor have I now
+sought to take it from others."
+
+"Nor have you done so," said Harley, boldly; "because it belonged to no
+man."
+
+Mrs. Grayson stepped forward, as if in fear that her husband was about
+to be taken from her, because at that moment the volume of the voices
+and the trampling increased and paused at her door. Then the crowd
+poured into the room and hailed the victor.
+
+Harley slipped to one side, and no one in the committee knew that the
+nominee had been notified already, but the correspondent never ceased to
+watch Jimmy Grayson. He saw how the nature of the man rose to the great
+responsibility that had been put upon him, how he nerved himself for his
+mighty task. He stood among them all, cool, dignified, and ready. Harley
+was proud that this was one of his countrymen, and when his last
+despatch was filed that night he wired to his editor in New York:
+"Please send me on the campaign with Grayson. I think it is going to be
+a great one." And back came the answer: "Stay with him until it is all
+over, election night."
+
+The eyes of Harley, like those of so many of his countrymen, had always
+been turned eastward. To him New York was the ultimate expression of
+America, and beyond the great city lay the influence of Europe, of that
+Old World to which belonged the most of art and literature. The books
+that he read were written chiefly by Europeans, and the remainder by the
+men of New England and New York. He had never put it into so many words,
+even mentally, but he had a definite impression that the great world of
+affairs was composed of central and western Europe and a half-dozen
+Northern coast states of the American Union; beyond this centre of light
+lay a shadow land, growing darker as the distance from the central rays
+increased, inhabited by people, worthy no doubt, but merely forming a
+chorus for those who had the speaking parts.
+
+The course of Harley's life confirmed him in this opinion, which perhaps
+was due more to literature than to anything else. With his eyes fixed
+on New York, the desire to go there followed, and when he succeeded,
+early, and became the correspondent of a great journal, he was soon
+immersed in the affairs of that world which seemed the world of action
+to him; and, being so much occupied thus, he forgot the regions which
+apparently lay in the shadow, including the greater portion of his own
+country.
+
+Hence the two great Presidential conventions, in each of which Western
+influences were paramount, and in each of which a Western man was
+chosen, created upon him a new and surprising impression. He found
+himself in the presence of unexpected forces; he became aware that there
+was another way of looking at things, and this powerful sensation was
+deepened by the personality of Mr. Grayson, in whom he saw intuitively
+that there was something fresh, original, and strong; he seemed less
+hackneyed and more joyous than the types that he found in the old states
+of the Union or the Old World, and, because of this, the interest of
+Harley, whose mind had a singularly keen and inquiring quality, was
+aroused; the regions that apparently lay in the shadow might have enough
+light, after all, and, seeing before him a campaign not less exciting
+than a war, he resolved to stay in it until the last battle was fought.
+
+He took out the telegram from his editor and read it over again with
+keen satisfaction. "Out of one war and into another," he murmured. The
+conventions had been held early; it was now only the first week in June,
+and the election would be in the first week of November; before him lay
+five months of stress and perhaps storm, but he thought of it only with
+pleasure.
+
+Harley always travelled light, carrying only two valises, and an hour
+sufficed for his packing. Then, like the old campaigner that he was, he
+slept soundly, and early the next morning he went again to the hotel at
+which the Graysons were staying. He felt a little hesitation in sending
+up a card so soon, knowing what swarms of people Mr. Grayson had been
+compelled to receive and how badly he must stand in need of rest, but
+there was no help for it.
+
+While he sat in the huge lobby waiting the return of the boy, the hum of
+many voices about him rose almost to a roar, varied by the rustling of
+many newspapers. The place was filled with men, talking over the
+thrilling events of the night before, the nomination and the nominee,
+while every newspaper bore upon its front page a great picture of the
+new candidate.
+
+The boy came back with a message that Mr. Grayson would see him; and
+Harley, a minute later, was knocking at the door, which the candidate
+himself opened. This man, who was his own usher, was the nominee of a
+great party, he might become the President of the United States--of
+ninety million people, of what was in nearly every material sense the
+first power in the world; and yet Harley, when in Europe, seeking
+information from the youngest and least _attaché_ of a legation, had
+been compelled to go through an infinite amount of form and flummery.
+The contrast was lasting.
+
+"Come in," said Mr. Grayson, courteously, and Harley at once acted upon
+the invitation. Mrs. Grayson, at the same moment, came from the inner
+room, quiet and self-contained, and Harley bowed with respect.
+
+"I dare say there is nothing you wish to ask me which a lady should not
+hear," said Mr. Grayson, with a slight smile. "Mrs. Grayson is my chief
+political adviser."
+
+"It is no secret," replied Harley, also smiling. "I have merely come to
+tell you that the _Gazette_, my paper, has instructed me to keep watch
+over you from now until election night, and to describe at once and at
+great length for its readers every one of your wicked deeds. So I am
+here to tell you that I wish to go along with you. You are public
+property, you know, and you can't escape."
+
+"I know that," said Jimmy Grayson, heartily; "and I do not seek to
+escape. I am glad the representative of the _Gazette_ is to be you. I do
+not know what course your paper will take, but I am sure that we shall
+be friends."
+
+"The _Gazette_ is independent; its editor is likely to attack you for
+some things and to praise you for others. But I am here to tell the
+news."
+
+"Then we are comrades for a long journey," said Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Thus it was settled simply and easily by the two who were most
+concerned, and Harley throughout the little interview was struck by the
+difference between this man and many other famous men with whom in the
+course of business he had held journalistic dealings. Here was a lack of
+conventionality, and an even stronger note of simplicity and freshness.
+The candidate, with his new honors, still held himself as one of the
+people, it never occurred to him that he might assume a pose and the
+public would accept it; he was democracy personified, and he was such
+because he was unconscious of it. His perfect freedom of manner, which
+Harley had not liked at first, now became more attractive.
+
+"We leave at eleven o'clock for my home," said Mr. Grayson, "and arrive
+there to-morrow morning. I have some preparations to make, but I shall
+begin the campaign a day or two later."
+
+"I intend to go with you to your town," said Harley. "You know the
+compact; I cannot let you out of my sight."
+
+Mrs. Grayson, a grave, quiet woman, spoke for the first time.
+
+"You shall come along, not merely as a sentinel, but as one of our
+little party, if you will, on one condition," she said.
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"On condition that you come to our house and take dinner with us
+to-morrow."
+
+Harley gave her a grateful look. He felt that the candidate's wife
+approved of him, and he liked the approval of those who evidently knew
+how to think. And it would be far pleasanter to travel with Jimmy
+Grayson as a friend than as one suspected.
+
+"I am honored, Mrs. Grayson," he said, "and I shall be happy to come."
+
+Then he left them, and when he passed into the hall he saw that the
+burden of greatness was being thrust already upon the Grayson family, as
+callers of various types and with various requests were seeking their
+rooms. But he hurried back to his own hotel, and as it was some distance
+away he took the street-car. There he was confronted by long rows of
+newspapers which hid the faces of men, and whenever a front page was
+turned towards him the open countenance of Mr. Grayson looked out at him
+with smiling eyes. Everybody was reading the account of the convention,
+and now and then they discussed it; they spoke of the candidate
+familiarly; he was "Jimmy" Grayson to them--rarely did they call him
+Mr. Grayson; but there was no disrespect or disesteem in their use of
+the diminutive "Jimmy." They merely regarded him as one of themselves,
+and their position in the matter differed in no wise from that of Mr.
+Grayson; it was a matter of course with both. To Harley, fresh from
+other lands, it seemed in the first breath singular, and yet in the
+second he liked it; the easy give-and-take promoted the smoothness of
+life, and men might assume false values, but they were not able to keep
+them. His thoughts returned for a moment to the least little _attaché_
+whose manner was more important than that of a Presidential nominee.
+
+Harley, with his two valises, was at the station somewhat ahead of time,
+as he wished to see Mr. and Mrs. Grayson arrive, curious to know in what
+sort of state or lack of it they would come.
+
+Mr. Grayson's intention of going at once to his home was not published
+in the press, and there was only the ordinary crowd at the station, some
+coming, some leaving, but all bearing upon their faces the marks of
+haste and impatience. As the people hurried to and fro, the sound of
+many tongues arose. There was nearly every accent of Europe, but the
+American rose over and enveloped all. Many writers from other lands,
+seeking only the bad, had pronounced the Babel coarse, vulgar, and
+sordid; but Harley, seeking the good, saw in it men and women toiling to
+better their condition in the world, and that fact he knew was not bad.
+
+Through the station windows he saw the tall buildings rise floor on
+floor, and there was a clang of car-bells that never ceased. In the
+fresh morning air it was inspiriting, and Harley felt himself a part of
+the crowd. He was no hermit. Life and activity and the spectacle of
+people filled with hope always pleased him.
+
+An ordinary cab arrived, and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, alighting from it,
+bought their tickets at the window, just like anybody else, and then
+sought inconspicuous seats in the corner of the waiting-room, as their
+train would not be ready for five minutes. In the hastening crowd they
+were not noticed at first, but even in the dusk of the corner the
+smoothly shaven face and massive features of Mr. Grayson were soon
+noticed. His picture had been staring at them all from the front page of
+the newspapers, and here was the reality, too like to be overlooked.
+There was a sudden delay in the crowd; the two streams, one flowing
+outward and the other inward, wavered, then stopped and began to stare
+at the candidate, not intrusively, but with a kindly curiosity that it
+considered legitimate. Harley had quietly joined the Graysons, and they
+gave him a sincere welcome. The people unfamiliar with his face began to
+speculate audibly on his identity.
+
+The crowd in the station, reinforced from many side-doors, thickened,
+and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, under the gaze of so many eyes, became uneasy
+and shy. Harley, who had been made a member of their party, found
+himself sharing this awkward feeling, and he was glad to hear the
+announcement that the train was ready.
+
+The three abreast moved towards the gate, and the crowd opened a way
+just wide enough, down which they marched, still under the human battery
+of a thousand eyes. To Harley, although little of this gaze was meant
+for him, the sensation was indescribable. It was something to be an
+object of so much curiosity, but the thrill was more than offset by the
+weight that it put upon one's ease of manner.
+
+He saw many of the people--it was a curious manifestation--reach out and
+touch the candidate's sleeve lightly as he passed. But Mr. Grayson, if
+he knew it, took no notice and marched straight ahead, all expression
+discharged from his face. Harley saw that this was the disguise eminent
+public men must assume upon occasions, and he was willing that they
+should keep the task.
+
+When the great iron gate leading to his train was closed behind him,
+Harley felt a mighty sense of relief. It seemed to him that he had run a
+gantlet not much inferior to that through which the Indians put the
+captive backwoodsmen, and the dark-red walls of the car rose before him
+a fortress of safety.
+
+It was an ordinary Pullman, and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson had not secured the
+drawing-room, but the usual berths like Harley's, and he joined them in
+their seats. He felt now a certain pleasure in the situation. The
+pressure of circumstances was making him, in a sense and for the time
+being, a member of their family. He was glad that the other
+correspondents would wait to join the candidate at his home, as it gave
+him a greater chance to establish those personal relations needful on a
+long campaign that must be made together.
+
+The whistle blew, the train moved, and they passed through miles of
+city, and then through suburbs growing thinner until they melted away
+into the clean, green prairie, and Harley, opening the window, was glad
+to breathe the unvexed air that came across a thousand miles of the
+West. He leaned back in his seat and luxuriously watched the quietly
+rolling country, tender with the breath of spring, as it spun past.
+That mighty West of which he had thought so little seemed to reach out
+with its arms and invite him, and he was glad to go.
+
+Presently he was aware of an unusual movement of people down the aisles
+of the car, accompanied by a certain slowing of the pace when they
+passed the seats in which the Graysons and he sat. They were coming from
+the other cars, too, and now and then the aisle would choke up a little,
+but in a moment the shifting figures would relieve it, and the endless
+procession of faces moved on.
+
+The Graysons, following Harley's example, were gazing out of the window
+at the cheerful country, but the correspondent knew that Mr. Grayson was
+fully conscious of this human stream, and that he himself was the cause
+of it. Yet he lost none of his good temper even when some, venturing
+further, asked if he were not the nominee, adding that it was a pride to
+them to meet him and speak to him. In fact, the change from silence to
+conversation was a relief to Mr. Grayson, varying the monotony of that
+fixed gaze to which he had been subjected so long, and it was now that
+Harley saw him in a most favorable guise. His consciousness of a great
+talent did not interfere with a perfect democracy; it did not cause him
+to assume an air that said to these people, "I am better than you, keep
+your distance," but he gave the impression of ability solely through his
+simplicity of manner and the ease with which he adapted himself to the
+caliber of the person who spoke to him.
+
+Thus the train swung westward hour after hour, and the procession
+through the car never ceased. The manner of the candidate did not
+change; however weary he may have grown, he was always affable, but not
+gushing, and Harley, watching keenly, judged that the impression he made
+was always favorable. He strove, too, to interpret this manner and to
+read the mind behind it. Was Mr. Grayson really great or merely a man of
+ready speech and pleasing address? Harley was willing to admit that the
+latter were qualities in themselves not far from great, but on the main
+contention he reserved his judgment. He was still divided in his
+opinions, sometimes approving the complete democracy of the candidate
+and sometimes condemning. He had been born in the South, in a border
+state, and he grew up there amid many of the forms and formalities of
+the old school, and the associations of youth are not easily lost. Nor
+had a subsequent residence in the East brushed them away. This world of
+the West was still, in many respects, new to him.
+
+He ate luncheon in the dining-car with the Graysons, and he noticed the
+bubbling joy of the black waiter who served them, and who showed two
+rows of white teeth in a perpetual smile. Harley appreciated him so much
+that he doubled his tip, but, as they were still watched by many eyes in
+the dining-car, he felt a certain nervousness in handling his knife and
+fork, as if the penalty of greatness, even by association, were too
+heavy for him. Once his eyes caught those of Mrs. Grayson, and a faint,
+whimsical smile passed over her face, a smile so infectious, despite its
+faintness, that Harley was compelled to reply in like fashion. It told
+him that she understood his constraint, and that she, too, felt it, but
+Harley doubted whether it was in like degree, as he believed that in the
+main women are better fitted than men to endure such ordeals. Mr.
+Grayson himself apparently took no notice.
+
+Harley returned to their car with the Graysons, but in the afternoon he
+detached himself somewhat, and came in touch with the fluctuating crowd
+that passed down the aisle--it was always a part of his duty, as well as
+his inclination, to know the thoughts and feelings of outsiders, because
+it was outsiders who made the world, and it was from them, too, that the
+insiders came.
+
+Harley found here that the chief motive as yet was curiosity; the
+campaign had not entered upon its sharp and positive state, and the
+personality of Mr. Grayson and of his opponent still remained to be
+defined clearly.
+
+The train sped westward through the granary of the world, cutting in an
+almost direct line across the mighty valley of the Mississippi, and they
+were still hundreds of miles away from the Grayson home. In going west
+both parties had gone very far west, and the two candidates not only
+lived beyond the Mississippi, but beyond the Missouri as well.
+
+The prairies were in their tenderest green, and the young grass bent
+lightly before a gentle west wind. In a sky of silky blue little clouds
+floated and trailed off here and there into patches of white like
+drifting snow, and Harley unconsciously fell to watching them and
+wondering where they went.
+
+The sun, a huge red ball, sank in the prairie, twilight fell, the ordeal
+of the dining-car was repeated, and not long afterwards Harley sought
+his bed in the swaying berth. The next morning they were in the home
+town, and there were a band and a reception committee, and Harley
+slipped quietly away to his hotel, being reminded first by the Graysons
+that he was to take dinner with them.
+
+He spent most of the day wandering about the town, gathering hitherto
+unnoticed facts about the early life of Mr. James Grayson, which in the
+afternoon he despatched eastward. Then he prepared for dinner, but here
+he was confronted by a serious problem--should one so far west wear
+evening clothes or not? But he decided at last in the affirmative,
+feeling that it would be the safe course, and, hiding the formality of
+his raiment under a light overcoat, he went forth into the street. Five
+minutes' walk took him to the house of Mr. Grayson, which stood in the
+outskirts, a red brick structure two stories in height, plain and
+comfortable, with a well-shaded lawn about it. It was now quite dark,
+but lights shone from several windows, and Harley, without hesitation,
+rang the bell.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE MAID
+
+
+Harley's ring was not answered at once, and as he stood on the step he
+glanced back at the city, which, in the dark, showed only the formless
+bulk of houses and the cold electric lights here and there. Then he
+heard a light step, and the door was thrown open. He handed his card to
+the maid, merely saying, "Mr. and Mrs. Grayson," and waited to be shown
+into the parlor. But the girl, whose face he could not see, as the hall
+was dimly lighted, held it in her hand, looking first at the name and
+then at him. Harley, feeling a slight impatience, stepped inside and
+said:
+
+"I assure you that I am the real owner of it--that is, of the name on
+the card."
+
+"What proof have you?" she asked, calmly.
+
+Harley had heard recently many phases of the servant-girl question, and
+this development of it amused him. She must be one of those ignorant and
+stubborn foreigners--a Swede or a German.
+
+"Suppose you take the proof for granted and risk it," he said. "Mr. and
+Mrs. Grayson can quickly decide for you, and tell you whether I am
+right."
+
+"They have gone out for a little walk," she said, still standing in the
+way, "and so many strange people are coming here now that I don't know
+whether to show you in or not. Maybe you are a reporter?"
+
+"Well, and what then?"
+
+"Or worse; perhaps you are a photographer."
+
+"If I am, you can see that I have no camera."
+
+"You might have a little one hidden under your overcoat."
+
+"It is night, and cameras are used in the sunshine."
+
+"We have electric lights."
+
+Harley began to feel provoked. There were limits to perverseness, or
+should be.
+
+"I am expected to dinner by Mr. and Mrs. Grayson," he said. "Will you
+kindly cease to keep me waiting and show me in? I shall not steal any of
+the furniture."
+
+The maid was annoyingly calm.
+
+"Mr. and Mrs. Grayson have not yet returned from a little walk which
+they were afraid to undertake until it grew dark," she said. "But I
+think I'll risk it and show you in if you will hold up your hand and
+swear that you haven't a camera hidden under your overcoat."
+
+Harley's sense of humor came to his aid, and he held up his hand.
+
+"I do solemnly swear," he said.
+
+He tried to see the face of this maid, who showed a perversity that was
+unequalled in an experience by no means limited, but she stood in the
+duskiest part of the dim hall, and he failed. He knew merely that she
+was tall and slender, and when she turned to lead the way he heard a
+faint sound like the light tinkle of a suppressed laugh. Harley started,
+and his face flushed with anger. He had encountered often those who
+tried to snub him, and usually he had been able to take care of himself,
+but to be laughed at by a housemaid was a new thing in his experience,
+and he was far from liking it.
+
+She indicated a small parlor with a wave of her hand and said:
+
+"You can go in there and wait. You have promised not to steal the
+furniture, and, as the room contains only a piano, a table, and some
+chairs, all of which are too big to be hidden under your overcoat, I
+think that you will keep your promise."
+
+She sped lightly away, leaving Harley trembling so much with amazement
+and anger that he forgot for at least two minutes to sit down. When he
+took off his overcoat he murmured: "Before Mr. Grayson thinks of ruling
+the United States he should discipline his own household."
+
+The house was quiet; he heard no one stirring anywhere. The light from
+an electric lamp in the street shone into the parlor, and by its rays he
+saw Mr. and Mrs. Grayson coming up the street. Then the maid had told
+the truth about the "little walk," and he was early.
+
+He leaned back in his chair and watched the pair as they approached
+their own house. Evidently they had stolen these few minutes in the dark
+to be alone with each other, and Harley sympathized with them, because
+it would be a long time before the wife could claim again that her
+husband was her own. They entered a side-gate, passed through the lawn,
+and a minute later were welcoming Harley.
+
+"We did not expect to be gone so long," said Mrs. Grayson; "but we see
+that you have found the right place."
+
+"Oh yes," said Harley; "a maid showed me in." Then he added: "I am very
+glad, indeed, to have been invited here, but if you want any more
+privacy I don't think you should have asked me; my kind will soon be
+down upon you like a swarm of locusts."
+
+Mr. Grayson laughed and took a stack of telegraph envelopes six inches
+thick from a table.
+
+"You are right, Mr. Harley," he said. "They will be here to-morrow,
+ready for the start. There are more than twenty applications for space
+on our train, and all of them shall have it. I don't think that the boys
+and I shall quarrel."
+
+Mrs. Grayson excused herself, and presently they were summoned to
+dinner. Stepping out of a dusky hall into a brilliantly lighted room,
+Harley was dazzled for a moment, but he found himself bowing when she
+introduced him to "My niece, Miss Morgan, of Idaho." Then he saw a tall,
+slender girl, with a singularly frank and open countenance, and a hand
+extended to him as familiarly as if she had known him all her life.
+Harley, although he had not expected the offer of the hand, took it and
+gave it one little shake. He felt an unaccountable embarrassment. He saw
+a faint twinkle in the girl's eye, as if she found something amusing in
+his appearance, and he feared that he had made a mistake in coming in
+evening-dress. He flushed a little and felt a slight resentment towards
+Mrs. Grayson, because she had not told him of this niece; but he was
+relieved for the moment by an introduction to the third guest, Mrs.
+Boyle, an elderly lady, also a relative, but more distantly so.
+
+Mrs. Boyle merely bowed, and at once returned Harley to the custody of
+the niece from Idaho, of whom he felt some fear, her singular freedom of
+manner and the faint twinkle that still lurked in her eye putting him on
+edge. Moreover, he was assigned to a seat next to her, and, as obviously
+he was expected to entertain her, his fear increased. This girl was not
+only Western, but Far Western, and, in his opinion, there was none so
+wise who could tell what she would do or say. He repeated to himself the
+word "Idaho," and it sounded remote, rough, and wild.
+
+"Uncle James tells me that you are a correspondent, the representative
+of the New York _Gazette_," she said.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And that you are to go with him on the campaign and write brilliant
+accounts of the things that never happen."
+
+"I am sure that Mr. Grayson was not your authority for such a
+statement," said Harley, with a smile, although he did not wholly relish
+her banter.
+
+"Oh no, Uncle James is a very polite man, and very considerate of the
+feelings of others."
+
+"Then it is a supposition of your own?"
+
+"Oh no, not a supposition at all; the New York newspapers sometimes
+reach us even in Idaho."
+
+Harley did not respond to her banter, thinking it premature, as she had
+never seen him before. He could not forget the reserve and shyness
+natural to him, and he felt a sense of hostility. He glanced at her, and
+saw a cheek ruddier than the cheeks of American women usually are, and a
+chin with an unusually firm curve. Her hair was dark brown, and when the
+electric light flashed upon her it seemed to be streaked with dull gold.
+But the chin held him with an odd sort of fascination, and he strove to
+read her character in it. "Bold and resolute," he decided, "but too
+Western, entirely too Far Western. She needs civilizing." He was rather
+glad that he was going away with Mr. Grayson on the morrow and would not
+see her again.
+
+"I should think," she said; "that the life of a newspaper correspondent
+is extremely interesting. You have all the pleasures and none of the
+responsibilities; you go to war, but you do not fight; you enter great
+political campaigns, but you cannot be defeated; you are always with the
+victor and never with the vanquished; you are not bound by geographical
+limits nor by facts, nor--"
+
+"Excuse me, Miss Morgan," interrupted Harley, with dignity. "In my
+profession, as in all others, there are irresponsible persons, but the
+great majority of its followers are conscientious and industrious. If
+you only knew how--"
+
+"That sounds as if it had been prepared in advance," she exclaimed. "I
+am sure that you have used it many times before."
+
+"You must not mind Sylvia," said Mrs. Grayson, smiling her grave, quiet
+smile. "She seldom means what she says, or says what she means."
+
+"Aunt Anna," exclaimed Miss Morgan, "you are really too hard upon your
+beloved niece. I never before dined with the staff correspondent of a
+great New York newspaper, and I am really seeking information. Now I
+wish to know if in his profession imagination is the most valuable
+quality, as I have heard it said."
+
+"Do you wish to embroil me with the press so early?" asked Mr. Grayson,
+laughing.
+
+"I have heard great tales about them and their daring," she persisted.
+"I am not sure that even now he has not a camera concealed under his
+coat."
+
+"Why, Sylvia, what a strange thing to say!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson.
+
+But Harley started in his seat and flushed a deep red. "Miss Morgan, I
+shall have to ask your pardon," he exclaimed.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Grayson looked at them in surprise.
+
+"Here is something that we do not understand," said Mr. Grayson.
+
+"Why, Uncle James, there is nothing strange about what I have said,"
+continued Miss Morgan, with the most innocent face. "I thought all of
+them carried cameras, else how do we get all the wonderful pictures?"
+
+Harley felt inclined to tell the entire table his experience, but on
+second thought he remained silent, as the girl from Idaho began to pique
+him, and he was not willing that the advantage should remain wholly with
+her, especially when she was from the very Far West. So he affected
+complete indifference, and, when they asked him about his adventures in
+the recent war on the other side of the world, he talked freely about
+them, which he had never done before, because, like most Americans, he
+was a modest man, enduring in silence lectures on the sin of boasting
+from others who boasted as they breathed. Most of the time he spoke
+apparently to Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, but he kept a side-look upon the
+girl from Idaho who had played with him and humiliated him.
+
+She became silent, as if satisfied with the flight of the arrows that
+had gone already from her quiver, and seemed to listen with an air of
+becoming respect; but Harley surprised once or twice the lurking twinkle
+in her eye, and he was not sure that she was wholly subdued. Opposition
+and difficulties always increased his resolve, and he doubled his
+efforts. He spoke lightly of the kingdoms and republics whose fortunes
+he had followed in a casual way and of the men whom the heave of affairs
+had brought to the surface for a space, and always he kept that
+side-look upon her. These relations, surely, would impress, because
+what could she, a child of the Idaho wilds, know of the great world? And
+its very mystery would heighten to her its coloring and effect.
+
+Harley could talk well, all the better because he talked so rarely of
+himself, and even now it was of himself only by indirection, because he
+spoke chiefly of men whom he had known and deeds that he had witnessed.
+Watching the girl closely with that side-look, he did not see the
+twinkle reappear in her eye; instead she sat demure and silent, and he
+judged that he had taken her beyond her depth. At last he stopped, and
+she said, in a subdued tone:
+
+"Did I not tell you, Uncle James, that imagination was the great quality
+the correspondents need?"
+
+Harley flushed, but he could not keep from joining Mr. Grayson in his
+laugh. The candidate, besides laughing, glanced affectionately at the
+girl. It was evident that his niece was a favorite with Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"I shall ask Miss Morgan to tell me about Idaho," said Harley.
+
+"It's quite wild, you know," she said, gravely; "and all the people need
+taming. But it would be a great task."
+
+When they went back to the drawing-room Harley and the girl were behind
+the others, and he lingered a moment beside her.
+
+"Miss Morgan," he said, "I want to ask your pardon again. You know it
+was in the dark, and mine was an honest mistake."
+
+"I will if you will tell me one thing."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Have you really got a camera with you?"
+
+"If I had I should take a picture of you and not of Mr. Grayson."
+
+Harley remained awhile longer, and Miss Morgan's treatment remained
+familiar and somewhat disconcerting, rather like the manner of an elder
+sister to her young brother than of a girl to a man whom she had known
+only two or three hours. When he rose to leave, she again offered him
+her hand with perfect coolness. Harley, in a perfunctory manner,
+expressed his regret that he was not likely to see her again, as he was
+to leave the next day with Mr. Grayson. The provoking twinkle appeared
+again in the corner of her eyes.
+
+"I don't intend that you shall forget me, Mr. Harley," she said,
+"because you _are_ to see me again. When you come to Washington in
+search of news, I shall be there as the second lady of the land--Aunt
+Anna will be first."
+
+"Oh, of course, I forgot that," said Harley, but he was not sure that
+she had Washington in mind, remembering Mrs. Grayson's assertion that
+she did not always mean what she said nor say what she meant.
+
+The night was quite dark, and when he had gone a few yards Harley
+stopped and looked back at the house. He felt a distinct sense of
+relief, because he was gone from the presence of the mountain girl who
+was not of his kind, and whom he did not know how to take; being a man,
+he could not retort upon her in her own fashion, and she was able to
+make him feel cheap.
+
+The drawing-room was still lighted, and he saw the Idaho girl pass in
+front of one of the low windows, her figure completely outlined by the
+luminous veil. It seemed to him to express a singular, flexible
+grace--perhaps the result of mountain life--but he was loath to admit
+it, as she troubled him. Harley, although young, had been in many lands
+and among many people. He had seen many women who were beautiful, and
+some who were brilliant, but it had been easy to forget every one of
+them; they hardly made a ripple in the stream of his work, and often it
+was an effort to recall them. He had expected to dismiss this Idaho girl
+in the same manner, but she would not go, and he was intensely annoyed
+with himself.
+
+He went to the telegraph-office, wrote and filed his despatch, and then,
+lighting a cigar, strolled slowly through the streets. It was not eleven
+o'clock, but it seemed that everybody except himself was in bed and
+asleep. The lights in all the houses were out, and there was no sound
+whatever save that of the wind as it came in from the prairie and
+stirred the new foliage of the trees. "And this is our wicked America,
+for which my foreign friends used to offer me sincere condolences!"
+murmured Harley.
+
+But he returned quickly to his own mental disturbance. He felt as he
+used to feel on the eve of a battle that all knew was coming off, there
+on the other side of the world. He was then with an army which he was
+not at all sure was in the right; but when he sat on a hill-top in the
+night, looking at the flickering lights of the enemy ahead, and knowing
+that the combat would be joined at dawn, he could not resist a feeling
+of comradeship with that army to which, for a time--and in a sense,
+perhaps, alien--he belonged. Those soldiers about him became friends,
+and the enemy out there was an enemy for him, too. It was the same now
+when he was to go on a long journey with Jimmy Grayson, who stood upon a
+platform of which he had many doubts.
+
+He turned back to the hotel, and when he entered the lobby a swarm of
+men fell upon him and demanded the instant delivery of any news which
+he might have and they had not. They were correspondents who had come by
+every train that afternoon--Hobart, Churchill, Blaisdell, Lawson, and
+others, making more than a score--some representing journals that would
+support Grayson, and others journals that would call him names, many and
+bad.
+
+"We hear that you have been to dinner with the candidate," said
+Churchill, the representative of the New York _Monitor_, a sneering
+sheet owned by one foreigner and edited by another, which kept its eye
+on Europe, and considered European opinion final, particularly in regard
+to American affairs; "so you can tell us if it is true that he picks his
+teeth at table with a fork."
+
+"You are a good man for the _Monitor_, Churchill," said Harley, sharply.
+"Your humor is in perfect accord with the high taste displayed, and you
+show the same dignity and consideration in your references to political
+opponents."
+
+"Oh, I see," said Churchill, sneering just as he had been taught to
+sneer by the _Monitor_. "He is the first guest to dine with the
+Presidential nominee, and he is overpowered by the honor."
+
+"You shut up, Churchill!" said Hobart, another of the correspondents.
+"You sha'n't pick a quarrel with Harley, and you sha'n't be a
+mischief-maker here. There are enough of us to see that you don't."
+
+Harley turned his back scornfully upon Churchill, who said nothing more,
+and began to tell his friends of Grayson.
+
+"He is an orator," he said. "We know that by undoubted report, and his
+manner is simple and most agreeable. He has more of the quality called
+personal magnetism than any other man I ever saw."
+
+"What of his ability?" asked Tremaine, the oldest of the correspondents.
+
+Harley thought a little while before replying.
+
+"I can't make up my mind on that point," he said. "I find in him, so far
+as I can see, a certain simplicity, I might almost say an innocence,
+which is remarkable. He is unlike the other public men whom I have met,
+but I don't know whether this innocence indicates superficiality or a
+tact and skill lying so deep that he is able to plan an ambush for the
+best of his enemies."
+
+"Well, we are to be with him five months," said Tremaine, "and it is our
+business to find out."
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE START
+
+
+They were to start at dawn the next day, going back to Chicago, where
+the campaign would be opened, and Harley, ever alert, was dressing while
+it was yet dusk. From a corner of the dining-room, where he snatched a
+quick breakfast, he saw the sun shoot out of the prairie like a great
+red cannon-ball and the world swim up into a sea of rosy light. Then he
+ran for the special train, which was puffing and whistling at the
+station, and the flock of correspondents was at his heels.
+
+Harley saw Mr. and Mrs. Grayson alighting from a cab, and, satisfied
+with the one glance, he entered the car and sought his place. Always,
+like the trained soldier, he located his camp, or rather base, before
+beginning his operations, and he made himself comfortable there with his
+fellows until the train was well clear of the city and the straggling
+suburbs that hung to it like a ragged fringe. Then he decided to go into
+the next coach to see Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, making, as it were, a dinner
+call.
+
+The candidate and his wife had taken the drawing-room, not from any
+desire of his for seclusion or as an artificial aid to greatness, but
+because he saw that it was necessary if he would have any time for
+thought or rest. Harley approached the compartment, expecting to be
+announced by the porter, but a veiled lady in the seat next to it rose
+up before him. She lifted the veil, which was not a disguise, instead
+being intended merely as a protection against the dust that one gathers
+on a railroad journey, and Harley stopped in surprise.
+
+"And so you see, Mr. Correspondent," she said, "that your farewell was
+useless. You behold me again inside of twelve hours. I wanted to tell
+you last night that I was going on this train, as Uncle James has great
+confidence in my political judgment and feels the constant need of my
+advice, but I was afraid you would not believe me. So I have preferred
+to let you see for yourself."
+
+She gave Harley a look which he could not interpret as anything but
+saucy, and his attention was called again by the bold, fine curve of her
+chin, and he was saying to himself: "A wild life in the mountains surely
+develops courage and self-reliance, but at the expense of the more
+delicate and more attractive qualities." Then he said aloud, and
+politely:
+
+"I see no reason, Miss Morgan, why you should have credited me with a
+lack of faith in your word. Have I said anything to induce such a belief
+in your mind?"
+
+"No, you have merely looked it."
+
+"I do not always look as I feel," said Harley, in embarrassment, "and I
+want to tell you, Miss Morgan, that I am very glad you are going with us
+on this Chicago trip."
+
+"You look as if you meant that," she said, gravely; "but if I am to take
+you at your word, you mean nothing of the kind."
+
+"I do mean it; I assure you I do," said Harley, hastily. "But are Mr.
+and Mrs. Grayson ready to receive visitors?"
+
+"That depends. I am not sure that I want Uncle James interviewed so
+early in the day. At least I want to know in advance the subject of the
+interview. You can give me, as it were, the heads of your discourse.
+Come, tell me, and I will render a decision."
+
+She regarded Harley with a grave face, and he was divided between
+vexation and a sort of reluctant admiration of her coolness. She was
+bold and forward, not to say impertinent, but she seemed wholly
+unconscious of it, and, after all, she was from one of the wildest parts
+of Idaho. He kindly excused much of her conduct on the ground of early
+association.
+
+"I do not seek to interview any one," he said; "I merely wish to pay my
+respects to Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, having been their guest, as you know."
+
+"Oh, then you can go in," she said, and, calling to the porter, she told
+him to announce Mr. Harley, of the New York _Gazette_. "Of the New York
+_Gazette_," she said again, with what Harley considered unnecessary
+repetition and emphasis, and he had a new count against her.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Grayson received him with courtesy, even with warmth, and
+Harley saw that he had made new progress in their esteem. He remained
+with them only a few minutes, and he said nothing about the
+objectionable conduct of Miss Morgan, who had set herself as a guard
+upon their door. He deemed it wiser to make no reference to her at all,
+because she was only an insignificant and momentary incident of the
+campaign, not really relevant. Chicago was merely a beginning, and they
+would drop her there. When he returned from the drawing-room, she was
+still sitting near the door, and at his appearance she looked up pertly.
+
+"Did you find him in a good-humor?" she asked.
+
+"I think Mr. Grayson is always in a good-humor, or at least he is able
+to appear so."
+
+"I doubt whether perpetual good-humor, or the appearance of it, is
+desirable. One ought to make a difference in favor of friends; I do not
+care to present an amiable face to my enemies."
+
+She pursed up her lips and looked thoughtful.
+
+"When Uncle James goes to Washington to take the Presidency," she
+continued, "he will need me to protect him from the people who have no
+business with him."
+
+"I hope the last remark is not personal?"
+
+"Oh no," she said; "I recognize the fact that the press must be
+tolerated."
+
+Harley again felt piqued, and, not willing to retire with the sense of
+defeat fresh upon him, he sat down near her and began to talk to her of
+her Western life. He wished to know more about the genesis and progress
+of a girl who seemed to him so strange, but he was not able to confine
+her to certain channels of narrative. She was flippant and vague, full
+of allusions to wild things like Indians or buffaloes or grizzly bears,
+but with no detailed statement, and Harley gathered that her childhood
+had been in complete touch with these primitive facts. Only such early
+associations could account for the absence of so many conventions.
+
+The correspondents who travelled with Harley were mostly men of
+experience, readily adaptable, and the addition of a new member to Mr.
+Grayson's party could not escape their attention. Harley was surprised
+and shocked to find that all of them were well acquainted with Miss
+Morgan inside of six hours, and that they seemed to be much better
+comrades with her than he had been. Hobart, the most frivolous of the
+lot, and the most careless of speech, returning from the Grayson car,
+informed him that she was a "great girl, as fine as silk."
+
+"That's a queer expression to apply to a lady," said Harley. "It smacks
+of the Bowery."
+
+"And what if it does?" replied Hobart, coolly. "I often find the Bowery
+both terse and truthful. And in this case the expression fits Miss
+Morgan. She's the real article--no fuss and frills, just a daughter of
+the West, never pretending that she is what she isn't. I heard her speak
+of you, Harley, and I don't think she likes you, old man. What have you
+been doing?"
+
+"I hope I have been behaving as a gentleman should," replied Harley,
+with some asperity; "and if I have been unlucky enough to incur her
+dislike, I shall endure it as best I can."
+
+He spoke in an indifferent tone, as if his endurance would not be
+severely tested.
+
+"But you are missing a good time," said Hobart. "There are not less than
+a dozen of us at her feet, and the Grayson car is full of jollity. I'm
+going back."
+
+He returned to the car, and Harley was left alone just then, as he
+wished to be, and with an effort he dismissed Miss Morgan from his
+thoughts. Mr. Grayson would speak that night in Chicago, and an audience
+of twenty thousand people was assured; this fact and the other one, that
+it would be his initial address, making the event of the first
+importance.
+
+Harley as a correspondent was able not only to chronicle facts, which is
+no great feat, but also to tell why, to state the connection between
+them, and to re-create the atmosphere in which those facts occurred and
+which made them possible. He was well aware that a fact was dependent
+for its quality--that is, for its degree of good or evil--upon its
+surrounding atmosphere, just as a man is influenced by the air that he
+breathes, and for this reason he wished to send in advance a despatch
+about Mr. Grayson and his personality as created by his birth and
+associations.
+
+He rested his pad on the car-seat and began to write, but Miss Morgan
+intruded herself in the first line. This question of character, created
+by environment, would apply to her as well as to her uncle; but Harley,
+angrily refusing to consider it, tore off the sheet of paper and,
+throwing it on the floor, began again. The second trial was more
+successful, and he soon became absorbed in the effort to describe Mr.
+Grayson and his remarkable personality, which might be either deep and
+complex or of the simplest Western type.
+
+As he wrote Harley became more and more absorbed in his subject, and
+with the absorption came spontaneity. He did not know how well he was
+writing, nor what a vivid picture he was presenting to the vast Eastern
+population to whom Jimmy Grayson was as yet but a name. It was a
+despatch that became famous, reprinted all over the Union, and quoted as
+the first description of the candidate as he really was--that is, of the
+man. And yet Harley, reading it days later, recognized in it something
+that nobody else saw. It was a blend. In every fourth line Sylvia Morgan
+again, and despite his efforts, had obtruded herself. He had borrowed
+something from her to add to Jimmy Grayson, and he felt that he had been
+seeking excuses for her manner.
+
+But this fact did not impinge upon Harley now, when he read the
+despatch preparatory to filing it at Chicago. He merely felt that he had
+made an attempt to solve Jimmy Grayson, and in doing so had fulfilled
+his duty.
+
+As he folded up the article the loud voice of Hobart hailed him from the
+other end of the car, and he beheld that irresponsible man entering with
+the candidate's niece.
+
+"You see what he has been about all this time, Miss Morgan?" said
+Hobart. "He has been at work. Harley, you know, is the only
+conscientious man among us."
+
+"I have remarked already his devotion to duty," she said, sedately; "but
+do you think, Mr. Hobart, we should disturb him now? We do not know that
+he has finished his task."
+
+Harley flushed. He did not wish to be thought a prig or one who made a
+pretence of great industry, and, although Miss Morgan's voice was
+without expression, he believed that irony lay hidden somewhere in it.
+
+"You are mistaken," he said; "my work is over, for the time, at least.
+It was something that had to be done, or I should not have stolen off
+here alone."
+
+Then he went back with them to the Grayson car, where a joyous group had
+gathered. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson were in the drawing-room, with the door
+shut, working upon the candidate's speech at Chicago, Harley surmised,
+and hence there was no restraint. Of this group the girl from Idaho was
+the centre and the sun. She seemed to be on good terms with them all, to
+the great surprise of Harley, who had known her longer than they, and
+who had not been able to get on with her at all, and he sat rather on
+the fringe of the throng, saying but little.
+
+Again she inspired him with hostility; she seemed, as before, too bold,
+too boisterous, too much the mountain maid, although he could not
+analyze any particular incident as wrong in itself. And clearly she had
+won the liking, even the admiration, of his associates, all of whom were
+men of wide experience. Tremaine, the dean of the corps, a ruddy,
+white-haired old fellow, who had written despatches from the
+Russo-Turkish war, which was ancient history to Harley, warmed visibly
+to Miss Morgan. "It is always the way with those old gallants," was
+Harley's silent comment. But he had never before characterized Tremaine
+in such a manner.
+
+He was afraid of her sharp tongue, knowing that a woman in such respects
+is never averse to taking an unfair advantage of a man; but she paid no
+heed to him, talking with the others and passing over him as if he had
+not been present; and, while this was what he wanted in the first place,
+yet, now that he had it, he resented it as something undeserved. But if
+she would not speak to him, he, too, would keep silence, a silence which
+he was convinced had in it a disdainful quality; hence it was not
+without a certain comfort and satisfaction.
+
+But Harley was forced to admit that if she was of the bold and
+boisterous type, she was a favorable specimen within those unfavorable
+limits. While she was familiar, in a measure, with these men, yet she
+was able to keep them at the proper distance, and no one presumed, in
+any respect. She radiated purity and innocence, and it was to ignorance
+only that Harley now charged her faults.
+
+They reached Chicago the next morning, and at noon Hobart knocked at the
+door of Harley's room at the hotel.
+
+"There is some idle time this afternoon," said Hobart, "and Tremaine and
+I have asked Miss Morgan to go driving. She has accepted, but it takes
+four to make a party, and you are the lucky fourth."
+
+He allowed no protestations, and, after all, Harley, who had been under
+much strain for some time, was not averse to an hour or two in the fresh
+air.
+
+"Miss Morgan has never been in Chicago before," said Hobart, "and it is
+our duty to show it to her."
+
+Hobart, who drove, put Miss Morgan upon the seat beside him, and
+Tremaine and Harley, who sat behind, occupied what was to some extent
+the post of disadvantage; but Tremaine, safe in his years, would not
+permit the rear seat to be neglected. He talked constantly, and her
+face, of necessity, was often turned to them, giving Harley opportunity
+to see that it had a most becoming flush.
+
+She had an eager interest in everything--the tall buildings, the
+wind-swept streets, and the glimpses of the wide, green lake. Harley saw
+that Chicago bulked much more largely in her imagination than in his,
+and he began to fear that he had been neglectful; it was the most
+concrete expression of the West, and, as the greatest achievement of a
+new people in city building, it deserved attention for qualities
+peculiarly its own, and there could be no doubt either of Miss Morgan's
+admiration or pleasure. She was seeking neither for the old nor the
+picturesque, which are not always synonymous, but was in full sympathy
+with the fresh, active, and, on the whole, joyous life around her. It
+was sufficient to her to be a part of the human tide, and to feel by
+contact the keenness and zest of the human endeavor. She was not
+troubled by the absence of ruins.
+
+"But the city is flat and unpicturesque," once said Harley.
+
+"All the better," she rejoined. "I have so much of silence and grandeur
+in Idaho that I enjoy the sight of two million people at work on this
+billiard-table that is Chicago. I like my own kind, I like to talk to it
+and have it talk to me. I suppose that the mountains have a voice, but
+the voice is too big for perpetual conversation with a poor little
+mortal like myself. After a while I want to come down to my own level,
+and I find it here."
+
+Harley glanced at her. The flush was still on her face, and there was a
+soft light in her eyes. He could not doubt that she was sincere, and she
+started in his mind thoughts that were not altogether new to him; he
+wondered if excessive reverence for the antique did not indicate a
+detachment from the present, and therefore from life itself, and, as a
+logical sequence, a lack of feeling for one's own kind. He had heard an
+elderly man from Chicago, dragged about by his wife and daughters in
+Rome, exclaim in disgust, "I would not give a single street corner in
+Chicago for all Rome!" The elderly Chicagoan had been drowned in
+derisive laughter, but Harley could understand his point of view, and
+now, as he remembered him, he had for him a fellow-feeling.
+
+Hobart took them through many streets, one much like another, and then
+over a white asphalt drive beside the great lake. The shores were low,
+but to Harley the lake had the calm restlessness and expanse of the sea,
+and the wind had the same keen tang that comes over miles of salt. He
+saw the girl's eyes linger upon the vast sheet of green, and the
+incipient hostility that he felt towards her disappeared for a time.
+Somewhere in her nature, strait though the place might be, there was a
+feeling for fine things, and he felt a kindred glow.
+
+They were rather quiet when they drove back towards the hotel, but she
+spoke at last of her uncle James and his speech that night, which might
+justify the expectations of either his friends or his enemies. There had
+grown up lately in the theatrical world a practice of "trying a new
+piece on the dog"--that is, of presenting it first in some small town
+which was not too particular--but now the political world was moving
+differently in this particular case. The candidate was to make his first
+appearance in one of the greatest of cities, before two million people,
+so to speak, and the ordeal would be so severe that Harley found himself
+apprehensive for Jimmy Grayson's sake. The feeling was shared by his
+niece.
+
+"You don't think he will fail, do you?" she said, in an appealing tone
+to Hobart.
+
+"Fail!" replied that irrepressible optimist. "He can't fail! The bigger
+the crowd the better he will rise to the occasion."
+
+But she did not seem to be wholly convinced by Hobart's cheerfulness,
+which was too general in its nature--that is, inclusive of
+everything--and turned to Harley and Tremaine as if seeking
+confirmation.
+
+"It will be a terrible test," said Harley, frankly, "but I feel sure
+that Mr. Grayson will pass it with glory. He is a born orator, and he
+has courage."
+
+"I thank you for your belief," she said, giving Harley a swift glance of
+gratitude, and unaccountably he felt a pleasing glow at the first
+gracious words she had ever spoken to him.
+
+"I could not bear it if he failed," she continued. "He is my uncle, and
+he is our own Western man. What things would be in the newspapers
+to-morrow!"
+
+"If Mr. Grayson should fail to-night, he would recover himself at his
+second speech; he has your spirit, you know," said the ancient Tremaine.
+
+But she did not seem to relish his elderly gallantry. "How do you know I
+have spirit?" she asked. "I have done nothing to indicate it."
+
+"I inferred it," replied he, bowing, but she only lifted her chin
+incredulously, and Tremaine subsided, his suppression giving Harley some
+quiet enjoyment.
+
+They returned, chiefly in silence, to the hotel. The dusk was coming
+down over the great city, and with it a grayish mist that hid the walls
+of the buildings, although the electric lights in lofty stories twinkled
+through it like signal-fires from hill-tops. Miss Morgan seemed subdued,
+and at the hotel door she said to them in dismissal: "I thank you; you
+have given me much pleasure."
+
+"I rather think that she is wrapped up in Mr. Grayson's success," said
+Hobart, "and, as she intimates, it will come pretty near to breaking her
+heart if he fails."
+
+In the lobby Harley met Churchill, of the _Monitor_, and Churchill, as
+usual, was sneering.
+
+"I imagine that Grayson will make a display of provincialism to-night,"
+he said. "America will have to blush for herself. I have copies of the
+_Monitor_, and all our London cables show the greatest amazement in
+Great Britain and on the Continent that we should put up such an _outré_
+Western character for President, one of the Boys, you know."
+
+"The Grayson of the _Monitor_ is not the Grayson of reality," replied
+Harley, "and the opinion of Europe does not matter, because Europe knows
+nothing about Mr. Grayson."
+
+"Oh, I see! You are falling under the influence," said Churchill,
+nastily.
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Harley.
+
+But Churchill would not answer. He sauntered away still sneering. Harley
+looked after him angrily, but concluded in a few moments that his wrath
+was not worth while--Churchill, trained to look always in the wrong
+direction could never see anything right.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE FIRST SPEECH
+
+
+When Harley started at an early hour for the vast hall in which Mr.
+Grayson was to speak, he realized that there was full cause for the
+trepidation of his feminine kind--perhaps in such moments women tremble
+for their men more than they ever tremble for themselves--and he had
+plenty of sympathy for Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan. The city, astir
+with the coming speech, was free to express in advance its opinion of
+it, both vocally and through its press, which was fairly divided--that
+is, one-half was convinced that it would be an overwhelming triumph, and
+the other half was equally sure that it would be a failure just as
+overwhelming.
+
+Harley had in his pocket a copy of his own paper--the _Gazette_--the
+latest to reach him, and he had read it with the greatest care, but he
+saw that it remained independent; so far, it neither endorsed nor
+attacked Grayson; and, also, he had a telegram from his editor
+instructing him to narrate the events of the evening with the strictest
+impartiality, not only as concerned facts, but, above all, to transmit
+the exact color and atmosphere of the occasion. "I know that this is
+hard to do," he said, but with the deft and useful little compliment
+that a wise employer knows how to put in at the end, he added: "I am
+sure that you can do it." And he knew his man; Harley would certainly
+do it.
+
+Harley, seated in an obscure corner of the stage, but one offering many
+points of vantage for his own view, saw the vast crowd come quickly into
+the hall, among the largest in the world, and he heard the hum of
+voices, in which he thought he could distinguish two notes, one of favor
+and one of attack. Yet the audience was orderly, and on the whole the
+element of curiosity prevailed. The correspondent, quick to read such
+signs, saw that the people had an open mind in regard to Jimmy Grayson;
+it was left to the candidate to make his own impression. Churchill took
+a seat near him and began to annoy him with depreciatory remarks about
+Grayson, not spoken to Harley in particular, but to the wide world.
+Hobart once said that Churchill needed no audience, preferring to talk
+to the air, which could make no reply of its own, but must return an
+echo.
+
+Harley saw Mrs. Grayson and her niece slip quietly into a box, sitting
+well back, where they could be seen but little by the audience; and
+then, knowing that Mr. Grayson had arrived, he went behind the wings,
+where the candidate sat waiting.
+
+Mr. Grayson received him with a calm and pleasant word; if his family
+were in a tremble, he was not; at least he was able to hide any
+apprehension that he might feel, and he remarked, jestingly: "It is
+apparent that I will have an audience, Mr. Harley; they will not ignore
+me."
+
+"No, you are a good puller," rejoined Harley.
+
+There were some dry preliminaries--introductory remarks by the chairman
+and other necessary bores--and then the audience began to call for
+Grayson. The speech would be reported in full by short-hand, for which
+mechanical work the staff correspondent always hires a member of that
+guild, and Harley was free for the present. He resolved to go into the
+box with Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan, but he changed his mind when he
+glanced at their faces. There was pallor in their cheeks, and their
+whole attitude was of strained and intense waiting. For them the crucial
+moment had come, and Harley had too much humanity to disturb them, even
+with well-meant efforts, at such a moment.
+
+The hum in the crowd increased to a roar, a thunderous call for Grayson,
+but there was a pause on the stage, where no figures moved. The chairman
+glanced uneasily towards the wings and shuffled in his seat as if he did
+not know what to do, but his apprehension did not last long.
+
+The candidate appeared, coming forward with a steady step, his face pale
+and apparently inexpressive; but Harley could see that the eyes, usually
+so calm, were lighted up by a fire from within. Suddenly all his fear
+for Grayson sank away; it came upon him with the finality of a lightning
+flash that here was a man who would not fail, and by an unknown impulse
+he looked from the candidate to the box in which Miss Morgan sat. She
+seemed to have read his faith in his eyes, for a look of relief, even
+joy, came over her face.
+
+This intuition of the two was justified, as the candidate did not have
+to conquer his audience. He held it in his spell from the opening
+sentence; the golden and compelling oratory, afterwards so famous, was
+here poured before the greater world for the first time. Harley listened
+to the periods, smooth but powerful, and he could not throw off their
+charm; some things were said of which he was not sure, and others with
+which he positively disagreed, but for the time they all seemed true.
+Jimmy Grayson believed them--there could be no doubt of it; every word
+was tinged with the vivid hue of sincerity--that was why they held the
+audience in a spell that it could not escape; these were convictions,
+not arguments that he was speaking, and the people received them as
+such. Moreover, he was always clear and direct, he had a Greek precision
+of speech, and there was none in the audience who could not follow him.
+
+Harley, no orator himself, had in the course of his profession heard
+much oratory, some good, much bad, and even now he struggled against the
+charm of Grayson's voice and manner, and sought to see what lay behind
+them. Was there back of this golden veil any great originating or
+executive power, or was he, like so many others who speak well, a voice
+and nothing more? An orator might win the Presidency of the United
+States, but his gift would not necessarily qualify him to administer the
+office. It was a tribute to Harley's power of will or detachment that he
+was able at such a time to ask himself such a question.
+
+But he forgot these after-thoughts in the pleasurable sympathy that his
+view of the candidate's wife and niece aroused. Their faces were
+illumined with joy. Feeling his spell so strongly themselves, they knew
+without looking that the audience felt it, too, and the evening could be
+no fuller for them. Here he was, a hero not only for his womenkind, but
+for all whom his womenkind could see, and Harley thought that under the
+influence of this feeling Miss Morgan's features had become very soft
+and feminine. The curve of the jaw was gentle rather than firm, and now
+in her softer moments it seemed to Harley that something might be made
+of this mountain girl, say by the deft hands of an Eastern and older
+woman. Then he blushed at himself for such a condescending thought, and
+turned to his task--that is, the effort to reproduce for readers in New
+York, the next morning, the atmosphere of that evening in a Chicago
+hall, and the exact relation that Mr. Grayson, the people, and the
+events of the hour bore to each other.
+
+Harley was a conscientious man, interested in his work, and when he gave
+the last page of the despatch to a telegraph-boy the speech was nearly
+over. He said emphatically that it was a success, that the audience was
+brought thoroughly under the spell, but whether this spell would endure
+after the candidate was gone he did not undertake to prophesy. The
+coldest and most critical seeker after truth and nothing but the truth
+could have found no fault with what he wrote.
+
+He gave the last page of the despatch to the telegraph-boy, and entered
+the secluded box that held Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan. Two elderly
+Chicago men, who played at politics and who were warm enthusiasts for
+Grayson, were there, and Harley was introduced to them. But he talked to
+them only as long as politeness demanded, and then, with all sincerity,
+he congratulated Mrs. Grayson on her husband's triumph.
+
+"I never had a doubt of it," she replied, her voice tremulous, and
+honestly forgetful in the glory of the moment of all the fears that had
+been assailing her a few hours ago. "I knew what he could do."
+
+Harley turned presently to Miss Morgan, and he spoke in the same vein to
+her, but she asked, with some asperity, "Did you think he could fail?"
+
+"Failure is possible, I suppose, in the case of anybody."
+
+"But you do not know our Western spirit."
+
+"I am learning."
+
+Her gentleness was gone. She resented what she chose to consider an
+attempt at patronage of the West, and Harley again was made the target
+for the arrows of her sarcasm. Yet he did not resent it with his
+original acerbity; custom was dulling the sharp edge of her weapons,
+and, instead of wounding him, they rather provoked and drew him on. He
+was able to reply lightly, to suggest vaguely the crudities of Idaho,
+and to incite her to yet more strenuous battle for her beloved
+mountains.
+
+But both ceased to talk, because the candidate was approaching his
+climax, and the grand swell of his speech had in it a musical quality
+that did not detract from its power to carry conviction. Then he closed,
+and the thunders of applause rose again and again. At last, after bowing
+many times to the gratified audience, he came back to the box, and his
+niece, her eyes shining with delight, sprang up, as if driven by an
+impulse, and, throwing her arms about his neck, kissed him. The act was
+seen by many, and it was applauded, but Harley did not like it; her
+emotion seemed to him too youthful, to smack too little of restraint--in
+short, to be too Western. Despite himself, he frowned, and when she
+turned back towards the box she saw the frown still upon his face. There
+was an instant fiery flash in her eye, and she drew herself up as if in
+haughty defiance, but she said nothing then, nor did she speak later
+when she left with the Graysons, merely giving him a cold good-night
+bow.
+
+Harley lingered a little with the other correspondents, and was among
+the last to leave the building. He was thinking of the Idaho girl, but
+he did not fail to notice what was going on, and he saw a group of
+middle-aged or elderly men, the majority of them portly in figure and
+autocratic in bearing, follow the trail of Jimmy Grayson. Although
+familiar with the faces of only one or two in the group, he knew
+instinctively who they were. It was a gathering of the great, moneyed
+men of the party, eager to see the attitude of Grayson upon affairs that
+concerned them intimately, and prompt to take action in accordance. They
+were the guardians of "vested" interests, interests watched over as few
+things in this world are, and they were resolved to see that they took
+no harm. But the speech of the night had been general in its nature, a
+preliminary as it were, and Harley judged that they would do nothing as
+yet but skirmish upon the outskirts, keeping a wary eye for the main
+battle when it should be joined.
+
+"Did you notice them?" asked white-haired Tremaine in his ear.
+
+"Oh yes," replied Harley, who knew at once what he meant; "I watched
+them leave the hall."
+
+"One gets to know them instinctively," said Tremaine. "I've seen them
+like a herd of bull-dogs--if such animals travelled in herds--on the
+heels of every presidential candidate for the last forty years, and that
+covers ten campaigns. But I suppose they have as much right to look
+after their interests as the farmer or mechanic has to look after his."
+
+"Yet it is worth while to watch them," said Harley, and all in the group
+concurred.
+
+They were to leave in the afternoon for Milwaukee, which gave plenty of
+time for rest, and Harley, who needed it, slept late. But when he rose
+and dressed he went forth at once, after his habit, for the morning
+papers, buying them all in order to weigh as well as he could the
+Chicago opinion of Grayson. The first that he picked up was sensational
+in character, and what he saw on the front page did not please him at
+all. There was plenty of space devoted to Grayson, but almost as much
+was given to an incident of the evening as to Grayson himself. There was
+a huge picture of a beautiful young girl throwing her arms around Jimmy
+Grayson's neck, and kissing him enthusiastically. The two occupied the
+centre of the stage close to the footlights, and twenty thousand people
+were frantically cheering the spectacle. By the side of this picture was
+another, a perfectly correct portrait of Miss Morgan, evidently taken
+from a photograph, and under it were the lines: "Jimmy Grayson's
+Egeria--the Beautiful Young Girl Who Furnishes the Western Fire for His
+Speeches."
+
+And then in two columns of leaded type, under a pyramid of head-lines,
+was told the story of Sylvia Morgan. Flushed with enthusiasm, the
+account said, she had come from Idaho to help her uncle, the candidate.
+Although only eighteen years of age--she was twenty-two--she had
+displayed a most remarkable perception and grasp of politics and of
+great issues. It was she, with her youthful zeal, who inspired Mr.
+Grayson and his friends with courage for a conflict against odds. He
+consulted her daily about his speeches; it was she who always put into
+them some happy thought, some telling phrase that was sure to captivate
+the people. In a pinch she could make a speech herself, and she would
+probably be seen on the stump in the West. And she was as beautiful as
+she was intellectual and eloquent; she would be the most picturesque
+feature of this or any campaign ever waged in America. It continued in
+this vein for two columns, employing all the latest devices of the
+newest and yellowest journalism, of which the process is quite simple,
+provided you have no conscience--that is, you take a grain of fact and
+you build upon it a mountain of fancy, and the mountain will be shaped
+according to the taste of the builder.
+
+Harley would have laughed--these things always seemed to him childish or
+flippant rather than wicked--if it had not been for the photograph. That
+was too real; it was exactly like Sylvia Morgan, and it implied
+connivance between the newspaper and some body else. In Idaho it might
+have one look, but here in Chicago it would have another, and in New
+York it would have still another and yet worse. She ought to see the
+true aspect of these things. To Harley, reared with the old-fashioned
+Southern ideals, from which he never departed, it was all inexpressibly
+distasteful--he did not stop to ask himself why he should be more
+concerned about the picture of Miss Morgan than those of many other
+women whom he saw in the newspapers--and his feeling was not improved by
+the entrance of Churchill and his sneering comment.
+
+"A good picture of her," said Churchill. "These Western girls like such
+things. Of course she sent it to the newspaper office."
+
+"I do not know anything of the kind, nor do you, I think," replied
+Harley, with asperity. "Nor am I aware that the West is any fonder than
+the East of notoriety."
+
+"Have it any way you wish," said Churchill, superciliously. "But I fail
+to see why you should disturb yourself so much over the matter."
+
+His tone was so annoying that Harley felt like striking him, but instead
+ignored him, and Churchill strolled carelessly on, humming a tune, as he
+had seen insolent people on the stage do in such moments.
+
+Harley thrust the newspaper into his pocket, and went into one of the
+ladies' parlors, where he saw Miss Morgan sitting by a window and
+looking out at the hasty life of Chicago. She did not hear his approach
+until he was very near, and then, starting at the sound of his
+footsteps, she looked up, and her cheeks flushed.
+
+"It should be a happy day for you," said Harley, "and I suppose that you
+are enjoying the triumph."
+
+"Why should I not?" she replied. "I have a share in it."
+
+"So you have, and the press has recognized it."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I was just looking at a very good picture of you," said Harley, and he
+spread the paper before her, hoping that she would express surprise and
+distaste. But she showed neither.
+
+"Oh, I've seen that already," she said, quite coolly. "Don't you think
+it a good picture?"
+
+"I have no fault to find with the likeness," replied Harley, with some
+meaning in his tone.
+
+"Then what fault have you to find?"
+
+Harley was embarrassed, and hesitated, seeking for the right words--what
+did it matter to him if she failed to show the reserve that he thought
+part of a gentlewoman's nature.
+
+"You infer more than I meant," he said, at last. "I merely felt surprise
+that they should have obtained a photograph so quickly."
+
+The slightly deepened flush in her cheeks remained and she surveyed him
+with the same cool air of defiance.
+
+"They would have had a picture, anyhow, something made up; was it not
+better, then, to furnish them a real one than to have a burlesque
+published?"
+
+"It's hardly usual," said Harley, more embarrassed than ever. "But
+really, Miss Morgan, I have no right to speak of it in any connection."
+
+"No, but you were intending to do so. It was in your eye when I looked
+up and saw you coming towards me."
+
+Her voice had grown chilly, and her gaze was fixed on Harley. The
+Western girl certainly had dignity and reserve when she wished them, but
+he did not believe that she chose the right moments to display these
+admirable qualities.
+
+"I did not know that I had such a speaking countenance," said Harley.
+"And even if so, you must not forget that you might read it wrong."
+
+"I do not think so," she said, still chilly, and, glancing up at the
+clock, she added: "It is almost twelve, and I promised Aunt Anna to be
+with her a half-hour ago."
+
+At the door she paused, turned back, and a flashing smile illuminated
+her face for a moment.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Harley," she said, "don't you wish some newspaper would print
+your picture?"
+
+Then she was gone, leaving him flushed and irritated. He was angry, both
+at her and himself; at himself because he had expected to rebuke her, to
+show her indirectly and in a delicate way where she was wrong, and he
+had never even got as far as the attack. It was he who had been put upon
+the defence, when he had not expected to be in such a state, and his
+self-satisfaction suffered. But he told himself that she was a crude
+Western girl, and that it was nothing to him if she forced herself into
+the public gaze in a bold and theatrical manner.
+
+A little later all left for Milwaukee, where Mr. Grayson was to make
+another great speech in the evening, and Harley again refrained from
+joining the group that soon gathered around Miss Morgan, and Mrs.
+Grayson, also, who, being in a very happy mood, made a loan of her
+presence as a chaperon, she said, although, being a young woman still,
+it gave her pleasure to hear them speak of her husband's brilliant
+triumph the night before, and to enjoy the atmosphere of success that
+enveloped the car.
+
+The run from Chicago to Milwaukee is short, but Harley, despite his
+pique--he was young and naturally of a cheerful temperament--might have
+joined them before their arrival if his attention had not been attracted
+by another group, that body of portly, middle-aged men, heavy with
+wealth and respectability, who had silently cast a dark shadow upon the
+meeting at Chicago. They were men of power, men whose brief words went
+far, and they held in their hands strings that controlled many and vast
+interests when they pulled them, and their hands were always on the
+strings. They were not like the great, voluble public; they worked, by
+choice and by opportunity, in silence and the dark, and their kind has
+existed in every rich country from Babylonia to the United States of
+America. They were the great financial magnates of Jimmy Grayson's
+party, and nothing that he might do could escape their notice and
+consideration. It was more than likely that in the course of the
+campaign he would feel a great power pressing upon him, and he would not
+be able to say who propelled it.
+
+Harley knew some of these men by name; one, the leader of the party, a
+massive, red-faced man, was the Honorable Clinton Goodnight, a member of
+the Lower House of Congress from New York, but primarily a manufacturer,
+a man of many millions; and the younger and slenderer man, with the
+delicately trimmed and pointed beard, was Henry Crayon, one of the
+shrewdest bankers in Wall Street. These two, at least, he knew by face,
+but no trained observer could doubt that the others were of the same
+kind.
+
+Although silent and as yet casting only a shadow, Harley felt that
+sooner or later these men would cause trouble. He had an intuition that
+the campaign before them was going to be the most famous in the Union,
+dealing with mighty issues and infused with powerful personalities.
+Great changes had occurred in the country in the last few years, its
+centre of gravity was shifting, and the election in November would
+decide many things. He felt as if all the forces were gathering for a
+titanic conflict, and his heart thrilled with the omens and presages. It
+was a pleasurable thrill, too, because he was going to be in the thick
+of it, right beside the general of one of the great armies.
+
+When they reached Milwaukee, Harley and all the correspondents went to
+the same hotel with the Graysons, and they remarked jocularly to the
+nominee that they would watch over him now night and day until the first
+Tuesday in November, and he, being a man of tact and human sympathies,
+without any affectations, was able to be a good fellow with them all,
+merely a first among his equals.
+
+There was a great crowd at the station, ready to welcome the candidate,
+and the sound of shouting and joyous welcome arose; but Harley, anxious
+to reach the hotel, slipped from the throng and sprang into a carriage,
+one of a number evidently waiting for the Grayson party. It was a closed
+vehicle, and he did not notice until he sat down that it was already
+occupied, at least in part, by a lady. Then he sprang up, red-faced and
+apologetic, but the lady laughed--a curious little laugh, ironic, but
+not wholly unpleasant--and put out a detaining hand, detaining by way of
+gesture, because she did not touch him.
+
+"You are very much surprised to find me here, Mr. Harley," said Miss
+Morgan. "You thought, of course, that I would be in the centre of that
+crowd, receiving applause and shaking hands, just as if I were a
+candidate, like my uncle James. You would not believe me if I told you
+that I came here to escape it."
+
+"Why shouldn't I believe it?"
+
+"Because I am going to tell you that your displeasure over the picture
+has made me feel so badly that I am resolved to do better, to be more
+modest, more retiring."
+
+"Miss Morgan, you do me wrong," said Harley, with reddening face. "I
+have had no such thoughts."
+
+"You fib in a good cause, but you cannot deceive me; I read your
+thoughts, but I am very forgiving, and I am resolved that we shall have
+a pleasant ride to the hotel together. Now, entertain me, tell me about
+that war, of which you saw so much."
+
+She was not in jest, and she compelled him to talk. It was far from the
+station to the hotel, and she revealed a knowledge of the world's
+affairs that Harley thought astonishing in one coming from the depths of
+the Idaho mountains. She touched, too, upon the things that interested
+him most, and drew him on until he was talking with a zest and interest
+that permitted no self-consciousness. Resolved that he would not tell
+what he had seen, and by nature reserved, he was, within five minutes,
+under her deft questions, in the middle of a long narrative of events on
+the other side of the world. He saw her listening, her eyes bright, her
+lips slightly parted, and he knew that he held her attention. He was
+aware, too, that he was flattered by the interest that he had been able
+to create in the mind of this Idaho girl whose opinion he had been
+holding so cheaply.
+
+"I envy a man," she said, at last, sighing a little. "You can go where
+you please and do what you please. Even our 'advanced women' have less
+liberty than the man who is not advanced at all. And yet I do not want
+to be a man. That, I suppose, is a paradox."
+
+Harley was about to make a light reply, something in the tone of
+perforced compliment, but a glimpse of her caused him to change his
+mind. She seemed to have a touch of genuine sadness, and, instead, he
+said nothing.
+
+When the carriage reached the ladies' entrance of the hotel they were
+still silent, and as Harley helped her from the carriage her manner was
+unchanged. The little touch of sadness was yet there, and it appealed to
+him. She surprised his look of sympathy, and the color in her cheeks
+increased.
+
+"I am tired," she said. "I just begin to realize how greatly so much
+travelling and so many crowds weigh upon one."
+
+Then, with the first smile of comradeship that she had given him, she
+went into the hotel.
+
+The Graysons, Miss Morgan, Harley, Hobart, and a few others formed a
+family group again at the table, when they dined that evening, and all
+the tensity and anxiety visible the day before was gone. Mr. Grayson's
+success in Chicago had been too complete, too sweeping to leave doubt of
+its continuance; he would be the hero and leader of his party, not a
+weight upon it, and the question now was whether or not the party had
+votes enough; hence there was a certain light and joyous air about them
+which gave to their short stay in the dining-room a finer flavor than
+any that a _chef_ could add.
+
+Churchill, of the _Monitor_, was not one of this party. Churchill did
+not confine his criticisms to his professional activities, but had a
+disposition to carry them into private life, injecting roughness into
+social intercourse, which ought to be smooth and easy. Therefore,
+somewhat to his own surprise, which ought not to have been the case, he
+had not become a member of this family group, and had much to say about
+the "frivolous familiarity" of Jimmy Grayson and "his lack of dignity."
+
+But on this evening Churchill had no desire to sit at table with the
+Graysons, because he felt that something great was going to happen in
+his life. For more than a day, now, he had been on the trail of a mighty
+movement that he believed hidden from all save himself and those behind
+this movement. He, too, had noticed the appearance at Chicago of the
+heavy, rich, elderly men, and he had spoken to one or two of them with
+all the respect and deference that their eminent position in the
+financial world drew from every writer of the _Monitor_. And his
+deference had been rewarded, because that afternoon he received a hint,
+and it came from no less a personage than the Honorable Clinton
+Goodnight himself, a hint that Churchill rightly thought was worth much
+to him.
+
+There was another large hotel in Milwaukee, and it was to this that the
+financiers had gone, having ascertained first that Grayson would not be
+there; nor did they intend to go to the speech that evening. They had
+already, in the address at Chicago, weighed accurately the power of
+Jimmy Grayson with his party, and with wary old eyes, long used to
+watching the world and its people, they had seen that it would be great.
+Hence he was a man to be handled with skill and care, to be led, not
+knowing that he was led, by a bridle invisible to all save those who
+held it--but they, the financiers, would know very well who held it.
+
+It was these men to whom Churchill came, having slipped quietly away
+from his associates, drawn by a hint that he might secure an interview
+of great importance, two columns in length and exclusive. Churchill was
+a true product of the _Monitor_, a worshipper of accomplished facts, a
+supporter of every old convention, believing that anything new or in
+rough attire was bad. Although he would have denied it if accused, he
+nearly always confounded manners with morals, and to him the opinion of
+Europe was final. Hence the _Monitor_ and Churchill were well suited to
+each other. Moreover, Churchill enjoyed the society of the great--that
+is, of those who seemed to him to be the great--and he had an admirable
+flexibility of temperament; while easily able and willing to be very
+nasty to those whom he thought of an inferior grade, he was equally able
+and willing to be extremely deferential to those whose grade he
+considered superior. He was also intolerant in opinion, thinking that
+any one who differed from him on the subjects of the day was necessarily
+a scoundrel, wherein he was again in perfect accord with the _Monitor_.
+
+It was, therefore, with an acute delight, blossoming into exultation,
+that Churchill slipped away from his associates and hastened towards the
+hotel where the financial magnates were staying. These were really great
+men, not the productions of a moment, thrown briefly into the
+lime-light, but solid like the pyramids. Mr. Goodnight must be worth
+forty millions, at the least, and he was a power in many circles.
+Churchill thrilled with delight that such a being should hint to him to
+come and be talked to, and he was more than ever conscious of his own
+superiority to his professional associates.
+
+Churchill was not awed by the hotel clerk, but haughtily asked that his
+card be sent at once to Mr. Goodnight, and he concealed his pride when
+the message came back that he be shown up as soon as possible. He
+received it as the natural tribute to his importance, and he took his
+time as he followed the guiding hall-boy. But at the door of Mr.
+Goodnight his manner changed; it became deferential, as befitted modest
+merit in the presence of true and recognized greatness.
+
+Mr. Goodnight was hospitable; there was no false pride about him; he was
+able in being great to be simple also, and Mr. Crayon and the others
+present shared his attractive manner.
+
+"Ah, Mr. Churchill," he said, as he shook hands heartily with the
+correspondent, "it gives me pleasure, indeed, to welcome you here. We
+noticed your bearing in Chicago, and we were impressed by it. We
+therefore had an additional pleasure when we learned that you were the
+correspondent of the _Monitor_, New York's ablest and most conservative
+journal. The American press grows flippant and unreliable nowadays, Mr.
+Churchill, but the waves of sensationalism wash in vain around the solid
+base of the old _Monitor_. There she stands, as steady as ever, a
+genuine light-house in the darkness."
+
+Mr. Goodnight, being a member of Congress, was able to acquire and to
+exhibit at convenient times a certain poetical fervor which impressed
+several kinds of people. Now his associates rubbed their hands in
+admiration, and Churchill flushed with pleasure. A compliment to the
+_Monitor_ was also a compliment to him, for was he not the very spirit
+and essence of the _Monitor_?
+
+"Before we get to business," continued Mr. Goodnight, in the most
+gratifyingly intimate manner, "suppose we have something just to wet our
+throats and promote conversation. This town, I believe, is famous for
+beer, but it is not impossible to get champagne here; in any event, we
+shall try it."
+
+He rang, the champagne was brought, opened, and drunk, and Churchill
+glowed with his sense of importance. These were men of many millions,
+twice his age, but he was now one with them. Certainly none of his
+associates would have been invited by them to such a conference, and he
+was able to appreciate the fact.
+
+"We want you, Mr. Churchill, to tell us something about Grayson," said
+Mr. Goodnight, in a most kindly tone; "not what all the world knows,
+those superficial facts which the most careless observer may glean, but
+something intimate and personal; we want you to give us an insight into
+his character, from which we may judge what he is likely to do or
+become. You know that he is from the West, the Far West, likely to be
+afflicted with local and provincial views, not to say heresies, and
+great vested interests within his own party feel a little shaky about
+him. We cannot have a revolutionary, or even a parochial, character in
+the presidential chair. Those interests which are the very bulwark of
+the public must be respected. We must watch over him, and in order to
+know how and what to watch, we must have information. We rely upon you
+to furnish us this information."
+
+Churchill was intensely gratified at this tribute to his merit, but he
+was resolved not to show it even to these great men. Instead, he
+carelessly emptied his champagne glass, rubbed his chin thoughtfully,
+and then asked with a certain fulness of implication:
+
+"Upon what precise point do you wish information, Mr. Goodnight? Of
+course, I have not been with Mr. Grayson very long, but I can say
+truthfully that I have observed him closely within that time, and
+perhaps no phase of a rather complicated character has escaped me."
+
+"We feel quite sure of that," said Mr. Crayon, speaking for the first
+time, and using short, choppy sentences. "_Monitor_, as I happen to
+know, is extremely careful in the selection of its men, and this, I am
+journalist enough to understand, is most important errand upon which it
+can now send member of its staff."
+
+Churchill bowed courteously to the deserved compliment, and remained
+silent while Mr. Goodnight resumed the thread of talk.
+
+"What we want to know, Mr. Churchill," he said, "is in regard to the
+elements of stability in his character. Will he respect those mighty
+interests to which I have just alluded? Is he, as a comparatively young
+man, and one wholly ignorant of the great world of finance, likely to
+seek the opinion and advice of his elders? You know that we have the
+best wishes in the world for him. His interests and ours, if he but
+perceives it, run together, and it is our desire to preserve the utmost
+harmony within the party."
+
+Churchill bowed. Their opinion and his agreed in the most wonderful
+manner. It was hard to say, in his present exalted state, whether this
+circumstance confirmed their intelligence or his, but it certainly
+confirmed somebody's.
+
+"I have already taken note of these facts," he said, in the indifferent
+tone of one whose advice is asked often, "and I have observed that Mr.
+Grayson's character is immature, and, for the present at least,
+superficial. But I think he can be led; a man with a will not very
+strong can always be led, if those with stronger wills happen to be
+near, and Mr. Grayson's faults are due to weakness rather than vice."
+
+There was an exchange of significant looks among Mr. Goodnight, Mr.
+Crayon, and their friends, and then an emphatic nodding of heads, all of
+which indicated very clearly to Churchill that they admired his
+acuteness of perception, and were glad to have their own opinion
+confirmed by one who observed so well.
+
+"Wouldn't it be well to lay these facts before the readers of the
+_Monitor_?" suggested Mr. Goodnight, mildly. "We all know what a
+powerful organ the _Monitor_ is, and what influence it has in
+conservative circles. It would be a hint to Mr. Grayson and his friends;
+it would show him the path in which he ought to walk, and it would save
+trouble later on in the campaign."
+
+Churchill's heart thrilled again. This was a greater honor even than he
+had hoped for; he was to sound the mighty trumpet note of the campaign,
+but his pride would not let him show the joy that he felt.
+
+"In giving these views--and I appreciate their great importance--shall I
+quote you and Mr. Crayon?" he asked, easily.
+
+Mr. Goodnight mused a few moments, and twiddled his fingers.
+
+"We want the despatch to appear in the shape that will give it the
+greatest effect, and you are with us in that wish, Mr. Churchill," he
+said, confidingly. "Now this question arises: if our names appear it
+will look as if it were a matter between Mr. Grayson and ourselves
+personally, which is not the case; but if it appears on the authority of
+the _Monitor_ and your own, which is weighty, it will then stand as a
+matter between Mr. Grayson and the people, and that is a fact past
+denying. Now, what do you think of it yourself, Mr. Churchill?"
+
+Since they left it so obviously to his intelligence, Churchill was bound
+to say that they were right, and he would write the warning, merely as
+coming from the great portion of the public that represented the solid
+interests of the country, the quiet, thinking people who never indulged
+in any foolish chase after a will-o'-the-wisp.
+
+Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon made many further suggestions about the
+points of the despatch, but they admitted ingenuously that they were not
+able to write, that they possessed no literary and effective style, that
+it would be for Mr. Churchill to clothe their crude thoughts--that is,
+if he approved of them--in trenchant phrase and brilliant style.
+
+There was such an air of good-fellowship, and Churchill admitted to
+himself so freely that these men might make suggestions worth while,
+that he decided, moreover, as the hour was growing late, to write the
+despatch there and then, and tell to the world through the columns of
+the _Monitor_, not what Jimmy Grayson ought to do, but all the things
+that he ought not to do, and they were many. The most important of these
+related to the tariff and the currency, which, in the view of Mr.
+Goodnight and his friends, should be left absolutely alone.
+
+Paper was produced, and Churchill began to write, often eliciting words
+of admiration from the others at the conciseness and precision with
+which he presented his views. It was cause for wonder, too, that they
+should find themselves agreeing with him so often, and they admired,
+also, the felicity of phrasing with which he continued to present all
+these things as the views of a great public, thus giving the despatch
+the flavor of news rather than opinion. When it was finished--and it
+would fill two full columns of the _Monitor_--the line was quite clearly
+drawn between what Jimmy Grayson could do and what he could not do--and
+Churchill was proud of the conviction that none but himself had drawn
+it. Mr. Grayson, reading this--and he certainly would read it--must know
+that it came from inspired sources, and he would see straight before him
+the path in which it was wise for him to walk. Churchill knew that he
+had rendered a great service, and he felt an honest glow.
+
+"I think I shall file this at once," he said, "as it is growing late,
+and there is an hour's difference between here and New York."
+
+They bade him a most complimentary adieu, suggesting that they would be
+glad to hear from him personally during the campaign, and announcing
+their willingness to serve him if they could; and Churchill left the
+hotel, contented with himself and with them. When he was gone, they
+smiled and expressed to each other their satisfaction. In fifteen
+minutes swift operators were sending Churchill's despatch eastward.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+"KING" PLUMMER
+
+
+Meanwhile the evening was proving of no less interest to Harley than to
+Churchill, although in a quite different way. He had noticed, when they
+parted at the hotel door, the apparent sadness, or, rather, the touch of
+the pathetic in the manner of Miss Morgan, and he observed it again when
+they were all reunited at the hotel table. Heretofore she had been
+light, ironical, and bearing a full share in the talk, but now she
+merely replied when spoken to directly, and her tone had the tinge of
+melancholy. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson looked at her more than once, as if
+they were about to refer to some particular subject, but always they
+refrained; instead, they sought by light talk to divert attention from
+her, and they succeeded in every case but that of Harley.
+
+It was not a long dinner, and as they returned to the ladies' parlor
+they were welcomed by a loud, joyous cry, and out of the dark of the
+room a big man projected himself to greet them. His first words were for
+Miss Morgan, whom he affectionately called "Little Girl," and whom he
+seized by the hands and kissed on the forehead. It was a loud voice, but
+round, full, and mellow, and Harley judged that it came from a big
+nature as well as a big body.
+
+When the man stepped into the light, Harley saw that he was over six
+feet high, and with a width according. His broad face was covered with
+short, iron-gray beard, and his head was thatched with hair equally
+thick and of the same gray shade. In years he might have been fifty, and
+it was Harley's first impression at this moment that the big man was
+Miss Morgan's father--it came to him with a rather queer feeling that it
+had never occurred to him to ask about her parents, whether they were
+living or dead, and what kind of people they were or had been.
+
+The stranger shook hands with Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, and expressed
+vocally the pleasure that his eyes also conveyed. Harley and Hobart were
+the only others present, and, turning to them, Mr. Grayson introduced
+the stranger, Mr. William Plummer--"King Plummer, you know."
+
+Then Harley remembered vaguely, and he began to place Mr. Plummer. He
+recalled allusions in the press to one William Plummer, otherwise "King"
+Plummer, who lived in the far Northwest, and who, having amassed
+millions in ranching and mining, had also become a great power in the
+political world, hence his term "King," which was more fitting in his
+case than in that of many real kings. He had developed remarkable skill
+in politics, and, as the phrase went, held Idaho, his own state, in the
+hollow of his hand, and in a close election could certainly swing
+Montana and Wyoming as he wished, and perhaps Utah and Washington, too.
+
+Harley's interest instantly became keen, and he did not take his eyes
+off "King" Plummer. Clearly he was a man of power; he fairly radiated
+it, not merely physically, but mentally. His gestures, his voice, every
+movement indicated a vast reserve strength. This was one of the great
+men whose development the rough field of the new West had permitted.
+
+Harley was not alone interested in "King" Plummer, but also in the kiss
+that he had put upon the white forehead of Sylvia Morgan and his
+boisterous joy at seeing her. Since he was not her father, it was likely
+that he was her uncle, not by blood, as Jimmy Grayson was, but as the
+husband of an aunt, perhaps. Yes, this must be it, he concluded, and the
+kiss seemed more reasonable.
+
+When "King" Plummer was introduced to Harley and Hobart, he shook hands
+with them most cordially, but as keen a man as Harley could see that he
+regarded them as mere youths, or "kids," as the "King" himself would
+have said. There was nothing depreciatory in this beyond the difference
+between age and great achievement and youth which had not yet had the
+time to fulfil its promise, and Harley, because of it, felt no decrease
+of liking and respect for "King" Plummer.
+
+"The far Northwest is for you solidly, Jimmy," said the big man, with a
+joyous smile. "Idaho is right in line at the head of the procession, and
+Wyoming, Montana, and the others are following close after. They haven't
+many votes, but they have enough to decide this election."
+
+Jimmy Grayson smiled. He had reason to smile. He, too, liked "King"
+Plummer, and, moreover, this was good news that he brought.
+
+"I fancy that you have had something to do with this," he said. "You
+still know how to whisper a sweet word in the ear of the people."
+
+The big man shook himself, laughed again, and looked satisfied.
+
+"Well, I have done a lot of whispering," he admitted, "if you call it
+whispering, though most people, I'll gamble, would say it is like the
+clatter of a mill. And I've done some riding, too, both train and horse.
+The mountains are going to be all right. Don't you forget that, Jimmy."
+
+"And it's lucky for me that 'King' Plummer is my friend," said Mr.
+Grayson, sincerely.
+
+During this talk of politics, Sylvia Morgan was silent, and once, when
+"King" Plummer laid his big hand protectingly on her arm, she shrank
+slightly, but so slightly that no one save Harley noticed, not even the
+"King." The action roused doubts in his mind. Surely a girl would not
+shrink from her uncle in this manner, not from a big, kindly uncle like
+Plummer.
+
+"I wanted to get down to Chicago and hear you at your first speech,"
+went on "King" Plummer, in his big, booming voice, that filled the room,
+"but I couldn't manage it. There was a convention at Boisé that needed a
+little attention--one likes to look on at those things, you know"--his
+left eye contracted slightly--"and as soon as that was over I hurried
+down as fast as an express could bring me. But I've read in all the
+papers what a howlin' success it was, an' I'm goin' to hear you give it
+to the other fellows to-night--won't we, Sylvia?"
+
+He turned to the girl for confirmation of what needed no confirmation,
+and her eyes smiled into his with a certain pride. She seemed to Harley
+to admire his bigness, his openness of manner and speech, and his
+wholesome character. After all, he was her uncle; the look that she gave
+him then was that of one who received protection, half paternal and half
+elder-brotherly.
+
+"And now, Jimmy, I guess I've taken up enough of your time," exclaimed
+"King" Plummer, his big, resonant chest-tones echoing in the room, "and
+it's for you to do all the talkin' that's left. But I'll be in a box
+listenin', and just you do your best for the credit of the West and the
+mountains."
+
+Grayson smiled and promised, and "King" Plummer joined them in the
+carriage that bore them to the hall. He took his place with them in such
+a natural and matter-of-fact manner that Harley was confirmed in his
+renewed opinion that he was Sylvia Morgan's uncle, or, at least, her
+next of kin, after Mr. Grayson.
+
+At the hall "King" Plummer, as he had promised, sat in a box with Mrs.
+Grayson and Miss Morgan, and always he led the applause, which in
+reality needed no leading, the triumph at Chicago being repeated in full
+degree. Harley, watching him from his desk, saw that the big man was
+filled with sanguine expectation of triumph, and, with the glow of Jimmy
+Grayson's oratory upon him, could not see any such result as defeat. But
+Miss Morgan was strangely silent, and all her vivacity of manner seemed
+to be gone.
+
+When the speech was nearly over Churchill sauntered in lazily by the
+stage entrance and took a seat near Harley. Harley had not noticed his
+previous absence until then.
+
+"How's the speech to-night?" he asked, languidly; "same old chestnuts, I
+suppose."
+
+"As this is Mr. Grayson's second speech," replied Harley, sharply, "it
+is a little early to call anything that he says 'same old chestnuts.'
+Besides, I don't think that repetition will ever be one of his faults.
+Why haven't you been here?"
+
+"Oh, I've been cruising around a bit on the outside. The Associated
+Press, of course, will take care of the speech, which is mere routine."
+
+He spoke with such an air of supercilious and supreme satisfaction that
+Harley looked at him keenly.
+
+"Pick up anything?" he asked, briefly.
+
+"Oh, a trifle or two; nothing, however, that you would care about."
+
+"Now, I wonder what it is that makes him so content with himself,"
+thought Harley, but he had little time to devote to Churchill, as his
+own despatch was occupying his attention.
+
+Harley could not go back to the hotel with the Grayson party when the
+speech was over, as he had to file his despatch first, but he saw them
+all the next morning at the breakfast-table. "King" Plummer was there,
+too, as expansive as ever, and showing mingled joy and sorrow--joy over
+the second triumph of the candidate, which was repeated at great length
+in the morning papers, and sorrow because he could not continue with
+them on the campaign, which moved to Detroit for the third night.
+
+"I'd be a happy man if I could do it," he said, in his booming tones,
+"happy for more reasons than one. It would be a big holiday to me.
+Wouldn't I enjoy hearing you tear the enemy to pieces night after night,
+Jimmy! and then I'd be with you right along, Sylvia."
+
+He looked at the girl, and his look was full of love and protection. She
+flushed and seemed embarrassed. But there was no hesitation or
+awkwardness about the big man.
+
+"Never you mind, little girl," he said; "when you are Mrs. Plummer--an'
+that ain't far away, I hope--you'll be with me all the time. Besides,
+I'm goin' to join Jimmy Grayson when he comes out West, an' make the
+campaign there with him."
+
+The color in Miss Morgan's face deepened, and she glanced, not at "King"
+Plummer or her uncle, but at Harley, and when her eyes met his the color
+in her cheeks deepened still further. Then she looked down at her plate
+and was silent and embarrassed.
+
+Harley, as he heard these words of the "King," felt a strange thrill of
+disapproval. It was, as he told himself, because of the disparity in
+ages. It was true that a man of this type was the very kind to restrain
+Sylvia Morgan, but twenty and fifty should never wed, man and wife
+should be young together and should grow old together. It was no
+business of his, and there was no obligation upon him to look after the
+happiness of either of these people, but it was an arrangement that he
+did not like, violating as it did his sense of fitness.
+
+"King" Plummer was to leave them an hour later, taking a train for St.
+Paul, and thence for Idaho. He bade them all a hearty good-bye, shaking
+hands warmly with Jimmy Grayson, to whom he wished a career of unbroken
+triumph, repeating these good wishes to Mrs. Grayson, and again kissing
+Sylvia Morgan on the forehead--the proper kiss, Harley thought, for
+fifty to bestow upon twenty, unless twenty should happen to be fifty's
+daughter.
+
+"We won't be separated long, Sylvia, girl," he said, and she flushed a
+deep red and then turned pale. To Harley he said:
+
+"And I'll try to show you the West, young man, when you come out there.
+This is no West; Milwaukee ain't West by a jugful. Just you wait till
+you get beyond the Missouri, then we'll show you the real West, and real
+life at the same time."
+
+There was a certain condescension in the tone of "King" Plummer, but
+Harley did not mind it; so far as the experience of life in the rough
+was concerned, the "King" had a right to condescend.
+
+"I shall hold you to your promise," he said.
+
+Then "King" Plummer, waving good-byes with a wide-armed sweep, large and
+hearty like himself, departed.
+
+"There goes a true man," said Mr. Grayson, and Harley spontaneously
+added confirmation. But Miss Morgan was silent. She waved back in
+response to the King of the Mountains, but her face was still pale, and
+she was silent for some time. Harley now knew that "King" Plummer was
+not her uncle nor her next of kin after Jimmy Grayson in any way, but he
+was unable to tell why this marriage-to-be had been arranged.
+
+But he quickly learned the secret, if secret it was; it was told to him
+on the train by Mrs. Grayson as they rode that afternoon to Detroit.
+
+"If you were ever in Idaho," she said, "you would soon hear the story of
+"King" Plummer and Sylvia. It is a tragedy of our West; that is, it
+began in a great tragedy, one of those tragedies of the plains and the
+mountains so numerous and so like each other that the historians forget
+to tell about them. Sylvia's mother was Mr. Grayson's eldest sister,
+much older than he. She and her husband and children were part of a
+wagon-train that was going up away into the Northwest where the
+railroads did not then reach.
+
+"It was long ago--when Sylvia was a little girl, not more than seven or
+eight--and the train was massacred by Utes just as they reached the
+Idaho line. The Utes were on the war-path--there had been some sort of
+an outbreak--and the train had been warned by the soldiers not to go on,
+but the emigrants were reckless. They laughed at danger, because they
+did not see it before their faces. They pushed on, and they were
+ambushed in a deep canyon.
+
+"There was hardly any fight at all, the attack was so sudden and
+unexpected. Before the people knew what was coming half of them were
+shot down, and then those awful savages were among them with tomahawk
+and knife. Mr. Harley, I've no use for the Indian. It is easy enough to
+get sentimental about him when you are away off in the East, but when
+you are close to him in the West all that feeling goes. I heard Sylvia
+tell about that massacre once, and only once. It was years ago, but I
+can't forget it; and if I can't forget it, do you think that she can?
+Her father was killed at the first fire from the bushes, and then an
+Indian, covered with paint and bears' claws, tomahawked both her mother
+and her little brother before her eyes--yes, and scalped them, too. He
+ran for the girl next, but Sylvia--I think it was just physical
+impulse--dashed away into the scrub, and the Indian turned aside for a
+victim nearer at hand.
+
+"Sylvia lay hid until night came, and there was silence over the
+mountain, the silence of death, Mr. Harley, because when she slipped
+back in the darkness to the emigrant train she found every soul that had
+been in it, besides herself, dead. Think, Mr. Harley, of that little
+girl alone in all those vast mountains, with her dead around her! Do you
+wonder that sometimes she seems hard?"
+
+"No, I don't," replied Harley. Despite himself a mist came to his eyes
+over this pathetic tragedy of long ago.
+
+"Sylvia has never said much about that night she spent there with the
+dead, in the midst of the wrecked and plundered train, but when a number
+of border men, alarmed about the emigrants, pushed on the next day to
+save them if possible, what do you suppose they found her doing?"
+
+"I can't guess."
+
+"She had got a spade somewhere from one of the wagons, and, little as
+she was, she was trying to bury her own dead. She was so busy that she
+didn't see them ride up, and William Plummer, their leader--he was a
+young man then--actually shed tears, so they say. Well, these men
+finished the burial, and Mr. Plummer put Sylvia on his horse before him
+and rode away. He adopted the little thing as his daughter. He said she
+was the bravest creature he had ever seen, and, as he was not likely to
+have any real daughter, she should take a place that ought to be filled.
+
+"Were the Utes who did this massacre punished?"
+
+"No one knows; the soldiers killed a number of them in battle, but
+whether the slain were those who ambushed the train is not decided in
+border history."
+
+"I think I understand the rest of the story of Mr. Plummer and Miss
+Morgan," said Harley.
+
+"Yes, it is not hard to guess. Mr. Grayson and her other relatives
+farther East did not hear of her rescue until long afterwards; they
+supposed her dead--but no one could have cared for her better than Mr.
+Plummer. He kept her first at his mining-hut in the mountains, but after
+two or three years he took her into town to Boisé; he put her in the
+care of a woman there and sent her to school. He loved her already like
+a real daughter. She was just the kind to appeal to him, so brave and so
+fond of the wild life. They say that at first she refused to stay in
+Boisé. She ran away and tried to go on foot to him away up in the
+mountains, where the mining-camp was. When he heard of it, they say he
+laughed, and I suspect that he swore an oath or two--he lived among
+rough men you know--but if he did, they were swear words of admiration;
+he said it was just like her independence and pluck. But he made her
+stay in Boisé."
+
+"He knew what was right and what was due both him and her, because now
+he was becoming a great man in the Northwest. He rose to power in both
+financial and public life, and his daughter must be equal to her
+fortune. But he spoiled her, you can see that, and how could he help
+it?"
+
+"She was fifteen before we heard that she was alive, and then Mr.
+Grayson and her other relatives wanted to take her and care for her, but
+Mr. Plummer refused to give her up, and he was right. He had saved her
+when he found her a little girl alone in all those vast mountains, and
+he was entitled to her. Don't you think so, Mr. Harley?"
+
+"I do," replied Harley, with conviction.
+
+"We yielded to his superior claim, but he sent her more than once to see
+us. We loved her from the first, and we love her yet."
+
+Here Mrs. Grayson paused and hesitated over her words, as if in
+embarrassment.
+
+"But it is not you and Mr. Grayson alone who love her," suggested
+Harley.
+
+"It is not we alone; in Boisé everybody loves her, and at the mines and
+on Mr. Plummer's ranches they all love her, too."
+
+"I did not mean just that kind of love."
+
+Mrs. Grayson flushed a little, but she continued:
+
+"You are speaking of Mr. Plummer himself; she was his daughter at first,
+and so long as she was a little girl I suppose that he never dreamed of
+her in any other light. But when she began to grow into a young woman,
+Mr. Harley--and a beautiful one, too, as beautiful as she is good--he
+began to look at her in a different way. When these elderly men, who
+have been so busy that they have not had time to fall in love, do fall
+in love, the fall is sudden and complete. Mr. Plummer was like the
+others. And what else could she do? She was too young to have seen much
+of the world. There was no young man, none of her own age, who had taken
+her heart. Mr. Plummer is a good man, and she owed him everything. Of
+course, she accepted him. I ask you, what else could she do?"
+
+There was a defensive note in her voice when she said: "I ask you, what
+else could she do?" and Harley replied, with due deliberation:
+
+"Perhaps she could do nothing else, but sometimes, Mrs. Grayson, I have
+my doubts whether twenty and fifty can ever go happily together."
+
+"We like Mr. Plummer, and he is a great friend of my husband's."
+
+Harley said nothing, but he, too, liked Mr. Plummer, and he held him in
+the highest respect. It required little effort of the imagination to
+draw a picture of the brave mountaineer riding from the Indian massacre
+with that little girl upon his saddle-bow. And much of his criticism of
+Sylvia Morgan herself was disarmed. She was more a child of the
+mountains even than his first fancy had made her, and it was not a
+wonder that her spirit was often masculine in its strength and boldness.
+It was involuntary, but he thought of her with new warmth and
+admiration. Incited by this feeling, he soon joined her and the group
+that was with her. He had expected to find her sad and comparatively
+silent, but he had never seen her in a more lively mood, full of light
+talk and jest and a gay good-humor that could not have failed to infect
+the most hardened cynic. Certainly he did not escape its influence, nor
+did he seek to do so, but as he watched her he thought there was a
+slight touch of feverishness to her high spirits, as if she had just
+escaped from some great danger.
+
+Before they reached Detroit he talked a while with Mr. Grayson, in the
+private drawing-room of the car--Mrs. Grayson had joined the others--and
+"King" Plummer was the subject of their talk.
+
+"Is he really such a great political power in the Northwest?" asked
+Harley.
+
+"He is. Even greater than popular report makes him. I believe that in a
+presidential election he could decide the vote of five or six of those
+lightly populated states. He has so many interests, so many strings that
+he holds, and he is a man of so much energy and will. You see, I want to
+keep "King" Plummer my friend."
+
+"I surely would, if I were in your place," said Harley, with conviction.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+ON THE ROAD
+
+
+The great success of Grayson as an orator was continued at Detroit. A
+vast audience hung breathless upon his words, and he played upon its
+emotions as he would, now thrilling the people with passion, and then
+stirring them to cheers that rolled like thunder. It became apparent
+that this hitherto obscure man from the Far West was the strongest
+nominee a somewhat disunited party could have named, and Harley, whose
+interest at first had been for the campaign itself rather than its
+result, began to have a feeling that after all Grayson might be
+elected--at least he had a fighting chance, which might be more if it
+were not for the shadow of Goodnight, Crayon, and their kind. Part of
+these men had gone back, among them the large and important Mr.
+Goodnight; but Harley saw the quiet Mr. Crayon still watching from a
+high box at Detroit, and he knew that no act or word of the candidate
+would escape the scrutiny of this powerful faction within the party.
+
+Ample proof of his conclusion, if it were needed, came the next morning
+in a copy of the New York _Monitor_, Churchill's paper, which contained
+on its front page a long, double-leaded despatch, under a Milwaukee date
+line. It was Hobart who brought it in to Mr. Grayson and his little
+party at the breakfast-table.
+
+"Excuse me for interrupting you, Mr. Grayson," he said, flourishing the
+paper as if it were a sort of flag; "but here is something that you are
+bound to see. It's what might be called a word in your ear, or, at
+least, it seems to me to have that sound. I guess that Churchill got a
+beat on us all in Milwaukee."
+
+"I wish you would join us, Mr. Hobart, and read the whole article to us,
+if you will be so kind," said the candidate, calmly.
+
+Nothing could have pleased Hobart better, and he read with emphasis and
+care, resolved that his hearers should not lose a word. Churchill had a
+good style, and he possessed a certain skill in innuendo, therefore he
+was able throughout the article to make his meaning clear. He stated
+that among those surrounding the candidate--he could give names if he
+would, but it was not necessary--there was a certain feeling that Mr.
+Grayson was not quite--at least not yet--as large as the position for
+which he had been nominated. Keen observers had noticed in him a
+predisposition to rashness; he had spoken lightly more than once of
+great vested interests.
+
+"Uncle James, how could you be so lacking in reverence?" exclaimed
+Sylvia Morgan.
+
+Mr. Grayson merely smiled.
+
+"Go on, Mr. Hobart," he said.
+
+"'But some of the ablest minds in the country are closely watching Mr.
+Grayson,'" continued the article, "'and where he needs support or
+restraint he will receive it. There are certain issues not embodied in
+the platform from which he will be steered.'"
+
+"Now, I think that is too much!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson, the indignant
+red rising in her cheeks.
+
+"Their printing it does not make it true, Anna," said the candidate,
+mildly.
+
+"As if you did not know enough to run your own campaign!" exclaimed the
+indignant wife.
+
+But Jimmy Grayson continued to smile. "We must expect this sort of
+thing," he said; "it would be a dull campaign without it. Please go on,
+Mr. Hobart."
+
+A number of eminent citizens, the article continued, would make a
+temporary sacrifice of their great business interests for the sake of
+the campaign and the people, and with their restraining care it was not
+likely that Mr. Grayson could go far wrong, as he seemed to be an
+amiable man, amenable to advice. Thus it continued at much length, and
+Harley, keen and experienced in such matters, knew very well whence
+Churchill had drawn his inspiration.
+
+"The editor, also, makes comment upon this warning," said Hobart, who
+was undeniably enjoying himself.
+
+"I should think that the despatch was enough," said Mrs. Grayson, whose
+indignation was not yet cooled.
+
+"But it isn't, Mrs. Grayson," said Hobart; "at least, the editor of the
+_Monitor_ does not think so. Listen.
+
+"'The campaign in behalf of our party has begun in the West, and we have
+felt the need of thoroughly reliable news from that quarter, free from
+the sensationalism and levity which we are sorry to say so often
+disgrace our American newspapers, and make them compare unfavorably with
+the graver and statelier columns of the English press.'"
+
+"He is an Englishman himself," said Harley--"American opinion through an
+English channel."
+
+Even Jimmy Grayson laughed.
+
+"'At last we have obtained this information,'" continued Hobart,
+reading, "'and we are able to present it to-day to those earnest and
+sincere people, the cultivated minority who really count, and who
+constitute the leaven in the mass of the light and frivolous American
+people. A trusted correspondent of ours, judicious, impartial,
+absolutely devoid of prejudices, has obtained from high sources with
+which common journalistic circles are never in touch----'"
+
+"How the bird befouls its own nest!" said the elderly Tremaine.
+
+"'--information that will throw much light upon a campaign and a
+candidate both obscure hitherto. This we present upon another page, and,
+as our cultivated readers will readily infer, the candidate, Mr.
+Grayson, is not a bad man----'"
+
+"Thanks for that crowning mercy," said Mr. Grayson.
+
+"--but neither is he a great one; in short, he is, at least for the
+present, narrow and provincial; moreover, he is of an impulsive
+temperament that is likely to lead him into untrodden and dangerous
+paths. Our best hope lies in the fact that Mr. Grayson, who has not
+shown himself intractable, may be brought to see this, and will rely
+upon the advice of those who are fitted to lead rather than upon the
+reckless fancies of the Boys who are sure to surround him if he gives
+them a chance. In this emergency we are sure that all the best in the
+state will rally with us. The eyes of Europe are upon us, and we must
+vindicate ourselves.'"
+
+"Uncle James," said Sylvia Morgan, sweetly, "I trust that you will
+remember throughout the campaign that the eye of Europe is upon you, and
+conduct yourself accordingly. I have noticed that in many of your
+speeches you seemed to be unconscious of the fact that Vienna and St.
+Petersburg were watching you. Such behavior will never do."
+
+Mr. Grayson smiled once more. He seemed to be less disturbed than any
+one else at the table, yet he knew that this was in truth a warning
+given by an important wing of the party, and, therefore, he must take
+thought of it. A prominent politician of Michigan was present, the guest
+of Mr. Grayson, and he did not take the threat as calmly as the
+candidate.
+
+"The writer of this despatch is with your party, I suppose," he said to
+Mr. Grayson.
+
+"Oh yes; it is Mr. Churchill. He has been with us since the start."
+
+"I would not let him go a mile farther; a man who writes like that--why,
+it's a positive insult to you!--should not be allowed on your train."
+
+The Michigan man's face flushed red, and in his anger he brought his
+hand down heavily on the table; but Harley did not look at him, his full
+attention being reserved for the candidate. Here was a test of his
+bigness. Would he prove equal to it?
+
+"I am afraid that would be a mistake," said Jimmy Grayson, amiably, to
+the Michigan man, "a mistake in two respects: our Constitution
+guarantees the freedom of the press, and the _Monitor_ and its
+correspondent have a right to write that way, if they wish to do so; and
+if we were to expel Mr. Churchill, it would give them all the greater
+ground for complaint. Now, perhaps I am, after all, a narrow and
+ignorant person who needs restraint."
+
+He spoke the last sentence in such a whimsical tone and with such a
+frank smile that they were all forced to laugh, even the Michigan man.
+But Harley felt relief. The candidate had shown no littleness.
+
+"I was sure that you would return such an answer, Uncle James," said
+Sylvia Morgan, and the look that she gave him was full of faith. "Now, I
+mean to help you by converting Mr. Churchill."
+
+"How will you do that?"
+
+"I shall smile upon him, use my winning ways, and draw him into the
+fold."
+
+There was a slight edge to her voice, and Harley was not sure of her
+meaning; but he and she were together in the parlor an hour later, when
+they met Churchill, and he had a chance to see. Churchill evidently was
+not expecting to find them there, but he assumed an important air,
+knowing that his despatches had been received and read, and feeling,
+therefore, that he was the author of a sensation. He anticipated
+hostility; he believed that Mr. Grayson's relatives and friends would
+assail him with harsh words, and he had spoken already to one or two
+persons of the six months' ordeal that he would have to endure. "But we
+must stand such things when they are incurred in the line of duty," he
+said, "and I have a way which, perhaps, will teach them to be not so
+ready in attacking me." He expected such a foray against him now, and
+his manner became haughty in the presence of Sylvia Morgan and Harley.
+
+"We--that is, all of us--have just been reading your despatch in the
+_Monitor_," she said, in a most winning tone, "and on behalf of Uncle
+James I want to thank you, Mr. Churchill."
+
+Churchill looked surprised but doubtful, and did not abate the stiffness
+of his attitude nor the severity of his gaze.
+
+"We do feel grateful to you," she continued, in the same winning tone.
+"There was never a man more willing than Uncle James to learn, and,
+coming out of the depths of the West, he knows that he needs help. And
+how beautifully you write, Mr. Churchill! It was all put so delicately
+that no one could possibly take offence."
+
+It was impossible to resist her manner, the honey of her words, and
+Churchill, who felt that she was but giving credit where credit was due,
+became less stern.
+
+"Do you really like it, Miss Morgan?" he asked, and he permitted himself
+a smile.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, "and I noticed that the _Monitor_ alone contained
+an article of this character, all about those big men who are watching
+over Uncle James, and will not let him go wrong. That is what you
+correspondents call a beat, isn't it?"
+
+Churchill gave Harley a glance of triumph, but he replied, gravely:
+
+"I believe it is what we call a beat, Miss Morgan."
+
+"And you will continue to help us in the same way, won't you, Mr.
+Churchill?" she continued. "You know who those great men are; Mr.
+Harley, here, I am sure does not, nor does Mr. Blaisdell nor Mr. Hobart;
+you alone, as the _Monitor_ says, can come into touch with such
+important circles, and you will warn us again and again in the columns
+of the _Monitor_ when we are about to get into the wrong path. Oh, it
+would be a great service, and I know that Uncle James would appreciate
+it! You will be with us throughout the campaign, and you will have the
+chance! Now, promise me, Mr. Churchill, that you will do it."
+
+Her manner had become most appealing, and her face was slightly flushed.
+It was not the first time that Harley realized how handsome she was, and
+how winning she could be. It was his first thought, then, what a woman
+this mountain maid would make, and his second that "King" Plummer should
+continue to look upon her as his daughter--she was too young to be his
+wife.
+
+Nor was Churchill proof against her beauty and her blandishments. He
+felt suddenly that for her sake he could overlook some of Mr. Grayson's
+faults, or at least seek to amend them. It was not hard to make a
+promise to a pair of lovely eyes that craved his help.
+
+"Well, Miss Morgan," he said, graciously, "since it is you who ask it, I
+will do my best. You know I am not really hostile to Mr. Grayson. The
+_Monitor_ and I are of his party, and we shall certainly support him as
+long as he will let us."
+
+"You are so kind!" she said. "You have seen so much of the world, Mr.
+Churchill, that you can help us greatly. Uncle James, as I told you, is
+always willing to learn, and he will keep a sharp watch on the
+_Monitor_."
+
+"The _Monitor_, as I need not tell you," said Churchill, "is the chief
+organ in New York of good government, and it is never frivolous or
+inconsequential. I had hoped that what I sent from Milwaukee would have
+its effect, and I am glad to see, Miss Morgan, that it has."
+
+Churchill now permitted himself a smile longer and more complacent, and
+Harley felt a slight touch of pity that any man should be blinded thus
+by conceit. And Sylvia did not spare him; by alternate flattery and
+appeal she drew him further into the toils, and Harley was surprised at
+her skill. She did not seem to him now the girl from Idaho, the child of
+the mountains and of massacre, but a woman of variable moods, and all of
+them attractive, no whit inferior to her Eastern sisters in the
+delicate airs and graces that he was wont to associate with feminine
+perfection.
+
+As for Churchill, he yielded completely to her spell, not without some
+condescension and a memory of his own superiority, but he felt himself
+willing to comply with her request, particularly because it involved no
+sacrifice on his own part. He and the _Monitor_ would certainly keep
+watch over Mr. Grayson, and he would never hesitate to write the words
+of warning when ever he felt that they were needed.
+
+"Why did you treat him that way?" asked Harley, when Churchill had gone.
+
+"What do you mean by 'that way'?" she asked, and her chin took on a
+saucy uplift.
+
+"Well, to be plain, why did you make a fool of him?"
+
+"Was my help needed?"
+
+Harley laughed.
+
+"Don't be too hard on Churchill," he said, "he's the creature of
+circumstance. Besides, you must not forget that he is going to watch
+over Mr. Grayson."
+
+Churchill did not join the general group until shortly before the
+departure for the evening speech, and then he approached with an
+undeniable air of hostility and defence, expecting to be attacked and
+having in readiness the weapons with which he had assured himself that
+he could repel them. Miss Morgan, it is true, had received him well, but
+she, so he had begun to believe, was a girl of perception and
+discrimination, and the fine taste shown by her would not be exhibited
+by others. The candidate, surprising him much, received him cordially,
+though not effusively, and he was made welcome in similar manner by the
+others. There was no allusion whatever to his despatch, but he found
+himself included in the general gossip, just as if he were one of a
+group of good comrades.
+
+Yet Churchill was not wholly pleased. His great stroke seemed to be
+ignored by all except Miss Morgan, when they ought to be stirred deeply
+by it, and he felt a sense of diminished importance. There should be
+confusion among them, or at least trepidation. He closely studied the
+faces of Mr. Grayson and the others to see if they were merely masking
+their fire, but no attack came either then or later.
+
+Thus two or three days passed, and the campaign deepened and popular
+interest increased. Not since the eve of the Civil War had there been
+such complexity and intensity of interests, and never before had the
+personal factor been so strong. Out of the vast turmoil quickly emerged
+James Grayson as the most picturesque figure that ever appeared upon the
+stage of national politics in America. His powerful oratory, his daring,
+and his magnetic personality drew the eyes of all, and Harley saw that
+wherever he might be there the fight would be thickest. The
+correspondent's intuition had been right; he had come from a war on the
+other side of the world to enter another and greater campaign, one in
+which mind counted for more.
+
+The candidate, in his rising greatness, was even a hero to his own
+family; and from none did he draw greater admiration than from his
+niece, Sylvia Morgan. A fierce champion of the West, she always bitterly
+resented the unconscious patronage of the East, which was really the
+natural patronage of age rather than of convinced superiority; and her
+uncle's triumph filled her with delight, because, to her mind, it was
+the triumph of the West that she loved so well. Inspired with this
+feeling, she appealed to Harley about the sixth or seventh day of the
+campaign for his opinion on its result, and the correspondent hesitated
+over his answer. He found that his feeling towards her in this week had
+changed greatly, the elements in her character, which at first seemed to
+him masculine and forward, were now much modified and softened; always
+the picture of that child in the mountains, alone among her dead, rose
+before him, and then followed the picture of the little girl borne away
+on his saddle-bow by the brave borderer. He would think of her now with
+a singular softness, a real pity for those misty days which she herself
+had almost forgotten. Hence he hesitated, because what he deemed to be
+the truth would have in it a sting for her. But her clear eyes instantly
+read his hesitation.
+
+"You need not be afraid to tell me your real opinion, Mr. Harley," she
+said. "If you think the chances are against Uncle James, I should like
+you to say so."
+
+"I do think they are against him now, although they may not be so later
+on," replied he, equivocating with himself a little. "It is an uphill
+fight, and then one can easily deceive one's self; in a nation of eighty
+or ninety millions even a minority can surround a candidate with a
+multitude of people and a storm of enthusiasm."
+
+"But Uncle James is the greatest campaigner ever nominated for the
+Presidency," she said, "and we shall yet win."
+
+Harley said nothing in reply, but he gladly noticed her refusal to be
+discouraged, like other people having an admiration for courage and
+spirit. In fact, it seemed to him that she had a cheerfulness somewhat
+beyond the occasion.
+
+Three days later--they were in Pittsburg then--she received a letter
+addressed in a strong, heavy hand, her name being spelled in large
+letters. Sylvia Morgan was alone in the hotel parlor when it was brought
+to her, and a strange shadow, or rather the shadow of a shadow, came
+over her face as she held it uneasily in her fingers and looked at the
+Idaho postmark in the corner. She knew the handwriting well, and she
+knew that it was a true index to the character of its author--rough,
+strong, and large. That handwriting could not lie, neither could he. She
+continued to hesitate, with the letter in her hand; it was the first
+time that she had ever done so with a letter of his, and she felt that
+she was disloyal. She heard a voice in the other parlor--the wide doors
+between were open; it was the voice of Harley speaking to her uncle, and
+a flush crept into her cheeks. Then she shook herself in a sudden little
+whirl of anger, and abruptly opened the letter with a swift, tearing
+sound. It was a longer letter than he usually wrote, and he said:
+
+
+     "MY DEAREST LITTLE SYLVIA--I have been here just two hours, and, I
+     tell you, the sight of Idaho is good for the eyes, though it would
+     be better if you were here with me, as you soon will be all the
+     time, little one."
+
+
+She paused a moment, looking away, and the shadow of the shadow came
+back to her face. Then she murmured: "He is the best man in the world,"
+and resolutely went on:
+
+
+     "The more I see of the other states the better I like Idaho, and I
+     like next best those that are most like it. Every peak out here
+     nodded a welcome to me as I came in on the train. I've known them
+     all for thirty years. I was a little afraid of them at first, they
+     were so tall and solemn with their white crests, but we are old
+     friends now--I'll have a white crest myself before long, and I'm
+     fairly tall now, though perhaps I'll never be solemn. And I drew a
+     deep breath and a long breath, the first one in days, the moment I
+     crossed the Idaho line. The East sits rather heavy on me [he called
+     Chicago the East], and my eyes get tired with so many people
+     passing before them. Now, I'm not running down the East, which is
+     all right in its own way, but I am glad we have so much mountain
+     and unwatered plain out here, because then the people can never get
+     so thick that they tread on you; not that they mean to do it, but
+     crowds shove just because they can't help it."
+
+
+Sylvia smiled, and for a moment there was a little moisture in her eyes.
+"Good old daddy," she murmured. Somehow, the pet name "daddy" seemed
+just to fit him. Then the resolute little frown came over her face again
+and she went on.
+
+
+     "As I said, Idaho is a good state. I like it when I am here, and I
+     like it all the better when I come back to it. God's people live in
+     these Rocky Mountain states, and that is a reason why I am so
+     red-hot to have your uncle James elected. He is one of God's
+     people, too, and they have never yet had a man of ours sitting in
+     the White House down there at Washington and bossing the job. I
+     think maybe he will teach them a new trick or two in running the
+     old ship of state. But, Sylvia, I am not thinking so much even of
+     him as I am of you. I know that I am a good deal older than you, as
+     people count years, but I can truly say that my heart is young, and
+     I think that I will be a husky chap for a good long time to come.
+     You know I've had you nearly all your life, Sylvia, and we have the
+     advantage of knowing each other. You are on to all my curves--that
+     is, you don't have to get married to me to learn my failings.
+
+     "I guess I haven't the polish that those Eastern fellows put on, or
+     that is put on them, but out here in the mountains I amount to
+     somebody--you must let me brag a little, Sylvia--and if a man
+     doesn't bow pretty low to Mrs. William Plummer, I'll have to get
+     out my old six-shooter--I haven't carried one now for ten
+     years--and shoot all the hair off the top of his head."
+
+
+"He thinks he's joking, but I believe he would do it. Dear old daddy!"
+murmured Sylvia.
+
+
+     "I think you ought to become Mrs. Plummer now, Sylvia, but I guess
+     I'm willing to wait until this campaign is over. For one ought to
+     be willing to wait, if by waiting he can get such a good thing.
+     Still, I hate to think of you away off there in the East, so many
+     thousands of miles away from me, where there are no friendly old
+     mountains to look down on you and watch over you, and I'm glad that
+     my little girl is coming West again soon. I'll try to get down part
+     of the way, say to Nebraska or Kansas, to meet you. I feel safer
+     when I have you close by; then, if any of those young Eastern
+     fellows should try to kidnap you and run away with you, my old
+     six-shooter might have a word to say."
+
+
+The sudden flush rose to her cheeks at this new joke, but she murmured
+nothing. The rest of the letter was about people whom they knew in Boisé
+and elsewhere in Idaho, and it closed:
+
+
+     "Don't think I'm growing gushing at my age, Sylvia, but Idaho, fine
+     as she is, isn't near complete without you, and this is why I want
+     you back in it just as soon as you can come.
+                                       Yours, lovingly,
+                                              "WILLIAM PLUMMER."
+
+
+She folded the letter carefully and put it back in the envelope. Then
+she sat for a long time, and her look was one of mingled tenderness and
+sadness. Her mind, too, ran back into the past, and she had a dim vision
+of the little child, who was herself, borne away on his saddle-horn by
+the strong mountaineer, who held her safely in the hollow of his arm.
+And then the years followed, and she always looked to the mountaineer
+for the protection and the love that were never wanting, but it was
+always the protection and love of one older and stronger than herself,
+one who belonged to the generation preceding her own.
+
+Mr. Grayson, Harley, and the others were gone, and she heard no voices
+in the next parlor. She realized with suddenness how strongly and in how
+brief a time this little group, travelling through a vast country, had
+become welded together by the very circumstances of their travel--the
+comradeship of the road--and she sighed. She and Mrs. Grayson were about
+to leave them and return to the Grayson home in the West, because women,
+no matter how nearly related, could not be taken all the way on an
+arduous campaign of six months. She had enjoyed this life, which was
+almost the life of a soldier--the crowds, the enthusiasm, the murmur,
+then the cheers of thousands of voices, the flight on swift trains from
+one city to another, the dash for the station sometimes before daylight,
+and all the freshness and keenness of youth about her. She had
+affiliated, she had become one of the group, and now that she was to
+leave it for a while she had a deep sense of loss.
+
+There was a step beside her, and Mrs. Grayson, the quiet, the tactful,
+and the observant, entered.
+
+"Why, Sylvia," she said, "you are sitting in the dark!"
+
+She touched the button, turned on the electric lights, and noticed the
+letter lying in the girl's hand. Her glance passed swiftly to Sylvia's
+face and as swiftly passed away. She knew instinctively the writer of
+the letter, but she said nothing, waiting for Sylvia herself to speak.
+
+"I have a letter from Mr. Plummer," said Sylvia.
+
+"What does he say?"
+
+"Not much besides his arrival at Boisé--just some foolishness of his;
+you know how he loves to jest."
+
+"Yes, I have long known that," said Mrs. Grayson, but she noticed that
+Sylvia made no offer to show the letter. Hitherto the letters of "King"
+Plummer had been read by all the Graysons as a matter of course, just as
+one shares interesting news.
+
+"He is a good man, and he will be a good husband," said Mrs. Grayson.
+She was for the moment ruthless with a purpose, and when she said the
+words, although affecting not to watch, she saw the girl flinch--ever so
+little, but still she flinched.
+
+"The best man in the world," repeated Sylvia Morgan, softly.
+
+"And yet there are other good men," said Mrs. Grayson, quietly. "One
+good man does not exclude the existence of another."
+
+Sylvia looked up at her, but she failed to take her meaning. Her quiet
+aunt sometimes spoke in parables, and waited for events to disclose her
+meaning.
+
+Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan were to leave for the West the next
+afternoon, and shortly before their departure Harley came to tell them a
+temporary good-bye. Sylvia and he chanced to be alone for a little
+while, and she genuinely lamented her departure--they had become franker
+friends in these later days.
+
+"I do not see why women cannot go through a political campaign from
+beginning to end," she said; "I'm sure we can help Uncle James, and
+there will be, too, so many interesting things to see. It will be like a
+war without the wounds and death. I don't want to miss any of it."
+
+"I half agree with you," said Harley, smiling, "and I know that it would
+be a great deal nicer for the rest of us if you and Mrs. Grayson could
+go along."
+
+He paused, and he had a sudden bold thought.
+
+"If anything specially interesting happens that the newspapers don't
+tell about, will you let me write you an account of it?" he asked. "I
+should really like to tell you."
+
+She flushed ever so little, but she was of the free-and-open West, and
+Harley always gave her the impression of courteous strength--he would
+take no liberties.
+
+"You can write," she said, briefly, and then she immediately regretted
+her decision. It was the thought of "King" Plummer that made her regret
+it, but she had too much pride to change it now.
+
+Harley was at the train with Mr. Grayson when she and Mrs. Grayson left,
+and Sylvia found that he had seen to everything connected with their
+journey. Without making any noise, and without appearing to work much,
+he accomplished a good deal. She had an impulse once to thank him, but
+she restrained it, and she gave him a good-bye that was neither cool nor
+warm, just sufficiently conventional to leave no inference whatever. But
+when the train was gone and Mr. Grayson and he were riding back in the
+cab to the hotel, the candidate spoke of her.
+
+"She's a good girl, Harley," he said--he and Harley had grown to be such
+friends that he now dropped the "Mr." when he spoke directly to the
+correspondent. "She's real, as true as steel."
+
+He spoke with emphasis, but Harley said nothing.
+
+The group seemed to lose much of its vividness, color, and variety when
+the women departed, but they settled down to work, the most intense and
+exacting that Harley had ever known. All the great qualities of the
+candidate came out; he seemed to be made of iron, and on the stump he
+was without an equal; if any one in the audience was ready with a
+troublesome question, he was equally ready with an apt reply; nor could
+they disturb his good humor; and his smiling irony!--the rash fool who
+sought to deride him always found the laugh turned upon himself.
+
+Throughout the East the party was stirred to mighty enthusiasm, and
+their antagonists, who had thought the election a foregone conclusion,
+were roused from their security. Again the combat deepened and entered
+upon a yet hotter phase. Meanwhile Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their
+powerful faction within the party, kept quiet for the time. Mr. Grayson
+was not yet treading on their toes, but he knew, and his friends knew,
+that they were watching every motion of his with a hundred eyes.
+Churchill's _Monitor_ was constantly coming, laden with suggestion,
+advice, and warning, and Churchill himself alternately wore a look of
+importance and disappointment. No one ever made the slightest reference
+to his wise despatches. He had expected to be insulted, to be
+persecuted, to be a martyr for duty's sake, and, lo! he was treated
+always with courtesy, but his great work was ignored; he felt that they
+must see it, but then they might be too dull to notice its edge and
+weight. He now drew a certain consolation from his silent suffering, and
+strengthened himself anew for the task which he felt required a delicate
+and thoughtful mind.
+
+Harley wrote several times to Sylvia Morgan, both at Boisé and at her
+aunt's home--long, careful letters, in which he strove to confine
+himself to the purely narrative form, and to make these epistles
+interesting as documents. He spoke of many odd personal details by the
+way, and even at the distance of two thousand miles he continued to
+touch the campaign with the breath of life, although told at
+second-hand.
+
+The replies came in due time, brief, impersonal, thanking him for his
+trouble, and giving a little news of Mrs. Grayson, "King" Plummer, and
+herself. Harley was surprised to see with what terseness, strength, and
+elegance she expressed herself. "Perhaps there is a force in those
+mountains which unconsciously teaches simplicity and power," he found
+himself thinking. He was surprised, too, one day, when he was packing
+his valise for a hurried start, to see all her letters reposing neatly
+in one corner of the aforesaid valise. "Now, why have I done that?" he
+asked; "why have I saved those letters? They take up valuable space; I
+will destroy them." But when he closed the valise the undamaged letters
+were still neatly reposing in their allotted corner.
+
+Now the campaign in the East came to its end, and their special train
+swung westward into the states supposed to be most doubtful--first
+across the Mississippi, and then across the Missouri. The campaign
+entered upon a new phase amid new conditions--in a new world, in
+fact--and it required no intuition for Harley to feel that strange
+events were approaching.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+HIS GREATEST SPEECH
+
+
+It was the candidate's eighth speech that day, but Harley, who was in
+analytical mood, could see no decrease either in his energy or
+spontaneity of thought and expression. The words still came with the old
+dash and the old power, and the audience always hung upon them, the
+applause invariably rising like the rattle of rifle-fire. They had
+started at daylight, hurrying across the monotonous Western plains, in a
+dusty and uncomfortable car, stopping for a half-hour speech here, then
+racing for another at a second little village, and then a third race and
+a third speech, and so on. Nor was this the first day of such labors; it
+had been so week after week, and always it lasted through the day and
+far into the darkness, sometimes after midnight. But there was no sign
+to tell of it on the face of the candidate, save a slight redness around
+the edge of the eyelids, and a little hoarseness between the speeches
+when he talked to his friends in an ordinary tone.
+
+The village in which Grayson was speaking was a tiny place of twelve or
+fifteen houses, all square, unadorned, and ugly, standing in the centre
+of an illimitable prairie that rolled away on either side exactly like
+the waves of the sea, and with the same monotony. It was a
+weather-beaten gathering. The prairie winds are not good for the
+complexion, and the cheeks of these people were brown, not red. On the
+outskirts of the crowd, still sitting on their ponies, were cowboys, who
+had ridden sixty miles across the Wyoming border to hear Grayson speak.
+They were dressed exactly like the cowboys of the pictures that Harley
+had seen in magazine stories of the Western plains. They wore the
+sombreros and leggings and leather belts, but there was no disorder, no
+cursing, no shouting nor yelling. This was a phase that had passed.
+
+They listened, too, with an eagerness that few Eastern audiences could
+show. This was not to them an entertainment or anything savoring of the
+spectacular; it was the next thing to the word of God. There was a
+reverence in their manner and bearing that appealed to Harley, and he
+read easily in their minds the belief that Jimmy Grayson was the
+greatest man in the world, and that he alone could bring to their
+country the greatness that they wished as much for the country as for
+themselves. Churchill sneered at this tone of the gathering, but Harley
+took another view. These men might be ignorant of the world, but he
+respected their hero-worship, and thought it a good quality in them.
+
+They heard the candidate tell of mighty corporations, of a vague and
+distant place called Wall Street, where fat men, with soft, white
+fingers and pouches under their eyes, sat in red-carpeted offices and
+pulled little but very strong strings that made farmers on the Western
+plains, two thousand miles away, dance like jumping-jacks, just as the
+fat men wished, and just when they wished. These fat men were allied
+with others in Europe, pouchy-eyed and smooth-fingered like themselves,
+and it was their object to own all the money-bags of the world, and
+gather all the profits of the world's labor. Harley, watching these
+people, saw a spark appear in their eyes many times, but it was always
+brightest at the mention of Wall Street. That both speaker and those to
+whom his words were spoken were thoroughly sincere, he did not doubt for
+a moment.
+
+Grayson ceased, the engine blew the starting signal, the candidate and
+the correspondent swung aboard, and off they went. Harley looked back,
+and as long as he could see the station the little crowd on the lone
+prairie was still watching the disappearing train. There was something
+pathetic in the sight of these people following with their eyes until
+the last moment the man whom they considered their particular champion.
+
+It was but an ordinary train of day cars, the red plush of the seats now
+whitened by the prairie dust, and it was used in common by the
+candidate, the flock of correspondents, and a dozen politicians, the
+last chiefly committeemen or their friends, one being the governor of
+the state through which they were then travelling.
+
+Harley sought sleep as early as possible that night, because he would
+need all his strength for the next day, which was to be a
+record-breaker. A tremendous programme had been mapped out for Jimmy
+Grayson, and Harley, although aware of the candidate's great endurance,
+wondered how he would ever stand it. They were to cut the state from
+southeast to northwest, a distance of more than four hundred miles, and
+twenty-four speeches were to be made by the way. Fresh from war, Harley
+did not remember any more arduous journey, and, like an old campaigner,
+he prepared for it as best he could.
+
+It was not yet daylight when they were awakened for the start of the
+great day. A cold wind moaned around the hamlet as they ate their
+breakfast, and then hastened, valise in hand, and still half asleep, to
+the train, which stood steam up and ready to be off. They found several
+men already on board, and Churchill, when he saw them, uttered the brief
+word, "Natives!" They were typical men of the plains, thin, dry, and
+weather-beaten, and the correspondents at first paid but little
+attention to them. It was common enough for some local committeeman to
+take along a number of friends for a half-day or so, in order that they
+might have a chance to gratify their curiosity and show their admiration
+for the candidate.
+
+But the attention of Harley was attracted presently by one of the
+strangers, a smallish man of middle age, with a weak jaw and a look
+curiously compounded of eagerness and depression.
+
+The stranger's eye met Harley's, and, encouraged by his friendly look,
+he crossed the aisle and spoke to the correspondent.
+
+"You are one of them newspaper fellers that travels with Grayson, ain't
+you?" he asked.
+
+Harley admitted the charge.
+
+"And you see him every day?" continued the little man, admiringly.
+
+"Many times a day."
+
+"My! My! Jest to think of your comin' away out here to take down what
+our Jimmy Grayson says, so them fellers in New York can read it! I'll
+bet he makes Wall Street shake. I wish I was like you, mister, and could
+be right alongside Jimmy Grayson every day for weeks and weeks, and
+could hear every word he said while he was poundin' them fellers in Wall
+Street who are ruinin' our country. He is the greatest man in the
+world. Do you reckon I could get to speak to him and jest tech his
+hand?"
+
+"Why, certainly," replied Harley. He was moved by the little man's
+childlike and absolute faith and his reverence for Jimmy Grayson as a
+demigod. It was not without pathos, and Harley at once took him into the
+next car and introduced him to Grayson, who received him with the
+natural cordiality that never deserted him. Plover, the little man said
+was his name--William Plover, of Kalapoosa, Choctaw County. He regarded
+Grayson with awe, and, after the hand-shake, did not speak. Indeed, he
+seemed to wish no more, and made himself still smaller in a corner,
+where he listened attentively to everything that Grayson said.
+
+He also stood in the front row at each stopping-place, his eyes fixed on
+Grayson's face while the latter made his speech. The candidate,
+by-and-by, began to notice him there. It is often a habit with those who
+have to speak much in public to fix the eye on some especially
+interested auditor and talk to him directly. It assists in a sort of
+concentration, and gives the orator a willing target.
+
+Grayson now spoke straight to Plover, and Harley watched how the little
+man's emotions, as shown in his face, reflected in every part the
+orator's address. There was actual fire in his eyes, whenever Grayson
+mentioned that ogre, Wall Street, and tears rose when the speaker
+depicted the bad condition of the Western farmer.
+
+"Wouldn't I like to go on to Washington with Jimmy Grayson when he takes
+charge of the government!" exclaimed Plover to Harley when this speech
+was finished--"not to take a hand myself, but jest to see him make
+things hum! Won't he make them fat fellers in Wall Street squeal! He'll
+have the Robber Barons squirmin' on the griddle pretty quick, an'
+wheat'll go straight to a dollar a bushel, sure! I can see it now!"
+
+His exultation and delight lasted all the morning; but in the afternoon
+the depressed, crushed feeling which Harley had noticed at first in his
+look seemed to get control.
+
+Although his interest in Grayson's speeches and his devout admiration
+did not decrease, Plover's melancholy grew, and Harley by-and-by learned
+the cause of it from another man, somewhat similar in aspect, but larger
+of figure and stronger of face.
+
+"To tell you the truth, mister," said the man, with the easy freedom of
+the West, "Billy Plover--and my cousin he is, twice removed--my name's
+Sandidge--is runnin' away."
+
+"Running away?" exclaimed Harley, in surprise. "Where's he running to,
+and what's he running from?"
+
+"Where he's runnin' to, I don't know--California, or Washington, or
+Oregon, I guess. But I know mighty well what he's runnin' away from;
+it's his wife."
+
+"Ah, a family trouble?" said Harley, whose delicacy would have caused
+him to refrain from asking more. But the garrulous cousin rambled on.
+
+"It's a trouble, and it ain't a trouble," he continued. "It's the
+weather and the crops, or maybe because Billy 'ain't had no weather nor
+no crops, either. You see, he's lived for the last ten years on a
+quarter-section out near Kalapoosa, with his wife, Susan, a good woman
+and a terrible hard worker, but the rain's been mighty light for three
+seasons, and Billy's wheat has failed every time. It's kinder got on
+his temper, and, as they 'ain't got any children to take care of, Billy
+he's been takin' to politics. Got an idea that he can speak, though he
+can't, worth shucks, and thinks he's got a mission to whack Wall Street,
+though I ain't sure but what Wall Street don't deserve it. Susan says he
+ain't got any business in politics, that he ought to leave that to
+better men, an' stay an' wrastle with the ground and the weather. So
+that made them take to spattin'."
+
+"And the upshot?"
+
+"Waal, the upshot was that Billy said he could stand it no longer. So
+last night he raked up half the spare cash, leavin' the rest and the
+farm and stock to Susan, an' he loped out. But first he said he had to
+hear Jimmy Grayson, who is mighty nigh a whole team of prophets to him,
+and, as Jimmy's goin' west, right on his way, he's come along. But
+to-night, at Jimmy's last stoppin'-place, he leaves us and takes a train
+straight to the coast. I'm sorry, because if Susan had time to see him
+and talk it over--you see, she's the man of the two--the whole thing
+would blow over, and they'd be back on the farm, workin' hard, and with
+good times ahead."
+
+Harley was moved by this pathetic little tragedy of the plains, the
+result of loneliness and hard times preying upon the tempers of two
+people. "Poor devil!" he thought. "It's as his cousin says; if Susan
+could only be face to face with him for five minutes, he'd drop his
+foolish idea of running away and go home."
+
+Then of that thought was born unto him a great idea, and he immediately
+hunted up the cousin again.
+
+"Is Kalapoosa a station on the telegraph line?" he asked.
+
+"Oh yes."
+
+"Would a telegram to that point be delivered to the Plover farm?"
+
+"Yes. Why, what's up?"
+
+"Nothing; I just wanted to know. Now, can you tell me what time
+to-night, after our arrival, a man may take a train for the coast from
+Weeping Water, our last stop?"
+
+"We're due at Weepin' Water," replied the cousin, "at eleven to-night,
+but I cal'late it'll be nigher twelve when we strike the town. You see,
+this is a special train, runnin' on any old time, an' it's liable now
+and then to get laid out a half an hour or more. But, anyhow, we ought
+to beat the Denver Express, which is due at twelve-thirty in the
+mornin', an' stops ten minutes at the water-tank. It connects at Denver
+with the 'Frisco Express, an' I guess it's the train that Billy will
+take."
+
+"Does the Denver Express stop at Kalapoosa?"
+
+"Yes. Kalapoosa ain't nothin' but a little bit of a place, but the
+Pawnee branch line comes in there, and the express gets some passengers
+off it. Say, mister, what's up?"
+
+But Harley evaded a direct answer, having now all the information he
+wished. He went back to the next car and wrote this despatch:
+
+
+                                                        "KALAPOOSA.
+     "SUSAN PLOVER,--Take to-day's Denver Express and get off to-night
+     at Weeping Water. You will find me at Grayson's speaking, standing
+     just in front of him. Don't fail to come. Will explain everything
+     to you then.
+                                                   "WILLIAM PLOVER."
+
+
+Harley looked at this message with satisfaction. "I guess I'm a forger,"
+he mused; "but as the essence of wrong lies in the intention, I'm doing
+no harm."
+
+He stopped at the next station, prepaid the message, and, standing by,
+saw with his own eyes the operator send it. Then he returned to the
+train and resumed his work with fresh zest.
+
+And he had plenty to do. He had seen Jimmy Grayson make great displays
+of energy, but his vitality on this terrible day was amazing. On and on
+they went, right into the red eye of the sun. The hot rays poured down,
+and the dust whirled over the plain, entering the car in clouds, where
+it clothed everything--floors, seats, and men alike--until they were a
+uniform whitey-brown. It crept, too, into Harley's throat and stung his
+eyelids, but at each new speech the candidate seemed to rise fresher and
+stronger than ever, and at every good point he made the volleys of
+applause rose like rifle-shots.
+
+Harley, at the close of a speech late in the day, sought his new friend,
+Plover. The little man was crushed down in a seat, looking very gloomy.
+Harley knew that he was thinking of Kalapoosa, the spell of Grayson's
+eloquence being gone for the moment.
+
+"Tired, Mr. Plover?" said Harley, putting a friendly hand on his
+shoulder.
+
+"A little bit," replied Plover.
+
+"But it's a great day," continued Harley. "I tell you, old man, it's one
+to be remembered. There never was such a campaign. The story of this
+ride will be in all the papers of the United States to-morrow."
+
+"Ain't he great! Ain't he great!" exclaimed Plover, brightening into
+enthusiasm. "And don't he hit Wall Street some awful whacks?"
+
+"He certainly is great," replied Harley. "But you wait until we get to
+Weeping Water. That's the last stop, and he'll just turn himself loose
+there. You mustn't miss a word."
+
+"I won't," replied Plover. "I'll have time, because the Denver Express,
+on which I'm going to 'Frisco, don't leave there till twelve-forty. No,
+I won't miss the big speech at Weeping Water."
+
+They reached Weeping Water at last, although it was full midnight, and
+they were far behind time, and together they walked to the speaker's
+stand.
+
+Harley saw Plover in his accustomed place in the front rank, just under
+the light of the torches, where he would meet the speaker's eye, his
+face rapt and worshipful. Then he looked at his watch.
+
+"Twelve-fifteen," he said to himself. "The Denver Express will be here
+in another fifteen minutes, and Susan will fall on the neck of her
+Billy."
+
+Then he stopped to listen to Grayson. Never had Harley seen him more
+earnest, more forcible. He knew that the candidate must be sinking from
+physical weakness--his pale, drawn face showed that--but his spirit
+flamed up for this last speech, and the crowd was wholly under the spell
+of his powerful appeal.
+
+Harley met, presently, the cousin, Sandidge.
+
+"This is Grayson's greatest speech of the day," Harley said, "and how it
+must please Mr. Plover!"
+
+"That's so," replied Sandidge; "but Billy's all broke up over it."
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" asked Harley, in sudden alarm.
+
+"The Denver Express is nearly two hours and a half late--won't be here
+until three, and at Denver it'll miss the 'Frisco Express; won't be
+another for a day. So Billy, who's in a hurry to get to the coast--the
+old Nick's got into him, I reckon--is goin' by the express on the B. P.;
+the train on the branch line that goes out there at two-ten connects
+with it, and so does the accommodation freight at two-forty. It's hard
+on Billy--he hates to miss any of Jimmy Grayson's speeches, but he's
+bound to go."
+
+Harley was touched by real sorrow. He drew his pencil-pad from his
+pocket, hastily wrote a few lines upon it, pushed his way to the stage,
+and thrust what he had written into Mr. Grayson's hands. The speaker,
+stopping to take a drink of water, read this note:
+
+
+     "DEAR MR. GRAYSON,--The Denver Express is two hours and a half
+     late. For God's sake speak until it comes; you will hear it at
+     three, when it pulls into the station. It is a matter of life and
+     death, and while you are speaking don't take your eye off the
+     little man with the whiskers, who has been with us all day, and who
+     always stands in front and looks up at you. I'll explain everything
+     later, but please do it. Again I say it's a matter of life and
+     death.
+                                                     "JOHN HARLEY."
+
+
+Grayson looked in surprise at Harley, but he caught the appealing look
+on the face of the correspondent. He liked Harley, and he knew that he
+could trust him. He knew, moreover, that what Harley had written in the
+note must be true.
+
+Grayson did not hesitate, and, nodding slightly to Harley, turned and
+faced the crowd, like a soldier prepared for his last and desperate
+charge. His eyes sought those of the little man, his target, looking up
+at him. Then he fixed Plover with his gaze and began.
+
+They still tell in the West of Jimmy Grayson's speech at Weeping Water,
+as the veterans tell of Pickett's rush in the flame and the smoke up
+Cemetery Hill. He had gone on the stage a half-dead man. He had already
+been speaking nineteen hours that day. His eyes were red and swollen
+with train dust, prairie dust, and lack of sleep. Every bone in him
+ached. Every word stung his throat as it came, and his tongue was like a
+hot ember in his mouth. Deep lines ran away from his eyes.
+
+But Jimmy Grayson was inspired that night on the black prairie. The
+words leaped in livid flame from his lips. Never was his speech more
+free and bold, and always his burning eyes looked into those of Plover
+and held him.
+
+Closer and closer pressed the crowd. The darkness still rolled up,
+thicker and blacker than ever. Grayson's shoulders sank away, and only
+his face was visible now. The wind rose again, and whistled around the
+little town and shrieked far out on the lonely prairie. But above it
+rose the voice of Grayson, mellow, inspiring, and flowing full and free.
+
+Harley looked and listened, and his admiration grew and grew. "I don't
+agree with all he says," he thought, "but, my God! how well he says it."
+
+Then he cowered in the lee of a little building, that he might shelter
+himself from the bitter wind that was searching him to the marrow.
+
+Time passed. The speaker never faltered. A half-hour, an hour, and his
+voice was still full and mellow, nor had a soul left the crowd. Grayson
+himself seemed to feel a new access of strength from some hidden source,
+and his form expanded as he denounced the Trusts and the Robber Barons,
+and all the other iniquities that he felt it his duty to impale, but he
+never took his eyes from Plover; to him he was now talking with a force
+and directness that he had not equalled before. Time went on, and, as if
+half remembering some resolution, Plover's hand stole towards the
+little old silver watch that he carried in the left-hand pocket of his
+waistcoat. But just at that critical moment Grayson uttered the magical
+name, Wall Street, and Plover's hand fell back to his side with a jerk.
+Then Grayson rose to his best, and tore Wall Street to tatters.
+
+A whistle sounded, a bell rang, and a train began to rumble, but no one
+took note of it save Harley. The two-ten on the branch line to connect
+with the 'Frisco Express on the B. P. was moving out, and he breathed a
+great sigh of relief. "One gone," he said to himself; "now for the
+accommodation freight."
+
+The speech continued, but presently Grayson stopped for a hasty drink of
+water. Harley trembled. He was afraid that Grayson was breaking down,
+and his fears increased when he saw Plover's eyes leave the speaker's
+face and wander towards the station. But just at that moment the
+candidate caught the little man.
+
+"Listen to me!" thundered Grayson, "and let no true citizen here fail to
+heed what I am about to tell him."
+
+Plover could not resist the voice and those words of command. His
+thoughts, wandering towards the railroad station, were seized and
+brought back by the speaker. His eyes were fixed and held by Grayson,
+and he stood there as if chained to the spot.
+
+Time became strangely slow. The accommodation freight must be more than
+ten minutes late, Harley thought. He looked at his watch, and found that
+it was not due to leave for five minutes yet. So he settled himself to
+patient waiting, and listened to Grayson as he passed from one national
+topic to another. He saw, too, that the lines in the speaker's face were
+growing deeper and deeper, and he knew that he must be using his last
+ounces of strength. His soul was stirred with pity. Yet Grayson never
+faltered.
+
+The whistle blew, the bell rang, and again the train rumbled. The
+two-forty accommodation freight on the branch line to connect with the
+'Frisco Express on the B. P. was moving out, and Plover had been held.
+He could not go now, and once more Harley breathed that deep sigh of
+relief. Twenty minutes passed, and he heard far off in the east a faint
+rumble. He knew it was the Denver Express, and, in spite of his
+resolution, he began to grow nervous. Suppose the woman should not come?
+
+The rumble grew to a roar, and the train pulled into the station.
+Grayson was faithful to the last, and still thundered forth the
+invective that delighted the soul of Plover. The train whistled and
+moved off again, and Harley waited in breathless anxiety.
+
+A tall form rose out of the darkness, and a woman, middle-aged and
+honest of face, appeared. The correspondent knew that it must be Susan.
+It could be nobody else. She was looking around as if she sought some
+one. Harley's eye caught Grayson's, and it gave the signal.
+
+"And now, gentlemen," said the candidate, "I am done. I thank you for
+your attention, and I hope you will think well of what I have said."
+
+So saying, he left the stage, and the crowd dispersed. But Harley
+waited, and he saw Plover and his wife meet. He saw, too, the look of
+surprise and then joy on the man's face, and he saw them throw their
+arms around each other's neck and kiss in the dark. They were only a
+poor, prosaic, and middle-aged couple, but he knew they were now happy
+and that all was right between them.
+
+When Grayson went to his room, he fell from exhaustion in a half-faint
+across the bed; but when Harley told him the next afternoon the cause of
+it all, he laughed and said it was well worth the price.
+
+They obtained, about a week later, the New York papers containing an
+account of the record-breaking day. When Harley opened the _Monitor_,
+Churchill's paper, he read these head-lines:
+
+
+                             GRAYSON'S GAB
+
+                HE IS TALKING THE FARMERS OF THE WEST TO
+                                 DEATH
+
+                  TWENTY-FOUR SPEECHES IN TWENTY-FOUR
+                                 HOURS
+
+                HE TALKS FIFTY THOUSAND WORDS IN ONE DAY,
+                           AND SAYS NOTHING
+
+
+But when he looked at the _Gazette_, he saw the following head-lines
+over his own account:
+
+
+                           HIS GREATEST SPEECH
+
+                GRAYSON'S WONDERFUL EXHIBITION OF PLUCK
+                              AND ENDURANCE
+
+                AFTER RIDING FOUR HUNDRED MILES AND MAKING
+                     TWENTY-THREE SPEECHES HE HOLDS
+                       AN AUDIENCE SPELLBOUND FOR
+                           THREE HOURS AT HIS
+                             TWENTY-FOURTH
+
+                SPEAKS FROM MIDNIGHT UNTIL THREE IN THE
+                   MORNING IN THE OPEN AIR AND NOT A
+                    SOUL LEAVES, THOUGH A BLIZZARD
+                              WAS RAGING
+
+
+Harley sighed with satisfaction.
+
+"That managing editor of mine knows his business," he said to himself.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+SYLVIA'S RETURN
+
+
+Harley slept late the next day, and it was the heavy, somewhat nervous
+slumber of utter exhaustion, like that which he had more than once
+experienced in the war on the other side of the world, after days of
+incessant marching. When he awoke, it was afternoon on the special
+train, and as he joined the group he was greeted with a suppressed
+cheer.
+
+"I understand that you stayed the whole thing through last night, or
+rather this morning," said Churchill, in a sneering tone. "There's
+devotion for you, boys!"
+
+"I was amply repaid," replied Harley, calmly. "His last speech was the
+most interesting; in fact, I think it was the greatest speech that I
+ever heard him make."
+
+"I fear that Jimmy Grayson is overdoing it," said the elderly Tremaine,
+soberly. "A Presidential nominee is not exactly master of himself, and I
+doubt whether he should have risked his voice, and perhaps the success
+of his party, speaking in that cold wind until three or four o'clock
+this morning."
+
+"He just loves to hear the sound of his own voice," said Churchill, his
+ugly sneer becoming uglier. "I think it undignified and absurd on the
+part of a man who is in the position that he is in."
+
+Harley was silent, and he was glad now that he had said nothing in his
+despatch about the real reason for Grayson's long speaking. He had had
+at first a little struggle over it with his professional conscience,
+feeling that his duty required him to tell, but a little reflection
+decided him to the contrary. He had managed the affair, it was not a
+spontaneous occurrence, and, therefore, it was the private business of
+himself and Mr. James Grayson. It gave him great relief to be convinced
+thus, as he knew that otherwise the candidate would be severely
+criticised for it both by the opposition press and by a considerable
+number of his own party journals.
+
+But there was one person to whom Harley related the whole story. It was
+told in a letter to Sylvia Morgan, who was then at the home of the
+candidate with Mrs. Grayson. After describing all the details minutely,
+he gave his opinion: he held that it was right for a man, even in
+critical moments weighted with the fate of the many, to halt to do a
+good action which could affect only one or two. A great general at the
+height of a battle, seeing a wounded soldier helpless on the ground,
+might take the time to order relief for him without at all impairing the
+fate of the combat; to do otherwise would be a complete sacrifice of the
+individual for the sake of a mighty machine which would banish all
+humanity from life. He noticed that even Napoleon, in the midst of what
+might be called the most strenuous career the world has known, turned
+aside to do little acts of kindness.
+
+He was glad to find, when her reply came a few days later, that she
+agreed with him at least in the main part of his argument; but she
+called his attention to the fact that it was not Mr. Grayson, but Harley
+himself, who had injected this strange element into the combat when it
+was at its zenith; her uncle James had merely responded to a strong and
+moving appeal, which he would always do, because she knew the softness
+of his heart; yet she was not willing for him to go too far. A general
+might be able to turn aside for a moment at the height of the battle,
+and then he might not. She wished her uncle James to be judicious in his
+generosity, and not make any sacrifice which might prove too costly
+alike to himself and to others.
+
+"She is a compound of romance and strong common-sense," thought Harley,
+musing over the letter. "She wants the romance without paying the price.
+Now I wonder if that is not rather more the characteristic of women than
+of men."
+
+On the day following the receipt of this letter, a look of joy came over
+the face of the candidate and there was a visible exhilaration
+throughout his party. Men, worn, exhausted, and covered with the dust of
+the great plains, began to freshen up themselves as much as they could;
+there was a great brushing of soiled clothing, a hauling out of clean
+collars, a sharpening of razors, and a general inquiry, "How do I look?"
+The whole atmosphere of the train was changed, and it became much
+brighter and livelier. It was the candidate himself who wrought the
+transformation, after reading a letter, with the brief statement, "Mrs.
+Grayson and Sylvia will join us to-morrow."
+
+All had begun to pine for feminine society, as soldiers, long on the
+march, desire the sight of women and the sound of their voices. It is
+true that they saw women often, and many of them--some who were
+beautiful and some who were not--as they sped through the West, but it
+was always a flitting and blurred glimpse. "I haven't got an impression
+of the features of a single one of them," complained the elderly beau,
+Tremaine. Now two women whom they knew well and liked would be with them
+for days, and they rejoiced accordingly.
+
+It was at a little junction station in eastern Colorado, in the clear
+blue-and-silver of a fine morning, that Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia met
+them. Mr. Grayson and his party had been down about fifty miles on a
+branch line for a speech at a town of importance, and they had begun the
+return journey before daylight in order to make the connection. But when
+the gray dawn came through the dusty car-windows, it was odd to see how
+neat and careful all appeared, even under such difficult circumstances.
+
+Harley was surprised to realize the eagerness with which he looked
+forward to the meeting, and put it down to the long lack of feminine
+society. But he wondered if Sylvia had changed, if the nearer approach
+of her marriage with "King" Plummer would make her reserved and with her
+outlook on the future--that is, as one apart.
+
+He had a favorable seat in the car and he was the first to see them. The
+junction was a tiny place of not more than a half-dozen houses standing
+in the midst of a great plain, and it made a perfect silhouette against
+the gorgeous morning sunlight. Harley saw two slender figures outlined
+there in front of the station building, and, despite the distance, he
+knew them. There was to him something typically American and typically
+Western in these two women coming alone into that vast emptiness and
+waiting there in the utmost calmness, knowing that they were as safe as
+if they were in the heart of a great city, and perhaps safer.
+
+He knew, too, which was Sylvia; her manner, her bearing, the poise of
+her figure, had become familiar to him. Slender and upright, she was in
+harmony with the majesty of these great and silent spaces, but she did
+not now seem bold and forward to him; she was clothed in a different
+atmosphere altogether.
+
+There was a warm greeting for Mr. Grayson and the hand of fellowship for
+the others. Harley held Sylvia's fingers in his for a moment--just a
+moment--and said, with some emphasis:
+
+"Our little party has not been the same without you, Miss Morgan."
+
+"I'm glad to hear you say it," she replied, frankly, "and I'm glad to be
+back with all of you. It's a campaign that I enjoy."
+
+"It can be said for it that it is never monotonous."
+
+"That's one reason why I like it."
+
+She laughed a little, making no attempt to conceal her pleasure at this
+renewed touch with fresh, young life, and, because it was so obvious,
+Harley laughed also and shared her pleasure. He noticed, too, the new
+charm that she had in addition to the old, a softening of manner, a
+slight appeal that she made, without detracting in any wise from the
+impression of strength and self-reliance that she gave.
+
+"Where did you leave 'King' Plummer?" he asked, unguardedly.
+
+"In Idaho," she replied, with sudden gravity. "He is well, and I believe
+that he is happy. He is umpiring a great quarrel between the cattlemen
+and the sheepmen, or, rather, he is compelling both to listen to him and
+to agree to a compromise that he has suggested. So he is really enjoying
+himself. You do not know the delight that he takes in the handling of
+large and rather rough affairs."
+
+"I can readily guess it; he seems to have been made for them."
+
+But she said no more of "King" Plummer, quickly turning the talk to the
+campaign, and showing at once that she had followed every phase of it
+with the closest and most anxious attention. Mrs. Grayson had walked on
+a little and was talking to her husband, but she glanced back and saw
+what she had expected. She and her husband turned presently in their
+walk, and she said, looking significantly at Harley and Miss Morgan:
+
+"It is a great pleasure to Sylvia to be with your party again."
+
+There was such a curious inflection to her voice that the candidate
+exclaimed, "Why, what do you mean, Anna?" and she merely replied, "Oh,
+nothing!" which meant everything. The candidate, understanding, looked
+more attentively, and his eyes contracted a little, as if he were not
+wholly pleased at what he saw.
+
+"It's a free world," he said, "but I am glad that 'King' Plummer will be
+with us again in a few days."
+
+But his wife, able to see further than he, merely looked thoughtful and
+did not reply.
+
+Harley's solitary talk with Miss Morgan was brief; it could not be
+anything else under the circumstances; Hobart, with all sail set, bore
+down upon them.
+
+"Come! Come, Harley!" he cried, with the perfect frankness that usually
+distinguished him, "we don't permit any selfish monopolists here. We are
+all cast away on a desert island, so to speak, and there are a lot of us
+men and only two women, one of whom is mortgaged!"
+
+Then he was welcoming Miss Morgan in florid style; and there, too, was
+the ancient beau, Tremaine, displaying all his little arts of elegance
+and despising Hobart's obvious methods; and Blaisdell, and all the
+others, forming a court about her and giving her an attention which
+could not fail to please her and bring a deeper red to her cheeks and a
+brighter flash to her eyes. It seemed to Mrs. Grayson, looking on, that
+the girl had been hungry for something which she had now found, and in
+finding which she was happy, and, despite her sense of loyalty, she felt
+a glow of sympathy.
+
+But the sense of duty in Mrs. Grayson was strong, and while she
+hesitated much and sought for mental excuses to avoid it, she wrote a
+long letter to "King" Plummer that evening in the waiting-room of a
+little wayside hotel. In many things that she said she was beautifully
+vague; but she told him how glad she was that he would join them so
+soon; she spoke of the quarrel between the cattlemen and the sheepmen as
+a closed affair, and complimented him on his skill in bringing it to an
+end so quickly; it was all the better because now he could come to them
+at once, and she boldly said how much Sylvia was missing him. But when
+she sealed and addressed the letter she reflected awhile before dropping
+it in the box on the wall.
+
+"Now, ought I to do this?" she asked herself. "Have I the right to
+hasten or to divert the course of affairs?"
+
+She decided that she had the right, and mailed the letter.
+
+"King" Plummer came a few days later--he said that he "just blew in a
+few days ahead of time"--and received a hearty welcome from everybody,
+which he returned in double measure in his broad, spontaneous way. He
+placed a sounding kiss upon the somewhat flushed brow of Sylvia Morgan,
+and exclaimed, "Well, my little girl, aren't you glad to see me ahead of
+time?" She replied quickly, though not loudly, that she was, and then he
+announced that he would stay with them for a long while. "These are my
+mountains," he said, "and I'll have to show you the way through them."
+
+"King" Plummer, although inclined to be masterful, was admitted at once
+into the full membership of the party, and he entered upon what he
+called his first long vacation. He showed the keenest enjoyment in the
+speeches, the crowds, the enthusiasm, the travelling, and the
+quick-shifting scenes. He was a boy with the boys, but the watchful Mrs.
+Grayson noticed a shade of difference between Sylvia with the "King"
+present and Sylvia with the "King" absent. With him present there was a
+little restraint, a slight effort on her part to watch herself; but with
+him away there was great spontaneity and freedom, especially with the
+younger members like Harley and Hobart, and even Churchill, who
+reluctantly admitted that Miss Morgan was a fine girl, "though rather
+Western, you know."
+
+Mrs. Grayson began to take thought with herself again, and the thought
+was taken with great seriousness. Had she been right in bringing "King"
+Plummer on so soon, although he did not even know that he was brought?
+She resolutely asked herself, too, how much of her action had been due
+to the knowledge that the "King" was a very important man to her
+husband, controlling, as he probably could, the vote of several mountain
+states. This question, which she could not answer, troubled her, and so
+did the conduct of Sylvia, who, usually so frank and straightforward,
+seemed to be suffering from a strange attack of perverseness. For years
+she had obeyed "King" Plummer as her protector and as the one who had
+rightful control, but now she began to give him orders and to criticise
+many things that he did, to the unlimited astonishment of the "King,"
+who had never expected anything of the kind.
+
+"What is the matter with Sylvia? I never knew her to act in such a way
+before," he said to Mrs. Grayson.
+
+"As she is to be your wife, and not a sort of ward, she is merely giving
+you a preliminary training," replied the candidate's wife, dryly.
+
+"King" Plummer looked at her in doubt, but he pondered the question
+deeply and was remarkably meek the next time Sylvia scolded him, whereat
+she showed less pleasure than ever. "King" Plummer was still in a maze
+and did not know what to say. The very next day he found himself deeper
+in the tangle, being scolded by Mrs. Grayson herself.
+
+They were waiting at a small station for some carriages which were to
+take them across the prairie, and, the air being clear and bracing, they
+stood outside, where Miss Morgan, as usual, held an involuntary court. A
+cloud of dust arose, and behind it quickly came a great herd of cattle,
+driven with much shouting and galloping of horses by a half-dozen
+cowboys. The herd was passing to the south a few hundred yards from the
+station, but Sylvia, thoroughly used to such sights, was not interested.
+Not so some of the others who went out to see, and among them was "King"
+Plummer, who began at once to calculate the number of cattle, their
+value, and how far they had come, all of which he did with great
+shrewdness.
+
+The "King's" absorption in this congenial occupation was increased when
+he recognized the leader of the cowboys as an old friend and former
+associate in Idaho and Montana, with whom he could exchange much
+interesting news. Borrowing a horse from one of the men, he rode on with
+them for a mile or two.
+
+Mrs. Grayson had seen "King" Plummer leave the group about Sylvia, and
+she marked it with a disapproving eye. She would have spoken to him
+then, but she had no chance, and she watched him until he borrowed the
+horse and rode on with the cowboys. Then she looked the other way and
+saw two figures walking up and down the station platform. They were
+Sylvia and Harley, engrossed in talk and caring not at all for the
+passage of the herd. The two brown heads were not far apart, and Mrs.
+Grayson was near enough to see that Sylvia's color was beautiful.
+
+The candidate's wife was annoyed, and, like any other good woman, she
+was ready to vent her annoyance on somebody. She walked out a little
+from the station, and presently she met "King" Plummer coming back. He
+dismounted, returned the horse to its owner, and approached her, the
+sparkle of enthusiasm in his eyes lighting up his brown face.
+
+"That was a pleasant surprise, Mrs. Grayson," he exclaimed. "The leader
+of those boys was Bill Ascott, whom I've known twenty years, an' he's
+brought those cattle so cleverly all the way from Montana that they are
+in as good condition now as they were the day they started. And I had a
+fine gallop with them, too."
+
+He had more to say, but he stopped when he noticed her deeply frowning
+face.
+
+"What is wrong, Mrs. Grayson?" he asked, in apprehension.
+
+"Oh, you had a fine gallop, did you!" she said, in a tone of biting
+irony. "I am glad of it. Mr. William Plummer ought to have his gallop,
+under any circumstances!"
+
+He stared at her in increasing amazement.
+
+"I don't know that I'm counted a dull man, but you've got me now, Mrs.
+Grayson."
+
+She pointed to the station platform, where the two brown heads were
+still not far apart.
+
+"Without a word you left the woman that you are going to marry to look
+at a lot of cattle."
+
+"Why, Sylvia is only a child, an' we've been used to each other for
+years. She understands."
+
+"Yes, she will understand, or she isn't a woman," said Mrs. Grayson, and
+if possible the biting irony of her tone increased. "You will see, too,
+Mr. William Plummer, that one man at least did not neglect her for the
+sake of some dusty cattle."
+
+Mr. Plummer stared again at the pair on the platform, and a mingled look
+of pain and apprehension came into his eyes.
+
+"You surely can't mean anything of that kind! Why, little Sylvia has
+promised--"
+
+"All things are possible, Mr. Plummer. My husband is a lawyer, and I
+have heard him quote often a maxim of the law which runs something like
+this, 'He must keep who can.'"
+
+She turned away and would not have another word to say to him then,
+leaving Mr. Plummer in much perplexity and trouble.
+
+Mrs. Grayson herself was in a similar perplexity and trouble throughout
+the day. Her doubts about the letter she had written to "King" Plummer
+increased. Perhaps it would have been wiser to let affairs take their
+own course. The sight of the two brown heads and the two young faces on
+the station platform had made her very thoughtful, and she drew
+comparisons with "King" Plummer; there might be days in autumn which
+resembled those of spring, but it was only a fleeting resemblance,
+because autumn was itself, with its own coloring, its own fruits, and
+its own days, and nothing could turn it into spring. "I will not meddle
+again," she resolved, and then her mind was taken off the matter by an
+incident in her husband's progress. In Nebraska the men left the train
+for a few days, travelling by carriage, and here occurred the event
+which created a great stir in its time.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+JIMMY GRAYSON'S SPELL
+
+
+A night, after a beautiful, brown October day, came on dark and rainy,
+with fierce winds off the Rocky Mountains; and Harley, who was in the
+first carriage with the candidate, could barely see the heads of the
+horses, gently rising and falling as they splashed through the mud.
+Behind him he heard faintly the sound of wheels amid the wind and rain,
+and he knew that the other correspondents and the politicians, who
+always hung on the trail of Jimmy Grayson, shifting according to
+locality, were following their leader in single file.
+
+Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia had remained on the special car, and expected to
+join them on the following day, although Sylvia was quite prepared to
+take the carriage journey across the country and dare all the risks of
+the darkness and possible bad weather. Indeed, with the fine spirit of
+the West and her own natural high courage, she wanted to go, saying that
+she could stand as much as a man, and only Mrs. Grayson's refusal to
+accompany her and the consequent lack of a chaperone compelled her to
+abandon the idea. Now Harley and Mr. Grayson were very glad that she was
+not out in the storm.
+
+Although the hood of the carriage was down and the collar of Harley's
+heavy coat was turned up to his ears, the cold rain, lashed by the
+wind, struck him in the face now and then.
+
+"You don't do anything by halves out here on these Western plains," he
+said.
+
+"No," replied Jimmy Grayson, "we don't deal in disguises; when we're hot
+we're hot, and when we're cold we're cold. Now, after a perfect day,
+we're having the wildest kind of a night. It's our way."
+
+It was then ten o'clock, and they had expected to reach Speedwell at
+midnight, crossing the Platte River on the big wooden bridge; but the
+rain, the darkness, and the singularly sticky quality of the black
+Nebraska mud would certainly delay them until one o'clock in the
+morning, and possibly much later. It was not a cheerful prospect for
+tired and sleepy men.
+
+"Mr. Grayson," said Harley, "without seeking to discredit you, I wish I
+had gone to another war instead of coming out here with you. That would
+have been less wearing."
+
+The candidate laughed.
+
+"But you are seeing the West as few men from New York ever see it," he
+said.
+
+The driver turned, and a little stream of water ran off his hat-brim
+into Harley's face.
+
+"It's the wind that holds us back, Mr. Grayson," he said; "if we leave
+the road and cut across the prairie on the hard ground it will save at
+least an hour."
+
+"By all means, turn out at once," said the candidate, "and the others
+will follow."
+
+"Wise driver; considerate man!" remarked Harley.
+
+There was marked relief the moment the wheels of the carriage struck the
+brown grass. They rolled easily once more, and the off horse, lifting up
+his head, neighed cheerfully.
+
+"It means midnight, and not later, Harley," said the candidate, in a
+reassuring tone.
+
+Harley leaned back in his seat, and trusted all now to the wise and
+considerate driver who had proposed such a plan. The night was just as
+black as a hat, and the wind and rain moaned over the bleak and lonesome
+plains. They were far out in Nebraska, and, although they were near the
+Platte River, it was one of the most thinly inhabited sections of the
+state. They had not seen a light since leaving the last speaking-place
+at sundown. Harley wondered at the courage of the pioneers who crossed
+the great plains amid such a vast loneliness. He and the candidate were
+tired, and soon ceased to talk. The driver confined his attention to his
+business. Harley fell into a doze, from which he was awakened after a
+while by the sudden stoppage of the carriage. The candidate awoke at the
+same time. The rain had decreased, there was a partial moonlight, and
+the driver was turning upon them a shamefaced countenance.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the candidate.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Mr. Grayson," replied the driver, in an
+apologetic tone. "I've gone wrong somehow or other, and I don't know
+just where we're at."
+
+"Lost?" said Harley.
+
+"If you wish to put it that way, I reckon you're right," said the
+driver, with a touch of offence.
+
+"What has become of the other carriages?" asked Harley, looking back for
+them.
+
+"I reckon they didn't see us when we turned out, and they kept on along
+the road."
+
+There was no doubt about the plight into which they had got themselves.
+The plain seemed no less lonely than it was before the white man came.
+
+"What's that line of trees across yonder?" asked the candidate.
+
+"I guess it marks where the Platte runs," replied the driver.
+
+"Then drive to it; if we follow the trees we must reach the bridge, and
+then things will be simple."
+
+The driver became more cheerful, the rain ceased and the moonlight
+increased; but Harley lacked confidence. He had a deep distrust of the
+Platte River. It seemed to him the most ridiculous stream in the United
+States, making a presumptuous claim upon the map, and flowing often in a
+channel a mile wide with only a foot of water. But he feared the marshes
+and quicksands that bordered its shallow course.
+
+They reached the line of gaunt trees, dripping with water and whipped by
+the wind, and Harley's fears were justified. The river was there, but
+they could not approach it, lest they be swallowed up in the sand, and
+they turned back upon the prairie.
+
+"We must find a house," said the candidate; "if it comes to the pinch we
+can pass the night in the carriage, but I don't like to sleep sitting."
+
+They bore away from the river, driving at random, and after an hour saw
+a faint light under the dusky horizon.
+
+"The lone settler!" exclaimed Harley, who began to cherish fond
+anticipations of a bed. "Go straight for it, driver."
+
+The driver was not loath, and even the horses, seeming to have renewed
+hope, changed their sluggish walk to a trot. They had no hesitation in
+seeking shelter at that hour, entire strangers though they were, such an
+act being in perfect accordance with the laws of Western hospitality.
+
+As they approached, a bare wooden house, unprotected by trees, rose out
+of the plain. A wire fence enclosed a half-acre or so about it, and
+apparently there had been a few rather futile attempts to make a lawn.
+
+"Looks cheerless," said Harley.
+
+"But it holds beds," said the candidate.
+
+"You save your voice," said Harley; "I'll call the farmer, and I hope it
+will be a man who can speak English, and not some new Russian or
+Bohemian citizen."
+
+He sprang out of the carriage, glad to relieve himself from his cramped
+and stiff position, and walked towards the little gate in the wire
+fence. There was a sudden rush of light feet, a stream of fierce barks
+and snarls, and Harley sprang back in alarm as two large bull-dogs,
+red-mouthed, flung themselves against the fence.
+
+"I said you had no cause to regret that war," called the candidate from
+the carriage.
+
+The wires were strong, and they held the dogs; but the animals hung to
+the fence, as fierce as wolves; and Harley, lifting up his voice, added
+to the chorus with a "Hi! Hi! Mr. Farmer! Strangers want to stop with
+you!"
+
+The din was tremendous, and presently a window in the second story was
+shoved up, and a man, fully dressed, carrying a long-barrelled rifle in
+his hands, appeared at it. He called to the dogs, which ceased at once
+their barking and snarling, and then he gazed down at the intruders in
+no friendly manner. Harley saw him clearly, a tall, gaunt old man,
+white-haired, but muscular and strong. He held the rifle as if he were
+ready to use it--a most unusual thing in this part of the country, where
+householders seldom kept fire-arms.
+
+"What do you want?" he called, in a sharp, high voice.
+
+"Beds!" cried Harley. "We are lost, and if you don't take us in we'll
+have to sleep on the prairie, which is a trifle damp."
+
+"Waal, I 'low it hez rained a right smart," said the old man, grimly.
+
+Harley noticed at once the man's use of "right smart," an expression
+with which he had been familiar in another part of the country, and it
+encouraged him. He was sure now of hospitality.
+
+"Who are you?" the old man called.
+
+"Mr. Grayson, the nominee for President of the United States, is in the
+carriage, and I am his friend, one of the newspaper correspondents
+travelling with him."
+
+"Wait a minute."
+
+The window was closed, and in a few moments the old man came out at the
+front door. He carried the rifle on his shoulder, but Harley attributed
+the fact to his haste at the mention of Jimmy Grayson's name.
+
+"My name is Simpson--Daniel Simpson," he said, hospitably. "Tell the
+driver to put the horses in the barn."
+
+He waved his hand towards a low building in the rear of his residence,
+and then he invited the candidate and the correspondent to enter. He
+looked curiously, but with reverence, at the candidate.
+
+"You are really Jimmy Grayson," he said. "I'd know you off-hand by your
+picture, which I guess hez been printed in ev'ry newspaper in the United
+States. I 'low it's a powerful honor to me to hev you here."
+
+"And it's a tremendous accommodation to us for you to take us," said
+Jimmy Grayson, with his usual easy grace.
+
+But Harley was looking at Simpson with a gaze no less intent than the
+old man had bent upon Grayson. The accent and inflection of the host
+were of a region far distant from Nebraska, but Harley, who was born
+near that wild country, knew the long, lean, narrow type of face, with
+the high cheek-bones and the watchful black eyes. Moreover, there was
+something directly and personally familiar in the figure before him.
+
+Under any circumstances the manner of the old man would have drawn the
+attention of Harley, whose naturally keen observation was sharpened by
+the training of his profession. The old man seemed abstracted. His
+fingers moved absently on the stock of his rifle, and Harley inferred at
+once that he had something of unusual weight on his mind.
+
+"Me an' the ol' woman hev been settin' late," said Simpson. "When you
+git ol' you don't sleep much. But it'll be a long time, Mr. Grayson,
+before that fits you."
+
+He led the way into a room better furnished than Harley had expected to
+see. A coal fire smouldered on the hearth, and the arrangement of the
+room showed some evidences of refinement and taste. An old woman was
+bent over the fire, but she rose when the men entered, and turned upon
+them a face which Harley knew at once to be that of one who had been
+frightened by something. Her eyes were red, as if she had been weeping.
+Harley looked from host to hostess with curious glance, but he was still
+silent.
+
+"This is Marthy, my wife, gen'lemen," said Simpson. "Marthy, this is Mr.
+Grayson, the greatest man in this here United States, and the other is
+one of the newspaper fellers that travels with him."
+
+Jimmy Grayson bowed with great courtesy, and apologized so gracefully
+for the intrusion that an ordinary person would have been glad to be
+intruded upon in such a manner. The woman said nothing, but stared
+vacantly at her guests. The old man came to her relief.
+
+"Marthy ain't used to visitors, least of all a man like you, Mr.
+Grayson, and it kind o' upsets her," he said. "You see, Marthy an' me
+lives here all by ourselves."
+
+The woman started and looked at him.
+
+"All by ourselves," repeated the man, firmly; "but we'll do the best we
+kin."
+
+"Daniel," suddenly exclaimed the old woman, in high, shrill tones, "why
+don't you put down your gun? Mr. Grayson'll think you're a-goin' to
+shoot him."
+
+The old man laughed, but the ever-watchful Harley saw that the laugh was
+not spontaneous.
+
+"I 'clar' to gracious," he said, "I clean forgot I had old Deadeye. You
+see, Mr. Grayson, when I heerd the dogs barkin', sez I to myself 'it's
+robbers, shore'; and before I h'ists the window up-stairs I reaches old
+Deadeye off the hooks, and then, if it had 'a' been robbers, it wouldn't
+'a' been healthy for 'em."
+
+"I'm sure of that, Mr. Simpson," said Jimmy Grayson; "you don't look
+like a man who would allow himself to be run over."
+
+"An' I wouldn't," said the old man, with sudden, fierce emphasis. But he
+put the rifle on the hooks over the fireplace. Such hooks as these were
+not usual in Nebraska; but Jimmy Grayson was too polite to say anything,
+and Harley was still watching every movement of the old man. The driver
+returned at this moment from the stable, and, reporting that he had fed
+the horses, took his place with the others at the fire.
+
+"I 'low you-uns would like to eat a little," said the old man, laughing
+in the same unnatural way. "Marthy, tote in suthin' from the kitchen as
+quick as you kin."
+
+The old woman raised her startled, frightened eyes, and for a moment her
+glance met Harley's; it seemed to him to be full of entreaty; the whole
+atmosphere of the place was to him tense, strained, and tragic; why, he
+did not know, but he shook himself and decided that it was only the
+result of weariness, the long ride, and the night in the storm.
+Nevertheless, the feeling did not depart because he willed that it
+should go.
+
+"No, we thank you," Jimmy Grayson was saying; "we are not hungry; but we
+should like very much to go to bed."
+
+"It's jest with you," said Simpson. "Marthy, I'll show the gen'lemen to
+their room, and you kin stay here till I come back."
+
+The old woman did not speak, but stood in a crouched attitude looking at
+Grayson and then at Harley and then at the driver; it seemed to the
+correspondent that she did not dare trust her voice, and he saw fear
+still lurking in her eyes.
+
+"Come along, gen'lemen," said Simpson, taking from the table a small
+lamp, that had been lighted at their entrance, and leading the way.
+
+Harley glanced back once at the door, and the woman's eyes met his in a
+look that was like one last despairing appeal. But there was nothing
+tangible, nothing that he could not say was the result of an overwrought
+fancy.
+
+It was a small and bare room, with only a single bed, to which the old
+man took them. "It's the best I've got," he said, apologetically. "Mr.
+Grayson, you an' the newspaper man kin sleep in the bed, an' t'other
+feller, I reckon, kin curl up on the floor."
+
+"It is good enough for anybody," said Jimmy Grayson, gallantly. As a
+matter of fact, both he and Harley had known what it was to fare worse.
+
+"Good-night," the man said, and left them rather hastily, Harley
+thought; but the others took no notice, and were soon in sound slumber,
+the candidate because he had the rare power of going to sleep whenever
+there was a chance, and the driver because he was indifferent and tired.
+
+But Harley lay awake. An hour ago his dream of heaven was a bed, and
+now, the bed attained, sleep would not come near. Out of the stillness,
+after a while, he heard the gentle moving of feet below, and he sat up
+on the bed, all his suspicions confirmed. Something unusual was going on
+in this lone house! And it had been going on even before he and the
+candidate came!
+
+He listened to the moving feet for a few moments. Then the noise ceased,
+but Harley knew that there was no further chance of sleep for him, with
+his nerves on edge, and likely to remain there. He lay back on the edge
+of the bed, trying to accustom his eyes to the darkness, and presently
+he heard a sound, the most chilling that a man can hear. It was the
+sound of a woman, alone and in the dark, between midnight and morning,
+crying gently, but crying deeply, uncontrollably, and from her chest.
+
+Harley's resolve was taken at once. He slipped on his clothes and went
+to the door. His eyes were used now to the dark, and there was a window
+that shed a half-light.
+
+He stopped with his hand on the bolt, because he heard the low, wailing
+note more plainly, and he was sure that it came from another room
+across the narrow hall. He turned the bolt, but the door refused to
+open. There was no key on the inside! They had been locked in, and for a
+purpose!
+
+Harley was fully aroused--on edge with excitement, but able to restrain
+it and to think clearly. There was an old grate in the room, apparently
+used but seldom, and, leaning against the wall beside it, an iron poker.
+Tiptoeing, he obtained the poker and returned to the door. The lock was
+a flimsy affair, and, inserting the point of the poker under the catch,
+he easily pried it off and put it gently on the floor.
+
+Then he stepped out into the dusky hall and listened. The woman was yet
+crying, monotonously, but with such a note of woe that Harley was
+shaken. He had thought in his own room that it was the old woman who
+wept thus; but now in the hall he knew it to be a younger and fresher
+voice.
+
+He saw farther down another door, and he knew that it led to the room
+from which came the sounds of grief. He approached it cautiously, still
+holding the poker in his hands, and noticed that there was no key in the
+lock. The woman, whoever she might be, was locked in, as he and his
+comrades had been; but the empty keyhole gave him an idea. He blew
+through it, making a sort of whistling sound with his puckered lips. The
+crying ceased, all save an occasional low, half-smothered sob, as if the
+woman were making a supreme effort to control her feelings.
+
+Then Harley put his lips to the keyhole again and whispered: "What is
+the matter? It is a friend who asks." There was no reply, only a tense
+silence, even the occasional sobs ceasing. Then, after a few moments of
+waiting, Harley whispered, "Don't be alarmed; I am about to force the
+door."
+
+The door was of flimsy pine, and it gave quickly to the poker's
+leverage. Then, this useful weapon still in hand, Harley stepped into
+the room, where he heard a deep-drawn sigh that expressed mingled
+emotions.
+
+There was a window at the end of the room, and the moonlight shone
+clearly through, clothing with its full radiance a tall, slim girl, who
+had risen from a chair, and who stood trembling before Harley, fully
+dressed, although her long hair hung down her back and her eyes were red
+with weeping.
+
+She was handsome, but not with the broad face of the West. Hers was
+another type, a type that Harley knew well. The cheek-bones were a
+little high, the features delicate, the figure slender, and there was on
+her cheeks a rosy bloom that never grew under the cutting winds of the
+great plains.
+
+Harley knew at once that she was the daughter of the old couple below
+stairs.
+
+"Do not be afraid of me," he said, gently. "I know that you are in great
+trouble, but I will help you. I, too, am from Kentucky. I was born
+there, and I used to live there, though not in the mountains, as you
+did."
+
+The appeal and terror in her eyes changed to momentary surprise. "What
+do you know of me?" she exclaimed.
+
+"Very little of you, but more of your father. Years ago I was at his
+house in the Kentucky mountains. He was a leader in the Simpson-Eversley
+feud. I knew him to-night, but I have said nothing. Now, tell me, what
+is the matter?"
+
+His voice was soothing--that of a strong man who would protect, and the
+girl yielded to its influence. Brokenly she told the story. Many men had
+been killed in the feud, and the few Eversleys who were left had been
+scattered far in the mountains. Then old Daniel Simpson said that he
+would come out on the Great Plains, more than a thousand miles, and they
+had come.
+
+"There was one of the Eversleys--Henry Eversley--he was young and
+handsome. People said he was not bad. He, too, came to Nebraska. He
+found out where we lived; he has been here."
+
+"Ah!" said Harley. He felt that they were coming to the gist of the
+matter.
+
+The girl, with a sudden passionate cry, threw herself upon her knees.
+"He is here now! He is here now!" she cried. "He is in the cellar, bound
+and gagged, and my father is going to kill him! But I love him! He came
+here to-night, and my father caught us together, and struck him down.
+But we meant nothing wrong. I declare before God that we did not! We
+were getting ready to run away together and to be married at Speedwell!"
+
+Harley shuddered. The impending tragedy was more terrible than he had
+feared.
+
+"You can do nothing!" exclaimed the girl. "My father is armed. He will
+have no interference! He cares nothing for what may come after! He
+thinks--"
+
+She could not say it all; but Harley knew well that what she would say
+was, "He thinks that he has been robbed of his honor by a mortal enemy."
+
+"Can you stay quietly in this room until morning?" he asked. "I know it
+is hard to wait under such circumstances, but you must do it for the
+sake of Henry Eversley."
+
+"And will you save him?"
+
+"He shall be saved."
+
+"I will wait," she said.
+
+Harley slipped noiselessly out, and, closing the door behind him, went
+to his room, where he at once awakened the candidate.
+
+Jimmy Grayson listened with intense attention to Harley's story. When
+the tale was over, he and Harley whispered together long and earnestly,
+and Jimmy Grayson frequently nodded his head in assent. Then they awoke
+the driver, a heavy man, but with a keen Western mind that at once
+became alert at the news of danger.
+
+"Yes, I got my bearings now," he said, in reply to a question of
+Harley's. "I asked the old fellow about it when I came up from the
+stable, and Speedwell is straight north from here. I can take one of the
+horses and hit the town before daylight. I know everybody there."
+
+"But how about the dogs?" asked Jimmy Grayson. "Can you get past them?"
+
+"No trouble there at all. After we came, the old fellow locked 'em up in
+a stall in the stable and left 'em there. I guess he didn't want to look
+to us as if he was too suspicious."
+
+"Then go, and God go with you!" said Jimmy Grayson, with deep feeling.
+
+The driver left at once, not by the stairway, near the foot of which the
+old man might be watching, but by a much simpler road. He raised the
+window of the room and swung out, sustained by Jimmy Grayson's powerful
+arms until his feet were within a yard of the ground. Then he dropped,
+ran lightly across the lawn, sprang over the wire fence, and soon
+disappeared in the grove where the girl had said that the horses were
+waiting. Jimmy Grayson closed the window with a deep sigh of relief.
+
+"He will do his part," he said; "now for ours."
+
+He did not seek to sleep again, and Harley could not think of it. One
+task occupied him a little while--the replacing of the lock on the
+door--but after that the hours passed heavily and in silence. The flush
+of dawn appeared in the east at last, and then they heard a faint step
+in the hall outside and the gentle turning of a key in a lock. Jimmy
+Grayson and Harley looked at each other and smiled grimly, but they said
+nothing. A half-hour later there was a loud knock on their door, and old
+Daniel Simpson bade them rise and get ready for breakfast.
+
+"It is chiefly in your hands now," said Harley, in a low tone to Jimmy
+Grayson.
+
+"We'll be down in a few minutes, and we have had a good night's sleep,
+for which we thank you," he called to the old man.
+
+"You're welcome to it," replied Simpson. "You'll find water and towels
+on the porch down-stairs, and then you can come straight in to
+breakfast."
+
+They heard his step passing down the hall to the stairway, where it died
+away, and then they dressed deliberately. On the porch they found the
+water and towels as Simpson had said, and bathed and rubbed their faces.
+A golden sun was just rising from the prairie, and beads of water from
+the night's rain sparkled on the trees and grass. The wind came out of
+the southwest, fresh and glorious.
+
+They entered the dining-room, where the breakfast smoked on the table,
+and the old man and his wife were waiting. Harley could not see that
+they had changed in appearance in the morning glow. Simpson was still
+rugged and grim, while the woman yet cowered and now and then raised
+terrified and appealing eyes.
+
+"Whar's your driver?" asked Simpson.
+
+"He has gone down to the stable to feed and care for his horses,"
+replied the candidate, easily. "He's a very careful man, always looks
+after his horses before he looks after himself. He told us not to wait
+for him, as he'll be along directly."
+
+"Then be seated," said the old man, hospitably. "We've got corn-bread
+and ham-and-eggs and coffee, an' I guess you kin make out."
+
+"I should think so," said Jimmy Grayson. "Why, if I had not been as
+hungry as a wolf already, it would make me hungry just to look at it."
+
+The three sat down at the table, while Mrs. Simpson served them, going
+back and forth to the little kitchen adjoining for fresh supplies of hot
+food. Mr. Grayson did most of the talking, and it was addressed in an
+easy, confidential manner to old Daniel Simpson. The candidate's gift of
+conversational talk was equal to his gift of platform oratory, but never
+before had Harley known him to be so interesting and so attractive. He
+fairly radiated with the quality called personal magnetism, and soon the
+old man ate mechanically, while his attention was riveted on Jimmy
+Grayson. But by-and-by he seemed to remember something.
+
+"That driver of yourn is tarnal slow," he said; "he ought to be comin'
+in to breakfast."
+
+"You have diagnosed his chief fault," said Jimmy Grayson, with an easy
+laugh. "He is slow, extremely slow, but he will be along directly, and
+he doesn't mind cold victuals."
+
+Then he turned back to the easy flow of anecdote, chiefly about his
+political campaign, and Harley saw that the interest of the old man was
+centred upon him. The woman, without a word, brought in hot biscuits
+from the kitchen, but she did not lose her frightened look, glancing
+from one to another of the three with furtive, lowered eyes. But Jimmy
+Grayson, the golden-mouthed, talked gracefully, and the note of his
+discourse that morning was the sweetness and kindness of life; he saw
+only the sunny side of things; people were good and true, and peace was
+better than strife. His smiling, benevolent face and the mellow flow of
+his words enforced the lesson.
+
+The old man's face softened a little, and even Harley, though a prey to
+anxieties, felt the influence of Jimmy Grayson's spell. The little
+dining-room where they sat was at the rear of the house. Harley saw the
+golden sunshine of a perfect October day, and the wind that sang across
+the plain had the soft strain of a girl's voice. He felt that it was
+good to live that morning, and his spirits rose as he saw the old man
+fall further and further under the spell of Jimmy Grayson's eloquence.
+
+But Simpson raised himself presently and glanced at the door.
+
+"That driver of yourn is tarnal slow," he repeated. "Seems to me he'll
+never finish feedin' an' curryin' them horses!"
+
+"He is slow, extremely slow," laughed Jimmy Grayson. "If he were not so
+we should not have got lost last night, and we should not be here now,
+Mr. Simpson, trespassing on your hospitality. Perhaps the man does not
+want any breakfast; it's not the first time since he's been with us that
+he's gone without it."
+
+Then he launched again into the stream of a very pretty story that he
+had been telling, and the wavering attention of the old man returned.
+Harley gave all assistance. Despite his anxiety and his listening for
+sounds without, he kept his eyes fixed upon Jimmy Grayson's face as if
+he would not miss a word.
+
+The breakfast went on to an unusual length. The candidate and Harley
+called again and again for hot biscuits and more coffee, and always the
+old woman served them silently, almost furtively.
+
+The story was finished, and just as it came to its end Simpson said,
+with a grim inflection:
+
+"It 'pears to me, Mr. Grayson, all you said about that driver of yourn
+is true. He hasn't come from the stable yet."
+
+There was the sound of a step in the hall, and the candidate said,
+quickly:
+
+"He's coming now; he'll be in presently, as soon as he washes his hands
+and face on the porch. No, sit down, Mr. Simpson; he needs no
+directions. We were speaking of the sacrifices that people make for one
+another, and it reminds me of a very pretty story that I must tell you."
+
+The old man sank into his chair, but his look wandered to the door. It
+seemed to Harley that light sounds came from the other part of the
+house, and the old man, too, seemed for a moment to be listening, but
+Jimmy Grayson at once began his story, and Simpson's attention came
+back.
+
+"This is a story of the mountains of eastern Kentucky," began the
+candidate, "and it is a love story--a very pretty one, I think."
+
+Simpson moved in his chair, and a sudden wondering look appeared in his
+eyes at the words "eastern Kentucky." The old woman, too, slightly
+raised her bent form and gazed eagerly at the candidate. But Jimmy
+Grayson took no notice, and continued.
+
+"This," he said, "is the love story of two people who were young then,
+but who are old now. Yet I am sure there is much affection and
+tenderness in their hearts, and often they must think fondly of those
+old days. The youth lived on the side of a mountain, and the girl lived
+on the side of another mountain not far away. He was tall, strong, and
+brave; she, too, was tall, as slender as one of the mountain saplings,
+with glorious brown hair and eyes, and a voice as musical as a mountain
+echo. Well, they met and they loved, loved truly and deeply. It might
+seem that the way was easy now for them to marry and go to a house of
+their own, but it was not. There was a bar."
+
+"A feud!" breathed the old man. The old woman put her hands to her eyes.
+
+"Yes, a feud; they seem strange things to us here, but to those distant
+people in the mountains they seem the most natural thing in the world.
+The youth and the girl belonged to families that were at war with each
+other, and marriage between them would have been considered by all their
+relatives a mortal sin."
+
+The old man's eyes were fastened upon Jimmy Grayson's, but his look for
+the moment was distant, as if it were held by old memories. The woman
+was crying softly. Again the soft shuffle of feet in the other part of
+the house came to Harley's ears, but the old couple did not hear; the
+driver was forgotten; for all Simpson and his wife remembered, he might
+still be finishing his morning toilet on the porch.
+
+"They were compelled to meet in secret," continued Jimmy Grayson, "but
+the girl was frightened for him because she loved him. She told him that
+he must go away, that if her father and brothers heard of their meetings
+they would kill him; it was impossible for them to marry, but she loved
+him, she would never deny that. He listened to her gently and tenderly;
+he was a brave youth, as I have said, and he would not go away. He said
+that God had made them for each other, and she should be his wife; he
+would not go away; he was not afraid."
+
+"No, I was not afraid," breathed the old man, softly. The old woman had
+straightened herself up until she stood erect. There was a delicate
+flush on her face, and her eyes were luminous.
+
+"This youth was a hero, a gallant and chivalrous gentleman," continued
+Jimmy Grayson; "he loved the girl, and she loved him; there was no real
+reason in the world why they should not marry, and he was resolved that
+there should be none."
+
+The candidate's head was bent forward over his plate. His face was
+slightly flushed, and his burning eyes held Simpson's. Harley saw that
+he thrilled with his own story and the crisis for which it was told.
+Elsewhere in the building the faint noises went on, but Harley alone
+heard.
+
+"The youth did what I would have done and what you would have done, Mr.
+Simpson," continued Jimmy Grayson. "He did what nature and sense
+dictated. He overbore all resistance on the part of the girl, who in her
+heart was willing to be overborne. One dark night he stole her from her
+father's house and carried her away on his horse."
+
+"How well I remember it!" exclaimed the old man, with eyes a-gleam. "I
+had Marthy on the horse behind me, and my rifle on the pommel of the
+saddle before me."
+
+The old woman cried softly, but it seemed to Harley that the note of her
+weeping was not grief.
+
+"He stole her away," continued Jimmy Grayson, "and before morning they
+were married. Then he took her to a house of his own, and he sent word
+that if any man came to do them harm he would meet a rifle bullet. They
+knew that he was the best shot in the mountains, and that he was without
+fear, so they did not come. And that youth and that girl are still
+living, though both are old now, but neither has ever for a moment
+regretted that night."
+
+"You speak the truth," exclaimed the old man, striking his fist upon the
+table, while his eyes flashed with exultant fire. "We've never been
+sorry for a moment for what we did, hev we Marthy?"
+
+Harley had risen to his feet, and a signal look passed between him and
+the candidate.
+
+"And then," said Jimmy Grayson, "why do you deny to Henry Eversley the
+right to do what you did, and what you still glory in after all these
+years? Mr. Simpson, shake hands with your new son-in-law. He and his
+bride are waiting in the doorway."
+
+The old man sprang to his feet. His daughter and a youth, a handsome
+couple, stood at the entrance. Behind them were three or four men, one
+the driver, and another in clerical garb, evidently a minister.
+
+"They were married in your front parlor while we sat at breakfast," said
+Jimmy Grayson. "Mr. Simpson, your son-in-law is still offering you his
+hand."
+
+The bewildered look left the old man's eyes, and he took the
+outstretched hand in a hearty grasp.
+
+"Henry," he said, "you've won."
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE "KING'S" REQUEST
+
+
+An hour later the candidate, Harley, and the driver were on the way to
+the town at which they had intended to pass the preceding night. With
+ample instructions and a brilliant morning sunlight there was no further
+trouble about the direction, and they pursued their way in peace.
+
+The air was crisp and blowy, and the earth, new-washed by the rain, took
+on some of the tints of spring green, despite the lateness of the
+season. Harley, relaxed from the tension of the night before, leaned
+back in his seat and enjoyed the tonic breeze. No one of the three had
+much to say; all were in meditation, and the quiet and loneliness of the
+morning seemed to promote musing. They drove some miles across the
+rolling prairie without seeing a single house, but at last the driver
+pointed to a flickering patch of gold on the western horizon.
+
+"That," said he, "is the weather-vane on the cupola of the new
+court-house, and in another hour we'll be in town. I guess your people
+will be glad to see you, Mr. Grayson."
+
+"And I shall be glad to see them," said the candidate. A few minutes
+later he turned to the correspondent.
+
+"Harley," he asked, "will you send anything to your paper about last
+night?"
+
+"I have to do so," replied Harley, with a slight note of apology in his
+tone--this had not been his personal doing. "For a presidential
+candidate to get lost on the prairie in the dark and the storm, and then
+spend the night in a house in which only his presence of mind and
+eloquence prevent a murder, that is news--news of the first importance
+and the deepest interest. I am bound not only to send a despatch about
+it, but the despatch must be very long and full. And I suppose, too,
+that I shall have to tell it to the other fellows when we reach the
+town."
+
+The candidate sighed.
+
+"I know you are right," he said, "but I wish you did not have to do it.
+The story puts me in a sensational light. It seems as if I were turning
+aside from the great issues of a campaign for personal adventure."
+
+"It was forced upon you."
+
+"So it was, but that fact does not take from it the sensational look."
+
+Harley was silent. He knew that Mr. Grayson's point was well made, but
+he knew also that he must send the despatch.
+
+The candidate made no further reference to the subject, and five minutes
+later they saw horsemen rise out of the plain and gallop towards them.
+As Harley had said, a presidential nominee was not lost in the dark and
+the storm every night, and this little Western town was mightily
+perturbed when Mr. Grayson failed to arrive. The others had come in
+safely, but already all the morning newspapers of the country had
+published the fact that the candidate was lost, swallowed up somewhere
+on the dark prairie. And Mr. Grayson's instinct was correct, too,
+because mingled with the wonder and speculation was much criticism. It
+was boldly said in certain supercilious circles that he had probably
+turned aside on an impulse to look after some minor matter, perhaps
+something that was purely personal that had nothing to do with the
+campaign. Churchill, late the night before, had sent to the _Monitor_ a
+despatch written in his most censorious manner, in that vein of
+reluctant condemnation that so well suited his sense of superiority. He
+was loath to admit that the candidate was proving inadequate to his high
+position, but the circumstances indicated it, and the proof was becoming
+cumulative. He also sent a telegram to the Honorable Mr. Goodnight, in
+New York, and the burden of it was the need of a restraining force, a
+force near at hand, and able to meet every evil with instant cure.
+
+But the Western horsemen who met Jimmy Grayson--they clung to their
+affectionate "Jimmy"--were swayed by no such emotions. They repeated a
+shout of welcome, and wanted to know how and where he had passed the
+night, to all of which questions the candidate, with easy humor,
+returned ready and truthful replies, although he did not say anything
+for the present about the adventure of the old man and of the young one
+who was now the old one's son-in-law.
+
+The driver took them straight towards a large and attractive hotel, and
+it seemed to Harley that half the population of the town was out to see
+the triumphant entry of the candidate. With all the attention of the
+crowd centred upon one man, Harley was able to slip quietly through the
+dense ranks and enter the hotel, where he fell at once into the hands of
+Sylvia Morgan. She came forward to meet him, impulsively holding out
+her hands, the light of welcome sparkling in her eyes.
+
+"We did not know what had become of you," she exclaimed. "We feared that
+you had got lost in the quicksands of the river." And then, with a
+sudden flush, she added, somewhat lamely, "We are all so glad that Uncle
+James has got back safely."
+
+Harley had read undeniable relief and welcome in her eyes, and it gave
+him a peculiar thrill, a thrill at first of absolute and unthinking joy,
+followed at once by a little catch. Before him rose the square and
+massive vision of "King" Plummer, and he had an undefined sense of doing
+wrong.
+
+"We've brought him back safely," he said, after slight hesitation. "We
+spent the night very comfortably in a farm-house on the prairie."
+
+She noticed his hesitation, and her eyes became eager.
+
+"I do believe that you have had an adventure," she exclaimed. "I know
+that you have; I know by your look. You must tell it to me at once."
+
+"We have had an adventure," admitted Harley, "and there is no reason why
+I shouldn't tell you of it, as in a few hours a long account of it
+written by me will be going eastward."
+
+"I am waiting."
+
+Harley began at once with his narrative, and they became absorbed in it,
+he in the telling and she in the hearing. While he talked and she
+listened "King" Plummer approached. Now the "King" in these later few
+days had begun to study the ways of women, in so far as his limited
+experience enabled him to do so, a task to which he had never turned his
+attention before in his life. But the words of Mrs. Grayson rankled;
+they kept him unhappy, they disturbed his self-satisfaction, and made
+him apprehensive for the future. He had been in the crowd that welcomed
+Jimmy Grayson, he had shaken the candidate's hand effusively, and now,
+when he entered the hotel, he found Sylvia Morgan welcoming John Harley.
+
+"King" Plummer did not like what he saw; it gave him his second shock,
+and he paused to examine the two with a yellow eye, and a mind reluctant
+to admit certain facts, among them the most obvious one, that they were
+a handsome couple, and of an age. And this was a fact that did not give
+the "King" pleasure. He did not dislike Harley; instead, he appreciated
+his good qualities, but just then he regarded him with an unfriendly
+glance; that reality of youth annoyed him. There was a glass on the
+other side of the room, and the "King" looked at his own reflection. He
+saw a large, powerful head and broad, strong features, the whole
+expressing a man at the height of his powers, at the very flood-tide of
+his strength. But it was not young. The hair was iron-gray, and there
+were many deep lines in the face--not unhandsome lines, yet they were
+lines.
+
+"With all his shameless youth," were the "King's" unuttered thoughts, "I
+could beat him at anything, except, perhaps, scribbling. I could live
+and prosper where he would starve to death." And surging upon the "King"
+came the memories of his long, triumphant, and joyous struggle with wild
+nature. Then he approached the couple, and greeted Harley with the
+good-nature that was really a part of him. Sylvia, with shining eyes,
+told at second hand, though not with diminished effect, the story of the
+night, and "King" Plummer was loud in his applause. He did not care
+what criticism the supercilious might make, the act was to him
+spontaneous and natural.
+
+"But I don't see why you should have been with Jimmy Grayson then," he
+said, frankly, to Harley. "You are an Easterner, new to these parts, and
+it isn't right that just you should be along when the interestin' things
+happen."
+
+Harley could not help laughing at the naïve remark, but he liked "King"
+Plummer all the better for it. The "King," however, gave him no more
+chance to talk alone that day with Sylvia. Mr. Plummer showed the
+greatest regard for Miss Morgan's health and comfort, and did not try to
+hide his solicitude; he was continually about her, arranging little
+conveniences for the journey, and introducing Idaho topics, familiar to
+them, but to which Harley was necessarily a stranger. The "King," with
+his wide sense of Western hospitality, would not have done this at
+another time, but in view of the close relationship between himself and
+Sylvia he regarded it as pardonable.
+
+The watchful Mrs. Grayson saw it all, and at first she regarded the
+"King" with an approving eye, but by-and-by the approval changed to a
+frown. There was something forced in his manner; it was just the least
+bit unconvincing. It was clear to her that he was overdoing it, and in
+her opinion that was as bad as not doing it at all. Nor did she like the
+spectacle of a middle-aged man of affairs trying to play the gallant;
+there was another manner, one just as good, that would become him more.
+She was impelled to admonish him again, but she restrained herself,
+reflecting that she had not improved matters by her first warning, and
+she might make them worse by her second. Nevertheless, she summoned the
+nominee of a great party to the American Presidency to a conference, and
+he came with more alacrity than he would have obeyed the call of a
+conference of governors.
+
+"Sylvia is doing what it is natural for her to do," she said, abruptly.
+
+"Then, my dear, why find fault with me because of it?" replied the
+mystified candidate.
+
+"I don't find fault with you; I merely want your advice, although I know
+that you can have none to give."
+
+The candidate wisely kept silent, and waited for the speaker of the
+house to proceed.
+
+"Sylvia is your niece, and Mr. Plummer is your most powerful political
+supporter in the West," she said. "If she jilts him because of any fancy
+or impulse--well, you know such things can make men, especially elderly
+men, do very strange deeds. I speak of it because I am sure it must have
+been in your thoughts."
+
+The candidate stirred uneasily.
+
+"It is a thing that I do not like to take into consideration," he said.
+
+"Nor do I, but it forces itself upon us."
+
+"It is right that Harley should pay her attention. They are members of
+this party, and they are of an age likely to make them congenial."
+
+"That is where the danger lies. It may not amount at present to anything
+more than a fancy, but a fancy can make a very good beginning."
+
+They talked on at length and with much earnestness, but they could come
+to no other conclusion than to use that last refuge, silence and
+waiting.
+
+Meanwhile Sylvia was enjoying herself. She was young and vigorous, and
+she had a keen zest in life. She was surrounded by men, some young,
+too, who had seen much of the world, and they interested her; neither
+would she have been human, nor of her sex, if their attentions had not
+pleased her; and there, too, was the great campaign throwing its glow
+over everything. She was gracious even to the "King," whom she had been
+treating rather worse than he deserved for several days. She seemed to
+appreciate his increased gallantry, and it was "dear old daddy" very
+often now, whether in the comparative privacy of the Grayson family
+circle or in the larger group of the young correspondents and
+politicians. The "King" was delighted with the change, and his own
+manner became easy and happy. He looked once or twice at the lady whom
+he considered his mentor, Mrs. Grayson, and expected to see approval and
+satisfaction on her face, too, but she was stern and impenetrable, and
+the "King" said to himself that after all she was not so startlingly
+acute.
+
+Sylvia was telling some anecdote of the West to her new friends, and, as
+the incident was rather remarkable, she thought it necessary to have
+confirmation.
+
+"It happened before I was born, but you were there then, and you know
+all about it, don't you, daddy?"
+
+"King" Plummer quickly nodded confirmation and smiled at the memory. The
+event had interested him greatly, and he was glad to vouch for its
+truth. He was pleased all the more when he saw the others looking at him
+with the respect and deference due to--his thoughts halted suddenly in
+their course and turned into another channel. Then he found himself
+frowning. He did not like the conjunction of "dear old daddy" and of a
+thing that had happened many years ago.
+
+The "King" quietly slipped away from the party, and he noticed with
+intense gloom that his departure did not seem to make as much difference
+as it should. For a whole afternoon he was silent, and many corrugations
+formed temporarily in his brow, indicating resolved thought. Nor were
+appearances wrong, because the "King" was laboriously dragging himself
+up to the edge of a mighty resolution. He was physically as brave a man
+as ever walked; in early and rougher days he had borne a ready
+Winchester, but this emergency was something new in his experience, and
+naturally he hesitated at the venture. However, just after supper, when
+Sylvia was alone in the drawing-room of the car, he approached her. She
+looked up at him and smiled, but the "King's" face was set with the
+power of his resolve.
+
+"Come in, daddy," she said.
+
+The "King" did not smile, nor did he sit down.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "I have a favor to ask of you."
+
+"Why certainly, daddy, anything in reason, and I know you would not ask
+anything out of it."
+
+"Sylvia, I want you to promise me never to call me daddy again, either
+in private, as here between ourselves, or before others."
+
+She looked up at him, her eyes wide with astonishment.
+
+"Why," she exclaimed, "I've called you that ever since you found me a
+little, little girl alone in the mountains."
+
+"I know it, but it's time to stop. I'm no blood kin to you at all. And
+I'm not so ancient. The history of the West didn't begin with me."
+
+The wonder in her eyes deepened, and the "King" felt apprehensive,
+though he stood to his guns. But when she laughed, a joyous,
+spontaneous laugh, he felt hurt.
+
+"I'll make you the promise readily enough," she said, "but I can't keep
+it; I really can't. I'll try awful hard, but I'm so used to daddy that
+it will be sure to pop out just when I'm expecting it least."
+
+The "King" looked at her moodily, not sure whether she was laughing at
+him or at her own perplexity.
+
+"Then you just try," he said, at last, yielding to a mood of compromise,
+and stalked abruptly out of the drawing-room.
+
+Sylvia, watching him, saw how stiffly and squarely he held his
+shoulders, and what long and abrupt strides he took, and her mood of
+merriment was suddenly succeeded by one of sadness mingled just a little
+with apprehension. She spoke twice under her breath, and the two brief
+sentences varied by only a single word. The first was "Dear old daddy!"
+and the second was "Poor old daddy!"
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE HARRYING OF HERBERT
+
+
+An unexpected addition and honor was now approaching, and it was Hobart
+who told them of it.
+
+"Our little party is about to receive a touch of real distinction and
+dignity--something that it needs very much," he said, laying the
+newspaper that he had been reading upon the dusty car seat and glancing
+at Harley. They had returned to their special train.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Harley, though his tone betrayed no great
+interest.
+
+"I quote from the columns of our staid contemporary, the New York
+_Monitor_, Churchill's sheet, the representative of solid, quiet, and
+cultured worth," said Hobart, pompously. "'It has been felt for some
+time by thoughtful leaders of our party in the East that Jimmy Grayson
+and the "shirt-sleeves" Western politicians who now surround him are
+showing too much familiarity with the people. A certain reserve, a
+certain dignity of manner which, while holding the crowd at a distance
+also inspires it with a proper respect, is desirable on the part of the
+official head of a great party, a presidential nominee. The personal
+democracy of Mr. Grayson is having a disconcerting effect upon important
+financial circles, and also is inspiring unfavorable comments in the
+English press, extracts from which we print upon another page.'"
+
+"What on earth has the opinion of the English press to do with our
+presidential race?" asked Harley.
+
+"You may search me," replied Hobart. "I merely quote from the columns of
+the _Monitor_. But in order to save time, I tell you that all this
+preamble leads to the departure for the West of the Honorable Herbert
+Henry Heathcote, who, after his graduation at Harvard, took a course at
+Oxford, lived much abroad, and who now, by grace of his father's worth
+and millions, is the national committeeman from his state. For some days
+Herbert has been speeding in our direction, and to-morrow he will join
+us at Red Cloud. It is more than intimated that he will take charge of
+the tour of Jimmy Grayson, and put it upon the proper plane of dignity
+and reserve."
+
+Harley said no more, but, borrowing the paper, read the account
+carefully, and then put it down with a sigh, foreseeing trouble. Herbert
+Heathcote's father had been a great man in his time, self-created, a
+famous merchant, an able party worker, in thorough touch with American
+life, and he had served for many years as the honored chairman of the
+national committee, although in a moment of weakness he had sent his son
+abroad to be educated. Now he was dead, but remembered well, and as a
+presidential campaign costs much money--legitimate money--and his son
+was a prodigal giver, the leaders could not refuse to the younger
+Heathcote the place of national committeeman from his state.
+
+"What do you think of it?" asked Harley, at last.
+
+"I refuse to think," replied Hobart. "I shall merely wait and see."
+
+But the Honorable William Plummer expressed his scorn in words befitting
+his open character.
+
+The paper was passed on until it reached Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia. Mrs.
+Grayson, with her usual reserve, said nothing. Sylvia was openly
+indignant.
+
+"I shall snub this man," she said, "unless he is of the kind that thinks
+it cannot be snubbed."
+
+"I fear that it is his kind," said Harley.
+
+"It looks like it," she said.
+
+At noon the next day, when they were at Red Cloud, Herbert Henry
+Heathcote arrived on the train from the East, and the arrival of him was
+witnessed by Harley, Hobart, Mr. Plummer, and several others, who had
+gone to the station for that purpose and none other.
+
+Mr. Heathcote, as he alighted from the train, was obviously a person of
+importance, his apparel, even had his manner been hidden, disclosing the
+fact to the most casual observer. A felt hat, narrow-brimmed and
+beautifully creased in the crown, sat gracefully upon his head. His
+light overcoat was baggy enough in the back to hold another man, as Mr.
+Heathcote was not large, and white spats were the final touch of an
+outfit that made the less sophisticated of the spectators gasp. "King"
+Plummer swore half audibly.
+
+"I wish my luggage to be carried up to the hotel," said Mr. Heathcote,
+importantly, to the station agent.
+
+"He calls it 'luggage,' and this in Colorado!" groaned Hobart.
+
+"Your what?" exclaimed the station agent, a large man in his
+shirt-sleeves, with a pen thrust behind his ear.
+
+"My luggage; my trunk," replied Mr. Heathcote.
+
+"Then you had better carry it yourself; I've nothing to do with it,"
+said the agent, with Western brusqueness, as he turned away.
+
+Harley, always ready to seize an opportunity, and resolved to mitigate
+things, stepped forward.
+
+"I beg your pardon, but this is Mr. Heathcote, is it not?" he asked,
+courteously.
+
+The committeeman put a glass in his eye and regarded him quite coolly.
+Harley, despite his habitual self-control, shuddered. He did not mind
+the supercilious gaze, but he knew the effect of the monocle upon the
+crowd.
+
+"Yes, I am Mr. Heathcote," said the committeeman, "and you ah--I--don't
+believe--ah--"
+
+"I haven't been introduced," said Harley, with a smile, "but I can
+introduce myself; it's all right here in the West. I merely wanted to
+tell you that you had better get them at the hotel to send the porter
+down for your trunk. There are no carriages, but it's only a short walk
+to the hotel. It's the large white building on the hill in front of
+you."
+
+"Thank you--ah--Mr. Hardy."
+
+"Harley," corrected the correspondent, quietly.
+
+"I was about to say--ah--that the press can make itself useful at
+times."
+
+Harley flushed slightly.
+
+"Yes, even under the most adverse circumstances," he said.
+
+But Mr. Heathcote was already on the way to the hotel, his white spats
+gleaming in the sunshine. It was evident that he intended to keep the
+press in its proper place.
+
+"You made a mistake when you volunteered your help, Harley," said
+Hobart. "A man like that should be received with a club. But you just
+wait until the West gets through with him. Your revenge will be brought
+to you on a silver plate."
+
+"I'm not thinking of myself," replied Harley, gravely. "It's the effect
+of this on Jimmy Grayson's campaign that's bothering me. Colorado is
+doubtful, and so are Utah and Wyoming and Idaho; can we go through them
+with a man like Heathcote, presumably in charge of our party?"
+
+Proof that Harley's fears were justified was forthcoming at once. The
+crowd at the station, drawn by various causes, had been usually large,
+and Mr. Heathcote was received with a gasp of amazement. But nothing was
+said until the white spats of the committeeman disappeared in the hotel.
+Then the people crowded around the correspondents, with whom a six
+hours' stop was sufficient to make them familiar. "Who is he?" they
+asked. "Is he a plutocrat?" "It's a Wall Street shark, sure." "Does
+Jimmy Grayson mean to hobnob with a man like that?" "Then we can't trust
+him either. He's going to be a monopolist, too, and his claiming to be
+champion of the people is all a bluff."
+
+Harley explained with care that Mr. Heathcote was important. To run a
+great presidential campaign required much money--special trains must be
+paid for, halls had to be hired for speakers, there was a vast amount of
+printing to be done, and many other expenses that must be met. Their
+party was poor, as everybody knew, most of the wealth being on the other
+side; and, when a man like Heathcote was willing to contribute his
+thousands, there was nothing to do but to take him. But they need not be
+alarmed; he could not corrupt Jimmy Grayson; the candidate was too
+stanch, too true, too much of a real man to be turned from the right
+path by any sinister Eastern influence.
+
+But the people were not mollified; they resented Mr. Heathcote's manner
+as well as his dress. Why had he not stopped at the station a few
+minutes, and shaken hands with those who would have been glad to meet
+him for the sake of fellowship in the party? Harley heard again the word
+"Plutocrat," and, deeming it wise to say nothing more for the present,
+walked back to the hotel. On the long porch sat a row of men in
+rocking-chairs--correspondents, town officials, and politicians,
+following in the wake of Jimmy Grayson. A state senator, a big,
+white-bearded man named Curtis, who had been travelling with them for
+three days, jerked his finger over his shoulder, pointing to the
+interior of the hotel, and said, mysteriously, to Harley:
+
+"Where did you get it?"
+
+"New York," replied Harley, sadly.
+
+"Can't you lose it?"
+
+"I don't know," replied Harley, hopefully, "but we can try."
+
+Hobart, who was in the next chair, put his right foot across his left
+knee and nursed it judicially.
+
+"It is eating its dinner now," he said. "It said: 'Landlord, I want a
+table alone. I do not wish to be disturbed.' And just think, Harley,
+this is Colorado! Landlord, otherwise Bill Jeffreys, was so taken aback
+that he said, 'All right.' But the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote is
+being watched. There are three cowboys, at this very moment, peeping in
+at his window."
+
+There was a dead silence for at least a minute, broken at last by
+Barton.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "you do not yet know the full, the awful truth; I
+accidentally heard Heathcote telling Jeffreys about it."
+
+"Why, what can be worse?" asked Harley, and he was in earnest.
+
+"Mr. Heathcote's man--his valet, do you understand--arrives to-night. He
+is to have a place in the car, and to travel with us, in order that he
+may wait on his master."
+
+"King" Plummer uttered an oath.
+
+"The West can stand a good many things, but it won't stand that," he
+exclaimed. "A national committeeman of our party travelling with his
+valet on the train with Jimmy Grayson! It'll cost us at least six
+states. We ain't women!"
+
+There succeeded a gloomy silence that lasted until Heathcote himself
+appeared upon the porch, fresh, dapper, and patronizing.
+
+"I hope you enjoyed your dinner, Mr. Heathcote," said Harley, ever ready
+to be a peacemaker.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Hardy--ah, Harley; it did very well for the
+frontier--one does not expect much here, you know."
+
+Harley glanced uneasily at the men in the chairs, but Mr. Heathcote went
+on, condescendingly:
+
+"I am now going for an interview with Mr. Grayson in his room. We shall
+be there at least an hour, and we wish to be quite alone, as I have many
+things of importance to say."
+
+No one spoke, but twenty pairs of eyes followed the committeeman as he
+disappeared in the hotel on his way to Jimmy Grayson's room. Then
+Alvord, the town judge, a man of gigantic stature, rose to his feet and
+said, in a mimicking, feminine voice:
+
+"Gentlemen, I am going to the bar, and I shall be there at least an
+hour; I wish to be quite alone, as I shall have many important things to
+drink."
+
+There was a burst of laughter that relieved the constraint somewhat, and
+then, obedient to an invitation from the judge, they filed solemnly in
+to the bar.
+
+The candidate was to speak in the afternoon, and as he would raise some
+new issues, sure to be of interest to the whole country, Harley,
+following his familiar custom, went in search of Mr. Grayson for
+preliminary information. The hour set aside by Mr. Heathcote had passed
+long since, and Harley thought that he would be out of the way.
+
+Jimmy Grayson's room was on the second floor, and Harley walked slowly
+up the steps, but at the head of the stairway he was met by Mr.
+Heathcote himself.
+
+"Good-afternoon," said Harley, cheerfully. "I hope that you had a
+pleasant talk with Mr. Grayson. I'm going in to see him now myself; a
+presidential nominee can't get much rest."
+
+Mr. Heathcote drew himself up importantly.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, "but you cannot--ah--see Mr. Grayson.
+There has been a feeling with us in the East--we are in a position there
+to judge, being in thorough touch with the great world--that it was not
+advisable for Mr. Grayson to speak to or to come in direct contact with
+the press. This familiar talk with the newspapers rather impairs the
+confidence of our great magnates and prejudices us in the eyes of
+Europe. It is better--ah--that his remarks should be transmitted through
+a third person, who can give to the press what is fitting and reserve
+the remainder."
+
+Harley gazed at Heathcote in amazement, but there was nothing in his
+manner to indicate that he was not in earnest.
+
+"And you are the third person, I suppose?" said Harley.
+
+"I have so constituted myself," replied Mr. Heathcote, and his tone was
+aggravatingly quiet and assured. "As one conversant with great affairs,
+I am the most fit."
+
+"Has Mr. Grayson agreed to this?" asked Harley.
+
+"My dear man, I cannot permit you to cross-examine me. But, really, I
+wish to be on good terms with the press, which is quite a useful
+institution within its limits. Now, you seem to be rather more sedate
+than the others, and I wish you would have the goodness to explain to
+them how I have taken affairs in hand."
+
+Harley flushed at his patronizing tone, and for a moment he was tempted
+to thrust him out of his way and proceed with his errand to Jimmy
+Grayson's room, but he reflected that it was better to let the
+committeeman make the rope for his own hanging, and he turned away with
+a quiet, "Very well, I shall forego the interview."
+
+But as he went back down the stairs he could not help asking himself the
+question, "Does Jimmy Grayson know? Could he have consented to such an
+arrangement?" and at once came the answer--"Impossible."
+
+He returned to the porch, where all the chairs were filled, although the
+talk was slow. He noticed, with pleasure, that Churchill was absent. The
+descending sun had just touched the crests of the distant mountains, and
+they swam in a tremulous golden glow. The sunset radiance over nature in
+her mighty aspects affected all on the porch, used as they were to it,
+and that was why they were silent. But they turned inquiring eyes upon
+Harley when he joined them.
+
+"What has become of Heathcote?" asked Barton.
+
+"He is engaged upon an important task just now," replied Harley.
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"He is editing Jimmy Grayson's speech."
+
+Twenty chairs came down with a crash, and twenty pairs of eyes stared in
+indignant astonishment.
+
+"King" Plummer's effort to hold himself in his chair seemed to be a
+strain.
+
+"He may not be doing that particular thing at this particular moment,"
+continued Harley, "but he told me very distinctly that he was here for
+that purpose, and he has also just told me that I could not see Jimmy
+Grayson, that he intended henceforth to act as an intermediary between
+the candidate and the press."
+
+"And you stood it?" exclaimed Hobart.
+
+"For the present, yes," replied Harley, evenly; "and I did so because I
+thought I saw a better way out of the trouble than an immediate quarrel
+with Heathcote--a better way, above all, for Jimmy Grayson and the
+party."
+
+The Western men said nothing, though they looked their deep disgust, and
+presently they quitted the porch, leaving it, rocking-chairs and all, to
+the correspondents.
+
+"Boys," said Harley, earnestly, "I've a request to make of you. Let me
+take the lead in this affair; I've a plan that I think will work."
+
+"Well, you are in a measure the chief of our corps," said Warrener, one
+of the Chicago men. "I don't know why you are, but all of us have got
+to looking on you in that way."
+
+"I, for one, promise to be good and obey," said Hobart, "but I won't
+deny that it will be a hard job. Perhaps I could stand the man, if it
+were not for his accent--it sounds to me as if his voice were coming out
+of the top of his head, instead of his chest, where a good, honest voice
+ought to have its home."
+
+"Now you listen," said Harley, "and I will my tale unfold."
+
+Then they put their heads together and talked long and earnestly.
+
+The shaggy mountains were in deep shadow, and the sunset was creeping
+into the west when Jimmy Grayson came out on the porch where the
+correspondents yet sat. Harley at once noticed a significant change in
+his appearance; he looked troubled. Before, if he was troubled, he
+always hid it and turned a calm eye to every issue; but this evening
+there was something new and extraordinary about Jimmy Grayson; he was
+ashamed and apologetic obviously so, and Harley felt a thrill of pity
+that a man so intensely proud under all his democracy, or perhaps
+because of it, should be forced into a position in which he must be,
+seemingly at least, untrue to himself.
+
+The candidate hesitated and glanced at the correspondents, his comrades
+of many a long day, as if he expected them to ask him questions, but no
+one spoke. The sinking sun dropped behind the mountains, and the
+following shadow also lay across Jimmy Grayson's face. He was the
+nominee of a great party for President of the United States, but there
+was a heart in him, and these young men, who had gone with him through
+good times and bad times, through weary days and weary nights, were to
+him like the staff that has followed a general over many battle-fields.
+He glanced again at the correspondents, but, as they continued to stare
+resolutely at the dark mountains, he turned and walked abruptly into the
+hotel.
+
+"Boys," exclaimed Barton, "it's tough!"
+
+"Yes, damned tough," said Hobart.
+
+"King" Plummer, who was with them, maintained a stony silence.
+
+An hour later the valet of the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote, a
+smooth, trim young Englishman, arrived in Red Cloud, and never before in
+his vassal life had he been a person of so much importance. The news had
+been spread in Red Cloud that a rare specimen was coming, a kind
+hitherto unknown in those regions. When John--that was his
+name--alighted from the train in the dusk of a vast, desolate Western
+night, a crowd of tanned, tall men was packed closely about him,
+watching every movement that he made. Harley saw him glance fearfully at
+the dark throng, but no one said a word. As he moved towards the hotel,
+a valise in either hand, the way opened before him, but the crowd,
+arranging itself in a solid mass behind him, followed, still silent,
+until he reached the shelter of the building and the protecting wing of
+his master. Then it dispersed in an orderly manner, but the only subject
+of conversation in Red Cloud was the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote
+and his "man," especially the "man."
+
+At the appointed hour the candidate spoke from a stage in the public
+square, and it would not be fair to say that his address fell flat; but
+for the first time in the long campaign Harley noticed a certain
+coldness on the part of the audience, a sense of aloofness, as if Jimmy
+Grayson were not one of them, but a stranger in the town whom they must
+treat decently, although they might not approve of him or his ways. And
+Harley did not have to seek the cause, for there at a corner of the
+stage sat a dominating presence, the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote,
+his neck encircled by a very high collar, his trousers turned up at the
+bottom, and his white spats gleaming through the darkness. More eyes
+were upon him than upon the candidate, but Mr. Heathcote was not
+daunted. His own gaze, as it swept the audience, was at times
+disapproving and at other times condescending.
+
+About the middle of the speech the night, as usual, grew chilly, and Mr.
+Heathcote's "man," stepping upon the stage, assisted him on with a light
+overcoat. A gasp went up from the crowd, and the candidate, stopping,
+looked back and saw the cause. Again that shadow came over his face, but
+in a moment he recovered himself and went on as if there had been no
+interruption. When the speech was finished Mr. Heathcote stood a moment
+by the table at which Harley was still writing, and said:
+
+"I think you and your associates should leave out of your report that
+part about our foreign relations. However well received in the West, I
+doubt whether it would have a very good effect in the East."
+
+"But he said it," exclaimed Harley, looking up in surprise.
+
+"Quite true, but there should be a certain reserve on the part of the
+press. These expressions have about them a trace of rawness, perhaps
+inseparable from a man like our nominee, who is the product of Western
+conditions. I trust that I shall be able to correct this unfortunate
+tendency."
+
+Harley was burning with anger, but the long practice of self-control
+enabled him to hide it. He did not reply, but resumed his work. Mr.
+Heathcote spoke to him again, but Harley, his head bent over his pad,
+went on with his writing. Nor did any of the other correspondents speak.
+The committeeman, astonished and indignant, left the stage, and,
+followed by his "man," returned to the hotel between two silent files of
+spectators.
+
+"Experience number one," was the only comment of the correspondents, and
+it came from Barton.
+
+When Harley went into the hotel he saw Jimmy Grayson leaning against the
+clerk's desk as if he were waiting for something. He glanced at Harley,
+and there was a tinge of reproach in his look. Harley's resolution
+faltered, but it was only for a moment, and then, taking his key from
+the clerk, he went in silence to his room. He understood the position of
+Jimmy Grayson, he knew how much the party was indebted to Mr. Heathcote
+for payment of the campaign's necessary expenses, but he was determined
+to carry out his plan, which he believed would succeed.
+
+But there was one man in Jimmy Grayson's group to whom the appearance of
+Mr. Heathcote was welcome, and this was Churchill, who was sure that he
+recognized in him a kindred spirit. He sent a long despatch to the
+_Monitor_, telling of the very beneficial effect the committeeman's
+presence already exercised upon the campaign, particularly the new tone
+of dignity that he had given to it. He also cultivated Mr. Heathcote,
+and was willing to furnish him deferential advice.
+
+As the special train was to leave early the next morning for the
+northern part of the state, they ate breakfast in a dim dawn, with only
+the rim of the sun showing over the eastern mountains. Mr. Heathcote
+came in late and found every chair occupied. No one moved or took any
+notice. Jimmy Grayson looked embarrassed, and said in a propitiatory
+tone to the proprietor, who stood near the window:
+
+"Can't you fix a place for Mr. Heathcote?"
+
+"Oh, I guess I kin bring in a little table from the kitchen," replied
+Bill Jeffreys, negligently, "but he'll have to hustle; that train goes
+in less than ten minutes."
+
+The table was brought in, and Mr. Heathcote ate more quickly than ever
+before in his life, although he found time for caustic criticism of the
+hotel accommodations in Red Cloud. Just as he put down his half-emptied
+coffee-cup the train blew a warning whistle.
+
+"That engineer is at least three minutes ahead of time," said Barton.
+
+"He's a lively fellow," said Hobart. "I was up early, and he told me he
+wasn't going to wait a single minute, even if he did have a Presidential
+nominee aboard."
+
+The eyes of Barton and Hobart met, and Barton understood.
+
+"We'd better run for it," said Barton, and they hurried to the train,
+Mr. Heathcote borne on in the press. As they settled into their seats
+Barton pointed out of the window, and cried: "Look! Look! The 'man' is
+about to get left!"
+
+John, a valise in one hand and a hat-box in the other, was rushing for
+the train, which had already begun to move. But the conductor reached
+down the steps, grasped him by the collar, and dragged him, baggage and
+all, aboard. John appeared humbly before his master, who was silent,
+however, merely waving him to a seat. Mr. Heathcote was apparently
+indignant about something. By-and-by he stated that his valet had been
+forced to leave Red Cloud without anything to eat. Nobody had looked
+after the man, and he could not understand such neglect. He would like
+to have a porter bring him something. Old Senator Curtis, who was with
+them, spoke up from a full heart:
+
+"He'll have to go hungry. There's no dining-car on this train, and he
+can't get a bite, even for a bagful of money, till we get to Willow
+Grange at two o'clock this afternoon."
+
+The senator was not excessively polite, and Mr. Heathcote opened his
+mouth as if to speak, but, changing his mind, closed it. He glanced at
+Jimmy Grayson, who looked troubled, although he, also, maintained
+silence. Neither would any one else speak; but every one was taking
+notice. Harley in his heart felt sorry for the poor valet, who seemed to
+be an inoffensive fellow, suited to his humble trade; but a political
+campaign in the Rocky Mountain West was no place for him; he must take
+what circumstances dealt out to him.
+
+The committeeman presently recovered his sense of his own worth and
+dignity, and spoke in a large manner of the plans that he would take to
+raise the tone of the campaign. The candidate still looked troubled and
+made no comment. The local public men, the correspondents, and all on
+the little train were silent, staring out of the windows, apparently
+engrossed in the scenery, which was now becoming grand and beautiful.
+Ridge rose above ridge, and afar the peaks, clad in eternal snow, looked
+down like heaven's silent sentinels.
+
+Mr. Heathcote was very courteous to Mrs. Grayson, but at first he
+scarcely noticed Sylvia, although a little later he expressed admiration
+for her beauty, not doubting, however, that he would find her the
+possessor of an uncultivated mind.
+
+Towards the noon hour a tragic discovery was made. After the candidate's
+last speech in the evening the train would leave immediately for Utah,
+and all continuing on the way must sleep aboard. Room had been found in
+some manner for Mr. Heathcote, but every other berth, upper and lower,
+had been assigned long ago, and there was nothing left for his man. But
+Mr. Heathcote, resolved not to be trampled upon, went in a state of high
+indignation to the conductor.
+
+"I must have a place for my man. I cannot travel without an attendant."
+
+"Jimmy Grayson does," replied the conductor, a rude Democrat of the
+West; "and your fellow can't have any, because there ain't any to be
+had; besides, it's 'cordin' to train rules that dogs an' all such-like
+should travel in the baggage-car."
+
+Mr. Heathcote refused to speak again to such a man, and complained to
+the candidate. But Jimmy Grayson could do nothing.
+
+"This train on which we now are is paid for jointly by the committeemen
+of Colorado, Utah, and Idaho," he said, "and I have nothing to do with
+the arrangements. I should not like to attempt interference."
+
+Mr. Heathcote looked at old Senator Curtis, who seemed to be in charge,
+but, apprehending a blow to his dignity, he refrained from pressing the
+point, and the lackey slept that night as well as he could on a seat in
+the smoking-car.
+
+The next few days, which were passed chiefly in Utah, were full of color
+and events. Life became very strenuous for the Honorable Herbert Henry
+Heathcote. He learned how to take his meals on the wing, as it were, to
+run for trains, to snatch two hours' sleep anywhere between midnight and
+morning, and to be jostled by rude crowds that failed to recognize his
+superiority. The full-backed light overcoat, during its brief existence
+the focus of so much attention, was lost in a dinner rush and never
+reappeared. But, above all, Mr. Heathcote had upon his hands the care of
+the helpless, miserable lackey, and never did a sick baby require more
+attention. John was lost amid his strange and terrible surroundings. At
+mountain towns crowds of boys, and sometimes men, would surround him and
+jeer at his peculiar appearance, and his master would be compelled to
+come forcibly to his rescue. He never learned how to run for the car,
+with his arms full of baggage, and once, boarding a wrong train, he was
+run off on a branch line a full fifty miles. He was rescued only after
+infinite telegraphing and two days' time, when he reappeared,
+crestfallen and terrified.
+
+And there was trouble--plenty of it--aboard the train. There was never a
+berth for the lackey, who was relegated permanently to the smoking-car.
+Mr. Heathcote himself sometimes had to fight, bribe, and intrigue for
+one--and often he failed to get breakfast or dinner through false
+information or the carelessness of somebody. He made full acquaintance
+with the pangs of hunger, and many a time, when every nerve in him
+called for sleep, there was no place to lay his weary head.
+
+Now the iron entered the soul of the Honorable Herbert, and he became a
+soured and disappointed man, but he stuck gravely to his chosen task.
+Harley, despite his dislike, could not keep from admiring his tenacity.
+Nobody, except the candidate, paid the slightest attention to him; even
+Sylvia and Mrs. Grayson ignored him; if he made suggestions, nobody said
+anything to the contrary, but they were never adopted, and Mr. Heathcote
+noticed, too, that the others seemed to be enduring the life easily,
+while it was altogether too full for him. If there was any angle, he
+seemed somehow to knock against it; and if there was any pitfall, it was
+he who fell into it. But he gave no sign of returning to the East, and
+his misfortunes continued. From time to time they got copies of the
+Western papers containing full reports of Jimmy Grayson's canvass, and
+none of them, except the _Monitor_, ever spoke flatteringly of the
+Honorable Herbert or his efforts to put the campaign on a higher plane.
+
+Churchill spoke once to the group of correspondents and politicians
+about the lack of deference paid to the committeeman, but he was invited
+so feelingly to attend to his own business that he never again risked
+it. However, he said in his despatches to the _Monitor_ that even Mr.
+Heathcote's efforts could not keep the campaign on a dignified level.
+
+At last, on one dreadful day, they lost the lackey again, and this time
+there was no hope of recovery. He had been seen, his hands full of
+baggage, running for the wrong train, and when they heard from him he
+was far down in Colorado, stranded, and there was no possible chance for
+him to overtake the "special." Accordingly, his master, acting under
+expert advice, telegraphed him money and a ticket and ordered him back
+to New York. When the news was taken to the candidate Harley saw an
+obvious look of relief on his face. That valet had been a terrible
+weight upon the campaign, and none knew it better than Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Mr. Heathcote now became morose and silent. Much of his lofty and
+patronizing air disappeared, although the desire to instruct would crop
+out at times. Usually he was watchful and suspicious, but the struggle
+for bread and a place to sleep necessarily consumed a large portion of
+his energies. As time dragged on his manner became that of one hunted,
+but doggedly enduring, nevertheless. The candidate always spoke to him
+courteously, whenever he had a chance, but then there was little time
+for conversation, as the campaign was now hot and fast. Mr. Heathcote
+was, in fact, a man alone in the world, and outlawed too. The weight
+upon him grew heavier and heavier as his path became thornier and
+thornier; the angles, the corners, and the pitfalls seemed to multiply,
+and always he was the victim. Jimmy Grayson looked now and then as if he
+would like to interfere, but there was no way for him to interfere, nor
+any one with whom he could interfere.
+
+Mr. Heathcote still clung bravely to some portions of his glorious
+wardrobe. The white spats he yet sported, in the face of a belligerent
+Western democracy, and he paid the full price. Harley acknowledged this
+merit in him, and once or twice, when the committeeman, amid the
+comments of the ribald crowd, turned a pathetic look upon him, he was
+moved to pity and a desire to help; but the last feeling he resolutely
+crushed, and held on his way.
+
+The campaign swung farther westward and northward, and into a primitive
+wilderness, where the audiences were composed solely of miners and
+cowboys. Old Senator Curtis and several other of the Colorado men were
+still with them, and one night they spoke at a mining hamlet on the
+slope of a mountain that shot ten thousand feet above them. The
+candidate was in great form, and made one of his best speeches, amid
+roars of applause. The audience was so well pleased that it would not
+disperse when he finished, and wished vociferously to know if there were
+not another spellbinder on the stage. Then the spirit of mischief
+entered the soul of Hobart.
+
+The Honorable Herbert sat at the corner of the stage, the white spats
+still gleaming defiance, his whole appearance, despite recent
+modifications, showing that he was a strange bird in a strange land.
+Hobart constituted himself chairman for the moment, and, pointing to Mr.
+Heathcote, said:
+
+"Gentlemen, one of the ablest and most famous of our national
+committeemen is upon the stage, and he will be glad to address you."
+
+The audience cheered, half in expectation and half in derision, but the
+Honorable Herbert, who had never made a speech in his life, rose to the
+cry. His figure straightened up, there was a new light in his eye, and
+Harley, startled, did not know Mr. Heathcote. As he advanced to the edge
+of the stage the shouts of derision overcame those of expectation.
+Harley heard the words "Dude!" "Tenderfoot!" mingled with the cries, but
+the Honorable Herbert gave no sign that he heard. He reached the edge of
+the stage, waved his hand, and then there was silence.
+
+"Friends," he said--"I call you such, though you have not received me in
+a friendly manner--"
+
+The crowd breathed hard, and some one uttered a threat, but another man
+commanded silence. "Give him a chance!" he said.
+
+"You have not received me in a friendly manner," resumed the Honorable
+Herbert, "but I am your friend, and I am resolved that you shall be
+mine. I cannot make a speech to you, but I will tell you a story which
+perhaps will serve as well."
+
+"Go on with the story," said the men, doubtfully. On the stage there was
+a general waking-up. Correspondents and politicians alike recognized the
+Honorable Herbert's new manner, and they bent forward with interest.
+
+"My story," said Mr. Heathcote, "is of a man who had a fond and perhaps
+too generous father. This father had suffered great hardships, and he
+wished to save his son from them. What more natural? But perhaps, in his
+tenderness, he did the son a wrong. So this son grew up, not seeing the
+rough side of life, and finding all things easy. He lived in a part of
+the country that is old and rich, where what is called necessity you
+call luxury. He knew nothing of the world except that portion of it to
+which he was used. What more natural? Is not that human nature
+everywhere? He saw himself petted and admired, and in the course of time
+he felt himself a person of importance. Is not that natural, too?"
+
+He paused and looked over the audience, which was silent and attentive,
+held by the interest of something unusual and the deep, almost painful,
+earnestness of Mr. Heathcote's manner.
+
+"What's he coming to?" whispered Hobart.
+
+"I don't know; wait and see," replied Harley.
+
+"Thus the man grew up to know only a little world," the Honorable
+Herbert went on, "and he did not know how little it was. He was like a
+prisoner in a gorgeous room, who sees, without, snow and storm that
+cannot touch him, but who is a prisoner nevertheless. Those whom he met
+and with whom he lived his daily life were like him, and they thought
+they were the heart of this world. Everything about them was golden;
+they saw that people wished to hear of them, to read of them, to know
+all that they did, and their view of their importance grew every day.
+What more natural? Was not that human nature?"
+
+"I think I see which way he is going," whispered Hobart.
+
+Harley nodded. The audience was still and intent, hanging on the words
+of the speaker.
+
+"This youth," continued Mr. Heathcote, "was sent by-and-by to Europe to
+have his education finished, and there all the ideas formed by his life
+in this country were confirmed in him. He saw a society, organized
+centuries ago, in which every man found a definite place for life
+assigned to him, in accordance with what fortune had done for him at
+birth. There he received deference and homage, even more than before,
+and the great, changing world, with its mighty tides and storms that
+flowed about his little group, leaving it untouched, was yet unknown to
+him.
+
+"He came back to his own country, and the strong father who had
+sheltered him died. He was filled with an ambition to be a political
+power, as his father had been, and the dead hand brought him the place.
+Then he came into the West to join in a great political campaign, but it
+was his first real excursion into the real world, and his ignorance was
+heavy upon him."
+
+A deep "Ah!" ran through the crowd, and Harley noticed a sudden look of
+respect upon the brown faces. They were beginning to see where the
+thread of the story would lead. Then Harley glanced at old Senator
+Curtis, whose lips moved tremulously for a moment. "King" Plummer was
+regarding the committeeman with astonished interest.
+
+"This man, I repeat," continued Mr. Heathcote, "came West with his
+ignorance, I might almost say with his sins heavy upon him, but it was
+not his fault; it was the fault, rather, of circumstances. He seemed a
+strange, a grotesque figure to these people of the West, but they should
+not have forgotten that they also seemed strange to him. It has been
+said that it takes many kinds of people to make a world, and they cannot
+all be alike. One point of view may differ from another point of view,
+and both may be right. If this man did anything wrong--and he admits
+that he did--he did it in ignorance. There were some with him who knew
+both points of view who might have helped him, but who did not; instead,
+they made life hard; they put countless difficulties in his way; they
+made him feel very wretched, very mean, and very little. He saw the
+other point of view at last, but he was not permitted to show that he
+saw it; he was put in such a position that his pride would not let him."
+
+The crowd suddenly burst into cheers. The keen Western men understood,
+and the mountain-slope gave back the echo, "Hurrah for Heathcote!" The
+Honorable Herbert's figure swelled and his eyes flashed. Grateful water
+was falling at last on the parched desert sands.
+
+"But, friends," he continued, "this man, though his lesson has been
+rough, comes to you with no resentment. He has broken the bars of his
+prison; he is in the real world at last, and he comes to you asking to
+be one of you, to give and take with the crowd. Will you have him?"
+
+"Yes!" a chorus of a thousand voices roared against the side of the
+mountain and came back in a thunderous echo.
+
+Old Senator Curtis sprang to his feet, seized Mr. Heathcote by the hand,
+and shouted:
+
+"Gentlemen, I, too, need to apologize, and also I want to introduce to
+you a real man, Mr. Herbert Henry Heathcote."
+
+"Put me down for an apology, too," said "King" Plummer, in his big,
+booming tones.
+
+Jimmy Grayson, on the outskirts of the crowd, returning to learn what
+the noise was about, saw and heard all, and murmured to a friend:
+
+"There is now a new member of our group, and all is well again."
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+CHURCHILL STRIKES
+
+
+The conversion and adoption of Mr. Heathcote, as Hobart called it, was a
+pleasant incident in several senses, bringing much quiet gratification
+to them all, and particularly and obviously to the candidate. A hostile
+element, one intended by others to be hostile and interfering, had
+become friendly, which, of itself, was a great gain. Moreover, the
+smoothness of social intercourse was increased, and there, too, was a
+new type, adding to the variety and interest of the group.
+
+The only one not pleased was Churchill, who had expected much from Mr.
+Heathcote, and who now, as he considered it, saw the committeeman turn
+traitor. It was not a matter that he could handle fully in his
+despatches to the _Monitor_, being too intangible to allow of bald
+assertion, and he was reduced to indirect statement. This not satisfying
+him at all, he wrote a long letter to Mr. Goodnight, both for the sake
+of the cause and for the sake of his own feelings, which had been much
+lacerated. Its production cost him a great deal of thought and labor;
+but he had his reward, as its perusal after completion proved to him
+that it was a masterpiece.
+
+Churchill showed quite clearly to Mr. Goodnight the steady decay of the
+candidate's character and the lower levels to which his campaign was
+falling. In the security of a private letter it was not necessary for
+him to spare words, and Churchill spoke his mind forcibly about the
+manner in which Jimmy Grayson was pandering to the "common people," the
+"ignorant mob," the "million-footed." Churchill himself, although not
+old, had taken long ago the measure of these foolish common people, and
+he despised them, his contempt giving him a very pleasant conviction of
+his own superiority.
+
+He also poured a few vials of wrath upon the head of Mr. Heathcote, whom
+he characterized as a coward, not able to stand up against petty
+persecution, and from the committeeman he passed on to others of Mr.
+Grayson's immediate following, taking "King" Plummer next. Mr. Plummer,
+in his opinion, was an excellent type of democracy run to riot. He was
+one of the "boys" in every sense. He was wofully wanting in personal
+dignity, speaking to everybody in the most familiar manner, and
+encouraging the same form of address towards himself; he failed utterly
+to recognize the superiority of some other men, and he was grossly
+ignorant, knowing nothing whatever of Europe and the vast work that had
+been done there for civilization and order. Moreover, he could not be
+induced, even by the well-informed, to take any interest in the Old
+World, and once had had the rudeness to say to Churchill himself, "What
+in the devil is Europe to us?"
+
+Churchill thus subjected the views of "King" Plummer to the process of
+elaboration because they had made a vivid impression upon him. He and
+the "King" had never been able to get on together, the mountaineer
+treating him with rough indifference, and Churchill returning it with a
+hauteur which he considered very effective. To Churchill men of "King"
+Plummer's type seemed the greatest danger the country could have. Their
+lack of respect for diplomacy, their want of form and ceremony, their
+brutal habit of calling things by their names, were in his opinion
+revolutionary. He did not see how dealings with foreign nations, which
+always loomed very large to him, could be conducted by such men. Always
+in his mind was the question, What would they say in London and Vienna
+and Berlin? and the _Monitor_, which he served faithfully, confirmed him
+through its tone in this mental state. Still drawing his inspiration
+from the _Monitor_, he regarded a sneer as invariably the best weapon;
+if you were opposed to anything, the proper way to attack it was by
+sneering at it; then, not having used argument, you never put yourself
+in a position to have your arguments refuted.
+
+From "King" Plummer, Churchill passed to some of his associates--like
+the _Monitor_, he never hesitated to befoul his own nest--and he told
+Mr. Goodnight how the candidate was using them, how they had wholly
+fallen under the spell of his undeniable charm of manner, and how they
+wrote to please him rather than to tell the truth.
+
+As he sealed his long letter, Churchill felt the conscious glow of
+right-doing and stern self-sacrifice. He had written thus for the good
+of the party and the good of the country, and he was strengthened, too,
+by the feeling that he could not possibly be wrong. The _Monitor_
+cultivated the sense of omniscience, which it communicated in turn to
+all the members of its staff.
+
+He passed Sylvia Morgan on his way from the hotel reading-room to the
+lobby to mail his letter, and when he met her he quickly turned down
+the address on the envelope, in order that she might not see it. It was
+done by impulse, and Churchill, for the first time, had a feeling of
+guilt that made him angry.
+
+"That must be a love letter, Mr. Churchill," said Sylvia, teasing him
+with the easy freedom of the West. "Do you write her twenty-four pages,
+or only twenty?"
+
+"I have no love except my work, Miss Morgan," replied Churchill,
+assuming his most grandiose air.
+
+"Is that a permanent affection, or a passing fancy?"
+
+Her face expressed the most eager interest, as if she could not possibly
+be happy until she had Churchill's answer. The words were frivolous, but
+her manner was most deferential, and Churchill concluded that she was
+expressing respect in as far as what he considered her shallow nature
+could do so.
+
+"It is, I hope, a permanent passion, Miss Morgan," he replied, gravely.
+"There is a pleasure in doing one's duty, particularly under
+disagreeable circumstances, which I am happy to say I have felt more
+than once, and custom usually strengthens one who walks in the right
+path."
+
+Still in this mood of contemplation, he regarded her, and he thought he
+saw a slight look of awe appear in her eyes. His opinion of her rose at
+once. While not able to show merit of the highest degree, she could
+perceive it in others, and this differentiated her from the rest of the
+group. Churchill allowed himself to see that she had a fine face and a
+slender, beautiful figure, and he felt it a pity that she should be
+thrown away on a crude, rough old mountaineer like Plummer.
+
+"I often think, Miss Morgan," he said, "that if you had lived in the
+East awhile you could have been quite a match for any woman whom I have
+ever known."
+
+"Thank you," she replied, humbly. "Oh, if I could only have lived in the
+East just a little while!"
+
+"But I assure you, Miss Morgan, I have met some very remarkable women."
+
+"I do not doubt it, and they have had an equal good-fortune."
+
+Churchill looked suspiciously at her, but there was the same touch of
+deference in her manner, and he still honored her with his conversation.
+He permitted himself to discourse a little upon the affairs which he had
+embodied--"embodied" he felt was the word--in his letter, and she, with
+all a woman's intuition, and much of masculine reasoning power, guessed
+what the letter contained, although she did not know to whom it was
+going. Nor did she feel it wrong to be very attentive, as Churchill
+talked, because he was doing it of his own free will, and she had the
+fate of her uncle deeply at heart.
+
+Churchill spoke of the campaign, venturing upon polite criticisms of
+certain features that seemed objectionable to him, and, listening to
+him, she confirmed her opinion that he was the personal representative
+with Mr. Grayson of the chief elements within the party that could cause
+trouble. And she felt sure, too, that the letter he held in his hand
+would add fuel to the fire already burning. She happened also to be
+present several days later when a messenger-boy handed him a telegram,
+and, when he opened it, he made an involuntary motion to hide it, just
+as he had done with the letter. She pretended not to see, and walked
+away, but she knew as well as if he had told her that the telegram was
+the reply to the letter.
+
+Mr. Goodnight himself sent the despatch, and he thanked Churchill warmly
+for the very important information told so luminously in his letter. The
+solid and respectable portion of the party had hoped much from the
+presence of Mr. Heathcote, but as he had yielded to the influence of
+another, instead of exerting his own, it would be necessary to take
+additional action later. Meanwhile he requested Mr. Churchill to keep
+him accurately and promptly informed of everything, and Churchill at
+once telegraphed: "Despatch received. Will be glad to comply with your
+request."
+
+Then he congratulated himself, and felt good, his complacent demeanor
+forming a contrast to that of several others in the party. The latter
+were "King" Plummer, Sylvia Morgan, and John Harley, all of whom were
+unhappy.
+
+Harley was troubled by his conscience, and he could not do anything to
+keep it from sticking those little pins into him. Sylvia Morgan, despite
+herself, drew him on, not the less because his first feeling towards her
+had been one of hostility. She had a piquant touch, a manner full of
+unconscious allurement--the radiation of a pure soul, though it
+was--that he had never seen in any other woman, and the harder he fought
+against it, the more surely it conquered him. He took from his valise a
+copy of that old Chicago newspaper, with her picture on the front page,
+and wondered how he could have intimated that she was the cause of its
+being there. As he knew her better, he knew that she could not have done
+it, and he knew, too, that she would have scornfully resented any
+insinuation of having done so by refusing to deny it.
+
+The "King" was unhappy, too, in his way, and that was very bad indeed
+for him. He had tried an effusive gallantry, and it did not seem to
+succeed any better than obedience to his own impulses--on the whole,
+rather worse; and now, not knowing what else to do, he sulked. It was
+not any sly sulking, but genuine, open sulking in his large, Western
+way, thus leaving it apparent to all that the great "King" Plummer was
+sad. And that meant much to the party, because in a sense it was now
+personally conducted by him. In his joyous mood, which was his usual
+mood until the present, he had a large and pervasive personality that
+was a wonderful help to travel and social intercourse. They missed his
+timely, if now and then a trifle rough, jests, his vast knowledge of the
+mountains, which had some good story of every town to which they came,
+and his infinite zest and humor, which also communicated more zest and
+humor to every one with him. It was a grievous day for them all when
+"King" Plummer began to mourn. More than one guessed the cause, but
+wisely they refrained from any attempt to remove it. They could do
+nothing but endure the gloom in silence, until the clouds passed, as
+they hoped they would pass.
+
+The candidate, too, was troubled, and sought the privacy of the special
+car's drawing-room more than usual. Sylvia Morgan had given him a hint
+that attacks upon him from a certain source were likely to be renewed,
+and, moreover, would increase in virulence. He soon found that she was
+right, as the copies of the _Monitor_ that they now obtained were
+frankly cynical and unbelieving. All of its despatches from the West,
+Churchill's as well as others, were depreciatory. The candidate was
+invariably made to appear in a bad light--which is an easy matter to
+do, in any case, without sacrifice of the truth--that is, verbally, only
+the spirit being changed--and the editor reinforced them with strong
+criticisms, in which quotations from English writers and a French phrase
+now and then were freely employed. The whole burden of it was, "We
+support this candidate; but, oh, how hard it is for us to do it, how
+badly we feel about it, and how much easier it would be for us to
+support any other man!" It also printed many contributions from readers,
+in all of which the contributors spoke of themselves as belonging by
+nature and cultivation to the select few, "the saving remnant," who
+really knew what was good for the country. Here much latitude of
+expression was allowed, as the paper was not directly responsible for
+what these gentlemen said. They wrote of the way in which the dignity of
+a great party had been destroyed by the uncouth and talkative Westerner
+who had been lucky enough to secure the nomination. They felt that they
+had been shamed in the face of the world, and more than once asked the
+burning and painful question, "What will Europe say?" They asked, also,
+if it were yet too late to amend the error, and they threw forth the
+suggestion that the intelligent and cultured minority within the party
+might refrain from voting, when election day came, or, in a pinch, might
+vote for the other man.
+
+These communications were signed, sometimes, with Latin names, and
+sometimes with names in modern English, but always they indicated a
+certain sense of superiority and of detachment from the crowd on the
+part of the signers.
+
+The annoyance of the candidate increased as he read copies of the
+_Monitor_, which were sent to him in numbers. He knew that the paper was
+the chief spokesman of an influential minority within the party, and
+the divergence between the majority and the minority was already
+manifest. It was evident, too, that it was bound to become greater, and
+that was why the candidate was troubled. He wished to become President;
+it was his great desire, and he did not seek to conceal it; he
+considered it a legitimate, a noble ambition, one that any American had
+a right to have, and he was in the first flush of his great powers, when
+such a position would appeal most to a strong man. Now, even when the
+fight, with a united party, was desperate at best, he foresaw a
+defection, and hot wrath rose up in his veins against Goodnight, the
+_Monitor_, and all their following.
+
+But the worst of the whole position to a man of Grayson's open and
+direct temperament was the necessity to keep silent, even to dissemble,
+or, at least, to do that which seemed to him very near to dissembling.
+Although he was under so fierce a fire, he would not allow any one to
+find fault with Churchill for his despatches; and this was not always
+easy to do, because many of the local politicians, who were on the train
+from time to time, would grow hot at sight of the criticisms, and want
+to attack the writer. But Jimmy Grayson always interfered, and reminded
+them that it was the right of the press to speak so if it wished.
+Churchill still wondered, why he was not a martyr, and wasted his
+regrets. Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia maintained an eloquent silence.
+
+Meanwhile, an event destined to give Churchill and the _Monitor_ a yet
+greater shock was approaching.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+THE THIRD DEGREE
+
+
+The candidate and his company were due one night at Grayville, a brisk
+Colorado town, dwelling snugly in the shadow of high mountains and
+hopeful of a brilliant future, based upon the mines within its limits
+and the great pastoral country beyond, as any of its inhabitants, asked
+or unasked, would readily have told you. Hence there was joy in the
+train, from Jimmy Grayson down, because the next day was to be Sunday, a
+period of rest, no speeches to be made, nothing to write, but just rest,
+sleeping, eating, idling, bathing, talking--whatever one chose to do.
+Only those who have been on arduous campaigns can appreciate the luxury
+of such a day now and then, cutting like a sweep of green grass across
+the long and dusty road.
+
+There was also quite a little group of women on the train, the wives of
+several Colorado political leaders having joined Sylvia and Mrs. Grayson
+for a while, and they, too, looked forward to a day of rest and the
+restoration of their toilets.
+
+"They tell me that Grayville has one of the best hotels in the
+mountains," said Barton to Harley, his brother correspondent. "That you
+can get a dinner in a dozen courses, if you want it, and every course
+good; that it has real porcelain-lined bath-tubs, and beds sure to cure
+the worst case of insomnia on earth. Do you think this improbable, this
+extravagant but most fascinating tale can be true, Harley?"
+
+"I live in hope," replied Harley.
+
+"Jimmy Grayson has been here before," interrupted Hobart, "and he says
+it's true, every word of it; if Jimmy Grayson vouches for a thing, that
+settles it; and here is a copy of the Grayville _Argus_; it has to be a
+pretty good town that can publish as smart a daily as this."
+
+He handed a neat sheet to Barton, who laughed.
+
+"There speaks the great detective," he said. "You know, Harley, how
+Hobart is always arguing from the effect back to the cause."
+
+Hobart, in fact, was not a political writer, but a "murder mystery" man,
+and the best of his kind in New York, but the regular staff
+correspondent of his paper, the _Leader_, being ill, he had been sent in
+his place. He was a Harvard graduate and a gentleman with a taste for
+poetry, but he had a peculiar mind, upon which a murder mystery acted as
+an irritant--he could not rest until he had solved it--and his paper
+always put him on the great cases, such as those in which a vast
+metropolis like New York abounds. Now he was restless and discontented;
+the tour seemed to him the mere reporting of speeches and obvious
+incidents that everybody saw; there was nothing to unravel, nothing that
+called for the keen edge of a fine intellect.
+
+"Grayville, with all its advantages as a place of rest, is sure to be
+like the other mountain towns," he said, somewhat sourly--"the same
+houses, the same streets, the same people, I might almost say the same
+mountains. There will be nothing unusual, nothing out of the way."
+
+Harley had taken the paper from Barton's hands and was reading it.
+
+"At any rate, if Grayville is not unusual, it is to have an unusual
+time," he interrupted.
+
+"How so?"
+
+"It is to hear Jimmy Grayson speak Monday, and it is going to hang a man
+Tuesday. See, the two events get equal advance space, two columns each,
+on the front page."
+
+He handed the paper to Hobart, who looked at it a little while and then
+dropped it with an air of increasing discontent.
+
+"That may mean something to the natives," he said; "it may be an
+indication to them that their place is becoming important--a metropolis
+in which things happen--but it is nothing to me. This hanging case is
+stale and commonplace; it is perfectly clear; a young fellow named Boyd
+is to be hanged for killing his partner, another miner; no doubt about
+his guilt, plenty of witnesses against him, his own denial weak and
+halting--in fact, half a confession; jury out only five minutes; whole
+thing as bald and flat as this plain through which we are running."
+
+He tapped with his finger on the dusty car-window, and his expression
+was so gloomy that the others could not restrain a laugh.
+
+"Cheer up, old man," said Barton. "Four more hours and we are in
+Grayville; just think of that wonderful hotel, with its more wonderful
+beds and its yet more wonderful kitchen."
+
+The hotel was all that they either expected or hoped, and the dawn
+brought a beautiful Sunday, disclosing a pretty little frontier city
+with its green, irrigated valley on one side and the brown mountains,
+like a protecting wall, on the other. Harley slept late, and after
+breakfast came out upon the veranda to enjoy the luxury of a
+rocking-chair, with the soft October air around him and the majesty of
+the mountains before him. He hoped to find Sylvia there, but neither she
+nor any of the ladies was present. Instead, there was a persistent,
+inquiring spirit abroad which would not let him rest, and this spirit
+belonged to Hobart, the "mystery" man.
+
+Harley had not been enjoying the swinging ease of the rocking-chair five
+minutes before Hobart, the light of interest in his eyes, pounced upon
+him.
+
+"Harley, old fellow," he exclaimed, "this is the first place we've
+struck in which Jimmy Grayson is not the overwhelming attraction."
+
+"The hanging, I suppose," said Harley, carelessly.
+
+"Of course. What else could there be? It occurred to me last night, when
+I was reading the paper, that I might scare up a feature or two in the
+case, and I was out of my bed early this morning to try. It was a
+forlorn hope, I'll admit, but anything was better than nothing, and I've
+had my reward. I've had my reward, old fellow!"
+
+He chuckled outright in his glee. Harley smiled. Hobart always
+interested and amused him. The instinctive way in which he unfailingly
+rose to a "case" showed his natural genius for that sort of thing.
+
+"I haven't seen Boyd yet," continued Hobart, excitedly, "but I've found
+out this much already--there are people in Grayville who believe Boyd
+innocent. It is true that he and Wofford--the murdered man--had been
+quarrelling in Grayville, and Boyd was taken at the shanty with the
+blood-stained knife in his hand; but that doesn't settle it."
+
+Harley could not restrain an incredulous laugh. "It seems to me those
+two circumstances, omitting the other proof, are pretty convincing," he
+said.
+
+Hobart flushed. "You just wait until I finish," he said, somewhat
+defiantly. "Now Boyd, as I have learned, was a good-hearted, generous
+young fellow. The quarrel amounted to very little, and probably had been
+patched up before they reached their shack."
+
+"That is a view which the jury evidently could not take."
+
+"Juries are often wooden-headed."
+
+"Of course--in the eyes of superior people."
+
+"Now don't you try to be satirical--it's not your specialty. I mean to
+finish the tale. If you read the paper, you will recall that the shanty
+where the murder occurred was only a short distance from the
+mountain-road, and there were three witnesses--Bill Metzger, a dissolute
+cowboy who was passing, and who, attracted by Wofford's death-cry, ran
+to the cabin and found Boyd, blood-stained knife in hand, bending over
+the murdered man; Ed Thorpe, a tramp miner, who heard the same cry and
+who came up two or three minutes later; and, finally, Tim Williams, a
+town idler, who was on the mountain-side, hunting. The other two heard
+him fire his gun a few hundred yards away, and called to him. When he
+arrived, Boyd was still dazed and muttering to himself, as if
+overpowered by the horror of his crime."
+
+"If that isn't conclusive, then nothing is," said Harley, decisively.
+
+"It is not conclusive; there was no real motive for Boyd to do such a
+thing."
+
+"To whom did the knife belong?"
+
+"It was a long bread-knife that the two used at the cabin."
+
+"There you are! Proof on proof!"
+
+"Now, you keep silent, Harley, and come with me, like a good fellow, and
+see Boyd in the jail. If you don't, I swear I'll pester the life out of
+you for a week."
+
+Harley rose reluctantly, as he knew that Hobart would keep his word. He
+believed it the idlest of errands, but the jail was only a short
+distance from them, and the business would not take long. On the way
+Hobart talked to him about the three witnesses. Metzger, the cowboy, on
+the day of the murder, had been riding in from a ranch farther down the
+valley; the other two had been about the town until a short time before
+the departure of Boyd and Wofford for their cabin.
+
+They reached the jail, a conspicuous stone building in the centre of the
+town, and were shown into the condemned man's cell. The jailer announced
+them with the statement:
+
+"Tim, here's two newspaper fellers from the East wants to see you."
+
+The prisoner was lying on a pallet in the corner of his cell, and he
+raised himself on his elbow when Harley and Hobart entered.
+
+"You are writers for the papers?" he said.
+
+"Yes, clean from New York; they are with Jimmy Grayson," the jailer
+answered for them.
+
+"I don't know as I've got anythin' to say to you," continued the
+prisoner. "I 'ain't got no picture to give you, an' if I had one I
+wouldn't give it. I don't want my hangin' to be all wrote up in the
+papers, with pictures an' things, too, jest to please the people in the
+East. If I've got to die, I'd rather do it quiet and peaceful, among the
+boys I know. I ain't no free circus."
+
+"We did not come to write you up; it was for another purpose," Harley
+hastened to say.
+
+He was surprised at the youth of the prisoner, who obviously was not
+over twenty-one, a mere boy, with good features and a look half defiant,
+half appealing.
+
+"Well, what did you come for, then?" asked the boy.
+
+Harley was unable to answer this question, and he looked at Hobart as if
+to indicate the one who would reply. The "mystery" man did not seek to
+evade his responsibility in the least, and promptly said:
+
+"Mr. Boyd, I think you will acquit us of any intention to intrude upon
+you. It was the best of motives that brought us to you. I have always
+had an interest in cases of this sort, and when I heard of yours in the
+train, coming here, I received an impression then which has been
+strengthened on my arrival in Grayville. I believe you are innocent."
+
+The boy looked up. A sudden flash of gratitude, almost of hope, appeared
+in his eyes.
+
+"I am!" he cried. "God knows I didn't kill Bill Wofford. He wuz my
+partner and we wuz like brothers. We did quarrel that mornin'--I don't
+deny it--and we both had been liquorin'; but I'd never hev struck him a
+blow of any kind, least of all a foul one."
+
+"Was it not true that you were found with the bloody knife in your hand,
+standing over his yet warm body?" asked Hobart.
+
+"It's so, but it was somebody else that used the knife. Bill went on
+ahead, and when I come into the place I saw him on the floor an' the
+knife in 'im. I was struck all a-heap, but I did what anybody else would
+'a' done--I pulled the knife out. And then the fellers come in on me. I
+was rushed into a trial right away. Of course, I couldn't tell a
+straight tale; the horror of it was still in my brain, and the effect
+o' the liquor, too. I got all mixed up--but before God, gen'lemen, I
+didn't do it."
+
+His tone was strong with sincerity, and his expression was rather that
+of grief than remorse. Harley, who had had a long experience with all
+kinds of men in all kinds of situations, did not believe that he was
+either bad or guilty. Hobart spoke his thoughts aloud.
+
+"I don't think you did it," he said.
+
+"Everybody believes I did," said Boyd, with pathetic resignation, "and I
+am to be hanged for it. So what does it matter now?"
+
+"I am going to look for the guilty man," said Hobart, decidedly.
+
+Boyd shook his head and lay back on his pallet. The others, with a few
+words of hope, withdrew, and, when they were outside, Harley said:
+
+"Hobart, were you not wrong to sow the seed of hope in that man's mind
+when there is no hope?"
+
+"There is hope," replied Hobart; "I have a plan. Don't ask me anything
+about it--it's vague yet--but I may work it."
+
+Harley glanced at him, and, seeing that he was intense and eager, with
+his mind concentrated upon this single problem, resolved to leave him to
+his own course; so he spent part of the day, a wonderful autumn Sunday,
+in a rocking-chair on the piazza of the hotel, and another part walking
+with Sylvia. He told her of the murder case and Hobart's action, and her
+prompt sympathy was aroused.
+
+"Suppose he should really be innocent?" she said. "It would be an awful
+thing to hang an innocent man."
+
+"So it would. He certainly does not look like a bad fellow, but you
+know that those who are not bad are sometimes guilty. In any event I
+fail to see what Hobart can do."
+
+After the walk, which was all too brief, he returned to his
+rocking-chair on the piazza, but Grayville, being a small place, he knew
+everything that was going on within it, by means of a sort of mental
+telepathy that the born correspondent acquires. He knew, for instance,
+that Hobart was all the time with one or the other of the three
+witnesses--Metzger, Thorpe, or Williams--for the moment the most
+important persons in Grayville by reason of their conspicuous connection
+with the great case.
+
+When Hobart returned, the edge of the sun was behind the highest
+mountains; but he took no notice of Harley, walking past him without a
+word and burying himself somewhere in the interior of the hotel. Harley
+learned subsequently that he went directly to Jimmy Grayson's room, and
+remained there at least half an hour, in close conference with the
+candidate himself.
+
+The next day was a break in the great campaign. Owing to train
+connections, which are not trifles in the Far West, it was necessary, in
+order to complete the schedule, to spend an idle day at some place, and
+Grayville had been selected as the most comfortable and therefore the
+most suitable. And so the luxurious rest of the group was continued for
+twenty-four hours for all--save Hobart.
+
+Harley had never before seen the "mystery" man so eager and so full of
+suppressed excitement. He frequently passed his comrades, but he rarely
+spoke to them, or even noticed them; his mind was concentrated now upon
+a great affair in which they would be of no avail. Harley learned,
+however, that he was still much in the company of the three witnesses,
+although he asked him no questions. Late in the afternoon he saw him
+alone and walking rapidly towards the hotel. It seemed to Harley that
+Hobart's head was borne somewhat high and in a manner exultantly, as if
+he were overcoming obstacles, and he was about to ask him again in
+regard to his progress, but Hobart once more sped by without a word and
+went into the hotel. Harley learned later that he held a secret
+conference with Jimmy Grayson.
+
+In the evening everybody went to the opera-house to hear the candidate,
+but on the way Hobart said, casually, to Harley: "Old man, I don't think
+I'll sit in front to-night. I wish you would let me have your notes
+afterwards." "Of course," replied Harley, as he passed down the aisle
+and found his chair at the correspondents' table on the stage.
+
+There Harley watched the fine Western audience come into the theatre and
+find seats, with some noise but no disorder, a noise merely of men
+calling each other by name, and commenting in advance on what Jimmy
+Grayson would say. The other correspondents entered one by one--all
+except Hobart, and took their seats on the stage. Sylvia and Mrs.
+Grayson were with some ladies in a box. Harley looked for Hobart, and
+two or three times he saw him near the main entrance of the building.
+Once he was talking with a brown and longish-haired youth, and Harley,
+by casual inquiry, learned that it was Metzger, the cowboy. A man not
+greatly different in appearance, to whom Hobart spoke occasionally, was
+Thorpe, the tramp miner, and yet another, a tall fellow with a bulging
+underlip, Harley learned, was Williams, the third witness.
+
+Evidently the witnesses would attend Jimmy Grayson's meeting, which was
+natural, however, as every body in Grayville was sure to come, and
+Harley also surmised that Hobart had taken upon himself the task of
+instructing them as to the methods, the manner, and the greatness of the
+candidate. He had done such a thing himself, upon occasion, the Western
+interest in Jimmy Grayson being so great that often appeals were made to
+the correspondents for information about him more detailed than the
+newspapers gave.
+
+Harley studied the faces of the three witnesses as attentively as the
+distance and the light would admit, but they remained near the door,
+evidently intending to stand there, back to the wall, a plan sometimes
+adopted by those who may wish to slip out quietly before a speech is
+finished. Harley, the trained observer, saw that Hobart, without their
+knowledge, was shepherding them as the shepherd gently makes his sheep
+converge upon a common spot.
+
+The correspondent could draw no inference from the faces of the three
+men, which were all of usual Western types, without anything special to
+distinguish them, and his attention turned to the audience. He had
+received an intimation that Jimmy Grayson intended to deliver that
+evening a speech of unusual edge and weight. He would indict the other
+party in the most direct and forcible manner, pointing out that its sins
+were moral as well as political, but that a day of reckoning would come,
+when those who profited by such evil courses must pay the forfeit; it
+was a part of the law of nature, which was also the law of retribution.
+
+The candidate was a little late, and the opera-house was filled to the
+last seat, with many people standing in the aisles and about the doors.
+Harley, glancing again at the rows and rows of faces, saw the three
+witnesses almost together, and just to the right of the main entrance,
+where they leaned against the wall, facing the stage. Hobart fluttered
+about them, holding them in occasional talk, and Harley was just about
+to look again, and with increasing attention, but at that instant the
+great audience, with a common impulse and a kind of rushing sound, like
+the slide of an avalanche, rose to its feet. The candidate, coming from
+the wings, had just appeared upon the stage, and the welcome was
+spontaneous and overwhelming. Jimmy Grayson was always a serious man,
+but Harley noticed that evening, when he first appeared before the
+footlights, that his face looked tense and eager, as if he felt that a
+great task which he must assume lay just before him.
+
+He wasted no time, but went at once to the heart of his subject, the
+crime of a great party, the wicked ways by which it had attained its
+wicked ends, and from the opening sentence he had his big audience with
+him, heart and soul.
+
+The indictment was terrible: in a masterly way he summed up the charges
+and the proof, as a general marshals his forces for battle, and the
+crowd, so clear were his words and so strong his statements, could see
+them all marching in unison, like the battalions and brigades, towards
+the common point, the exposed centre of the enemy. The faces of Sylvia
+and Mrs. Grayson, in the box, glowed with pride.
+
+Again and again, at the pauses between sentences, the cheers of the
+audience rose and echoed, and then Harley would glance once more towards
+the door; there, always, he saw Hobart with the three witnesses,
+gathered under his wing, as it were, all looking raptly and intently at
+Jimmy Grayson.
+
+The candidate, by-and-by, seemed to concentrate his attention upon the
+four men at the door, and spoke directly to them. Harley saw one of the
+group move as if about to leave, but the hand of Hobart fell upon his
+arm and he stayed. Harley, too, was conscious presently of an unusual
+effect having the quality of weirdness. The lights seemed to go down in
+the whole opera-house, except near the door. Jimmy Grayson and the
+correspondents were in a semi-darkness, but Hobart and his three new
+friends beside the door stood in a light that was almost dazzling
+through contrast. The three witnesses now seemed to be fixed in that
+spot, and their eyes never wandered from Jimmy Grayson's face.
+
+Familiar as he was with the candidate's oratorical powers, Harley was
+surprised at his strength of invective that evening. He had proved the
+guilt, the overwhelming guilt, of the opposition party, and he was
+describing the punishment, a punishment sure to come, although many
+might deem it impossible:
+
+"But there would be a day of judgment; justice might sleep for a while,
+but she must awake at last, and, the longer vengeance was delayed, the
+more terrible it became. Then woe to the guilty."
+
+The audience was deeply impressed by the eloquence of Jimmy Grayson,
+coinciding so well with their own views. Harley saw a look of awe appear
+upon the faces of many--Sylvia's face was pale--and the house, save for
+the voice of Jimmy Grayson, was as still as death. Harley felt the
+effect himself, and the weird, unreal quality that he observed before
+increased. Once, when he went over to make some notes, he noticed that
+the words written a half-hour before were scarcely visible, but, when
+he glanced at the opposite end of the theatre, there stood Hobart and
+the three witnesses, gathered about him, in the very heart of a dazzling
+light that showed every changing look on the faces of the four. Harley's
+gaze lingered upon them, and again he tried to find something peculiar,
+something distinctive in at least one of the three witnesses, but, as
+before, he failed; they were to him just ordinary Westerners following
+with rapt attention every word and gesture of Jimmy Grayson.
+
+The candidate went on with his story of the consequences; the crime had
+been committed; the profits had been reaped and enjoyed, but slumbering
+justice, awake at last, was at hand; it was time for the wicked to
+tremble, the price must be repaid, doubly, trebly, fivefold. Now he
+personified the guilty party, the opposition, which he treated as an
+individual; he compared it to a man who had committed a deed of horror,
+but who long had hidden his crime from the world; others might be
+suspected of it, others might be punished for it, but he could never
+forget that he himself was guilty; though he walked before the world
+innocent, the sense of it would always be there, it would not leave him
+night or day; every moment, even, before the full exposure it would be
+inflicting its punishment upon him; it would be useless to seek escape
+or to think of it, because the longer the guilty victim struggled the
+more crushing his punishment would be. The correspondents forgot to
+write, and, like the audience, hung upon every word and gesture of Jimmy
+Grayson, as he made his great denunciatory speech; they felt that he was
+stirred by something unusual, that some great and extraordinary motive
+was impelling him, and they followed eagerly where he led them.
+
+Harley saw the look of awe on the faces of the audience grow and deepen.
+With their overwhelming admiration of Jimmy Grayson, they seemed to have
+conceived, too, a sudden fear of him. His long, accusing finger was
+shaken in their faces, he was not alone denouncing a guilty man, but he
+was seeking out their own hidden sins, and presently he would point at
+them his revealing finger.
+
+Hobart stood with the three witnesses beside the door, still in the
+dazzling light. Harley was sure that not one of the four had moved in
+the last half-hour, and Jimmy Grayson still held them all with his gaze.
+Harley suddenly saw something like a flash of light, a signal glance, as
+it were, pass between him and Hobart, and the next instant the voice of
+the candidate swelled into greater and more accusing volume.
+
+"Now you behold the guilty man!" said Jimmy Grayson. "I have shown him
+to you. He seems to the world full of pride and power, but he knows that
+justice is pursuing him, and that it will overtake him; he trembles, he
+cowers, he flees, but the avenging footsteps are behind him, and the
+sound of them rings in his frightened ears like a death-knell to his
+soul. A wall rises across his way. He can flee no farther; he turns back
+from the wall, raises his terror-stricken eyes, and there before him the
+hand of fate is raised; its finger points at him, and a terrible voice
+proclaims, 'Thou art the guilty man!"
+
+The form of Jimmy Grayson swelled and towered, his hand was raised, the
+long forefinger pointed directly at the four who stood in the dazzling
+light, and the hall resounded with the tremendous echoes of his cry,
+"Thou art the guilty man!"
+
+As if lifted by a common impulse, the great audience rose with an
+indescribable sound and faced about, following Jimmy Grayson's long,
+accusing finger.
+
+The man Williams threw his arm before his face, as if to protect
+himself, and, with a terrible cry, "Yes, I did it!" fell in a faint on
+the floor.
+
+
+They were all on the train the next day, and Harley was reading from a
+copy of the Grayville _Argus_ an account of Boyd's release and the
+ovation that the people had given him.
+
+"How did you trace the crime to Williams, Hobart?" asked Harley.
+
+"I didn't trace it; it was Jimmy Grayson who brought it out by giving
+him 'the third degree,'" replied Hobart, though there was a quiet tone
+of satisfied pride in his voice. "You know that in New York, when they
+expose a man at Police Headquarters to some such supreme test, they call
+it giving him 'the third degree,' and that's what we did here. It seems
+that Williams was in the saloon when Boyd and his partner quarrelled,
+and he knew they had a lot of gold from the claim in their cabin. His
+object was robbery. When he saw Wofford go on ahead, he followed him
+quickly to the cabin, and killed him with the knife which lay on a
+table. He expected to have time to get the gold before Boyd came, but
+Boyd arrived so soon that he was barely able to slip out. Then Williams,
+cunning and bold enough, came back as if he were a chance passer-by, and
+had been called by Metzger and Thorpe. The other two were as innocent as
+you or I.
+
+"I could not make up my mind which of the three was guilty, and I
+induced Jimmy Grayson to help me. It was right in line with his
+speech--no harm done even if the test had failed--and then the man who
+managed the lights at the opera-house, a friend of Boyd's, helped me
+with the stage effects. Jimmy Grayson, of course, knew nothing about
+that. I borrowed the idea. I have read somewhere that Aaron Burr by just
+such a device once convicted a guilty man who was present in court as a
+witness when another was being tried for the crime."
+
+"Well, you have saved his life to an innocent man," said Harley.
+
+"And I have cost a guilty one his." And then, after a moment's pause,
+Hobart added, with a little shiver:
+
+"But I wouldn't go through such an ordeal again at any price. When Jimmy
+Grayson thundered out, 'Thou art the guilty man,' it was all I could do
+to keep from crying, 'Yes, I am, I am!'"
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+THE DEAD CITY
+
+
+As they left the hall, Churchill overtook Harley and tapped him on the
+shoulder. Harley turned and saw an expression of supreme disgust on the
+face of the _Monitor's_ correspondent, but Harley himself only felt
+amusement. He knew that Churchill meant attack.
+
+"I never saw anything more theatrical and ill-timed," said Churchill.
+"Of course, it was all prearranged in some manner. But the idea of a
+Presidential nominee taking such a risk!"
+
+"He has saved an innocent man's life, and I call that no small
+achievement."
+
+"Because the trick was successful; but it was a trick, all the same, and
+it was beneath the dignity of a Presidential nominee."
+
+"There was but little risk of any kind," said Harley, shortly, "and even
+had it been larger, it would have been right to take it, when the stake
+was a man's life. Churchill, you are hunting for faults, you know you
+are, or you would not be so quick to see them."
+
+Churchill made no audible reply, but Harley could see that he was
+unconvinced, and, in fact, he sent his newspaper a lurid despatch about
+it, taking events out of their proper proportion, and hence giving to
+them a wholly unjustifiable conclusion. But Sylvia Morgan was devotedly
+loyal to her uncle. There were few deeds of his of which she approved
+more warmly than this of saving Boyd's life, and Hobart, the master
+spirit in it, she thanked in a way that made him turn red with pleasure.
+But the discussion of the whole affair was brief, because fast upon its
+heels trod another event which stirred them yet more deeply.
+
+When the special train was at Blue Earth, in Montana, among the high
+mountains, there came to Jimmy Grayson an appeal, compounded of pathos
+and despair, that he could not resist. It was from the citizens of
+Crow's Wing, forty miles deeper into the yet higher and steeper
+mountains, and they recounted, in mournful words, how no candidate ever
+came to see them; all passed them by as either too few or too difficult,
+and they had never yet listened to the spell of oratory; of course, they
+did not expect the nominee of a great party for the Presidency of the
+United States to make the hard trip and speak to them, when even the
+little fellows ignored their existence; nevertheless, they wished to
+inform him in writing that they were alive, and on the map, at least,
+they made as big a dot as either Helena or Butte.
+
+The candidate smiled when he read the letter. The tone of it moved him.
+Moreover, he was not deficient in policy--no man who rises is--and while
+Crow's Wing had but few votes, Montana was close, and a single state
+might decide the Union.
+
+"Those people at Crow's Wing do not expect me, but I shall go to them,"
+he said to his train.
+
+"Why, it's a full day's journey and more, over the roughest and rockiest
+road in America," said Mr. Curtis, the state senator from Wyoming, who
+was still with them.
+
+"I shall go," said Jimmy Grayson, decisively. "There is a break here in
+our schedule, and this trip will fit in very nicely."
+
+The others were against it, but they said nothing more in opposition,
+knowing that it would be of no avail. Obliging, generous, and
+soft-hearted, the candidate, nevertheless, had a temper of steel when
+his mind was made up, and the others had learned not to oppose it. But
+all shunned the journey with him to Crow's Wing except Harley, Mr.
+Plummer, Mr. Herbert Heathcote--because there is no zeal like that of
+the converted--and one other.
+
+That "other" was Sylvia, and she insisted upon going, refusing to listen
+to all the good arguments that were brought against it. "I know that I
+am only a woman--a girl," she said, "but I know, too, that I've lived
+all my life in the mountains, and I understand them. Why, I've been on
+harder journeys than this with daddy before I was twelve years old.
+Haven't I, daddy?" As she had predicted, she forgot his request not to
+call him "daddy."
+
+Thus appealed to, Mr. Plummer was fain to confess the truth, though with
+reluctance. However, he said, rather weakly:
+
+"But you don't know what kind of weather we'll have, Sylvia."
+
+Then she turned upon him in a manner that terrified him.
+
+"Now, daddy, if I couldn't get up a better argument than that I'd quit,"
+she said. "Weather! weather! weather! to an Idaho girl! Suppose it
+should rain, I'm made of neither sugar nor salt, and I won't melt. I've
+been rained on a thousand times. Aunt Anna says I may go if Uncle James
+is willing, and he's willing--he has to be; besides, he's my chaperon.
+If you don't say 'yes,' Uncle James, I shall take the train and go
+straight home."
+
+They were forced to consent, and Harley was glad that she insisted,
+because he liked to know that she was near, and he thought that she
+looked wonderfully well on horseback.
+
+The going of Harley with the candidate was taken as a matter of course
+by everybody. Silent, tactful, and strong, he had grown almost
+imperceptibly into a confidential relationship with the nominee, and Mr.
+Grayson did not realize how much he relied upon the quiet man who could
+not make a speech but who was so ready of resource. As for Mr.
+Heathcote, being an Easterner, he wished to see the West in all its
+aspects.
+
+They started at daybreak, guided by a taciturn mountaineer, Jim Jones,
+called simply Jim for the sake of brevity, and, the hour being so early,
+few were present to see them ride up the hanging slope and into the
+mighty wilderness.
+
+But it was a glorious dawn. The young sun was gilding the sea of crags
+and crests with burnished gold and the air had the sparkle of youth. Mr.
+Heathcote threw back his slightly narrow chest, and, drawing three deep
+breaths of just the same length, he said, "I would not miss this trip
+for a thousand dollars!"
+
+"And I wouldn't for two thousand!" exclaimed Sylvia, joyously.
+
+Harley said nothing, but he, too, looked out upon the morning world with
+a kindling eye. Far below them was a narrow valley, a faint green line
+down the centre showing where the little river ran, with the irrigated
+farms on either side, like beads on a string. Above them towered the
+peaks, white with everlasting snow.
+
+"A fine day for our ride," said the candidate to Jim.
+
+"Looks like it now, though I never gamble on mountain weather," replied
+the taciturn man.
+
+But the promise held good for a long time, the sun still shining and the
+winds coming fresh and brisk along the crests and ridges. The trail
+wound about the slopes and steadily ascended. Vegetation ceased, and
+before them stretched the bare rocks. Harley knew very well now that
+only the sunshine saved them from grimness and desolation. The
+loneliness became oppressive. Even Sylvia was silent. It was the
+wilderness in reality as well as seeming; nowhere did they see a miner's
+hut or a hunter's cabin, only nature in her most savage form.
+
+The little group of horsemen forgot to talk. The candidate's head was
+bowed and his brow bent. Clearly he was immersed in thought. Mr.
+Heathcote, unused to such arduous journeys, leaned forward in his saddle
+in a state of semi-exhaustion. But Sylvia, although a girl, was
+accustomed to the mountains, and she showed few signs of fatigue. Harley
+said at last to the guide, "A wild country, one of the wildest, I think,
+that I ever saw."
+
+"Yes, a wild country, and a bad 'un, too," responded Jim. "See off there
+to the left?"
+
+He pointed to a maze of bare and rocky ridges, and when he saw that
+Harley's gaze was following his long forefinger, he continued:
+
+"I say it's a bad 'un, because over there Red Perkins and his gang of
+horse-thieves, outlaws, and cut-throats used to have their hiding-place.
+It's a tangled-up stretch o' mountain, so wild, so rocky, so full of
+caves that they could have hid there till jedgment-day from all
+Montana. Yes, that's where they used to hang out."
+
+"Used to?"
+
+"Yes, 'cause I 'ain't heard much uv them fur some time. They came down
+in the valley and tried to stampede them new blooded horses from
+Kentucky on Sifton's ranch, but Sifton and his men was waitin', and when
+the smoke cleared off most uv the gang was wiped out. Red and two or
+three uv his fellers got away, but I 'ain't heard uv 'em since. Guess
+they've scattered."
+
+"Wisest thing they could do," said Harley.
+
+The guide made no answer, and they plodded on in silence until about two
+o'clock in the afternoon, when they stopped in a little cove to eat
+luncheon and refresh their horses.
+
+It was the first grateful spot they had seen in hours. A brook fed by
+the snows above formed a pool in the hollow, and then, overflowing it,
+dropped down the mountain-wall. But in this sheltered nook and around
+the life-giving water green grass was growing, and there was a rim of
+goodly trees. The horses, when their riders dismounted, grazed eagerly,
+and the riders themselves lay upon the grass and ate with deep content.
+
+Sylvia talked little. She seemed thoughtful, and, when neither of them
+was looking, she glanced now and then at Harley and "King" Plummer. Had
+they noticed they would have seen a shade of sadness on her face. Mr.
+Plummer did not speak, and it was because there was a growing anxiety in
+his mind. He was sorry now that they had let Sylvia come, and he
+silently called himself a weak fool.
+
+"Shall we reach Crow's Wing by dark?" asked the candidate of the guide.
+
+Jim had risen, and, standing at the edge of the cove, was gazing out
+over the rolling sea of mountains. Harley noticed a troubled look on his
+face.
+
+"If things go right we kin," he replied, "but I ain't shore that things
+will go right."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Do you see that brown spot down there in the southwest, just a-top the
+hills? Waal, it's a cloud, an' it's comin' this way. Clouds, you know,
+always hev somethin' in 'em."
+
+"That is to say we shall have rain," said the candidate. "Let it come.
+We have been rained on too often to mind such a little thing--eh,
+Sylvia? You see, I take you at your word."
+
+The girl nodded.
+
+"I don't think it'll be rain," said the guide. "We are so high up here
+that more 'n likely it'll be snow. An' when there's a snow-storm in the
+mountains you can't go climbin' along the side o' cliffs."
+
+The others, too, looked grave now. Perhaps, with the exception of "King"
+Plummer, they had not foreseen such a difficulty, but the guide came to
+their relief with more cheering words--after all, the cloud might not
+continue to grow, "an' it ain't worth while to holler afore we're hit."
+
+This seemed sound philosophy to the others, and, dismissing their cares,
+they started again, much refreshed by their stop in the little cove. The
+road now grew rougher, the guide leading and the rest following in
+single-file, Sylvia just ahead of Harley. By-and-by their cares
+returned. Harley glanced towards the southwest and saw there the same
+cloud, but now much bigger, blacker, and more threatening. The sunshine
+was gone, and the wrinkled surface of the mountains was gray and sombre.
+The air had grown cold, and down among the clefts there was a weird,
+moaning wind. Harley glanced at the guide, and noticed that his face was
+now decidedly anxious. But the correspondent said nothing. Part of his
+strength lay in his ability to wait, and he knew that the guide would
+speak in good time.
+
+"Don't any of you be discouraged because of me," said Sylvia; "I'm not
+afraid of storms--even snowstorms. Am I not a good mountaineer, daddy?"
+
+The "King" nodded his head. He knew that she was a better mountaineer
+than any in the party except the guide and himself, and he felt less
+alarm for her than was in the mind of Grayson or Harley.
+
+But Harley was thrilled by her courage. Here, amid these wild mountains,
+with the threat of darkness and the storm, she was unafraid and still
+feminine. "This is a woman to be won," was his unuttered thought.
+
+Another hour passed, and the air grew darker and colder. Then Jim
+stopped.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "there's a snow-storm comin' soon. I didn't expect
+one so early, even on the mountains, but it's comin', anyhow, an' if we
+keep on for Crow's Wing they'll have to dig our bones out o' the meltin'
+drifts next summer. We've got to make for Queen City."
+
+"Queen City!" exclaimed Mr. Heathcote. "I didn't know there was another
+town anywhere near here."
+
+"She's a-standin' all the same," replied the guide, brusquely, "an' I
+wouldn't never hev started on the trip to Crow's Wing if there hadn't
+been such a stoppin'-place betwixt an' between, in case o' trouble with
+the weather. An' let me whisper to you, Queen City's quite a sizable
+place. We'll pass the night there. It's got a fine hotel, the finest
+an' biggest in the mountains."
+
+He looked grimly at Mr. Heathcote, as much as to say, "Ask me as much
+more as you please, but I'll answer you nothing." Then he added,
+glancing at Sylvia:
+
+"It's a wild night for a gal."
+
+"But you said that the biggest and finest hotel in the mountains was
+waiting for me," replied Sylvia, with spirit.
+
+The guide bowed his head admiringly, and said no more.
+
+Something cold and damp touched Harley's cheek. He looked up, and
+another flake of snow, descending softly, settled upon his face. The
+clouds rolled over them, heavy and dark, and shut out all the mountains
+save a little island where they stood. The snow, following the first few
+flakes, fell softly but rapidly.
+
+"It's Queen City or moulderin' in the drifts till next summer!" cried
+Jim, and he turned his horse into a side-path. The others followed
+without a word, willing to accept his guidance through the greatest
+peril they had yet faced in an arduous campaign. Despite the danger,
+which he knew to be heavy and pressing, and his anxiety for Sylvia,
+Harley's curiosity was aroused, and he wished to ask more of Queen City,
+but the saturnine face of the guide was not inviting. Nevertheless, he
+risked one question.
+
+"How far is this place, Queen City?" he asked.
+
+"Bout two miles," replied Jim, with what seemed to Harley a derisive
+grin, "an' it's tarnal lucky for us that it's so near."
+
+Harley said no more, but he was satisfied with nothing in the guide's
+reply save the fact that the town was only two miles away; any shelter
+would be welcome, because he saw now that a snow-storm on the wild
+mountains was a terrible thing.
+
+The guide led on; Jimmy Grayson, with bent head, followed; Mr.
+Heathcote, shrunk in his saddle, came next; then "King" Plummer; and
+after him Sylvia and Harley, who were as nearly side by side as the
+narrow path would permit.
+
+"It won't be far, Miss Morgan," said Harley; the others could not hear.
+
+She felt rather than heard the note of apprehension in his voice, and
+she knew it was for her. A thrill of singular sweetness passed over her.
+It was pleasant for some one, _the_ one, to be afraid for her sake. She
+looked out at the driving snow and the dim peaks, but she had no fear
+for herself. She was glad, too, that she had come.
+
+"I know the way of the mountains," she replied. "The guide will take us
+in safety to this city of his, of which he speaks so highly."
+
+Harley saw her smile through the snow. The others rode on before, heads
+bowed, and did not look back. He and she felt a powerful sense of
+comradeship, and once, when he leaned over to detach her bridle rein
+from the horse's mane, he touched her hand, which was so soft and warm.
+Again the electric thrill passed through them both, and they looked into
+each other's eyes.
+
+Now and then the vast veil of snow parted before the wind, as if cleft
+down the centre by a sword-blade, and Harley and Sylvia beheld a grand
+and awful sight. Before them were all the peaks and ridges, rising in
+white cones and pillars against the cloudy sky, and the effect was of
+distance and sublimity. From the clefts and ravines came a desolate
+moaning. Harley felt that he was much nearer to the eternal here than he
+could ever be in the plains. Then the rent veil would close again, and
+he saw only his comrades and the rocks twenty feet away.
+
+They turned around the base of a cliff rising hundreds of feet above
+them, and Harley caught the dull-red glare of brick walls, showing
+through the falling snow. He was ready to raise a shout of joy. This he
+knew was Queen City, lying snugly in its wide valley. There was the
+typical, single mountain street, with its row of buildings on either
+side; the big one near-by was certainly the hotel, and the other big one
+farther on was as certainly the opera-house. But nobody was in the
+streets, and the whole place was dark; not a light appeared at a single
+window, although the night had come.
+
+"We're here," Harley said to Sylvia, "but I confess that this does not
+look promising. Certainly there is nobody running to meet us."
+
+She was gazing with curiosity.
+
+"It's like no other town that I ever saw," she said.
+
+Harley rode up by the side of the guide.
+
+"The place looks lonesome," he said.
+
+"Maybe they've all gone to bed; there ain't anythin' here to keep 'em
+awake," replied the guide, with the old puzzling and derisive smile.
+
+Harley turned coldly away. He did not like to have any one make fun of
+him, and that he saw clearly was the guide's intention. Jimmy Grayson
+was still thinking of things far off, and Mr. Heathcote, chilled and
+shrunk, seemed to have lost the power of speech. "King" Plummer, for
+reasons of his own, was silent too.
+
+The guide rode slowly towards the large brick building that Harley took
+to be the hotel, and, at that moment, the snow slackened for a little
+while; the last rays of the setting sun struck upon the dun walls and
+gilded them with red tracery; some panes of glass gave back the ruddy
+glare, but mostly the windows were bare and empty, like eyeless sockets.
+Harley looked farther, and all the other buildings--the opera-house, the
+stores, and the residences--were the same, desolate and decaying. About
+the place were snow-covered heaps, evidently the refuse of mining
+operations, but they saw no human being.
+
+The effect upon all save the guide was startling. Harley saw the look of
+chilled wonder grow on Jimmy Grayson's face. Mr. Heathcote raised
+himself in his saddle and stared, uncomprehending. Harley had been deep
+in the desert, but never before had he seen such desolation and ruin,
+because here was the body, but all life had gone from it. He felt as one
+alone with ghosts. Sylvia was silent, her confidence gone for the
+moment. The guide laughed dryly.
+
+"You guessed it," he said, looking at Harley. "It's a dead city. Queen
+City has been as dead as Adam these half-dozen years. When the mines
+played out, it died; there was no earthly use for Queen City any longer,
+and by-and-by everybody went away. But I've seen the old town when it
+was alive. Five thousand people here. Money a-flowin', drinks passin'
+over the counter one way and the coin the other, the gamblin'-houses an'
+the theatre chock-full, an' women, any kind you please. But there ain't
+a soul left now."
+
+The snow thinned still more, and the buildings rose before them gaunt
+and grim.
+
+"We'll stop to-night at the Grand Hotel--that is, if they ain't too much
+crowded; it'll be nice for the lady," said the guide, who had had his
+little joke and who now wished to serve his employers as best he could;
+"but first we'll take the horses into the dinin'-room; nobody will
+object; I've done it afore."
+
+He rode towards a side-door, but over the main entrance Harley saw in
+tessellated letters the words "Grand Hotel," and he tried to shake off
+the feeling of weirdness that it gave him.
+
+The door to the dining-room, which was almost level with the ground, was
+gone, and with some driving the horses were persuaded to enter. They
+were tethered there, sheltered from the storm, and, when they moved,
+their feet rumbled hollowly on the wooden floor. Sylvia, the candidate,
+and his friends, driven by the same impulse, turned back into the snow
+and re-entered the house by the front door.
+
+They passed into a wide hall, and at the far end they saw the clerk's
+desk. Lying upon it were some fragments of paper fastened to a chain,
+and Harley knew that it was what was left of the hotel register. It
+spoke so vividly of both life and death that the five stopped.
+
+"Would you like to register, Mr. Grayson?" asked Harley, wishing to
+relieve the tension.
+
+The candidate laughed mirthlessly.
+
+"Not to-night, Harley," he said; "but, gloomy as the place is, we ought
+to be thankful that we have found it. See how the storm is rising."
+
+He glanced at Sylvia, and deep gratitude swelled up in his breast.
+Grewsome as it might look, Queen City was now, indeed, a place of
+refuge. But he had no word of reproach for her, because she had insisted
+upon coming. He knew that a snow-storm had not entered into her
+calculations, as it had not entered into his, and, moreover, no one in
+the party had shown more courage or better spirits.
+
+The snow drove in at the unsheltered windows, and a long whine arose as
+the wind whirled around the old house. The guide came in with cheerful
+bustle and stamp of feet.
+
+"Don't linger here, gentlemen and ladies," he said. "The house is yours.
+Come into the parlor. We've had a piece of luck. Now and then a lone
+tramp or a miner seeks shelter in this town, just as we have done; they
+come mostly to the hotel, and some feller who gathered up wood failed to
+burn it all. I'll have a fire in the parlor in five minutes, and then we
+can ring for hot drinks for the men, a lemonade for the lady, and a warm
+dinner for all. I'll take straight whiskey, an' after that I ain't
+partic'ler whether I get patty-de-foy-graw or hummin'-bird tongues."
+
+His good-humor was infectious, and they were thankful, too, for the
+shelter, desolate though the place was. All the wood had been stripped
+away except the floors, and the brick walls were bare. In the great
+parlor they had nothing to sit on save their saddles, but it was a noble
+apartment, many feet square, built for a time when there was life in
+Queen City.
+
+"I've heard the Governor of Montana speak to more than two hundred
+people in this very room," said Jim, reminiscently. "He was to have
+spoke in the public square, but snow come up, an' Bill Fosdick, who run
+the hotel, and run her wide open, invited 'em all right in here, an'
+they come."
+
+Harley could well believe it, knowing, as he did, the miners and the
+mountains, and, by report, early Montana.
+
+At one end of the room was an immense grate, and in this Jim heaped the
+wood so generously left by the unknown tramp or miner, igniting it with
+a ready match. The ruddy blaze leaped upward and threw generous shadows
+on the floor. The travellers, sitting close to it, felt the grateful
+warmth and were content.
+
+All the saddle blankets also had been brought in and piled on one of the
+saddles. On these Sylvia sat and spread out her hands to the ruddy
+blaze. To Harley, with the flame of the firelight on her face and the
+glow of the coals throwing patches of red and gold on her hair, she
+seemed some brilliant spirit come to light up the gloomy place. Here all
+was warmth and brightness; outside, the storm moaned through the
+mountains and the darkness.
+
+"Do you know, I enjoy this," she said, as she looked into the crackling
+fire.
+
+"So Queen City ain't so bad, ma'am?" said the guide, with dry
+satisfaction.
+
+"Not bad at all, but very good," she replied, gayly. "Don't you think
+so, Mr. Harley?"
+
+"I certainly agree with you," replied Harley, devoutly, "but I'm glad
+that Queen City is just where it is."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Daddy has been many a time in the mountains without his Queen
+City--haven't you, daddy?"
+
+"Often," said "King" Plummer, looking at her with a pleased smile. But
+he wished that she would not call him "daddy," at least before Harley;
+it seemed that she could never remember his request; but she had warned
+him.
+
+"An old hand travellin' in the mountains always purvides for a snowy
+day," said the guide, and he took from his saddle-bags much food and a
+large bottle.
+
+They drank a little, all except Sylvia, and ate heartily. The last touch
+of cold departed, and the fire still sparkled with good cheer, casting
+its comforting shadows across the stained floor.
+
+"I've brought in the horse-blankets," said the guide, "an' with them
+under us, our overcoats over us, an' the fire afore us, we ought to
+sleep here as snug an' warm as a beaver in its house."
+
+Sylvia was accustomed to camping in the mountains, and made no fuss, but
+quietly leaned back against the saddle and the wall, and drew her heavy
+cloak around her. She was soon half asleep, and the flames, moving off
+into the distance, seemed to be dancing about in a queer, light-minded
+fashion.
+
+Harley walked to the window and looked out. The night was black, save
+for the driving snow, and when he glanced back at the room it seemed a
+very haven of delight. But the strangeness of their situation, the weird
+effect of the dead city, with the ghost-like shapes of its houses
+showing through the snow, was upon his nerves, and he did not feel
+sleepy.
+
+Muttering some excuse to the others, he went into the hall. It was dark,
+and a gust of cold air from the open window at the end struck him in the
+face. At the same moment Harley saw what he took to be a light farther
+down the hall, but when he looked again it was gone.
+
+It might be a delusion, but the matter troubled him; if a lone tramp or
+miner were in the building, he wished to know. Any stranger would have a
+right in the hotel, but there was comradeship and welcome in Jimmy
+Grayson's party.
+
+Harley's instinct said that all was not right, and, taking off his
+boots, he crept down the hall and among the cross-halls with noiseless
+feet. He did not see the light again, but he heard in another room the
+hum of voices, softened so that they might not reach any one save those
+for whom they were intended. But they reached Harley, crouching just
+behind the edge of the door, and, hearing, he shuddered. A great danger
+threatened the nominee for the Presidency of the United States. Such a
+thing as the present had never before happened in the history of the
+country.
+
+And that same danger, but in a worse form, perhaps, threatened Sylvia.
+It was not Harley's fault that a girl had then a greater place than a
+Presidential nominee in his mind. He shuddered, and then closed his lips
+firmly in resolve.
+
+The door was still on its hinges, and it was still slightly ajar.
+Harley, peeping through the crack, saw the eight occupants of the room
+by the faint light from the window, and because the man who did the
+talking, and who showed himself so evidently the leader, had red hair,
+he knew him instinctively. It was Red Perkins and the remnant of his
+gang, not scattered to the winds of the West, as Jim and everybody else
+thought, but here in Montana, in their old haunts. And Harley, listening
+to their talk, measured the extent of their knowledge, which was far too
+much; they knew who Jimmy Grayson was, they had known of his departure
+from Blue Earth, and they had followed him here; presently they would
+take him away, and the whole world would be thrilled. No such prize had
+ever fallen into the hands of robbers in America, and it would be worth
+a million to them.
+
+Harley was in a chill as he listened, because he heard them speak next
+of Sylvia, and one of them laughed in a way that made the correspondent
+want to spring at his throat. Sylvia and the candidate must be saved.
+
+But Harley, thinking his hardest, could not think how. There were eight
+men well armed in the room before him; the guide and Mr. Plummer,
+probably, had pistols, but he had none, and he was sure that Jimmy
+Grayson and Mr. Heathcote were without them. He paused there a long
+time, undecided, and at last he crept down the hall again and towards
+the great parlor. Then he put on his boots, re-entered the room, and
+spoke in a low voice to his comrades.
+
+The guide's fighting blood was on fire at once. "I've a revolver," he
+said; "we kin barricade the room and hold 'em off. There are two windows
+here, opening out on the snow, but they are so high they can hardly
+reach 'em with their hands. We kin make a good fight of it."
+
+"I've a pistol, too," said Mr. Plummer, "and we must make it a fight to
+the death."
+
+He spoke quietly, but with determination and a full knowledge of all the
+danger that threatened. He glanced at Sylvia, who, coming back from her
+half-dream, had risen to her feet. Then he walked to the door, because
+the "King" was ever alert in the face of danger.
+
+"What is it?" Sylvia asked of Harley. She knew by their manner that
+something strange and terrifying had happened, and in such a situation
+it was now an involuntary act with her to turn to Harley.
+
+"Sylvia," he said--the others had followed "King" Plummer to the door
+"you ought to know."
+
+He noticed that, though pale, she was quiet and firm.
+
+"If it is danger, I have faced it before," she said, proudly.
+
+"As you will face it now, like the bravest woman in the West. 'Red'
+Perkins's gang of outlaws are out there, and they mean to take Mr.
+Grayson to hold for ransom, and you--"
+
+Her eyes looked straight into his, and suddenly they shone with all the
+fulness of love and confidence.
+
+"They will not take me while you are here," she said.
+
+"Not if we have to die together. Sylvia, I believed that your heart was
+mine, and in this moment of danger I know it."
+
+He spoke truly. In the crisis their souls were bare to each other. He
+seized her hands, and the brilliant color flamed into her cheeks.
+
+"Sylvia!" he exclaimed, in a thrilling whisper.
+
+"Hush!" she said. "The others are about to come back."
+
+She gently withdrew her hands from his, and when "King" Plummer turned
+away from the door he saw nothing.
+
+"There's not a shot to be fired," said Jimmy Grayson, "because I've a
+better plan. How long do you think it will be before they come for me,
+Harley?"
+
+"About fifteen minutes, I should say; at least that is what I gathered
+from their talk."
+
+"And they have not examined the building or the town?"
+
+"No; they merely came down the trail behind us and slipped into that
+room, waiting their chance."
+
+"Very good. Jim, you told me a while ago that the Governor of Montana
+once spoke to two hundred people in this room; it was a fortunate remark
+of yours, because I shall speak to as many people to-night in this same
+room. Shut the door there, put the saddles before it, and then build
+the fire as high as possible."
+
+The candidate's voice was sharp, decisive, and full of command. The born
+leader of men was asserting himself, and the guide, without pausing to
+reason, hastened to obey. He shut the door, put the saddles before it,
+and heaped upon the fire all the remaining wood except a stump reserved
+by Jimmy Grayson's express command. The fire leaped higher, and the room
+was brilliantly lighted.
+
+Jimmy Grayson stood by, erect, calm, and grave.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," he said, "you are a crowd come from Crow's Wing to
+meet me here, and to hear what I have to say. I trust that you will like
+it, and indicate your liking by your applause."
+
+The stump was placed in the middle of the floor, and Jimmy Grayson
+stepped upon it. His face at that height was visible through the window
+to any one outside, although the others would be hidden. Just as he took
+his place Harley thought he heard the soft crunch of a footstep on the
+snow beneath the window. He felt a burning curiosity to rise and look
+out, but he restrained it and did not move. The guide was staring at the
+candidate in open-mouthed amazement, but he, too, did not speak. A few
+big white flakes drove in at the open window, but they did not reach the
+men before the fire that blazed so brightly. Harley again thought he
+heard the soft shuffle of footsteps on the snow outside, but then the
+burning wood crackled merrily, and Jimmy Grayson was about to speak.
+
+Sylvia stood erect against the wall, her glowing eyes full of
+admiration. Her quick mind had grasped the whole plan.
+
+"Gentlemen of Crow's Wing," said the candidate, in his full,
+penetrating voice, which the empty old building gave back in many an
+echo, "it is, indeed, a pleasure to me to meet you here. The
+circumstances, the situation, are such as to inspire any one who has
+been so honored. I should like to have seen your little town, the home
+of brave and honest men, nestling as it does among these mighty
+mountains, and far from the rest of the world, but strong and
+self-reliant. I appreciate, too, your kindness and your thought for me.
+Seeing the advance of the storm, and knowing its dangers, you have come
+to meet me in this place, once so full of life. I find something
+singularly appealing and pathetic in this. Once again, if only for a
+brief space, Queen City shall ring with human voices and the human
+tread."
+
+The candidate paused a moment, as if the end of a rounded period had
+come and he were gathering strength for another. Then suddenly arose a
+mighty chorus of applause. It was Harley, "King" Plummer, Heathcote, and
+Jim, and their act was spontaneous, the inspiration of the moment, drawn
+from Jimmy Grayson's own inspiration. The guide beat upon the floor with
+both hands and both feet, and the other three were not less active.
+Moreover, the guide opened his mouth and let forth a yell, rapid,
+cumulative, and so full of volume that it sounded like the whoop of at
+least a half-dozen men. The room resounded with the applause, and it
+thundered down the halls of the great empty building. When it died,
+Harley, listening again intently, heard once more the crunch of feet on
+the snow outside, but now it was a rapid movement as if of surprise. But
+the sound came to him only a moment, because the candidate was speaking
+once more, and he was worth hearing. He only looked away to see Sylvia,
+who still stood against the wall with her glowing eyes fixed in
+admiration on her uncle. Once or twice she, too, glanced aside, and her
+gaze was for Harley. But it was a different look that she gave him.
+There was admiration in it, too, and also a love that no woman ever
+gives to a mere uncle. In those moments the color in her cheeks
+deepened.
+
+As an orator Jimmy Grayson was always good, but sometimes he was better
+than at other times, and this evening was one of his best times. The
+audience from Crow's Wing, the consideration they had shown in meeting
+him here in the dead city, and the wildness of the night outside seemed
+to inspire him. He showed the greatest familiarity with the life of the
+mountains and the needs of the miners; he was one of them, he
+sympathized with them, he entered their homes, and if he could he would
+make their lives brighter.
+
+Never had the candidate spoken to a more appreciative audience. With
+foot and hand and voice it thundered its applause; the building echoed
+with it, and all the time the fire burned higher and higher, and the
+merry crackling of the wood was a minor note in the chorus of applause.
+But Jimmy Grayson's own voice was like an organ, every key of which he
+played; it expressed every human emotion; full and swelling, it rose
+above the applause, and Harley, watching his expressive face, saw that
+he felt these emotions. Once he believed that the candidate, carried
+away by his own feelings, had become oblivious of time and place, and
+thought now only of the troubles and needs of the mountain men.
+
+Harley's attention turned once more to the windows. He thought what a
+lucky chance it was that no one standing on the ground outside was high
+enough to look through them into the room. He blessed the unknown
+builder, and then he tried to hear that familiar shuffle on the snow,
+but he did not hear it again.
+
+Jimmy Grayson spoke on and on, and the applause kept pace, until at last
+the guide slipped quietly from the room. When he returned, a quarter of
+an hour later, the candidate was still speaking, but Jim gave him a
+signal look and he stopped abruptly.
+
+"They are gone," said Jim. "They must have been gone a full hour. The
+snow has stopped, and I guess they are at least ten miles from here,
+runnin' for their lives. They knew that if the men of Crow's Wing put
+hands on 'em they'd be hangin' from a limb ten minutes after."
+
+Jimmy Grayson sank down on the stump, exhausted, and wiped his hot face.
+
+"Say, Mr. Harley," whispered the guide to the correspondent, "I've heard
+some great speeches in my time, but to-night's was the greatest."
+
+The candidate spoke the next day at Crow's Wing, and his audience was
+delighted. But Jim was right. The speech was not as great as the one he
+had made at Queen City.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+WORDS BY THE WAY
+
+
+Rumors of the adventure in the dead city had spread throughout the
+little mountain town in which Jimmy Grayson made his speech the day
+after the stop in Queen City, and when he began the return journey an
+escort, from which all the bandits in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains
+would have turned aside, was ready for him. It was a somewhat noisy
+band, but orderly and full of enthusiasm, secretly wishing that a second
+attempt would be made, and their devotion to Jimmy Grayson and his cause
+found an answering sympathy in Harley.
+
+They had passed the night in Crow's Wing, and the start was made when
+the first sunlight brought a sudden uplifting of a white world into a
+dazzling burst of blue and yellow and red. But no more snow was falling,
+and those who knew said that the day would continue fair.
+
+Sylvia Morgan had not been present at the speech the night before. Even
+she, bred amid hardships and dangers, was forced to admit that her
+nerves were somewhat unstrung, and she rested quietly in a warm room at
+the hotel. Harley knocked once on her door, and received the reply that
+she was all right. Then he turned away and went slowly down the hall,
+thoughtful, and, for the first time in many days, thoroughly
+understanding himself. To the world, when the world should hear of it,
+the candidate would always be the central figure in the episode of the
+dead city, but Harley knew that their adventure in the old hotel was
+more momentous to him than it had been to the candidate. His doubts and
+his hesitation were gone; he knew what Sylvia Morgan represented to him,
+and with that knowledge came a certain peace; it would have been a
+greater peace had not the shadow of "King" Plummer been so dark.
+
+When Sylvia reappeared for the return there was nothing to indicate that
+she had ever been tired or nervous. She seemed to Harley the incarnation
+of fresh, young life, and there was a singular softness and gentleness
+in her manner, all the more winning because she had let it appear more
+rarely hitherto. She held out her hand to Harley.
+
+"You see that I have passed through our adventure without harm to my
+nerves," she said.
+
+"I knew that you would do so," replied Harley.
+
+He would have said more, but the armed escort, to a man, was bowing
+respectfully, and making no very great effort to conceal its admiration
+at the sight of a lady, young and beautiful, such an infrequent visitor
+to their lonely hamlet. Nor was this admiration diminished by the fact,
+known to them all, that she had taken the hazardous journey over the
+mountains with Jimmy Grayson. They considered it a special honor and
+dignity conferred upon themselves, and as the candidate introduced them,
+one by one, the bows were repeated but with greater depth. Sylvia Morgan
+knew how to receive them. She was a child of the mountains herself, and
+without any sacrifice of her own dignity she could make them feel that
+they knew her and liked her.
+
+All Crow's Wing saw them off, and they rode away over the mountains in
+the splendid red and gold of the dawn. Mr. Grayson and "King" Plummer
+were near the head of the troop, and Harley and Sylvia were near the
+rear, where they remained a part of the general group for a long time,
+but at last dropped back behind all the others.
+
+"Won't Mr. Churchill be shocked when he hears of our adventure in the
+dead city?" said Sylvia.
+
+"He will think that it is the climax," was the reply.
+
+Harley laughed, but in a few moments he became grave. Yet there was an
+expression of much sweetness about his firm mouth.
+
+"Still I am glad that it happened," he said. "I saw a new illustration
+of our candidate's powers, and I learned, too, much more than that."
+
+She glanced at him, and as she read something in his face she looked
+quickly away, and a sudden flush rose to her cheeks. Despite herself,
+her heart began to beat fast and her hand trembled on the bridle rein.
+
+Harley expected her to ask what it was that he had learned, but when he
+saw her averted face he went on:
+
+"I learned then, Sylvia, what I should have known long before, that I
+love you, that you are the one woman in the world for me. And I do not
+believe, Sylvia, that you care only a little for me."
+
+He was bold, masterful, and the ring of confidence was in his voice. His
+hand, for a moment, touched her trembling hand on the bridle rein, and
+she thrilled with the answering touch.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, with grave sweetness, "I mean to win you."
+
+"You must not talk so," she said, and a sudden pallor replaced the
+color in her face. "You know that I cannot in honor hear it. I am
+promised, and of my own accord, to another, and to one to whom every
+sacred obligation commands me to keep my promise."
+
+"I do not forget your promise--Mr. Plummer was in my mind when I was
+speaking--nor do I urge you to break it."
+
+"Why, then, do you speak? Why do you say that you mean to win me?"
+
+"Because Mr. Plummer must break this bargain himself. He, of his own
+accord, must give your promise back to you. I mean to make him do so. I
+do not yet know how, but I shall find a way. Oh, I tell you, Sylvia,
+this marriage of his and yours is not right. It's against nature. You do
+not love him; you cannot--do not protest--not in a way that a woman
+should love the man whom she is going to marry. You love me instead, and
+I mean to make you keep on loving me, just as I mean to make Mr. Plummer
+give you back your promise."
+
+"Have you not undertaken two large tasks?" she said, smiling faintly.
+
+But Harley, usually so short and terse, had made this long speech with
+fire and heat, as the "still waters" were now running very deep, and he
+went on:
+
+"I have given you fair warning, Sylvia. Neither you nor Mr. Plummer can
+say that I have begun any secret campaign. I have told you that I mean
+to make you marry me."
+
+She thought that she ought to stop him, to tell him that he must never
+speak of such a thing again. Before her rose the figure of the man whom
+she had promised to marry, square, massive, and iron-gray, but, solid as
+the figure was, it quickly faded in the light of the real and earnest
+young face beside her. Youth spoke to youth, and she did not stop him,
+because what he was saying to her was very pleasant, though it might be
+wrong.
+
+The morning was brilliant and vivid on the mountains. Far away the white
+peaks melted dimly into the blue sky, and below them lay the valleys,
+cup after cup, white with snow. The others rode on ahead, not noticing,
+and Harley was not one to let time slip through his fingers.
+
+"You must not speak in this way to me again," she said, at last,
+although her tone was not sad, only firm, "because it is not right. I
+knew that it was wrong, even while you were saying it, but I could not
+stop you. You know you cannot change what is fixed, and I must marry Mr.
+Plummer."
+
+Harley laughed joyously. Later he did not know why he was so confident
+then, but the air of the mountains and a new fire, too, were sparkling
+in his veins, and at that moment he had no doubts.
+
+"You will not marry Mr. Plummer," he repeated, with energy, "and it is
+not you that will break the promise. It is he that shall give it back to
+you."
+
+For the time she felt his faith, and her face glowed, but her courage
+left her when the "King," who had been ahead with the candidate, dropped
+back towards the rear and joined them.
+
+"King" Plummer, too, had begun that return journey with feelings of
+exhilaration. Everything in the trip from Crow's Wing appealed to him,
+because it was so thoroughly in consonance with his early life in the
+mountains. The adventure in Queen City had stirred his blood, and around
+him were familiar things. He, too, wished that an organized band of
+bandits would come, because in his younger days he had helped to hunt
+down some of the worst men in the mountains, and the old fighting blood
+mounted as high as ever in his veins.
+
+He had seen that Sylvia was entirely recovered from the alarms of the
+night at Queen City, and then, because he felt that it was his duty, and
+because there was a keen zest in it, too, he rode on ahead with the
+candidate, to whom he pointed out dim blue peaks that he knew, and to
+whom he laid down the proposition that those mountains were full of
+minerals, and would one day prove a source of illimitable wealth to the
+nation.
+
+The crispness of the morning, the vast expanse of mountain, and the
+feeling of deep, full life made the "King's" blood tingle. His years of
+hardship, danger, and joy--and he had enjoyed his life greatly--swept
+before him, and he laughed under his breath; life was still very good.
+After a while the thought of Sylvia came to him, and he smiled again,
+because Sylvia was truly good to look upon. He rode back towards her,
+and then he received a blow--a blow square in the face, and dealt
+heavily.
+
+"King" Plummer's was not a mind trained to look upon the more delicate
+shades of life--he dealt rather with the obvious; but when he saw Harley
+and Sylvia he knew. Mrs. Grayson's warning, which at first he had only
+half accepted, had come true, and it had come quickly. His instant
+impulse was that of the primitive man to raise his fist and strike down
+this foolish, this presumptuous youth who had dared to cross the path of
+him, the King of the Mountains; but he did not raise it, because "King"
+Plummer was a gentleman; instead, he strove to conceal the fact that he
+was breathing hard and deep, and he spoke to them in a tone that he
+sought to render careless, but which really had an unnatural sound.
+Sylvia gave him a glance that was half fear, and had the "King" taken
+notice it would have filled him with deep pain, but Harley, who alone of
+the three retained his self-possession, spoke lightly of passing things.
+The feeling of exulting strength was not yet gone from him; in the
+presence of this man of great achievement he was not afraid, and,
+moreover, the desire to protect Sylvia, to turn attention from her, was
+strong within him.
+
+For these reasons Harley carried the whole burden of the talk, and
+carried it well. Neither of the others wished to interrupt him; Sylvia
+being full of these new emotions, half joy and half fear, that agitated
+her, and Mr. Plummer trying to evolve from chaos a way to act.
+
+Although the "King" had suppressed the muscular manifestation, he was
+none the less burned by internal fire. Sylvia was his: it was he who had
+found her in the mountains; it was he who had given her the years of
+care and tenderness, and by every right, including that of promise, she
+belonged to him. Nor was he one to give her up for a fancy. He had seen
+the look of love on her face when she spoke to Harley, but she was only
+a girl--from the crest of his years the "King" thought that he saw the
+truth, and knew it--and as soon as this campaign was over, and the
+Eastern youth had disappeared, she would forget him.
+
+Mr. Plummer regarded this youth out of the corner of his eye, and while
+he pitied him for his ignorance of life, he was bound to admit that
+Harley was a handsome fellow, tall, well knit, and with an air of
+self-reliance. Evidently there was good stuff in him, and he would
+amount to something when he was trained and mature, although the "King"
+concluded that he needed a great deal of training. But he could not fail
+to feel respect for Harley's presence of mind, his calm, and his ease.
+The youth showed no fear of him, no sign of apprehension, and the
+mountaineer gave him credit for it.
+
+Sylvia was glad when they stopped in one of the lower glades to rest and
+eat of the food which had been so amply provided for them. But she was
+proud of Harley and the manner in which he had taken upon himself all
+the burden. His conduct went far to justify in her eyes his confident
+prediction, and, secretly approving, she watched the ease with which he
+bore himself among the blunt mountaineers and the handsome manner in
+which he affiliated. She noticed that they seemed to think of Harley as
+one like Jimmy Grayson--that is, one of themselves--and they never
+considered him raw or green in any respect.
+
+Her confidence in Harley and the momentary elation returned as they
+stood there in this cup in the mountain-side and looked out upon the
+expanse of peak and plain. She ate, too, with an appetite that the
+mountain air sharpened, and she thrilled with strength and hope.
+
+Mr. Plummer, from some motive that she did not understand, kept himself
+in the background during the stop; nor did she know how his big heart
+was filled with wrath and gloom. But as he stood silently at the
+farthest rim of the circle, he resolved to push his fortunes, which was
+in accordance with his nature.
+
+"Will you walk to the edge of the cove with me?" he said to the
+candidate, when he saw that the latter had finished his luncheon, and
+Mr. Grayson, without a word, complied with his request.
+
+Jimmy Grayson must have had some premonition of what was to come,
+because he obeyed his first impulse, and glanced at Harley and Sylvia,
+who were standing together. He was confirmed in his thought when he saw
+the look of gloom and resolve upon the face of his friend.
+
+"I want to speak to you of Sylvia," said "King" Plummer, in tones of
+hurry, as if it cost him an effort. "It's about our marriage. I think I
+ought to hurry it up a little. You see--well, you can't help seeing,
+that, compared with Sylvia, I'm old. I'm not really old, but I'm old
+enough to be her father, an' youth has a way that's pretty hard to break
+of turnin' to youth."
+
+"Yes," said Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"Sylvia's just a girl; she don't seem much more 'n a child to me, an'
+lately she's been travellin' about a heap, an' she's met new people.
+Now, I don't blame her, don't think that, because it's natural, but here
+is this young writin' chap."
+
+"Harley, you mean?"
+
+"Yes. An' I'm not sayin' anythin' against him, either, though writin'
+has never been much in my line, but he an' Sylvia seem to have taken a
+sort of shine to each other--I don't know whether it amounts to any more
+than that, though I suppose it could if it was give a chance; but down
+there in Queen City he did more for her than I did, or anybody else, and
+I suppose that tells with a girl. Well, you saw 'em together as we
+walked out here, an' I'm bound to admit that they make a powerful likely
+couple."
+
+He hesitated, as if he were waiting for the candidate to speak, but Mr.
+Grayson was silent. He glanced once at the strong face of Plummer,
+drawn as if in pain, and then he looked into the valley a thousand feet
+below. Jimmy Grayson did not care to speak.
+
+"I ain't a blind man," continued the "King." "I may not be too smart,
+but still things don't have to be driven into me with a wedge. If Sylvia
+and Harley were left to themselves, they would fall deep in love, I can
+see that; but I tell you, Mr. Grayson, she's mine, she belongs to me,
+because I've earned her, and because she's promised herself to me, too,
+an' I can't give her up. Still, if it's wrong, if I ought to let her
+have her promise back, I'll do it anyhow. An' that's why I've asked you
+to walk out here. I don't like much to speak to another man of a thing
+right next to my heart, but I want to ask you, Mr. Grayson--you are her
+uncle an' my best friend--what do you think I ought to do?"
+
+It was hard to embarrass Jimmy Grayson, but he was embarrassed now. He
+would rather any other man in the world had asked him any other
+question. Sylvia was his niece, and her happiness was dear to him.
+Harley, too, had found a place in his heart. And when he glanced at them
+again and saw them still together, it seemed fit and right that they
+should continue so through life. But there was "King" Plummer, an honest
+man, and his claim could not be denied. And his mind could not help
+asking this insidious little question, "If Sylvia is allowed to throw
+over 'King' Plummer, will he not sulk and allow the Mountain States,
+passing from her uncle, to go into the other column?" Jimmy Grayson
+would not have been human if he had not heard this little question
+demanding an answer, but he resolutely resisted it.
+
+"What do you say?" asked Mr. Plummer. "I'd risk much on your advice."
+
+"I was studying your question, because in a case like this a man has to
+think of so many things, and then may miss the right one. But, Mr.
+Plummer, I don't know what to say; I think, however, I'd wait. Sylvia is
+a good girl, and I know you can trust her. But they are beckoning to us;
+they are ready to start."
+
+He was glad of that start, because it saved him from further discussion
+of the problem, and Mr. Plummer went back with him moodily.
+
+Yet the resolve in the "King's" mind had only been strengthened by his
+talk with the candidate. The danger of Sylvia slipping through his
+fingers because of his own want of precaution made her all the more dear
+to him, and he was determined to take that precaution now. So he was
+watchful throughout the remainder of the journey, seeking his
+opportunity, and it came towards the twilight, as they saw the first
+houses of the railroad station rise upon the horizon.
+
+Mrs. Grayson, Hobart, Blaisdell, the state politicians, and, all the
+others came out to meet them, and for a while there was a turmoil of
+voices asking questions and answering them. Presently Sylvia slipped
+from the group, and Mr. Plummer followed her towards the hotel.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "wait for me. I have some thing to say."
+
+She recognized an unusual tone in his voice and she was frightened. She
+felt an almost irresistible impulse to run and to hide herself in some
+dim room of the hotel. But she did not do it; instead, she waited and
+walked by his side.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "the perils and hardships of the trip we are just
+finishin' have set me to thinkin' hard."
+
+She trembled again. She felt as if he were going to say something that
+she would not like to hear.
+
+"That trip was full of dangers for you, and, as we go through all this
+Western country, there may be more to come. I want the right, Sylvia, to
+look after you, to look after you more closely than I've ever done
+before, and to do that, Sylvia, I've got to be your husband."
+
+"I have promised."
+
+"I know you have, an' I know you'll keep your promise. But I want you to
+keep it now. Why couldn't we get married, say next week, and make this
+campaign one big weddin' tour. I think it would be grand, Sylvia, an'
+it's right easy to arrange."
+
+He paused, awaiting her answer, but she had suddenly lost all her color,
+and, despite herself, she trembled violently.
+
+"Oh no!" she cried, "not now! It would be better to wait. Why break up
+this pleasant--Oh, I don't mean that! I mean, why not go on as we are
+through the campaign, and afterwards we could talk of--of--what you
+propose? Anything else now would be so unusual. I think we'd better
+wait!"
+
+She spoke almost breathlessly under impulse, and then she stopped
+suddenly as if afraid. The color poured back into her face, and she
+waited timidly.
+
+The King of the Mountains, who had never known fear, was gripped by a
+cold chill. He had delivered his master-stroke and it had failed.
+
+"We'll wait, Sylvia," he said, gloomily. "Of course a woman's wish in
+such a matter as this is law, and more than law."
+
+"Oh, daddy, don't you see how it is?" she cried, moved by his tone. "I'm
+but twenty-two. I don't want to marry just yet. I haven't seen enough of
+this big world. Why can't we wait a little?"
+
+"Don't be afraid, child; no one shall make you marry when you don't want
+to," he said, soothingly and protectingly, and this rôle became him
+superbly. "The subject sha'n't be mentioned to you again while the
+campaign lasts."
+
+"You are the best man in the world, daddy!" she exclaimed. Suddenly she
+rose on tiptoe, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and then ran away.
+"King" Plummer walked gravely back to the lobby of the hotel, where a
+crowd was gathered.
+
+Harley was one of this crowd, and on entering the room he had been met
+at once by Churchill, upon whose face was a look of consternation.
+
+"Harley," he asked, "is the report true that Grayson was in danger of
+being kidnapped by bandits on this trip to Crow's Wing?"
+
+"It is true, every word of it."
+
+"My God! what will Europe say?" exclaimed Churchill, aghast.
+
+Harley laughed, but he did not attempt to reason with Churchill. He knew
+that the correspondent of the _Monitor_ was too far gone to be reached
+by argument.
+
+Churchill sent a lurid despatch to the _Monitor_, describing in detail
+the folly and recklessness of the candidate, and the manner in which he
+neglected the great issues of the campaign for the sake of impulses,
+which always terminated in frivolous or dangerous adventures. And the
+_Monitor_ fully backed up its correspondent, because, when the issue of
+the paper that published the despatch reached them, it also contained
+an editorial, in which the editor wrote in anguish of heart:
+
+
+     "We have supported Mr. Grayson in this campaign with as much zeal
+     and energy as our moral sense would permit. We have given him full
+     credit for all the virtues that he may possess, and we have been
+     willing at all times for him to profit by our experience and
+     advice. But our readers will bear witness that we have never failed
+     in courage to denounce the wrong, even if it should be in our own
+     house. Our easy, and on the whole superficial, American temperament
+     condones too many things. Never was it more noticeable than in the
+     vital issues of this Presidential campaign. The yellow journals are
+     making a great noise over Mr. Grayson; they shout about his
+     oratory, his generosity, and his noble impulses until the really
+     serious minority of us can scarcely hear; but the grave, thoughtful
+     people, those who are recognized in Europe as the real leaders of
+     American opinion, will not be put down. Despite the turmoil of the
+     childish, we have never lost our heads. The _Monitor_, from the
+     very first, has perceived the truth, and it has the courage to tell
+     it. We contribute this advice willingly and without charge to those
+     who are conducting the campaign.
+
+     "The youthful and flamboyant qualities must be eradicated from Mr.
+     Grayson. Our young republic cannot afford to be discredited in the
+     eyes of Europe by the sensational or frivolous actions of one who
+     is nominated by a great party for the high office of President.
+     This last adventure with brigands in the mountains is really more
+     than our patience will bear, and our readers know that our patience
+     is great. We have suggested, we have advised, and we have even
+     threatened by indirection, but thus far it has all been futile.
+
+     "Now we mean to speak with the bluntness and decision demanded by
+     the circumstances. A committee of men, mature in years and solid in
+     judgment, some of whom we can name, must be put in control of the
+     campaign. Mr. Grayson must be kept within strict limits; he must
+     take advice before delivering his speeches, and he must not be
+     permitted to turn aside for irrelevant issues. And since the
+     _Monitor_ speaks reluctantly, and in the utmost kindness, we
+     suggest that he become a faithful reader of our columns. A word to
+     the wise is sufficient."
+
+
+The day this issue of the _Monitor_ arrived Sylvia said to Churchill:
+
+"Mr. Churchill, I want to thank you in behalf of my uncle for that
+beautiful editorial in the _Monitor_. It was put in the very way that
+would appeal to him most."
+
+"Do you really think so, Miss Morgan?" said Churchill, blushing with
+borrowed pride.
+
+"Oh yes, but it was so typical, it had so much of a certain personal
+quality in it, that I am sure you must have telegraphed it to the
+_Monitor_ yourself."
+
+"King" Plummer, who stood by and who had very little to say these days,
+smiled sourly.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+BY THE FIRELIGHT
+
+
+The special train now entered one of the most mountainous portions of
+Utah, and, as the strenuous nature of the campaign continued, its
+exigencies permitted little time for other things. Personal feelings,
+fears, and hopes had to be buried, or at least hidden for the time, and
+Harley, like all the rest, was absorbed in work. Nevertheless, his
+feeling of confidence, even exhilaration, remained. He believed that he
+would yet discover a way.
+
+He found this part of the campaign pleasant, physically as well as
+mentally. The alternation of huge mountain and fertile valley was
+grateful to the eye, and, however severe the day's journey might be,
+they knew there would be good rest at the end.
+
+It had been nearly a week since the episode of the dead city, when
+Hobart bustled back to Harley and said:
+
+"Harley, we shall have the noble red man to hear us to-night. We stop
+just at the edge of the Indian reservation, and a lot of the braves,
+with their squaws, too, I suppose, will attend. Of course they will be
+duly impressed by Jimmy Grayson's oratory."
+
+Sylvia Morgan was present when this news was announced, and Hobart
+suddenly stopped short and glanced at her. She had turned pale, and
+then, remembering that old tragedy in her life when she was a little
+child, he ascribed her pallor to her horror at the mention of Indians.
+But Hobart did not know that they were approaching the scene of the
+memorable massacre.
+
+The train now curved southward and entered a fertile valley lying like a
+bowl among the high mountains. They saw here fields that had been golden
+with wheat, ripe fruit yet hung from the trees, and the touch of green
+was still visible, although autumn had come. By the railway track a
+clear mountain stream flowed, sparkling in the thin, pure air, and there
+was more than one full-grown man in the candidate's party who, with
+memories of his youth before him, longed to pull off shoes and socks and
+wade in it with bare feet.
+
+The sight was most refreshing after so much mountain and arid expanse,
+and the tired travellers brightened up visibly.
+
+"One of the states has the motto, 'Here we rest'--I've forgotten which
+it is--but it ought to be Utah," said Hobart, "and now's the time."
+
+He was not disappointed. They came before noon to Belleville, the
+metropolis of the valley, the place where the candidate was going to
+speak, one of the prettiest little towns that ever built its nest in the
+Rocky Mountains. They were all enthusiastic over it, with its trim
+houses, its well-paved streets, the clear water flowing beside the
+curbs, and its air of completion. The people, too, had all the Western
+courage and energy, without its roughness and undue expression, and so
+the candidate and his party luxuriated.
+
+"You wouldn't think that this gem of a town was harried more by Indians
+in its infancy than perhaps any other place in the West, would you?"
+said Hobart to Harley.
+
+"Hobart, what a nuisance you are!" replied Harley; "you are always
+prowling around in search of useless facts. Now, I don't want to hear
+anything about bloodshed and massacre, when Belleville is the picture of
+neatness and comfort that it is to-day. Look at that little opera-house
+over there! You couldn't find anything handsomer in a city of fifty
+thousand in the East."
+
+"Harley," said Hobart, with emphasis, "I wouldn't have your lack of
+curiosity for anything in the world," and he wandered away in disgust to
+pour his ancient history into the ears of a more willing listener.
+
+At twilight they ate an admirable dinner, and then Harley, Hobart, who
+had returned from his explorations, Blaisdell, and two or three others,
+after their custom, filled in the interval between supper and the
+speeches with a stroll through the village, Mr. Plummer going along as a
+sort of mentor. The keeper of the hotel informed them that many of the
+Indians already were in town and were "tanking up." Harley found this to
+be true, and the red men failed to arouse in him either respect or
+admiration. If they had ever had any nobility of the wilderness, it was
+gone now, and they seemed to him a sodden, depressed, and repellent
+race. A half-dozen or so, in various stages of drunkenness, through
+whiskey surreptitiously obtained, increased the feeling of aversion.
+
+In the dusk they stumbled over a figure lying squarely across the path,
+and Harley drew back with a word of disgust. An old Indian, dilapidated
+and in the last stages of intoxication, was stretched out on his face. A
+local resident named Walker, who had joined them, laughed.
+
+"That," said he, "is a chief, a great man, or at least he was once. It's
+old Flying Cloud--poetical name, though he don't look poetical now by a
+long shot. Here, get out of this; you're blocking up the road!"
+
+With true Western directness he administered a kick to the prostrate
+form, but the old chief, buried in a sodden dream, only stirred and
+muttered; then the resident opened up a battery of kicks, and presently
+the Indian rose to his feet and slunk off, muttering, in the darkness.
+
+"They're no good at all," said Walker. "Only a lot of sots, whenever
+they get the chance."
+
+But Harley was thinking of the contrast between what he had just seen
+and what he had imagined might be the freedom and nobility of the
+wilderness.
+
+It was a beautiful autumn night, and the candidate spoke in the open, in
+the village square, with the mountains that circled about him as his
+background. Sylvia Morgan was not among the listeners. Usually she
+enjoyed these speeches in the evening, with the crowds, the enthusiasm,
+and the encircling darkness. But to-night she would not come, nor would
+she tell the reason to Harley or any of his friends. She merely said
+that she wished to stay in her room at the hotel.
+
+The audience was quiet and attentive, and Harley noticed here and there
+on the outskirts the dark faces of the Indians. They interested him so
+much that he left the platform presently to watch them. He was wondering
+if they had any conception at all of Jimmy Grayson's words or of a
+Presidential campaign. Nor did he gain any knowledge by his examination.
+They listened gravely, and their faces were without expression.
+
+The nearest of them all to the stand Harley recognized as the old chief,
+Flying Cloud, whom Walker had kicked off the sidewalk. He seemed to have
+recovered physical command of himself, and stood erect. There was a red
+feather in his felt hat, and a shawl in brilliant stripes was drawn
+across his shoulders.
+
+The candidate spoke in a specially happy vein that night, and the
+background of the mountains added impressiveness to his words. To
+Harley, again the analyst, and seeking to put himself in the Indian's
+place, there was a rhythm and power in what Jimmy Grayson said, although
+he, as an Indian, might not understand a word. He could interpret it as
+a chant of battle or victory, and such, he had no doubt, was the view of
+Flying Cloud.
+
+The chief, so Harley judged, was still half under the influence of
+drink, but he was paying close attention to the speaker, and the
+correspondent at last saw in his eyes what he took to be the stir of
+some emotion. It was a light, as of memories of his own triumphs, and
+the chief's figure began to sway gently to the music of Jimmy Grayson's
+voice. They had built a bonfire near the speaker's stand, and by its
+flare Harley clearly saw old Flying Cloud smile.
+
+Hobart came up at that moment, and, Harley pointed out to him the
+transformation in the old chief's appearance. Hobart's opinion agreed
+with Harley's.
+
+"It's a battle-song that Flying Cloud is hearing," he said. "It's Jimmy
+Grayson that's stirring him up, though maybe the old fellow doesn't
+understand it that way."
+
+The speeches ended after a while, and the people began to leave.
+Presently only a few were left in the square, and among them was
+Harley, who felt no touch of sleepiness. He looked at the quiet town,
+then up at the ridges and peaks, crested with snow and silhouetted
+against the moonlit sky, and thought again of that little girl, alone
+with her dead and in the night among the vast mountains.
+
+The next moment he believed that it was a telepathic feeling, because at
+his elbow was Sylvia Morgan herself, a red-striped shawl over her head
+to protect her from the cold, and "King" Plummer, who had evidently
+brought her from the hotel, not far away.
+
+"Are they all gone?" she asked.
+
+"No," replied Harley; "the Indians and a few more are left."
+
+Harley, in the moonlight, clearly saw her shiver.
+
+"I was restless, and I could not sleep," she said. "I came out for the
+sake of the air. But I'll go back."
+
+"No," said Harley, "don't go. Stay with us, please. Now what can that
+mean?"
+
+A wild, barbaric chant arose near the bonfire behind them.
+
+"Come!" exclaimed Harley, keen to see and hear. "I think it's old Flying
+Cloud, and he's ready to turn himself loose. We can't miss this!"
+
+Sylvia was about to turn away, but as "King" Plummer came up on the
+other side of her, and seemed to have a curiosity like Harley's, she
+yielded at last, though with reluctance, and the three walked towards
+the fire.
+
+Harley's surmise was correct, as old Flying Cloud, jumping back and
+forth, was singing some kind of war-song. There was a group about him,
+and in it was Hobart, who Harley guessed had been a moving spirit in
+this scene. Jimmy Grayson's fire and eloquence had done the rest.
+
+The flames burned down a little, but they cast a weird light on the old
+chief's face, bringing out like brown carving the high cheek-bones, the
+great, hooked nose, and the seamed cheeks. The thin lips fell away from
+long, yellow teeth, and heightened the effect of cruelty which his whole
+expression gave.
+
+Hobart came over to them, and said: "See how the old fellow is changing!
+We've got him to sing one of his ancient war-songs, and I guess he
+thinks he's beating Jimmy Grayson now!"
+
+Sylvia Morgan shuddered, but she said nothing. She seemed to be held by
+the fascination of the serpent.
+
+The chief continued to make his queer little jumps back and forth, and
+went on with his chant. As he had begun in English for his auditors, so
+he continued, although he was now oblivious of their presence. Harley,
+watching him, knew it, and he knew, too, that the chief's mind was far
+back in the past. His was not the song of the broken derelict, but of
+the barbarous and triumphant warrior, and as he sang he gathered fire
+and strength.
+
+The circle of white faces grew around the old chief. Every loiterer was
+there, and others came back. Not one spoke. All were fascinated by the
+singular and weird scene. The moon, low down on the mountain's crest,
+still shed a pallid, grayish light that mingled with the fitful red
+glare from the glowing coals, the two together casting an unearthly
+tinge. But Harley's eyes never left the chief, as he saw his figure
+continue to expand and grow with ancient memories of prowess, and the
+eyes of Sylvia beside him, as she too listened, expressed many and
+strong emotions.
+
+Flying Cloud told of hunting triumphs, of the slaughter of the buffalo,
+of fierce encounters with the mountain-lion, of hand-to-hand combat with
+the grizzly bear, and then he glided into war. Now his voice rose, full
+and prolonged, without any of the tremor or shrillness of age, and his
+eccentric dancing grew more violent. His emotions, too, were shown on
+his face in all their savagery as he told of the foray and the fight.
+
+At first it was Indian against Indian, and never was any mercy
+shown--always woe to the conquered; then it was the whites. An emigrant
+train was coming over the mountains--men, women, and children. There was
+danger in their path; a Ute war-band was abroad, but the fools knew it
+not. They travelled on, and at night the children played and laughed by
+the camp-fire, but the shadow of the Utes was always there. Flying Cloud
+led the war-band, but held them back until the time should come. He was
+waiting for a place that he knew. At last they reached it, a deep cañon
+with bushes on either side, and the train entered the defile.
+
+Harley suddenly felt a hand upon his arm. It was the fingers of Sylvia
+grasping him, but unconscious of the act. He looked up and saw her face
+as white as death, and a yard away the eyes of "King" Plummer were
+burning like two coals.
+
+Flying Cloud's figure swayed, and his voice trembled with a curious joy
+at the old memories. He was approaching the great moment of triumph. He
+told how the warriors lay among the bushes, watching the foolish train
+come on, how they looked at each other and rejoiced in advance over an
+easy victory. Some would have fired too soon, but Flying Cloud would
+not let them. His was the cunning mind, as well as the bold heart, and
+he omitted nothing. The trap was perfect. The fools never suspected.
+They stopped to make a camp, and still they did not know that a ring of
+death was about them. They built their fires, and again the children
+laughed and played by the coals. It was the last time.
+
+The old chief was now wholly the wilderness slayer, the Indian of an
+earlier time. His glittering eyes at times swept the circle of white
+faces about him, but he did not see them, only that old massacre.
+
+The narrative went on. Flying Cloud told each of his warriors to select
+a victim, and fire true when he gave the word. He chose for himself a
+large man who stood by one of the wagons, a man who had with him a woman
+and a little boy and a little girl, and the little girl had long curls.
+
+A groan burst from Plummer, and Harley saw his great figure gather as if
+for a spring. But Harley, quick as lightning, seized the man in a
+powerful grasp, and cried in his ear: "Not now, Mr. Plummer, not now,
+for God's sake! Wait until the end!"
+
+Harley felt the "King" quiver in his hands, and then cease to struggle.
+Sylvia stood by, still as white as death and absolutely motionless. The
+others, held by the old chief's song, did not see nor hear.
+
+Flying Cloud's eyes were glittering with cruel triumph as he continued
+his chant. The rifles were raised, the white fools yet suspected
+nothing, but laughed and jested with each other as if there would be a
+to-morrow.
+
+Then he gave the word, and all the rifles were fired at once. The cañon
+was filled with smoke and the whistling of bullets. Most of the men in
+the train were killed at once, and then the warriors sprang among those
+who were left. Flying Cloud had shot the tall man by the wagon, and then
+he sought the woman and the two children. He slew the woman and the
+little boy, and he scalped them both. Then he sprang at the girl, but
+the child of the Evil Spirit slipped among the bushes, and he could not
+find her.
+
+The old chief stopped a moment, and once more his glittering eyes swept
+the circle of white faces, but saw them not. Then that fierce cry burst
+again from Plummer. Suddenly he threw off Harley as if he had been a
+child, and sprang through the ring of white faces into the circle of the
+firelight. The tall, pale girl, still not saying a word, stood by, like
+an avenging goddess.
+
+"Murderer!" cried the "King." "It is not too late to punish you!"
+
+He seized the old chief by the throat, but the white men threw
+themselves upon him and tore him off.
+
+Flying Cloud reeled back, gazed a moment at Plummer, and then drew a
+knife.
+
+"It was when there was war between us, and I will not swing at the end
+of the white man's rope," he said.
+
+So speaking, he plunged the blade into his own heart and fell dead,
+almost at the feet of the woman whose kin he had slain.
+
+"Whatever the red scoundrel was," said Hobart, later, "I shall always
+use the old text for him, and say that nothing in this life became him
+like the leaving of it."
+
+But there were no such feelings in the heart of Sylvia Morgan. When
+"King" Plummer sprang upon Flying Cloud, Harley turned involuntarily to
+Sylvia, and he saw the pallor replaced by a sudden flush; then, when the
+chief slew himself with his own knife, the flush passed, and whiter than
+ever she sank down gently. But Harley caught her in his arms before she
+fell, and in a moment or two she revived. It seemed to be her first
+thought that she was held by him, and she struggled a little.
+
+"Let me go," she said; "I can stand. I assure you I can. It was just a
+passing weakness."
+
+But Harley wished to make certain that it was not more than that before
+he released her, and the friendly darkness and the interest of the crowd
+centred on Flying Cloud aided him. A minute later Mrs. Grayson and the
+wife of a local political leader, Mrs. Meadows, took her from him and
+carried her to the hotel. Mrs. Grayson, who had heard the chief's chant,
+understood the story, but Mrs. Meadows, who knew nothing of Sylvia's
+relation to it, but who guessed something from the talk of the others,
+was devoured by curiosity. However, she prevailed over it, for the time,
+and was silent as she went with Sylvia back to the hotel, although she
+made a vow which she kept--that she would find out the full truth in the
+morning.
+
+Harley lingered a little by the firelight and joined Hobart and the
+crowd. The tragedy had cut deep into his thoughts--and he did not care
+to talk, but the others had plenty to say.
+
+"What a singular coincidence," said Tremaine, stroking his fine, white,
+pointed mustache, of which he was very proud. "I call it very remarkable
+that this savage should have told the story of that old tragedy the very
+night when the only survivor of it was present."
+
+"I do not call it remarkable at all," said Hobart. "It is not even a
+coincidence in the usual meaning of the word. It came about naturally,
+each chapter in the story being the logical sequence of the chapter that
+preceded it."
+
+"It may all be very clear to a man like you, one who makes a study of
+crime and mysteries," said Tremaine, ironically, as he gave his mustache
+an impatient tug, "but it is far from being so to me. I still call it a
+coincidence."
+
+"That is because you haven't taken time to think about it, Tremaine.
+Your mind is entirely too good to accept such a theory as coincidence.
+In the first place, Mr. Grayson is making a thorough tour of the West,
+all the more thorough because these are supposed to be doubtful states.
+Now what more natural than his coming to Belleville, which is one of the
+most important towns in northern Utah, and, having come, what more
+probable than the presence of the Indians at his speech, because such
+attractions are rare in Belleville, and the Indian would come to see
+what it is that stirs up so much his white friend and brother. Of
+course, the Indian in his degenerate days, would take the chance to get
+drunk, and, being in a whiskey stupor, he naturally supposed that Mr.
+Grayson was chanting a chant of victory, and quite as naturally he
+chanted in return his own chant, and also quite as naturally this chant
+was about the deed that he considered the greatest of his life. So,
+there you are; the chain is complete, the result is natural; any other
+result would have been unnatural."
+
+Tremaine laughed.
+
+"You have worked it out pretty well, Hobart," he said, "but I have my
+own opinion."
+
+"You are entitled to it," rejoined Hobart, briskly, "but be sure you
+keep it to yourself, and then you won't suffer from the criticisms of
+the intelligent."
+
+Tremaine laughed good-naturedly, and then avowed his concern about that
+beautiful girl, Miss Morgan, who suddenly and under such peculiar
+circumstances had been brought face to face with the slayer of her
+people; he had perceived from the first her noble qualities, and he felt
+for her the deepest sympathy. Tremaine, while a great lover of the
+ladies, had in reality less perception than any of the others in affairs
+of the heart. He was, perhaps, the only one in the group who did not
+know what was going on, and for that reason he talked at length of
+Sylvia, no one being able to stop him. He thought it a pity that Sylvia
+should be wasted on "King" Plummer, who was a good man, a fine old Roman
+soul, but then he had his doubts about Sylvia's love for him--that is,
+as a husband. Mr. Plummer was too old for her. Tremaine, by a curious
+inconsistency, never looked upon himself as old, and thought it
+perfectly natural that he should carry on a mild flirtation with any
+girl, provided she be handsome, although young enough to be his
+daughter.
+
+Harley was uneasy, and would have left them had not the act called
+attention to himself too pointedly, and he was forced to listen to
+Tremaine's rambling comment, knowing that all the others had him in
+their thoughts as they heard. Fortunately, Tremaine did not require any
+comment from others, preferring an unbroken stream of his own talk, and
+Harley was able to regain his hotel in silence.
+
+They were confronted the next morning by an announcement that sent
+sorrow through the whole group. Mrs. Grayson felt that the events of the
+night before were too much for a young girl, and unless she were
+removed for a time to quieter scenes and a less arduous life they would
+leave lasting effects. Moreover, the campaign was about to enter upon a
+phase in which women would prove burdensome, hence she and Sylvia were
+going to Salt Lake City for a stay of two weeks, and then they would
+rejoin the party at some point in the Northwest.
+
+It was with no counterfeit grief that they heard this news. The ladies
+had added brightness and variety to a most toilsome campaign, and their
+daily travel would seem very black indeed without them. Even Churchill
+was loud in his regrets, because Churchill had some of the instincts of
+a gentleman, and he never failed in what was due to Mrs. Grayson and
+Sylvia. But he could not keep from making one nasty little stab at
+Harley.
+
+"Harley," he said, "do you know that they are going to have a very
+stalwart escort to Salt Lake?"
+
+"I do not," replied Harley, in some surprise. "I think they are quite
+able to take care of themselves."
+
+"Perhaps they are, but 'King' Plummer is going with them, nevertheless.
+At his age it is well for a man to keep watch over a young girl whom he
+expects to marry, or some husky youth may carry her off."
+
+Harley was surprised at the strength of his desire to strike Churchill
+in the face, and he was also surprised at the fact that he resisted it.
+He accounted for it by his theory that Churchill could not help being
+mean at times, and, therefore, was not wholly responsible. So he
+contented himself with saying:
+
+"Churchill, you are a fool now and then, but you never know it."
+
+Then he walked carelessly away before Churchill had made up his mind
+whether to get angry or to return a sarcastic reply. Churchill liked to
+use sarcasm, as it made him feel superior.
+
+But Harley was much disturbed by Churchill's statement. Sylvia was going
+away, and her stay of two weeks might lengthen into months or become
+permanent. And Mr. Plummer was going with her. Harley's own absence
+would put him at a great disadvantage, and for a moment he suspected
+that this stop at Salt Lake City was an artful movement on the part of
+the "King," but reflection made him acquit Mr. Plummer, first, because
+the "King" was too honest to do such a thing, and, second, because he
+was not subtle enough to think of it.
+
+While he was planning what he would do to face this unforeseen
+development, a boy from the hotel handed him a note. Harley's heart
+jumped when he saw that it was in the handwriting of Sylvia Morgan, and
+it fluttered still further when she asked to see him in the hotel parlor
+for a few minutes. He was apprehensive, too, because if she had anything
+good to tell him she certainly would not send for him.
+
+Sylvia was sitting in the parlor beside a window that looked out upon a
+vast range of snow-covered mountains, rising like the serrated teeth of
+a saw, and, although she heard his footsteps, she did not turn her face
+until Harley stood beside her. Then she said, irrelevantly:
+
+"Isn't that a grand view!"
+
+"You did not send for me to tell me that," said Harley, with a certain
+protecting tenderness in his tone, because what he took to be the
+sadness in her face appealed to his manly qualities.
+
+"No, I did not. I have been thinking over what we said to each other
+when we were coming back from Crow's Wing, and I have concluded that it
+was wrong."
+
+"Why was it wrong? I love you, and I had the right to tell you so."
+
+"No, you did not. You would have had were I free, but I am promised to
+another. I was wrong to let you speak; I was wrong to listen to you."
+
+"I will not admit it," said Harley, doggedly, "because Mr. Plummer is
+going to give you up. He will see that he ought not to hold you to this
+promise."
+
+She smiled sadly.
+
+"I must be loyal to him," she said, "and before starting for Salt Lake
+City I want to tell you that you must not again speak to me of this."
+
+"But I shall write to you in Salt Lake."
+
+"You must not write of this. If you do, I will not open another one of
+your letters."
+
+"I promise not to write to you of love, but I make no promise after
+that. You are not going from Salt Lake to Idaho? This is not an excuse
+to leave us for good?"
+
+Her eyes wavered before his. It may be that she had intended to abandon
+the campaign permanently, but, with his straight and masterful glance
+demanding an honest answer, she could not say it.
+
+"Yes, I will come back," she said, and then, with a sudden burst of
+feeling: "Oh, I like your group; I like all of you. This great journey
+has been something fresh and wonderful to me, and I do not want to leave
+it!"
+
+"I thought not," said Harley, with returning confidence, "and I am glad
+that you sent for me here, because it has given me a chance to tell you
+that, while you mean to keep your promise, I also mean to keep mine.
+Mr. Plummer will yet yield you up. You are mine, not his, you know you
+are!"
+
+He bent suddenly and kissed her lightly on the forehead, and every nerve
+in her tingled at the first touch of the lips of the man whom she loved.
+Yet with the sense of right, of loyalty to another, strong within her,
+she was about to protest, but he was gone, and the first kiss still
+tingled on her forehead. She felt as if he had put there an invisible
+seal, and that now in very truth she belonged to him.
+
+The two ladies under the escort of Mr. Plummer left an hour later for
+Salt Lake City, and everybody was at the station to see them go. Mrs.
+Grayson was quiet as usual, and Sylvia was noticeably subdued, a fact
+which most of them ascribed to the tragedy of Flying Cloud and her
+coming absence of two weeks from a most interesting campaign.
+
+"You ought to cheer up, Miss Sylvia," said Hobart, "because you are not
+half as unlucky as we are. You can spare us much more easily than we can
+spare you."
+
+"I am really sorry that I must go," she said, sincerely.
+
+"But you will come back to us?"
+
+"I have promised to do so."
+
+"That is enough; we know that you will keep a promise, Miss Sylvia."
+
+Sylvia at first would not look at Harley. His kiss still burned upon her
+brow, and she yet felt that it was his seal, his claim upon her. And her
+conscience hurt her for it, because there was "King" Plummer, strong,
+protecting, and overflowing with love for her and faith in her. But as
+she was telling them all good-bye she was forced to say it to Harley,
+too, in his turn, and when he took her hand he pressed it ever so
+little, and said, for her ear only:
+
+"I am still hoping. I refuse to give you up."
+
+She retreated quickly into the Salt Lake car to hide her blush.
+
+When they saw the last smoke of the train melting into the blue sky,
+Harley and Mr. Heathcote walked back to the hotel together. A strong
+friendship had grown up between these two, and each valued the other's
+opinion.
+
+"A fine woman," said Mr. Heathcote, looking towards the silky blue of
+the sky where the smoke had been.
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Grayson has always impressed me as a woman of great dignity
+and strength," said Harley, purposely misunderstanding him.
+
+"That is apparent, but I was not speaking of her. I meant Miss Morgan;
+she seems to me to be of a rare and noble type. The man who gets her,
+whoever he may be, ought to think himself lucky."
+
+Harley noticed that Mr. Heathcote did not take it for granted that
+"King" Plummer would get her, but he said nothing in reply.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+THE SPELLBINDER
+
+
+An hour after the smoke of the Salt Lake train was lost in the blue sky,
+the special car bearing the candidate whirled off in another direction,
+deep into the wonderland of the mountains. Now white peaks were on one
+side and mighty chasms on the other; then both chasm and peak were lost
+behind them, and they shot through an irrigated valley, brown with the
+harvest, neat villages snuggling in the centre. But always, whether near
+or far, the mountains were around them, blue on the middle slopes, white
+at the crests, unless those crests were lost in the clouds and mists.
+
+The people in the car were more quiet than usual, the candidate absorbed
+in somewhat sad thoughts, the state politicians respecting his silence,
+and the correspondents planning their despatches. But all missed Mrs.
+Grayson and Miss Morgan, who, whether they talked or not, always
+contributed brightness and a gentler note to their long campaign. "King"
+Plummer, too, with his loud laugh and his large, sincere manner, left a
+vacancy. Every one felt that there was now nothing ahead but
+business--cold, hard business--and so it proved.
+
+Every campaign enters upon successive phases, in which the contestants
+advance, through politeness and consideration, first to wary feint and
+parry, and then to the stern death-grip of the battle which can mean
+nothing but the victory of one and the defeat of the other. They were
+now approaching this last stage, and great piles of Eastern newspapers,
+which reached them in Utah, reflected all the progress of the combat.
+
+It was obvious to all of those skilled readers and interpreters that the
+breach within the party was widening, and that this breach could become
+a chasm before the election. The _Monitor_ and other papers, the chosen
+or self-appointed champions of vested interests, were almost openly in
+revolt; in Harley's mind their course amounted to the same thing; they
+printed in their news columns many things derogatory to Grayson, and
+likely to shatter public faith in his judgment, and in nearly all of
+them appeared signed contributions from members of the wealthy faction
+led by the Honorable Mr. Goodnight, attacking every speech made by the
+candidate, and intimating that he was a greater danger to the country
+than the nominee of the other side.
+
+"The split will have to come," was Harley's muttered comment, "and the
+sooner the better for us."
+
+The journals of the rival party were a singular contrast to those of
+Grayson's side, as they expressed unbounded and sincere confidence. In
+all that had occurred they could not read anything but victory for them,
+and Harley was bound to admit that their exultation was justified.
+
+But amid all these troubles the candidate preserved his remarkable
+amiability of disposition, and Harley witnessed another proof that he
+was a man first and a statesman afterwards.
+
+The train was continually thronged with local politicians and others
+anxious to see Mr. Grayson, and at a little station in a plain that
+seemed to have no end they picked up three men, one of whom attracted
+Harley's notice at once. He was young, only twenty four or five, with a
+bright, quick, eager face, and he was not dressed in the usual careless
+Western fashion. His trousers were carefully creased, his white shirt
+was well-laundered, and his tie was neat. But he wore that strange
+combination--not so strange west of the Mississippi--a sack-coat and a
+silk-hat at the same time.
+
+The youth was not at all shy, and he early obtained an introduction to
+Mr. Grayson. Harley thus learned that his name was Moore--Charles Moore,
+or Charlie Moore, as those with him called him. Most men in the West,
+unless of special prominence, when presented to Jimmy Grayson, shook
+hands warmly, exchanged a word or two on any convenient topic, and then
+gave way to others, but this fledgling sought to hold him in long
+converse on the most vital questions of the campaign.
+
+"That was a fine speech of yours that you made at Butte, Mr. Grayson,"
+he said, in the most impulsive manner, "and I endorse every word of it,
+but are you sure that what you said about Canadian reciprocity will help
+our party in the great wheat states, such as Minnesota and the Dakotas?"
+
+The candidate stared at him at first in surprise and some displeasure,
+but in a moment or two his gaze was changed into a kindly smile. He read
+well the youth before him, his amusing confidence, his eagerness, and
+his self-importance, that had not yet received a rude check.
+
+"There is something in what you say, Mr. Moore," replied Jimmy Grayson,
+in that tone absolutely without condescension that made every man his
+friend; "but I have considered it, and I think it is better for me to
+stick to my text. Besides, I am right, you know."
+
+"Ah, yes, but that is not the point," exclaimed young Mr. Moore; "one
+may be right, but one might keep silent on a doubtful point that is
+likely to influence many votes. And there are several things in your
+speeches, Mr. Grayson, with which some of us do not agree. I shall have
+occasion to address the public concerning them--as you know, a number of
+us are to speak with you while you are passing through Utah."
+
+There was a flash in Jimmy Grayson's eye, but Harley could not tell
+whether it expressed anger or amused contempt. It was gone in a moment,
+however, and the candidate again was looking at the fledgling with a
+kindly, smiling, and tolerant gaze. But Churchill thrust his elbow
+against Harley.
+
+"Oh, the child of the free and bounding West!" he murmured. "What
+innocence, and what a sense of majesty and power!"
+
+Harley did not deign a reply, but he made the acquaintance, by-and-by,
+of the men who had joined the train with Moore. One of these was a
+county judge named Basset, sensible and middle-aged, and he talked
+freely about the fledgling, whom he seemed to have in a measure on his
+mind. He laughed at first when he spoke of the subject, but he soon
+became serious.
+
+"Charlie is a good boy, but what do you think he is? Or, rather, what do
+you think he thinks he is?"
+
+"I don't know," replied Harley.
+
+"Charlie thinks he's a spellbinder, the greatest ever. He's dreaming by
+night, and by day, too, that he's to be the West's most wonderful
+orator, and that he's to hold the thousands in his spell. He's a coming
+Henry Clay and Daniel Webster rolled into one. He's read that story
+about Demosthenes holding the pebble in his mouth to make himself talk
+good, and they do say that he slips away out on the prairie, where
+there's nobody about, and with a stone in his mouth tries to beat the
+old Greek at his own game. I don't vouch for the truth of the story, but
+I believe it."
+
+Harley could not keep from smiling.
+
+"Well, it's at least an honest ambition," he said.
+
+"I don't know about that," replied the judge, doubtfully. "Not in
+Charlie's case, because as a spellbinder he isn't worth shucks. He can't
+speak, and he'll never learn to do it. Besides, he's leaving a thing he
+was just made for to chase a rainbow, and it's breaking his old daddy's
+heart."
+
+"What is it that he was made for?"
+
+"He's a born telegraph-operator. He's one of the best ever known in the
+West. They say that at eighteen he was the swiftest in Colorado. Then he
+went down to Denver, and a month ago he gave up a job there that was
+paying him a hundred and fifty a month to start this foolishness. They
+say he might be a great inventor, too, and here he is trying to speak on
+politics when he doesn't know anything about public questions, and he
+doesn't know how to talk, either; I don't know whether to be mad about
+it or just to feel sorry, because Charlie's father is an old friend of
+mine."
+
+Harley shared his feelings. He had seen the round peg in the square hole
+so many times with bad results to both the peg and the hole that every
+fresh instance grieved him. He was also confirmed in the soundness of
+Judge Basset's opinion by his observation of young Moore as the journey
+proceeded. The new spellbinder was anxious to speak whenever there was
+an occasion, and often when there was none at all. The discouragement
+and even the open rebukes of his elders could not suppress him. The
+correspondents, comparing notes, decided that they had never before seen
+so strong a rage for speaking. He took the whole field of public affairs
+for his range. He was willing at any time to discuss the tariff,
+internal revenue, finance, and foreign relations, and avowed himself
+master of all. Yet Harley saw that he was in these affairs a perfect
+child, shallow and superficial, and depending wholly upon a few
+catchwords that he had learned from others. Even the former Populists
+turned from him. But their sour faces when he spoke taught him nothing.
+He was still, to himself, the great spellbinder, and he looked forward
+to the day when he, too, a nominee for the Presidency, should charm
+multitudes with his eloquence and logic. He had no hesitation in
+confiding his hopes to Harley, and the correspondent longed to tell him
+how he misjudged himself. Yet he refrained, knowing that it was not his
+duty; and that even if it were, his words would make no impression.
+
+But in other matters than those of public life and oratory Jimmy
+Grayson's people found young Moore likable enough. He was helpful on the
+train; now and then when the telegraph-operators had more material than
+they could handle, he gave them valuable aid; he was a fine comrade,
+taking good luck and bad luck with equal philosophy, and never
+complaining. "If only he wouldn't try to speak!" groaned Hobart, for
+whom he had sent a telegraphic message with skill and despatch.
+
+But that very afternoon Moore talked to them on the subject of national
+finance, until they fell into a rage and left the car. That evening
+Harley was sitting with the candidate, when an old man, bent of figure
+and gloomy of face, came to them.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Mr. Grayson," he said, "for intruding on you, but
+I've come to ask a favor. I'm Henry Moore, of Council Grove, the father
+of Charlie Moore, who was the best telegraph-operator in Denver, and who
+is now the poorest public speaker in Colorado."
+
+The old man smiled, but it was a sad smile, cut off early. Jimmy Grayson
+was full of sympathy at once, and he shook Mr. Moore's hand warmly.
+
+"I know your son," he said; "he is a bright boy."
+
+"Yes, he's nothing but a boy," said his father, as if seeking an excuse.
+"I suppose all boys must have their foolish spells, but he appears to
+have his mighty hard and long."
+
+The old man sighed, and the look of sympathy on Jimmy Grayson's face
+deepened.
+
+"Charlie is a good boy," continued Mr. Moore, "and if he could have this
+foolish notion knocked out of his head--there's no other way to get it
+out--he would be all right; and that's why I've come to you. You know
+you are to speak at Pueblo to-morrow night in a big hall, and one of the
+biggest crowds in the West will be there to hear you. Two or three
+speakers are to follow you, and what do you think that son of mine has
+done? Somehow or other he has got the committee to put him on the
+programme right after you, and he says he is going to demolish what he
+calls your fallacies."
+
+Harley saw the candidate's lips curve a little, as if he were about to
+smile, but the movement was quickly checked. Jimmy Grayson would not
+willingly hurt the feelings of any man.
+
+"Your boy has that right," he said to Mr. Moore.
+
+"No, he hasn't!" burst out the old man. "A boy hasn't any right to be so
+light-headed, and I want you, Mr. Grayson, when he has finished his
+speech, to come right back at him and wipe him off the face of the
+earth. It will be an easy thing for so big a man as you to do. Charlie
+doesn't know a thing about public affairs. He'll make lots of
+statements, and every one of 'em will be wrong. Just show him up. Make
+all the people laugh at him. Just sting him with your words till he
+turns red in the face. Roll him in the dust, and tread on him till he
+can't breathe. Then hold him up before all that audience as the biggest
+and wildest fool that ever came on a stage. Nothing else will cure him;
+it will be a favor to him and to me; and I, his father, who loves him
+more than anybody else in the world, ask you to do it."
+
+Harley was tempted to smile, and at the same moment water came into his
+eyes. No one could fail to be moved by the old man's intense
+earnestness, his florid and mixed imagery, and his appealing look.
+Certainly Jimmy Grayson was no exception. He glanced at Harley, and saw
+his expression of sympathy, but the correspondent made no suggestion.
+
+"I appreciate your feelings and your position, Mr. Moore," he said, "but
+this is a hard thing that you ask me to do. I cannot trample upon a boy,
+even metaphorically, in the presence of five thousand people. What will
+they think of me?"
+
+"They'll understand. They'll know why it's done, and they'll like you
+for it. It's the only way, Mr. Grayson. Either you do it or my boy's
+life is ruined."
+
+Jimmy Grayson walked up and down the room, and his face was troubled. He
+looked again and again at Harley, but the correspondent made no
+suggestion; he had none to make. At last he stopped.
+
+"I think I can save your son, and promise to make the trial, but I will
+not say a word just yet. Now don't ask me any more about it, and never
+mind the thanks. I understand; maybe I shall have a grown son myself,
+some day, to be turned from the wrong path. Good-night. I'll see you
+again at Pueblo. Harley, I wish you would stay awhile longer. I want to
+have further talk with you."
+
+The candidate and Harley were in deep converse for some time, and, when
+they finished, much of the trouble had disappeared from Jimmy Grayson's
+eyes. "I think it can be done," he said.
+
+"So do I," repeated Harley, with confidence.
+
+The next day, which was occupied with the run down to Pueblo and
+occasional stops for speeches at way-stations, was uneventful save for
+the growing obsession of Charlie Moore. He was overflowing with pride
+and importance. That night, in the presence of five thousand people, he
+was going to reply to the great Jimmy Grayson, and show to them and to
+him his errors. Mr. Grayson was sound in most things, but there were
+several in which he should be set right, and he, Charlie Moore, was the
+man to do it for him.
+
+The fledgling proudly produced several printed programmes with his name
+next to that of the candidate, and talked to the correspondents of the
+main points that he would make, until they fled into the next car. But
+he followed them there and asked them if they would not like to take in
+advance a synopsis of his speech, in order that they might be sure to
+telegraph it to their offices in time. All evaded the issue except
+Harley, who gravely jotted down the synopsis, and, with equal gravity,
+returned his thanks for Mr. Moore's consideration.
+
+"I knew you wouldn't want to miss it," said the youth, "I come on late,
+you know, and, besides, I remembered that the difference in time between
+here and New York is against us."
+
+Mr. Moore, the father, was on the train throughout the day, but he did
+not speak to his son. He spent his time in the car in which Jimmy
+Grayson sat, always silent, but always looking, with appeal and pathos,
+at the great leader. His eyes said plainly: "Mr. Grayson, you will not
+fail me, will you? You will save my son? You will beat him, and tread on
+him until he hasn't left a single thought of being a famous orator and
+public leader? Then he will return to the work for which God made him."
+
+Harley would look at the old man awhile, and then return to the next
+car, where the youth was chattering away to those who could not escape
+him.
+
+The speech in Pueblo was to be of the utmost importance, not alone to
+those whose own ears would hear it, but to the whole Union, because the
+candidate would make a plain declaration upon a number of vexed
+questions that had been raised within the last week or two. This had
+been announced in all the press on the authority of Jimmy Grayson
+himself, and the speech in full, not a word missing, would have to be
+telegraphed to all the great newspapers both East and West.
+
+In such important campaigns as that of a Presidential nominee, the two
+great telegraph companies always send operators with the correspondents,
+in order that they may despatch long messages from small way-stations,
+where the local men are not used to such heavy work. Now Harley and his
+associates had with them two veterans, Barr and Wymond, from Chicago,
+who never failed them. They were relieved, too, on reaching Pueblo, to
+find that the committee in charge had been most considerate. Some
+forethoughtful man, whom the correspondents blessed, had remembered the
+three hours' difference in time between Pueblo and New York, and against
+New York, and he had run two wires directly into the hall and into a
+private box on the left, where Barr and Wymond could work the
+instruments, so far from the stage that the clicking would not disturb
+Jimmy Grayson or anybody else, but would save much time for the
+correspondents.
+
+The audience gathered early, and it was a splendid Western crowd,
+big-boned and tanned by the Western winds.
+
+"They have cranks out here, but it's a land of strong men, don't you
+forget that," said Harley to Churchill, and Churchill did not attempt a
+sarcastic reply.
+
+They were both sitting at the edge of the stage, and in front of them,
+nearer the footlights, was young Moore, proud and eager, his fingers
+moving nervously. His father, too, had found a seat on the stage, but he
+was in the background, next to the scenery and behind the others; he was
+not visible from the floor of the house. There he sat, staring gloomily
+at his son, and now and then, with a sort of despairing hope, glancing
+at Jimmy Grayson.
+
+There were some short preliminary speeches and introductions, and then
+came the turn of the candidate. The usual flutter of expectation ran
+over the audience, followed by the usual deep hush, but just at that
+moment there was an interruption. A boy in the uniform of a telegraph
+company hurried upon the stage.
+
+"You must come at once, sir," he said to Harley. "Mr. Wymond hasn't
+turned up. We don't know what's become of him. And Mr. Barr has took
+sick, sudden and bad. The Pueblo manager says he'll get somebody here as
+quick as he can, but he can't do it under half an hour, anyway!"
+
+The other correspondents stared at each other in dismay, and then at the
+hired stenographer who was to take down the speech in full. But Harley,
+always thoughtful and resourceful, responded to the emergency. He had
+noticed Moore raise his head with an expression of lively interest at
+the news of the disaster, and he stepped forward at once and put his
+hand on the fledgling's shoulder.
+
+"Mr. Moore," he exclaimed, in stirring appeal, "this is a crisis for us,
+and you must save us. You have eaten with us, and you have lived with
+us, and you cannot desert us now. We have all heard that you are a great
+operator, the greatest in the West. You must send Mr. Grayson's speech.
+What a triumph it will be for you--to send his speech and then get upon
+this stage and demolish it afterwards!"
+
+The feeling in Harley's voice was real, and the boy was thrilled by it
+and the situation. Every natural impulse in him responded. It was the
+chivalrous thing for him to do, and an easy one. He could send a speech
+as fast as the fastest man living could deliver it. He rose without a
+word, his heart beating with thoughts of the coming battle, in which he
+felt proudly that he should be a victor, and made his way to the
+telegraphers' box.
+
+Moore had lived in Pueblo, and nearly everybody in the audience knew
+him. When they saw him take his seat at one of the instruments, their
+quick Western minds divined what he was going to do, and the roar of
+applause that they had just given to the candidate, who was now on his
+feet, was succeeded by another; but the second was for Charlie Moore,
+the telegraph-operator.
+
+The fledgling had no time to think. He had scarcely settled himself in
+his chair when the deep, full voice of Jimmy Grayson filled the great
+hall, and he was launched upon a speech for which the whole Union was
+waiting. The short-hand man was already deep in his work, and the copy
+began to come. But the boy felt no alarm; he was not even flustered; the
+feel of the key was good, and the atmosphere of that box which enclosed
+the telegraph apparatus was sweet in his nostrils. He called up Denver,
+from which the speech would be repeated to the greater cities, and with
+a sigh of deep satisfaction settled to his task.
+
+They tell yet in Western telegraph circles of Charlie Moore's great
+exploit. The candidate was in grand form that night, and his speech came
+rushing forth in a torrent. The missing Wymond was still missing, and
+the luckless Barr was still ill, but the fledgling sat alone in the box,
+his face bent over the key, oblivious of the world around him, and sent
+it all. Through him ran the fire of battle and great endeavor. He heard
+the call and replied. He never missed a word. He sent them hot across
+the prairie, over the slopes and ridges, and across the brown plains
+into Denver. And there in the general office the manager muttered more
+than once: "That fellow is doing great work! How he saves time!"
+
+The audience liked Jimmy Grayson's speech, and again and again the
+applause swelled and echoed. Then they noticed how the boy in the
+telegraphers' box--a boy of their own--was working. Mysterious voices,
+too, began to spread among them the news how Charlie Moore had saved the
+day--or, rather, the night--and now and then in Jimmy Grayson's pauses
+cries of "Good boy, Charlie!" arose.
+
+Harley, while doing his writing, nevertheless kept a keen eye upon all
+the actors in the drama. He saw the light of hope appear more strongly
+upon old man Moore's face, and then turn into a glow as he beheld his
+son doing so well.
+
+The candidate spoke on and on. He had begun at nine o'clock, but that
+was a great and important speech, and no one left the hall. Eleven
+o'clock, and then midnight, and Jimmy Grayson was still speaking. But it
+was not his night alone; it belonged to two men, and the other partner
+was Charlie Moore, who fulfilled his task equally well, and whom the
+audience still observed.
+
+But the boy was thinking only of his duty that he was doing so well. The
+victory was his, as he knew that it would be. He kept even with the
+speech. Hardly had the last word of the sentence left Jimmy Grayson's
+lips before the first of it was on the way to Denver, and in newspaper
+offices two thousand miles away they were putting every paragraph in
+type before it was a half-hour old.
+
+The boy, by-and-by, as the words passed before him on the written page,
+began to notice what a great speech it was. How the sentences cut to the
+heart of things! How luminous and striking was the phraseology! And
+around him he heard, as if in a dream, the liquid notes of that
+wonderful, golden voice. Suddenly, like a stroke of lightning, he
+realized how empty were his own thoughts, how bare and hard his speech,
+and how thin and flat his voice! His heart sank with a plunge, and then
+rose again as his finger touched the familiar key and the answering
+touch thrilled back through his body. He glanced at the audience, and
+saw many faces looking up at him, and on them was a peculiar look. Again
+the thrill ran through him, and, bending his head lower, he sent the
+words faster than ever on their eastern journey.
+
+At last Jimmy Grayson stopped, and then the audience cheered its
+applause for the speech. When the echoes died, some one--it was Judge
+Basset--sprang up on a chair and exclaimed:
+
+"Gentlemen, we have cheered Mr. Grayson, and he deserves it; but there
+is some one else whom we ought to cheer, too. You have seen Charlie
+Moore, a Pueblo boy, one of our own, there in the box sending the speech
+to the world that was waiting for it. Perhaps you do not know that if he
+had not helped us to-night the world would have had to wait too long."
+
+They dragged young Moore, amid the cheers, upon the stage, and then,
+when the hush came, the candidate said:
+
+"You seem to know him already; but as all the speaking of the evening is
+now over, I wish to introduce to you again Mr. Charlie Moore, the
+greatest telegraph-operator in the West, the genius of the key, a man
+destined to rise to the highest place in his profession."
+
+When the last echo of the last cheer died, there died with it the last
+ambition of Charlie Moore to be a spellbinder, and straight before him,
+broad, smooth, and alluring, lay the road for which his feet were
+fitted.
+
+But the words most grateful to Jimmy Grayson were the thanks of the
+fledgling's father. The little drama of the side-box and the
+telegraph-key was known to but five people--the candidate, Harley, the
+two operators, and happy Mr. Moore. The old gentleman, indeed, said
+something about Mr. Grayson having helped him, but it was taken by the
+others to mean that a mere chance, a lucky combination of circumstances,
+had come to his aid, and they failed to see in it anything of
+prearrangement or even intention. Hence there appeared on the surface
+nothing to be criticised even by Churchill, ever on the lookout for an
+incident that seemed to him incongruous or irrelevant.
+
+Harley made it an excuse for something that he wished very much to do.
+About this time Mrs. Grayson, returning from Salt Lake City, rejoined
+them, but she did not bring Sylvia with her, leaving her in the Mormon
+capital for a further stay with relatives. But Harley wrote a long
+letter to Sylvia, beginning with the story of the spellbinder, and he
+told her that his admiration for the candidate steadily increased,
+because Mr. Grayson was able, at all times, even in the heat of the
+hottest campaign that the Union had ever known, to put the highest
+attributes of the human heart--mercy, gentleness, help--before his own
+political good or even that of his party. Mr. Grayson might be beaten,
+but he would make a record that must become a source of pride, not to
+his party alone, but to the whole country. In fact, Mr. Grayson belonged
+to humanity, and the race might lay claim to him as one of its finest
+types.
+
+Then from Mr. Grayson he glided to the other, and, to Harley, greater
+topic--herself. He told her that nothing had occurred to make him change
+his wishes or his hopes; since her absence began his resolve had grown.
+He felt more than ever that the claim of Mr. Plummer upon her, though of
+a high and noble nature, even if he did hold her promise, must yield to
+the love of the husband for the wife. Mr. Plummer would come to see
+this, and he would come to see it in time. He had no desire to interfere
+with the natural affection of the man who had done so much for Sylvia,
+nor did he feel that he was making such interference.
+
+Harley was not sure that he would receive a reply to this letter, but it
+came in due time, nevertheless, and it was Jimmy Grayson himself who
+handed it to him. The handwriting of the address was known, of course,
+to Mr. Grayson, and he could scarcely have failed to notice it, but he
+said nothing, and apparently the fact passed unheeded by him.
+
+Sylvia, in the course of her letter, confined herself to impartial
+narrative, and began with the event of the spellbinder, which Harley had
+told to her in detail. Indeed, it seemed to Harley that she devoted a
+very remarkable amount of space to its consideration, especially as she
+agreed with him that Mr. Grayson's action was right; nevertheless, she
+discussed it from all points of the compass, and then she wrote with
+almost equal amplitude of her sight-seeing in Salt Lake City.
+
+Harley knew that Mormons were no novelty to Sylvia, as she had seen many
+of them in Idaho, but she seemed to feel it necessary to describe with
+particularity all the great Mormon buildings, and also to speak fully of
+the manners and customs of the people. All this might have been very
+interesting to him at another time and from another pen, but now he saw
+only the handwriting and wished her to devote attention to that little
+codicil in his own letter in which he so earnestly avowed again his love
+and his belief in its ultimate triumph. She made no allusion whatever to
+it, and he felt his heart sink. Nor did she speak of "King" Plummer, and
+he could not gather from the letter whether he was yet in Salt Lake City
+or had gone back to Idaho. She had carefully avoided all the subjects on
+which he hoped she would write, and as he closed the letter and put it
+in his pocket he was still rather blue.
+
+But reflection put him in a different and much more pleasant frame of
+mind. The fact that she had replied was a good omen, and her very
+avoidance of the most delicate of all subjects was proof that she did
+not forbid it to him. Harley was a bold man, and, being ready to push
+his fortune to the utmost in a cause that he believed righteous, he
+resolved to write her another letter in a few days, and to repeat in it
+much that he had said in his first, or to say words to the same effect.
+
+Meanwhile his countenance assumed a joyous cast, which was noticeable
+because he was habitually of grave demeanor, and his associates,
+observing the change, taxed him with the fact and demanded an
+explanation, Hobart in particular wishing to know. Harley lightly
+ascribed it to the rarefied air, as they were ascending a plateau, and
+the others, though calling it the baldest and poorest of replies, were
+forced to be content.
+
+But one man who noticed Harley, and who said nothing, guessed much
+closer to the cause. It was Mr. Grayson himself, who had seen the
+address on the envelope, and it aroused grave thoughts in him. Nor were
+these thoughts unkind to Sylvia or Harley. It was the custom of the
+candidate to subject himself at intervals to a searching mental
+examination, and now he made James Grayson walk out before him again and
+undergo this minute process.
+
+He was extremely fond of Sylvia, whose grace, intelligence, and loyalty
+appealed to the best in him, and he was anxious to secure her happiness
+and her position in life, on which, in a measure, the former depended.
+For these reasons he had received with pleasure the news that Sylvia was
+going to marry Mr. Plummer. Despite the disparity of ages, the match
+seemed fitting to him; he knew the worth and honor of the "King" to be
+so great that the happiness of any young girl, especially that of one
+who owed so much to him, ought to be safe in his keeping. But now the
+doubts which had begun to form were growing stronger. He saw that nature
+was playing havoc with mere material fitness, and there came to him the
+question of his own duty.
+
+The candidate now knew well enough that Sylvia did not love Mr. Plummer
+as a girl should love the man whom she is going to marry, but that she
+did love Harley. He conceived it, too, to be a true and lasting love
+with both the young man and the young woman, and again came to him that
+question of his own duty, a question not only troublesome, but dangerous
+to him in his present situation. He knew that Sylvia, despite all, would
+marry "King" Plummer unless the unforeseen occurred, and make herself
+unhappy all her life. Should he, then, tell "King" Plummer, or have his
+wife tell him in the more indirect and delicate way women have, that the
+burden of the situation rested upon him, and that he ought to release
+Sylvia? The candidate shrank from such a task; he could not meddle, even
+when it was his own niece whom he wished to save, and there was another
+thought, too, in the background which he strove honestly to keep out of
+his mind; it was the old apprehension lest the "King" in his rage,
+particularly when it was the candidate himself who took from him his
+heart's desire, should rebel, or at least sulk and put the Mountain
+States in the opposing column. It was no less true now than in the
+Middle Ages that men disappointed in love some times did desperate
+things, and "King" Plummer was a full-blooded, impulsive man.
+
+Brooding much upon the question, a rare frown came to the face of Jimmy
+Grayson, and stayed there so long that his followers noticed it, and
+wondered much. They decided that it was the revolt within the party, and
+did not disturb him, but his wife, more acute, knew that it was not
+politics, and, sitting down beside him, waited silently until he should
+speak, as she knew he would in time. A full hour passed thus, and
+scarcely any one in the train uttered a word. The candidate gazed
+gloomily out of the window, but he did not see the mountains and the
+cañons as they shot by. Most of the state politicians slept in their
+seats, and the correspondents either wrote or communed with themselves.
+
+Mr. Grayson rose at last, and, saying to his wife, "I should like a word
+with you in private," led the way to the drawing-room. She followed,
+knowing that he wished to speak of the trouble on his mind, and she made
+a shrewd guess as to its nature.
+
+"Anna, it is something that I have been trying to put away from me," he
+said, when they were in the privacy of the drawing-room, "but it won't
+stay away. I suppose I ought to have spoken to you of it some time ago,
+but I could not make up my mind to do it."
+
+She smiled a little.
+
+"I, too, have been dreading the subject," she said, "if it is what I
+think it is. You are going to speak of Sylvia, Mr. Plummer, and Mr.
+Harley."
+
+"Yes, Harley has a letter from Sylvia, and he will have more. She
+doesn't want to write to him, but she will. The girl is breaking her
+heart, and I am not sure that you and I are doing what we ought to do."
+
+"And you do not think that Mr. Plummer would make a suitable husband for
+her?"
+
+She regarded him keenly from under lowered eyelids--the question was
+merely intended to lead to something else.
+
+"That is not the point. Harley is the man she loves, and Harley is the
+man she should marry."
+
+"Should she not decide this question for herself?"
+
+The candidate studied the face of his wife. Her words, if taken simply
+as words, would seem metallic and cold, but there was an expression that
+gave them a wholly different meaning to him.
+
+"Under ordinary circumstances, yes," he said, "but the circumstances in
+which Sylvia finds herself are not ordinary, and I am not sure how far
+we are responsible for them."
+
+"I undertook to act once, and I was sorry that I did so."
+
+The candidate did not speak again for several moments, but Mrs. Grayson
+read his expressive face.
+
+"You have thought of something else," she said, "that is or seems to be
+connected with this affair of Sylvia's."
+
+"I have, and I am afraid it is that which has been holding me back."
+
+The eyes of the two met, and, although they said no more upon that
+point, they understood each other perfectly.
+
+"Anna," said the candidate, with decision, "you must write to Mr.
+Plummer. I do not shift this burden from myself to you because of any
+desire to escape it, but because I know you will write the letter so
+much better than I can."
+
+Her eyes met his again, and hers shone with admiration--he was not less
+brave than she had thought him.
+
+"I do not know what will come of it," he said; "perhaps nothing, but in
+any event we ought to write it."
+
+"I will write," she said, firmly.
+
+The candidate said nothing more but he bent down and kissed his wife on
+the forehead.
+
+When Jimmy Grayson returned from the drawing-room, they noticed that the
+frown was gone from his face, and at once there was a new atmosphere in
+the car. The sleepy politicians awoke and made new or old jokes; the
+correspondents ceased writing, and asked Mr. Grayson what he intended to
+put in his next speech. Obviously the current of life began to run full
+and free again, and the incomparable scenery gliding by their
+car-windows no longer passed without comment. But Mrs. Grayson, in the
+drawing-room, taking much thought and care, was writing this letter,
+which she addressed to Mr. Plummer, in Boisé, where she heard that he
+was going from Salt Lake City:
+
+
+     "DEAR MR. PLUMMER,--I want to tell you how we are getting on,
+     because I know how deeply you are interested in the campaign, and
+     all of us have enjoyed the way in which you affiliated with our
+     little group. We have been so long together now that we have become
+     a sort of family--speakers, writers, and well-wishers, with Mr.
+     Grayson as the head in virtue of his position as nominee. You have
+     had a large place in this family--what shall I call it?--a kind of
+     elder brother, one who out of the fund of his experience could
+     wisely lead the younger and more impulsive."
+
+
+Mrs. Grayson stopped here and tapped her finger thoughtfully with the
+staff of her pen. "That paragraph," she mused, "should bring home to him
+the fact that he is old as compared with Sylvia and Mr. Harley, and that
+is the first thing I wish to establish in his mind." Then, dipping her
+pen in the ink again, she wrote:
+
+
+     "This, I think, is one of the reasons that our young people have
+     missed you so much. You were always prepared to take your part in
+     the entertainment of the day, but your gravity and your years,
+     which, without being too many, become you so much, exercised a
+     restraining influence upon them, and showed them the line at which
+     they should stop. I think that you acquired over them an influence,
+     in its way paternal, and it is in such a capacity that they miss
+     you most."
+
+
+The lady's smile deepened, and in her mind was the thought that if he
+did not wince at this bolt he was, indeed, impervious. Then she
+continued:
+
+
+     "My interest in this campaign is not alone political nor personal
+     to Mr. Grayson, which also means myself, but I have become much
+     interested in those who travel with us--that is, those who have
+     become the members of our new family. There is Mr. Heathcote, who
+     was sent West as our enemy, and quickly turned to a friend. There
+     is Mr. Tremaine, who is such a gay old beau, and who never realizes
+     that he is too old for the young women with whom he wishes to
+     flirt."
+
+
+The lady stopped again, and her smile was deeper than ever. "Now that
+was unintended," she mused, "but it comes in very happily." She resumed:
+
+
+     "And there is Mr. Hobart, who loves mysteries, especially murder
+     mysteries, and who saved the life of that innocent boy. I find him
+     a most interesting character, but, after all, he is read with less
+     difficulty than Mr. Harley, who, though silent and reserved, seems
+     to me to be deeper and more complex. His, I am sure, is a very
+     strong nature--Mr. Grayson, you know, is quite fond of him, and in
+     certain things has got into the habit of leaning upon him. Mr.
+     Harley seems to me to be fitted by temperament and strength to be
+     the shield and support of some one. He could make the girl who
+     should become his wife very happy, and I am wondering if he will go
+     out of our West without forming such an attachment."
+
+
+"That surely," thought the lady, "will bring him to the question which I
+present to his mind, and he will answer it whether he will or not, by
+saying this attachment has been formed, and it is for Sylvia." She
+continued:
+
+
+     "Like Mr. Grayson, I am very fond of Mr. Harley, who has proved
+     himself a true friend to us, and I should like to see him
+     happy--that is, married to a true woman, who would not alone
+     receive strength, but give it, too. In the course of his vocation,
+     he has already roamed about the world enough, and it is time now
+     for him to settle down. If I had my way I should select for him one
+     of our fine Western girls; about twenty-one or two, I think, would
+     be the right age for him--there is a fitness in these things."
+
+
+"I wonder if that is blunt?" she mused. "No, he will think it just
+popped out, and that I was unconscious of it. I shall let it stay." Then
+she resumed:
+
+
+     "It ought to be a girl with a temperament that is at once a match
+     and foil for his own. She should have a sense of humor, a gift for
+     light and ironic speech that can stir him without irritating him,
+     because he is perhaps of a cautious disposition, and hence would be
+     well matched with one a little bit impulsive, each exercising the
+     proper influence upon the other. She should be strong, too,
+     habituated to physical hardship, as our Western girls are. Such a
+     marriage, I think, would be ideal, and I expect you, Mr. Plummer,
+     when you rejoin us, to help me make it, should the opportunity
+     arise.
+                                  Yours sincerely,
+                                            "ANNA GRAYSON."
+
+
+She folded the sheets, put them in the envelope, and addressed them. It
+was the second time that she had written to Mr. Plummer, but with a very
+different motive, and she had more confidence in the second letter than
+she had ever felt in the first.
+
+"That will cause him pain," she reflected, "but the task cannot be done
+without it."
+
+In her heart she was genuinely sorry for Mr. Plummer, thinking at that
+moment more of his grief than of her husband's risk, but she was
+resolute to mail the letter, nevertheless. She read it a little later to
+Mr. Grayson, and he approved.
+
+"It is likely to bring 'King' Plummer raging down from Idaho, but it
+ought to go," he said.
+
+A half-hour later, this letter, written in a delicate, feminine hand,
+but heavy with fate, was speeding northwestward.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+THE SACRIFICE
+
+
+A few days after writing this letter, Mrs. Grayson announced that Sylvia
+would rejoin them on the following afternoon, having shortened her stay
+in Salt Lake City, as her relations were about to depart on a visit to
+California.
+
+"She wants very much to go on with us," said Mrs. Grayson, "and rather
+than send her either to Boisé or to our home, where she would be alone,
+we are willing for her to continue."
+
+"I should think you would be!" exclaimed Hobart. "Why, Mrs. Grayson,
+much as we esteem you, we would start a violent rebellion if you should
+send Miss Morgan away, a rebellion attended by bloodshed and desperate
+deeds."
+
+Mrs. Grayson smiled and glanced at Harley, who was silent. But she did
+not fail to see the flash of pleasure under his veiled eyelids.
+
+"Keep your pistol in your pocket and your sword in its sheath, Mr.
+Hobart," she said; "I shall not give you occasion to use either."
+
+"Then I declare for peace."
+
+Sylvia joined them at the time mentioned by Mrs. Grayson, quiet,
+slightly pale, and disposed, in the opinion of the Graysons, to much
+thought. "The girl has something on her mind which she cannot put off,"
+said Tremaine, and in this case he was right.
+
+Sylvia, while in Salt Lake City, far from the influences which recently
+had brought to her acute pain and joy alike, considered her position
+with as much personal detachment as she could assume. Away from Harley
+and the magic of his presence and his confident voice, she strengthened
+her resolve to keep her word--if "King" Plummer claimed her, he should
+yet have her. But this same examination showed her another fact that was
+unalterable. She loved Harley, and, though she might marry another man,
+she would continue to love him. In a way she gloried in the truth and
+her recognition of it. It was a love she intended to hide, but it
+brought her a sad happiness nevertheless.
+
+It was this feeling, spiritual in its nature, that gave to Sylvia a new
+charm when she came back, a touch of sorrow and womanly dignity that all
+noticed at once, and to which they gave tribute. It melted the heart of
+Jimmy Grayson, who knew so well the reason why, and he was glad now that
+his wife had written to "King" Plummer.
+
+Sylvia said nothing about Mr. Plummer; if she knew whether he would
+return and when, she kept it to herself, and Mrs. Grayson, who was
+waiting in anxiety for an answer to her letter--an answer that did not
+come--was in a state of apprehension, which she hid, however, from all
+except Mr. Grayson. This agitation was increased by an event in her
+husband's career, so unexpected in its nature and so extraordinary that
+it was the sensation of the country, and exercised an unfavorable
+influence upon the campaign. If any one in the United States, whether
+friend or enemy, had been asked if such a thing could occur, he would
+have said that it was impossible.
+
+In their travels they came presently to Egmont, a snug town, lying in a
+hollow of the land, from which they were going to conduct what Hobart
+called a circular campaign--that is, it was the centre from which they
+were to make journeys to a ring of smaller places lying in a circle
+about it, returning late at night for sleep and rest.
+
+They were all pleased with Egmont; though less than ten years old, it
+had houses of brick and stone, a trim look, and the smoothness of life
+and comfort that usually come only with age. It was a pleasure to return
+to it every night from the newer and cruder villages in the outer ring,
+and enjoy good beds and fresh sheets.
+
+But the candidate spoke first in Egmont, and the chairman of the
+committee that managed the meeting was the solid man of the town. Harley
+and his comrades required no information on this point; it was visible
+at once in the important manner of the Honorable John Anderson, the cool
+way in which he assumed authority, and his slight air of patronage when
+he came in contact with the correspondents. Harley and his comrades only
+laughed; they had often noticed the same bearing in men much better
+known in the world than the Honorable John Anderson, of Egmont, Montana,
+and they generally set it down as one of the faults of success;
+therefore they could smile.
+
+But Mr. Anderson was hospitable, insisting that the candidate and his
+family, instead of spending the first night at the hotel, should go with
+him to his house. "I have room and to spare," he said, with a slight
+touch of importance. "My house will be honored if it can shelter
+to-night the next President of the United States."
+
+"Thank you for the invitation," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely. "I shall be
+glad to join you with my family and Mr. Harley. Mr. Harley has become in
+a sense one of my advisers, almost a lieutenant, I might say."
+
+Mr. Anderson was not intending to ask Harley, as the correspondent knew,
+but the candidate had included him so deftly that the important citizen
+must do so, too, and he widened the invitation with courtesy. Harley,
+always in search of new types, always anxious to explore the secrets of
+new lands, accepted as promptly as if the request had been spontaneous.
+
+Although his house was only a few hundred yards away, Mr. Anderson took
+them there in his two-seated, highly polished carriage, drawn by a pair
+of seal-brown trotters. "Good horses," he said, as he cracked his whip
+contentedly over them. "I brought them all the way from Kentucky. Cost
+me a lot, too."
+
+The Anderson house was really fine, built of light stone, standing far
+back on a wide lawn, and Harley could see that the good taste of some
+one had presided at its birth. It had an Eastern air of quiet and
+completion. When Mr. Anderson, glancing at his guests, beheld the look
+of approval on their faces, he was pleased, and said, in an easy,
+off-hand manner:
+
+"Been up only four years; planned it myself, with a little help from
+wife and daughter."
+
+Harley at once surmised that the good effect was due to the taste of the
+wife or daughter, or both, and he was confirmed in the opinion when he
+met Mrs. Anderson, a slight, modest woman, superior to her husband in
+some respects that Harley thought important. The daughter did not appear
+until just before dinner, but when she came into the parlor to meet the
+guest the correspondent held his breath for a moment.
+
+Rare and beautiful flowers bloom now and then on the cold plains of the
+great Northwest, and Harley said in his heart that Helen Anderson was
+one of the rarest and most beautiful of them all. It was not alone the
+beauty of face and figure, but it was, even more, the nobility of
+expression and a singular touch of pathos, as if neither youth nor
+beauty had kept from her a great sadness. This almost hidden note of
+sorrow seemed to Harley to make perfect her grace and charm, and he
+felt, stranger though he was, that he was willing to sacrifice himself
+to protect her from some blow unknown to him. Speaking of it afterwards,
+he found that she had the same effect upon the candidate. "I felt that I
+must be her champion," said Mr. Grayson. "Why, I did not know, but I
+wanted to fight for her."
+
+Miss Anderson herself was unconscious of the impression that she
+created, and she strove only to entertain her father's guests, a task in
+which she achieved the full measure of success. Mr. Anderson mentioned,
+casually, how he had sent her to Wellesley, and Harley saw that her
+horizon was wider than that of her parents. But the pathetic, appealing
+look came now and then into her beautiful eyes, and Harley was convinced
+of her unhappiness. Once he saw a sudden glance, as of sympathy and
+understanding, pass between her and Sylvia.
+
+It was not long before the secret of Helen Anderson was told to him,
+because it was no secret at all. The whole town was proud of her, and
+everybody in it knew that she was in love with Arthur Lee, the young
+lawyer whose sign hung on the main street of Egmont before an office
+which was yet unvisited by clients. It was true love on both sides,
+they said, with sympathy; they had been boy and girl together, and
+during her long stay in the East at school she had never forgotten him.
+But Mr. Anderson would have none of the briefless youth; his prosperity
+had fed his pride--a lawyer without a case was not a fit match for his
+daughter. "If you were famous, if it were common talk that some day you
+might be governor or United States senator, I might consent, but, sir,
+you have done nothing," he had said, with cruel sarcasm to Lee.
+
+It was a bitter truth, and Lee himself, high and honorable in all his
+nature, saw it. The girl, too, had old-fashioned ideas of duty to
+parents, and when her father bade her think no more of Lee she humbly
+bowed her head. But the town said, and the town knew, that the more she
+sought to put him out of her heart, the more strongly intrenched was he
+there; that while she now tried to think of him not at all, she thought
+of him all the time.
+
+The whole story was brought to Harley; it was not in his nature to pry
+into the sacred mysteries of a young girl's heart, but the tale moved
+him all the more deeply when he saw young Lee, a man with a high, noble
+brow and clear, open eyes, through which his honest soul shone, that all
+might see. But upon his face was the same faint veil of sadness that
+hovered over Helen Anderson's, as if hope were lacking.
+
+Harley met young Lee two or three times, and on each occasion purposely
+prolonged the talk, because the young lawyer without a case aroused his
+interest and sympathy. He soon discovered that Lee had an uncommon mind,
+acute, penetrating, and on fire with noble ideals. But it was a fire
+that smouldered unseen. He had never had a chance; it would come to him
+some day, Harley knew, but it might be, it surely would be, too late.
+Harley had seen much of the world, its glory and its shame alike, and he
+was convinced that nothing else in it was worth so much to man as the
+spontaneous love of a pure woman and a happy marriage. He knew from dear
+experience how much Lee was losing--nay, had lost already--and his pity
+was deeply stirred. He wished to speak of it to Sylvia, but the thought
+of such words only made his own wound the deeper. The whole town was on
+the side of the lovers, but it was bound and helpless; the father's
+command and Lee's own honor were barriers that could not be passed.
+
+The people about Egmont were so much delighted with Mr. Grayson's speech
+that they demanded a second from him, and, with his usual good-nature,
+he yielded, although Harley knew that he was feeling the strain of such
+a long and severe campaign. The evening of the fifth day after his
+arrival was set for the time, and he was expected to deliver the address
+at a late hour, when he returned from one of the circle of villages.
+
+On the night before the second speech, the candidate and Harley, who
+were now staying at the hotel, after making their excuses to the others,
+slipped out for a walk in the cool and silence of the dark. The rarest
+thing in Jimmy Grayson's life now was privacy, and he longed for it as a
+parched throat longs for water; it was only at such times as this, with
+a late hour and a favoring night, that he could secure it.
+
+Nearly all Egmont was in bed, and they turned from the chief street into
+the residence quarter, where a few lights twinkled amid the lawns and
+gardens. No one had noticed them, and Jimmy Grayson, with a sigh of
+relief, drew breaths of the crisp, cool air that came across a thousand
+miles of clean prairie.
+
+"What a splendid night!" he said. "What a grand horizon!"
+
+They stood upon a slight elevation, and they looked down the street and
+out upon the prairie, which rippled away, silver in the moonlight, like
+the waves of the sea. A wind, faint, like a happy sigh, was blowing.
+
+"An evening for lovers," said the candidate, and he smiled as his mind
+ran back to some happy evenings in his own life. "Now, why should such a
+moonlight as this ever be spoiled by a political speech?" he continued.
+
+"I was thinking of lovers myself," said Harley, "because here is the
+Anderson house before us. Don't you see its white walls shining through
+the trees?"
+
+"Poor girl!" said the candidate. "It is a terrible thing for a woman to
+be separated from the man she loves. A woman, I think, can really love
+but once. And yet her father's pride is natural; young Lee has not even
+made a start in life."
+
+"All he needs is a chance, which he will get--when it is too late," said
+Harley.
+
+The house and its grounds, surrounded by a stone wall not more than
+three feet high, occupied an entire square in the outskirts of the
+little city, and the candidate and Harley followed the least frequented
+of the streets--one running beside the stone wall, which was shaded
+presently by thick and arching boughs of trees that grew within. As they
+entered the shadow they saw a man leap over the low barrier and
+disappear in the Anderson grounds.
+
+"A burglar!" exclaimed Harley. His first thought was of Helen Anderson
+and her beautiful, appealing face, and without a moment's hesitation he
+sprang over the wall to pursue. Jimmy Grayson looked at him in
+astonishment, and then followed.
+
+Harley stopped for an instant inside the grounds, and saw the dark
+figure just ahead of him, but now walking with such slowness that
+pursuit was easy. Evidently the burglar was making sure of the way
+before he sought to enter the Anderson mansion; but Harley was
+surprised, in a few moments, to notice something familiar in the
+shoulders and bearing of the man whom he followed. His burglar never
+looked back, but entered an open space; and then Harley, his surprise
+increasing, stopped when he saw him approach a little summer-house of
+lattice-work. The hand of the candidate fell at that moment upon his
+arm, and a deep voice said in his ear:
+
+"I think we have gone far enough, don't you, Harley?"
+
+"I do," replied Harley, with conviction.
+
+A woman was coming, a woman with a beautiful, pale face, more lovely and
+sad than ever in the moonlight, and the two men knew at once that Helen
+was about to meet her lover. They would have turned and fled from the
+grounds, because a woman's pure love was sacred, to be hidden from all
+eyes and ears save those of one, but her face was towards them, and had
+they stepped from the shadow of the oak she would have seen the two.
+
+"Ah, Helen!" said Lee, as he met her and took her hands in his.
+
+"Arthur, for the last time!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, I know it is for the last time," said Arthur, and there was a
+moving sadness in his voice.
+
+Their faces were turned towards the two there in the shadow of the
+great oak, although unwitting that others were so near, and neither man
+dared to move. The moonlight, in softened silver, fell upon the faces of
+the lovers, disclosing all the beauty of the woman's and all the
+loftiness of the man's. Harley thought he had never seen a nobler pair.
+
+The man took both the girl's hands in his and held them for a few
+moments. Then he walked back and forth, taking quick little steps. Every
+motion of his figure expressed agony and despair. The girl stood still,
+and her face, clearly shown in the moonlight, was turned towards Harley;
+it, too, expressed agony and despair; but her stillness showed
+resignation, Lee's fierce movements were full of rebellion.
+
+"I am going away, Helen," said Arthur. "I have decided upon it. I shall
+not be here more than a week or two longer. I cannot be in the same
+town, seeing you every day and knowing that you cannot be mine. I could
+not stand it."
+
+"I suppose it is best," said Helen; "but, Arthur, I love you. I have
+told you that, and I am proud of it. I shall never love any one else. It
+is not possible."
+
+Her beautiful, pale face was still turned towards Harley, and he saw
+again upon it that touch of ineffable sadness and resignation that had
+moved him so deeply. Lee stopped his despairing walk back and forth and
+looked at Helen. Then he uttered a little cry and seized her hands
+again.
+
+"Helen," he said, "I cannot do it! I came here to give you up forever,
+to tell you that I was going away, and I meant to go, but I cannot do
+it. We love each other--then who has the right to separate us? I thought
+that I could stand this, that I had hardened myself to endure it, but
+when the time comes I find that it is too much. My right to you is
+greater than that of father or mother. Come with me; we can go to
+Longford to-night, and in three hours we shall be man and wife."
+
+He still held her hands in his, and his face was flushed and his eyes
+shining with an eager but noble passion.
+
+Harley and the candidate, in the shrubbery, never stirred. They
+listened, but they forgot that they were listening.
+
+The girl lifted her eyes to those of her lover, and there was in them no
+reproach, only a high, sad courage.
+
+"You do not mean what you say now, Arthur," she said. "I have given my
+promise to my father, and you must help me to be strong, for alone I am
+weak, very weak. None can help me but you. You must go, as you said you
+would go, but your face shall always be with me here. Though I may not
+be your wife, I shall be true to you all my life."
+
+"In such moments as these the woman is always stronger than the man,"
+breathed Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Lee dropped her hands again and walked a step or two away.
+
+"Helen," he said, "forgive me, and forget what I said. I was base when I
+spoke. But I have found it too hard!--too hard!"
+
+Her eyes still expressed no reproach; there was in them something almost
+divine. She loved him the more because of his weakness, although she
+would not yield to it.
+
+"It is hard, very hard for us both," she whispered, "but it must be
+done. But, Arthur, I love you. I have told you that, and I am not
+ashamed of it. I shall never love any one else. It is not possible."
+
+"I know it. I know, too, that your heart will always be mine, but, as
+the world sees it, your father is right. I am nothing. I have no right
+to a wife--above all, to one such as you. I feel that I have a power
+within me, the power to do things which the world would call good, but
+there is no chance. I suppose that the chance will come some day--when
+it is too late."
+
+Harley started. The words were the echo of his own. "We must go," he
+whispered to the candidate. "No one has a right to listen, even without
+intention, at this, their last meeting." Jimmy Grayson had already
+turned away, and by the faint moonlight sifting through the branches
+Harley saw a mist in his eyes. But their movement made a sound, and the
+lovers looked up.
+
+"Did you hear a noise? What was it?" asked Helen.
+
+"Only a lizard in the grass or a squirrel rattling the bark of a tree,"
+replied Arthur.
+
+They listened a moment, but they heard nothing more, save the faint
+stirring of the wind among the leaves and the grass.
+
+"Are you really going, Arthur?" asked Helen, as if, approving it once,
+she would like now to hear him deny it.
+
+He looked at her, his face flushing and his eyes alight, as if at last
+he heard her ask him to stay; but he saw in her gaze only brave resolve.
+She could love him, and yet she had the strength to sacrifice that love
+for what she considered her duty. He drew courage from her, and he
+lifted his head proudly, although his eyes expressed grief alone.
+
+"Yes, I have only to start," he replied; "you know I have little to
+take. I make just one more public appearance in Egmont. Mr. Grayson
+speaks here again to-morrow night, and the committee, by some chance--a
+chance it must have been--has put me on the list of speakers."
+
+"Oh, Arthur, it may be an opportunity for you!"
+
+She was eager, flushed, her eyes flaming and uplifted to his.
+
+"It might be, Helen, at any other time, but this is evil fortune. I am
+of the other party; I must speak against him--we are fair to both sides
+here; he will have the right of rejoinder, and you know what he is,
+Helen--the greatest orator in America, perhaps in all the world. No one
+yet has ever been able to defeat him, and what chance have I, with no
+experience, against the most formidable debater in existence? I should
+shirk it, Helen, if the people would not think me a coward."
+
+"Oh, Arthur, what an ordeal!" She looked up at him with wet, tender
+eyes.
+
+Harley, at the mention of Jimmy Grayson's name, glanced away from the
+lovers and towards the candidate. He saw him start, and a singular, soft
+expression pass over his face, to be followed by one of doubt.
+
+"Now I shall go, Helen," said Arthur. "It was wrong of me to ask you to
+meet me here, but I could not go away without seeing you alone and
+speaking to you alone, as I do now."
+
+"I was glad to come."
+
+He took her hands again, and for a few moments they stood, gazing into
+each other's eyes, where they saw all the grief of a last parting.
+Harley wished to turn his gaze away, but, somehow, he could not. There
+was silence in the grounds, save that gentle, sighing sound of the wind
+through the leaves and grass, and only the moon looked down.
+
+Suddenly the youth bent his head, kissed the girl on the lips, and then
+ran swiftly through the shrubbery, as if he could not bear to hesitate
+or look back.
+
+"It was their first kiss," murmured Harley.
+
+"I did not see it," said Jimmy Grayson, turning his eyes away.
+
+"And their last," murmured Harley.
+
+The girl stood like a statue, still deadly pale, but Harley saw that her
+eyes were luminous. It was the man whom she loved who had taken her
+first kiss; nothing could alter that beautiful fact. She listened, as if
+she could hear his last retreating footstep on the grass dying away like
+an echo. Harley and the candidate watched her until her slender figure
+in the white draperies was hid by the house, and then they, too, went
+back to the street.
+
+Neither spoke until they passed the low stone wall, and then the
+candidate said, brusquely:
+
+"Harley, unless this moonlight deceives me, there is moisture on your
+eyelids. What do you mean by such unmanly weakness?"
+
+Harley smiled, but, refraining from the _tu quoque_, left Jimmy Grayson
+to lead the way, and he noticed that he chose a course that did not take
+them back to the hotel. Moreover, he did not speak again for a long
+time, and Harley walked on by his side, silent, too, but thoughtful and
+keenly observant. He saw that his friend was troubled, and he divined
+the great struggle that was going on in his mind. Whether he could do it
+if he were in the place of the candidate he was unable to say, and he
+was glad that the decision did not lie with himself.
+
+They walked on and on until they left the town and were out upon the
+broad prairie, where the wind moaned in a louder key, and the
+candidate's face was still troubled.
+
+"Harley," said the candidate, at last, "I cannot get rid of the look in
+that girl's eyes."
+
+"I do not wish to do so," said Harley.
+
+It was nearly midnight when he turned and began to walk back towards the
+town. The moonlight, breaking through a cloud, again flooded Jimmy
+Grayson's face, and Harley, who knew him so well, saw that the look of
+trouble had passed. The lips were compressed and firm, and in his eyes
+shone the clear light of decision. Harley's feelings, as he saw, were
+mingled, a strange compound of elation and apprehension. But at the
+hotel he said, gravely, "Good-night," and the candidate replied with
+equal seriousness, "Good-night." Neither referred to what they had seen
+nor to what they expected.
+
+The second speech at Egmont drew an even greater audience than the
+first, as the fame of Jimmy Grayson's powers spread fast, and there
+would be, too, the added spice of combat; members of the other party
+would accept his challenge, replying to his logic if they could, and the
+hall was crowded early with eager people. Harley, sitting at the back of
+the stage, saw the Honorable John Anderson come in, importantly, his
+wife under one arm and his daughter under the other. Helen looked paler
+than ever, but here under the electric lights her sad loveliness made
+the same appeal to Harley. Lee arrived late, and although, as one of the
+speakers, he was forced to sit on the stage, he hid himself behind the
+others. But a single glance passed between the two, and then the girl
+sat silent and pale, hoping against hope for her lover.
+
+The candidate spoke well. His voice was as deep and as musical as ever,
+and his sentences rolled as smoothly as before. All his charm and
+magnetism of manner were present; the old spell which he threw over
+everybody--a spell which was from the heart and the manner as well as
+from the meaning of his words--was not lacking, but to Harley, keenly
+attentive, there seemed to be a flaw in his logic. The reasoning was not
+as clear and compact as usual. Only a man with a penetrating, analytical
+mind would observe it, but there were openings here and there where his
+armor could be pierced. Blaisdell, one of the correspondents, noticed
+the fact, and he whispered to Harley:
+
+"It's a good thing that Jimmy Grayson has no great speaker against him
+to-night; I never knew him to wander from the point before."
+
+"Where's your great speaker?" asked Harley, with irony.
+
+But the crowded audience was oblivious. It heard only the music of the
+candidate's voice and felt only the spell of his manner; therefore, it
+was with a sort of contempt that it looked upon Lee, the young lawyer
+without a case, who rose to reply. Lee was pale, but there was a fire in
+his eyes, as if he, too, had noticed something, and Harley, observing,
+caught his breath sharply.
+
+The correspondent again looked down at the girl, and he saw a deep flush
+sweep over her face, and then, passing, leave it deadly pale. The next
+moment she averted her eyes as if she would not see the failure of her
+lover, not the less dear to her because he was about to go away forever.
+But though he did not see her face now, Harley, as he looked at the bent
+head, could read her mind. He knew that she was quivering; he knew that
+she, too, had been completely under the spell of the candidate's great
+voice and manner, and she feared the painful contrast.
+
+Harley glanced once at Jimmy Grayson, sitting quietly, all expression
+dismissed from his face, and then he looked back at the girl; she should
+receive all his attention now. Presently he saw her raise her head, the
+color returned to her face, and a sudden look of wonder and hope
+appeared in her eyes. Arthur was speaking, not timidly, not like one
+beaten, but in a strong, clear voice, and with a logic that was keen and
+merciless he drove straight at the weak points in the candidate's
+address. Even Harley was surprised at his skill and penetration.
+
+The correspondent watched Helen, and he read every step of her lover's
+progress in her eyes. The wonder and hope there grew, and the hope
+turned to delight. She looked up at her father, as if to tell him how
+much he had misjudged Arthur, and that here, in truth, was the beginning
+of greatness; and the important man, as he felt her eyes upon him, moved
+uneasily in his seat.
+
+The feelings of the audience were mingled, but among them amazement led
+all the rest. The great Jimmy Grayson, the Presidential nominee, the
+unconquerable, the man of world-wide fame, the victor of every campaign,
+was being beaten by a young townsman of their own, not known twenty
+miles from home. Incredible as it seemed, it was true; the fact was
+patent to the dullest in the hall. Harley saw a look of astonishment and
+then dismay overspread the faces of Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia, and he knew
+that of all in the hall they were suffering most acutely.
+
+The keen, cutting voice went on, tearing Jimmy Grayson's argument to
+pieces, clipping off a section here and a section there, and tossing
+the fragments aside. By-and-by the amazement of the people gave way to
+delight. Their home pride was touched. This boy of their own was doing
+what no other had ever been able to do. They began to thunder forth
+applause, and the women waved their handkerchiefs. Hobart leaned over
+and whispered to Harley:
+
+"Old man, what does this mean? Is Jimmy Grayson sick?"
+
+"He was never better than he is to-night."
+
+Hobart gave him an inquiring look.
+
+"I'll ask more about this later," he said.
+
+But Harley already had turned his attention back to Helen, and as he
+watched the growing joy on her face his own heart responded. It was
+relief, elation, that he felt now, and, for the moment, no apprehension.
+He saw the color yet flushing her cheeks, and the eyes alight with life
+and joy. He saw her suddenly clasp her father's arm in both hands, and,
+though he was too far away to hear, he knew well that she was telling
+him what a great man Arthur was going to be. For her all obstacles were
+driven away by this sudden flood of fortune, and Harley again saw the
+important man move uneasily while a look, half fear, half shame, came
+into his eyes.
+
+The speech was finished, and young Lee, a man now on a pedestal, sat
+down amid thunders of applause. Jimmy Grayson undertook to respond, but
+for the first time in his life he was weak and halting. He wandered on
+lamely, and at last retired amid faint cheers, to be followed quickly by
+an astonished silence. Then, when the people recovered themselves, they
+poured in a tumult from the hall; but the hero to whom they turned
+admiringly was Arthur Lee, their own youthful townsman, and not the
+candidate.
+
+The next day Hobart told Harley that Lee had won everything. Mr.
+Anderson, sharing the pride of Egmont, could resist no longer, and had
+withdrawn his refusal. Arthur and Helen would be married in the winter.
+
+"You see," said Hobart, "young Lee is now a hero."
+
+"But not the greatest hero," said Harley.
+
+"That is true," said Hobart, and then he added, after a moment's pause,
+"I could never have done it."
+
+But that night, when Jimmy Grayson left the hall, he went at once to the
+hotel with Mrs. Grayson. Luckily there was a side-door, out of which
+they slipped so quietly and quickly that not many people had a chance
+either to pity him or to exult over him, at least in his presence. Yet
+he did not fail to notice more than one sneer on the faces of those who
+belonged to the other party, and his cheeks burned for a moment, as
+James Grayson, the candidate, had his full store of human pride.
+
+In the hall the amazed crowd lingered, and the correspondents, not less
+surprised than the people, gathered in a group to talk it over. Sylvia
+was there, too, and she was almost in tears. To none had the blow been
+harder than to her, and she was so stunned that she could yet scarcely
+credit it. All of the group were sad except Churchill, who felt all the
+glory of an I-told-you-so come to judgment.
+
+"It was bound to happen, sooner or later," he said, when he noticed that
+Sylvia was not listening; "the man is all froth and foam, but who could
+have thought that the bubble would be pricked by an obscure little
+Western attorney? Was ever anything more ignominious?"
+
+Then the ancient beau, Tremaine, spoke from a soul that was stirred to
+the depths.
+
+"Churchill," he exclaimed, "I've been travelling about the world forty
+years, but there are times when I think you are the meanest man I ever
+met."
+
+Churchill flushed and clinched his fist, but thought better of it, and
+turned off the matter with an uneasy laugh.
+
+"Tremaine," he said, "the older you grow the fonder you become of
+superlatives."
+
+"I admired Jimmy Grayson in his triumphs, and I admire him more than
+ever in his defeat," said Tremaine, still bristling, and fiercely
+twisting his short, gray mustache.
+
+"Mr. Tremaine, I want to thank you," said Sylvia, who, turning to them,
+had heard Tremaine's warm speech; and she put her hand in his for a
+moment, which was to him ample repayment.
+
+Harley stood by, and was silent because he did not know what to say. To
+state that Mr. Grayson had allowed himself to be beaten for a purpose
+would have an incredible look in print--it would seem the poorest of
+excuses; nor did he wish to make use of it in the presence of Churchill,
+who would certainly jeer at it and present it in his despatches as a
+ridiculous plea. He had begun to have a certain sensitiveness in regard
+to the candidate, and he did not wish to be forced into a quarrel with
+Churchill.
+
+But Sylvia caught a slight smile, a smile of irony, in the eyes of
+Harley, and the tears in her own dried up at once. She felt
+instinctively, with all the quickness of a woman's intuition, that
+Harley knew something about the speech which she did not know, but she
+meant to know it, and she watched for an opportunity.
+
+They were turning out the lights in the hall and the people began to go
+away, the correspondents closing up the rear. Sylvia fell back with
+Harley, and touched his arm lightly.
+
+"There is something that you are not telling me," she said.
+
+"I am willing to tell it to you, because you will believe it."
+
+Tremaine, with ever-ready gallantry, was about to join them, but Sylvia
+said:
+
+"I thank you, Mr. Tremaine, but Mr. Harley has promised to see me to the
+hotel."
+
+Her tone was light, but so decisive that Tremaine turned back at once,
+and Hobart, who was ahead, hid a smile.
+
+"Now, I want to know what it is," she said, eagerly, to Harley. "That
+was a good speaker, an able man, but I don't believe that he or anybody
+else could beat Uncle James. How did it happen?"
+
+Harley did not answer her at once, because it seemed to him just then
+that the action of Jimmy Grayson was an illustration, and the idea was
+hot in his mind.
+
+"Perhaps there is nothing to tell, after all," she said, and her face
+fell.
+
+"There is something to tell; I hesitated because I was looking for the
+best way to tell it. Mr. Grayson to-night made a sacrifice of himself,
+purposely and willingly."
+
+"A sacrifice of himself! How could he have done such a thing?"
+
+"For the best reason that makes a man do such a thing. For love."
+
+She stared at him a moment, and then broke into a puzzled but ironic
+laugh.
+
+"You are certainly dreaming a romance. Uncle James and Aunt Anna have
+been happily married for years, and there is nothing now that could
+force him to make such a sacrifice."
+
+Harley smiled, and his smile was rarely tender, because he was thinking
+at that moment of Sylvia.
+
+"The sacrifice was not to help his own cause, but the cause of another,
+the cause of the man who beat him--that is, seemed to beat him. Mr. Lee,
+through his victory to-night, wins the girl whom he loves, and he could
+have won her in no other way. There are people who can do great deeds
+and make great sacrifices for love, even to help the love of two others.
+It will be printed in every paper of the United States in the morning
+that Mr. Grayson was defeated in debate to-night by a young local
+lawyer. His prestige will be greatly impaired."
+
+Her eyes glowed, and her face, too, became rarely tender.
+
+"Uncle James was truly great to-night!" she exclaimed.
+
+"At his greatest. I know of no other man who could have done it. After
+all, Sylvia, don't you think love is the greatest and purest of motives,
+and that we should consider it first?"
+
+"John," she said, and it was the first time that she had ever called him
+by his first name, "you must not tempt me to break my sacred word to the
+man to whom I owe all things. Oh, John, don't you see how hard it is for
+me, and won't you help me to bear it, instead of making the burden
+heavier?"
+
+She turned upon him a face of such pathetic appeal that Harley was
+abashed.
+
+"Sylvia," he replied, almost in a whisper, "God knows that I do not wish
+to make you unhappy, nor do I wish to make you do what is wrong. I spoke
+so because I could not help it. Do you think that I can love you, and
+know you to be what you are, and then stand idly by and see you passing
+to another? I believe in silence and endurance, but not in such silence
+and endurance as that. It is too much! God never asks it of a man!"
+
+She looked at him. Her eyes were dewy and tender, filled with love, a
+love tinged with sorrow, but he saw the brave resolution shining there,
+and he knew that, despite all, she would keep her word unless "King"
+Plummer himself willingly released her from it. And he loved her all the
+more because she was so true.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "I was wrong. I should not have spoken to you in such
+a manner. I am a weak coward to make your duty all the harder for you."
+
+They were at the "ladies' entrance" of the hotel, and the others either
+had gone in or had turned aside. They were alone, and she bent a little
+towards him.
+
+"The things that you say may be wrong," she whispered, "but--oh, John--I
+love to hear you say them!"
+
+Then she went into the hotel, and Harley wisely did not seek to follow.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+AN IDAHO STORM
+
+
+Among the mountains of Idaho, a dark storm-cloud, ribbed with flashes of
+steel-edged lightning, was growing. For thirty years "King" Plummer had
+lived a life after his own mind, and it had been a very free life. In
+four or five states he was a real monarch, and there was nothing at all
+derisive about his nickname. At fifty he was at his mental and physical
+zenith, never before had he felt so strong, both in body and mind, so
+capable of doing great deeds, and with so keen a zest in life. The blood
+flowed in a rich, red tide through his veins, and he breathed the breath
+of morning like a youth.
+
+To this big, strong man, rioting in the very fulness of life, came Mrs.
+Grayson's letter. He was not in Boisé when it arrived there, but it was
+forwarded to him at a mining-camp in the very highest mountains. He read
+it early one morning sitting on a big rock at the edge of a valley that
+dropped off three thousand feet below, and first there was a shade of
+annoyance on his face, to be followed by a frown, which gave way in its
+turn to an angry red flush.
+
+But while the shade of annoyance was still on his face the "King" asked,
+"What is she driving at?" and then, when it was replaced by the frown,
+he muttered, "Why does she waste so much time on Harley and a marriage
+for him?" and then, when the red flush came, he exclaimed, "Damn the
+Eastern kid!" In the mind of "King" Plummer everybody who did not live
+west of the Missouri River was Eastern.
+
+He read the letter over four or five times, and it sank deeper and
+deeper into his soul, and as it sank it burned like fire. All that he
+had feared, but which he had refused to believe when he came away, was
+true. Sylvia did not love him, but she loved that raw youngster Harley.
+And here was Mrs. Grayson, the wife of a man who was under obligations
+to him, whom he could ruin, hinting that he give her up, and she a woman
+whom he had supposed to be endowed with at least ordinary intelligence.
+
+In his wrath, which was mighty, "King" Plummer swore at the whole tribe
+of women as fickle, heartless creatures. Then he rose to his feet,
+clinched his fist, shook it at the opposite mountain across the valley,
+and swore aloud at all creation. And "King" Plummer knew how to swear;
+he was no mealy-mouthed man; his had been a wild and tumultuous youth,
+and though he would never use oaths in the presence of Sylvia, he could
+still, in the seclusion of mountain or desert, let fly an imprecating
+volley that would burn the rocks themselves. It was apparent to some
+miners coming up the slope that their chief was no extinct volcano, and
+they wisely passed in silence on the other side.
+
+For the present there was little grief in the "King's" outpouring; the
+tide of wrath was too full and sparkling to be tinged yet awhile by
+other currents, and just now it flowed most against Mrs. Grayson, who
+had been bold enough to tell him what he was least willing to hear. His
+heart, too, was full of unspoken threats, as "King" Plummer was a
+passionate man who had lived a rough life, close to the ground, and full
+of primitive emotions. And the threats he expressed in words were such
+as these: "They shall pay for it!" "I helped put that husband of hers
+where he is, I helped make him, and I can help unmake him; and, by
+thunder, I will do it, too!" In the hour of his wrath he hated Jimmy
+Grayson, and his head was filled with sudden schemes. He would "teach
+the man what it was to play the King of the Mountains for a sucker,"
+and, still raging, he cast from him all the ties of party and
+association.
+
+Within an hour he was on his swiftest horse, riding furiously towards
+Boisé, his heart full of anger and his head full of plans for revenge.
+
+Nor was he sparing in speech when he reached Boisé. His words cracked so
+loud that the echo of them travelled several hundred miles and reached
+Mrs. Grayson, who was waiting vainly for a reply to a letter that she
+had written nearly two weeks before. Now, no reply was necessary,
+because this news was what she had feared, but which she had hoped would
+not come.
+
+The report was winged and full of alarms. "King" Plummer, shooting out
+of the mountains like a cannon-ball, had made his appearance in the
+streets of Boisé, openly denouncing Jimmy Grayson, calling him a
+traitor, and saying that he would beat him if he had to ruin himself to
+do it. What had caused this sudden change nobody knew, but it must be
+something astonishing, and it behooved the candidate to explain himself
+quickly.
+
+The loyal soul of the candidate's wife flashed back an angry reply
+across the five hundred miles of mountain and desert. If "King" Plummer
+was not the man she had hoped he was, then they preferred that they
+should fight him rather than have him as a false friend. Yet there was
+in her heart a throb of admiration for him, because he was willing to
+throw everything overboard for the love of a woman.
+
+The defection clothed the whole train in the deepest gloom. Tremaine
+spoke for the group when he said it was all up with Jimmy Grayson, and
+the others did not have the heart even to pretend to a different belief.
+With a Plummer defection on one side and a Goodnight falling away on the
+other, there was no hope left for a party which even with these wings
+faithful had only a desperate fighting chance.
+
+Harley was thoroughly miserable. He could guess--no, he did not guess,
+he knew the cause of "King" Plummer's bolt, and he knew, too, that if it
+were not for himself it would never have occurred; he had wrecked all
+the future of others, nor in making such a wreck had he secured his own
+happiness, provided even that he was selfish enough to be happy when
+others were ruined.
+
+Sylvia, too, was sunk in the depths. She did not have to be told that
+her aunt had written to Mr. Plummer; she guessed that Mr. Plummer had
+received some warning, some message, it did not matter from whom,
+nothing else could cause him to burst forth with such violence, and the
+very nature of the case forbade her from speaking; she could only keep
+silent, knowing that significant talk was going on all around her, and
+pass sleepless nights and troubled days.
+
+The situation brought a thrill of satisfaction and interest to one man
+on the train, and he was Churchill. The cumulative effect of "King"
+Plummer's bolt might force Jimmy Grayson off the track, and it was not
+yet too late to put up another candidate. Such a thing had never been
+done, but that was no reason why it could not succeed, and he
+telegraphed Mr. Goodnight that Mr. Grayson was very despondent, and that
+those about him knew he did not have a ghost of a chance.
+
+Churchill guessed close to the cause of the Plummer bolt, but he was not
+sure, and for that and other reasons he at once sought an interview with
+the nominee.
+
+Mr. Grayson was courteous, and seemingly not as despondent as Churchill
+had described him. He said that he could not speak of Mr. Plummer's
+defection, because he had no official knowledge of the fact; it was
+merely report, and hence he could not comment on what was not proved.
+Mr. Churchill, he knew, would readily recognize the unfitness of such a
+thing, nor could he tell what he should do in supposititious cases,
+because, even if the latter came true, circumstances might give them
+another appearance.
+
+Churchill skirmished as delicately as he could about the subject of
+Sylvia and the surmise that she was the key to the situation, which, if
+true, would make one of the greatest stories told in a newspaper; but
+here the candidate was impervious. Not only was he impervious, but he
+seemed to be densely ignorant; all the hints of Churchill glided off him
+like arrows from a steel breast-plate, all the most delicate and skilful
+art of the interviewer failed. So far as concerned the subject of
+politics, Sylvia was unknown to Mr. Grayson. Baffled upon this
+interesting point, Churchill retired to write his interview; but as he
+rested his pad upon the car-seat and sharpened his pencil he flung out a
+feeler or two.
+
+"I say, Hobart," he said to the mystery man, who sat just in front of
+him, "I think there's something at the bottom of this Plummer revolt
+that we haven't probed. Now, isn't it the truth that Miss Morgan has
+thrown him over, and that he is taking his revenge on her uncle?"
+
+Hobart glanced up the car, and noticed that Harley was not within
+hearing. Then he replied, gravely:
+
+"Churchill, I don't believe that Miss Morgan has broken her engagement
+with the 'King'--she'll marry him yet if he says so--but I do believe
+that she has some connection with this affair. What it is, I don't know,
+and I'm mighty glad that I don't have to speak of it in my despatches;
+it's too intangible."
+
+But Churchill was not so scrupulous. Without giving any names, he wove
+into his four-thousand-word despatch a very beautiful and touching
+romance, in which Jimmy Grayson figured rather badly--in fact, somewhat
+as an evil genius--and the _Monitor_, dealing in the fine vein of irony
+which it considered its strongest card, wrote scornfully of a campaign
+into which personal issues were obtruding to such an extent that they
+were shattering it. The _Monitor_ still affected to see some good in Mr.
+Grayson, but put the bad in such high relief that the good merely set it
+off, like those little patches that ladies wear on their faces. And the
+mystery of the Plummer bolt, involving a young and beautiful woman, just
+hinted at in the despatches, heightened the effect of the story. "King"
+Plummer himself appeared to the reading public as a martyr, and even to
+many old partisans party rebellion seemed in this case honorable and
+heroic.
+
+For a day or so Harley scarcely spoke to any one, and, as far as was
+possible within the limited confines of a train, he avoided Sylvia. He
+did not wish to see her, because he was strengthening himself to carry
+out a great resolution which he meant to take. In this crisis he turned
+to only one person, and that was Mr. Heathcote, who he felt would give
+him advice that was right and true.
+
+When Harley told Mr. Heathcote of his purpose, the committeeman's face
+became grave, but he said, "It is the hard thing for you to do, although
+it is the best thing." An hour later, Harley sent to his editor in New
+York a despatch, asking to be recalled; he said there had arisen
+personal reasons which would make him valueless for the rest of the
+campaign, and he felt that the _Gazette_ would be the gainer if he were
+transferred to another field of activity.
+
+Harley felt a deep pang, and he did not attempt to disguise it from
+himself, when he sent this telegram, but after it was gone his
+conscience came to his relief, although he still avoided the presence of
+Sylvia with great care. But the pang was repeated many times, as he sat
+silent among his companions and calculated how he could leave them that
+night and get a train for New York in the morning.
+
+He was still sitting among them about the twilight hour when the
+conductor handed him a telegraphic despatch, and Harley knew that it was
+from his editor, who had a high appreciation of his merits, both
+personal and professional. The message was brief and pointed. It said:
+"Can't understand your request for a transfer. Your despatches from the
+campaign best work you have ever done; not only have all news, but write
+from the inside; you present the candidate as he is. Have telegraphed
+Mr. Grayson asking if there is any quarrel, and in reply he makes
+special request that you represent _Gazette_ with him to the end. Stay
+till you are sent for, and don't bother me again."
+
+Harley read it over a second time. Despite himself he smiled, and he
+smiled because he felt a throb of pleasure. "Good old chief," he said,
+and he understood now that a refusal of his request was a hope that he
+had dared not utter to himself. But he knew that he should have taken
+the great risk.
+
+He showed the despatch to Mr. Heathcote, and the committeeman was
+sincerely glad.
+
+"Your editor has done his duty," he said.
+
+Mr. Grayson did not allude to the subject, and Harley respected his
+silence, although devoutly grateful for the reply that he had made.
+
+Other telegrams caused by the threatened revolt in the mountains were
+also passing; some of them stopped at the house of Mr. Plummer, in
+Boisé, and upon the trail of one of these telegrams, a forcible one,
+came a thin-faced and quiet but alert man, Mr. Henry Crayon, who in his
+way was a power in both the financial and political worlds. Mr. Crayon
+was perhaps the most trusted of the lieutenants of the Honorable Clinton
+Goodnight, and the two had held a long conference before his departure
+for the West, agreeing at the end of it that "it was time to make a
+move, and after that move to spring a live issue."
+
+Mr. Crayon was fairly well informed of the causes that agitated the soul
+of "King" Plummer, and as he shot westward on a Limited Continental
+Express he considered the best way of approach, inclining as always to
+delicate but incisive methods. Long before he reached Boisé his mind was
+well made up, and he felt content because he anticipated no difficulty
+in handling the crude mountaineer, who was unused to the ways of
+diplomacy.
+
+He found the "King" in Boisé, still hot and sulky. Mr. Plummer had not
+heard anything in person from the Graysons, nor had he sent any message
+to them, and the mountains were full of talk about his bolt, which was
+now spoken of as an accepted fact.
+
+Mr. Crayon's first meeting with Mr. Plummer came about in quite an
+accidental and easy way--Mr. Crayon saw to that--and the Easterner was
+deferential, as became one who had so little experience of the West,
+who, in case he was presumptuous, was likely to be reminded that Idaho
+was nearly twenty times as large as Connecticut and twice as large as
+the state of New York itself. After making himself pleasant by humility
+and requests for advice, Mr. Crayon glided warily into the subject of
+politics. He disclosed to Mr. Plummer how much a powerful faction in the
+party was displeased with Mr. Grayson, and the equally important fact
+that this faction felt the necessity of speedy action of some kind.
+
+They were at that moment in a secluded corner of the reading-room of the
+chief hotel in Boisé, and Mr. Crayon had ordered a pleasant and powerful
+Western concoction which he and Mr. Plummer sipped as they talked. The
+"King's" face was red, partly with the sun and partly with the anger
+that still burned him. Mr. Crayon's words fell soothingly upon his
+ear--Mr. Crayon had a quiet, mellow voice--and his sense of injury at
+the hands of Jimmy Grayson deepened. What right had Jimmy Grayson or
+Jimmy Grayson's wife, which was the same thing, to interfere in his
+private affairs? And it was only a step from one's private life to one's
+public life. Wrong in one, wrong in the other. Mr. Crayon, watching him
+keenly though covertly, was pleased with the varying expressions that
+passed over the unbearded portions of the "King's" face. He read there
+anger, jealousy, and revenge, and he said to himself that he would bend
+this man, big and strong as he was, to his will.
+
+Mr. Crayon now grew bolder. He said that the minority within the party,
+which, for the present, he represented, was resolved to come to an issue
+with Mr. Grayson; the destinies of a great party, and possibly the
+country, could not be put in the hands of a man who had neither the
+proper dignity nor the proper sense of responsibility. Thus far he went,
+and then the wily Mr. Crayon stopped to notice the effect.
+
+It seemed to him to be favorable, and Mr. Crayon was an acute man. The
+"King" drank a little of his liquor and nodded his head. Yes, he had
+been fooled in Jimmy Grayson, he had thought that he was as true as
+steel, but there was a flaw in the steel; Jimmy Grayson had done him a
+great injury, and he was not a man who turned one cheek when the other
+was smitten; he smote back with all his might, and his own hand was
+pretty heavy.
+
+Mr. Crayon smiled--all things were certainly going well; he had caught
+Mr. Plummer at the right moment, and there was no doubt of the
+impression that he was making. Then he went a little further; he
+suggested that a certain important issue not hitherto discussed in the
+campaign was going to be brought up, even now they were proposing to
+present it in the West, and Mr. Grayson would have to declare himself
+either for or against it--there was no middle ground. Mr. Crayon again
+stopped and observed the "King" with the same covert but careful
+glance. The face of Mr. Plummer obviously bore the stamp of approval;
+moreover, he nodded, and, thus encouraged, Mr. Crayon went further and
+further, telling why the issue was so great, and why it must be
+presented to the public without delay.
+
+Mr. Plummer asked him to name the issue, and when Mr. Crayon did so,
+without reserve, the "King's" face once more bore the stamp of approval,
+and he nodded his head again.
+
+"If Mr. Grayson accepts the law as we lay it down," said Mr. Crayon,
+with satisfaction, "he places himself in our hands and we control him.
+Our policies prevail, and, if he becomes President of the United States,
+we remain the power that rules him, and that, therefore, rules the
+country. If he resists us, well, that is the end of him!"
+
+Mr. Crayon had lighted a cigar, and as he said "that is the end of him"
+he flicked off the ash with a quick gesture that had in it the touch of
+finality.
+
+Mr. Plummer said nothing, and Mr. Crayon was content; he could do enough
+talking for two.
+
+"Mr. Goodnight and other of my associates are coming West very soon," he
+continued. "The velvet glove will be taken off, and it is high time."
+
+Then they went forth into the streets of Boisé and they were seen
+walking together by many people, to which Mr. Crayon was not averse, and
+in an hour three or four local correspondents were sending eastward
+vivid despatches stating that Mr. Crayon, the representative of the
+conservative and dissatisfied minority in the party, was in Boisé in
+close conference with "King" Plummer, the political ruler of the
+mountains. And the burden of all these despatches was fast-coming evil
+for Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Nor was the candidate long in hearing of it. The very next day a Boisé
+newspaper containing a full first-page account of it reached them, and
+was read aloud to the party by Mr. Heathcote. Mr. Grayson made no
+comment as it was being read, but Harley once saw his face darken and
+his lips close tightly together; this was the only sign that he gave,
+and it quickly passed.
+
+But the others were not so chary of words. The train was full of
+indignant comment, and the ears of "King" Plummer in the distance must
+have burned.
+
+"I could not have believed it of him," said Mr. Heathcote. "It is untrue
+to the man's whole nature, even if he is swayed suddenly by some
+powerful emotion."
+
+Hobart glanced at Sylvia, who had withdrawn to the far end of the car,
+where she was apparently gazing at the mountains that fled by, although
+she said not one word and her face was red. Nor did Harley join in the
+talk, but, taking advantage of the slight bustle caused by Mr. Grayson's
+retirement to the drawing-room, he took refuge in a day car to which
+their own coach was attached for the time. That evening, while the
+others were at dinner, he saw Sylvia alone.
+
+"I ought to tell you," she said, "that I have asked to leave the train,
+but my aunt has refused to consent to it. She says she needs me, and as
+I cannot go now to my old home in Boisé, it is better for me to stay
+with her. I have heard that you asked to be recalled to the East, and I
+honor you for it."
+
+"Are you sorry that my request was refused?" asked Harley.
+
+She did not falter, although the red in her cheeks flushed deeper.
+
+"No, I am not sorry; I am glad," she replied. "Why should I tell an
+untruth about what is so great a matter to both of us? But it cannot
+change anything."
+
+Harley felt that this was, indeed, a maid well worth winning, and his
+hope yet to find a way, which had been weakened somewhat lately, grew
+high again. That night wild resolves ran through his mind. He would
+sacrifice his pride, hitherto an unthinkable thing--he would see "King"
+Plummer and tell him that Sylvia and he loved each other, that neither
+of them could possibly be happy unless they were wedded, then he would
+appeal to the older man's generosity; he would tell him how Sylvia
+loyally meant to keep her word and pay her debt of gratitude with
+herself, then he would ask him to release her from the promise. But he
+gave up the idea as one that required too much; he could never humiliate
+himself so far, and even then it would be a humiliation without result.
+
+If Harley had undertaken to carry out such a wild idea, he would have
+found it difficult, because no one in the party then knew where "King"
+Plummer was; they were hearing of him all over the West, and the Denver,
+Salt Lake, and smaller newspapers were filled with accounts of his
+doings, all colored highly. His bolt, they said, was now an accomplished
+fact; he showed the deepest hostility to the candidate, and he was also
+in constant correspondence with a powerful and dissatisfied wing in the
+East.
+
+Mr. Grayson never said a word, he never spoke of Mr. Plummer in any of
+his speeches, and Harley believed there was only sadness in his mind,
+not anger, whenever he thought of the "King."
+
+But there could be no doubt of the effect of all these events upon the
+campaign; to the public Jimmy Grayson seemed as one lost in the
+wilderness, and only in the mountains, where the people were far from
+the great centres of information, did they yet cherish a hope of his
+election. Churchill wrote to the _Monitor_ that Jimmy Grayson himself
+had abandoned hope.
+
+Ominous rumblings were coming from the East, too. Goodnight, Crayon, and
+their friends had found a pretext upon which to take drastic action, and
+they were about to take it.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+THE GREAT PHILIPSBURG CONFERENCE
+
+
+If ever you go to Philipsburg, which is in Wyoming, not far from the
+Montana line, you will hear the people proclaim the greatness of the
+town in which they live. You expect this sort of thing in the Far West,
+and you are prepared for it, but you will be surprised at the nature of
+the Philipsburg boast. Its proud inhabitants will not tell you that it
+is bound to be the largest city between the Missouri and the coast, they
+will not assert that since the horizon touches the earth at an equal
+distance on all sides of the town, it is, therefore, the natural centre
+of the world; but they will tell you stories of the Great Philipsburg
+Conference, and some of them will not be far from the truth.
+
+Philipsburg is but a hamlet, fed by an irrigation ditch that leads the
+life-giving waters down from a distant mountain, and it has neither the
+beauty of nature nor that given by the hand of man, but the people will
+point importantly to the square wooden hotel of only two stories, and
+tell you that there occurred the great crisis in the most famous and
+picturesque Presidential campaign ever waged in the United States; they
+will even lead you to the very room in which the big talk occurred, and
+say, in lowered voices, that the furniture is exactly the same, and
+arranged just as it was on that momentous night when the history of the
+world might have been changed. In this room the people of Philipsburg
+have a reverential air, and there is cause for it.
+
+The affair did not begin at Philipsburg--it merely had its climax
+there--but far away on the dusty plains of eastern Washington, where the
+wheat grows so tall, and it bubbled and seethed as the candidate and his
+party travelled eastward, stopping and speaking many times by the way.
+It was all about the tariff, a dry subject in itself, but, as tall oaks
+from little acorns grow, so a dry subject often can make interesting
+people do interesting things.
+
+At the convention that nominated Mr. Grayson for the Presidency the
+subject of the tariff had been left somewhat vague in the platform, not
+from deliberate purpose, but merely through the drift of events; the
+question had not interested the people greatly in some time; other
+things connected with both the foreign and internal policy of the
+government, particularly the continued occupation of the Philippines and
+a projected new banking system, were more to the fore; but as the
+campaign proceeded certain events caused the tariff also to be brought
+into issue and to receive a large share of public attention.
+
+Now, a clever man--above all, one as clever as Jimmy Grayson--could
+avoid giving a decided opinion upon this subject. It is party creed for
+a candidate to stand upon his platform, and, as the platform contained
+no tariff plank, he was not obliged to take any stand upon the tariff.
+Such a course would seem good politics, too, but Harley knew that Mr.
+Grayson favored a reduction of the tariff and a liberal measure of
+reciprocity with neighboring states, and he dreaded the time when the
+candidate should declare himself upon the subject; he did not see how he
+could do it without losing many votes, because there was a serious
+difference of view inside his own party. And Harley's dread grew out of
+his intense desire to see Mr. Grayson elected. His hero was not
+perfect--no man was; there were some important truths which he did not
+yet know, but he was honest, able, and true, and he came nearer to being
+the ideal candidate than any other man whom he had ever seen. Above all,
+he represented the principles which Harley, from the bottom of his soul,
+wished to triumph.
+
+The fight had been begun against great odds, against powerful interests
+consolidated in a battle-line that at first seemed impervious, but by
+tremendous efforts they had made progress; the vast energy and the
+winning personality of Mr. Grayson were a strong weapon, and Harley was
+gradually sensible that the people were rallying around him in
+increasing numbers, and by people he did not merely mean the masses of
+the lowest, those who never raise themselves; Harley was never such a
+demagogue as to think that a man was bad because he had achieved
+something in the world and had prospered; he had too honest and clear a
+mind to put a premium upon incapacity and idleness.
+
+Lately he had begun to have hope--a feeling that Mr. Grayson might be
+elected despite the "King" Plummer defection was growing upon him, if
+they could only abide by the issues already formed. But at the best it
+would be a fight to the finish, with the chances in favor of the other
+man. Yet his heart was infused with hope until this hateful tariff
+question began to raise its head. Harley knew that a declaration upon it
+would split the party, or at least would cut from it a fragment big
+enough to cause defeat. He devoutly hoped that they would steer clear of
+this dangerous rock, but he was not so sure of Jimmy Grayson, who, after
+all, was his own pilot. And his amiability did not alter the fact that
+he had a strong hand.
+
+Harley at first heard the mutterings of the thunder only from afar; it
+was being debated in the East among the great manufacturing cities, but
+as yet the West was untouched by the storm. Mr. Heathcote, the Eastern
+committeeman, called his attention to it after they had passed the
+mountain-range that divides western Washington from eastern Washington.
+
+Harley was looking out of the window at the rippling brown plain, which
+he was told was one of the best wheat countries in the world. "At
+first," said his informant, a pioneer, "we thought it was a desert, and
+we thought so, too, for a long time afterwards; it looked like loose
+sand, and the wind actually blew the soil about as if it were dust. Now,
+and without irrigation, it produces its thirty bushels of wheat per acre
+season after season."
+
+Harley was thinking of this brilliant transformation, when the
+committeeman, who was sitting just behind him, suddenly changed the
+channel of his thoughts.
+
+"I have here a Walla Walla paper that will interest you, Mr. Harley," he
+said. "In fact, it is likely to interest us all. The despatch is
+somewhat meagre, but it will suffice."
+
+He put his finger on the top head-line of the first page, and Harley
+read: "The Tariff an Issue." He took the paper and read the article
+carefully. The debate had occurred before an immense audience in Madison
+Square Garden, in New York City, and according to the despatch it had
+excited the greatest interest, a statement that Harley could easily
+believe.
+
+"I was hoping that we would be spared this," he said, as he laid the
+paper down and his face became grave. "Why do they bring it up? It's not
+in the platform and it should not be made an issue, at least not now."
+
+"But it is an issue, after all," replied Mr. Heathcote, "and I am
+surprised that the enemy did not raise the question sooner. They must
+have had some very bad management. They are united on this question, and
+we are not. If we are forced to come into line of battle on it, then we
+are divided and they are not; don't you see their advantage?"
+
+"Yes, it is manifest," replied Harley, gloomily. Then, after a little
+thought, he began to brighten.
+
+"It is not necessary for Jimmy Grayson to declare himself."
+
+"He will, if he is asked to do so."
+
+"But we are away out here in the Western mountains, out of immediate
+touch with the great centres of population. These thinly settled states
+are doubtful, those more populous are not. Here they are not interested
+in the tariff either one way or the other; the subject has scarcely been
+mentioned on our Western tour; why can we not still keep it in the
+dark?"
+
+"But, I tell you, if the issue is presented to Jimmy Grayson, he is sure
+to speak his mind about it."
+
+"It is for us to see that it is not presented. I don't think it will be
+done by any of the local population, and we must exercise a censorship
+over the press. We must try to keep from him all newspapers containing
+accounts of the tariff debates; we must not let him know that the issue
+is before the public off there in the East. There is only a month more
+of the campaign, and, while it is not likely that we can suppress the
+matter entirely, we may keep it down until it is too late to do much
+harm."
+
+"The plan isn't a bad one," said Mr. Heathcote; "but we've got to take
+everybody into the plot. Mr. Grayson alone is to be left in ignorance."
+
+"They are all his devoted personal friends except Churchill, of the
+_Monitor_, and I can bully him into silence."
+
+Harley's face flushed slightly as he made this assertion with emphasis.
+Mr. Heathcote, who was learning much these days, smiled as he observed
+him.
+
+"Mr. Harley," he said, "no one could doubt the reality of your wishes
+for Mr. Grayson's success."
+
+All went willingly into the little conspiracy against the extension of
+Mr. Grayson's knowledge, even Churchill, under the whip and spur of
+Harley's will, promising a sullen silence. The case itself presented
+aspects that stirred these men, calling as it did for an alertness of
+mind and delicacy of handling that appealed to their sense of
+responsibility; hence it aroused their interest, which in turn begat a
+desire to succeed.
+
+But Harley, as well as Mr. Heathcote and the others, knew very well that
+it was not the enemy alone who had raised this new and, as they all
+feared, fatal issue; even if they had not read it in the despatches, the
+hand of the minority within their own party was too clearly visible. In
+the newspapers that reached them constant allusions were made to Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates, who were deeply interested
+in the maintenance of the tariff, and who, it was said, would force Mr.
+Grayson to pledge himself to its support; this, it was predicted, they
+could easily do, as it was obvious that he could not win without the
+help of this minority.
+
+Harley knew that the Goodnight faction now intended to force the
+issue--that is, either to subject Mr. Grayson or to ruin him, and he saw
+that the affair would require the most delicate handling; only that and
+the best of fortune could postpone the issue long enough.
+
+They took Sylvia into their confidence, both by necessity and choice,
+but they were rather surprised to find that in this case she did not
+believe in diplomacy.
+
+"If I were Uncle James," she said, with indignant anger, "I would tell
+them to go to--well, well, where a man would tell them to go to, and I
+would not be polite about it, either."
+
+Harley laughed at her heat, although he liked it, too.
+
+"And then you'd lose the election," he said.
+
+"I'd lose it, if I must, but at least I'd save my independence and
+self-respect in doing so. Is Uncle James the nominee, or is he not? If
+he is the nominee, shouldn't he say what he ought to do?"
+
+"Perhaps, but it isn't politics; even if he were elected he wouldn't be
+absolutely free; no ruler ever was, whether president or king."
+
+But she clung to her opinion.
+
+It was no easy matter to hide the tariff issue from Jimmy Grayson, who
+was exceedingly watchful of all things about him, despite his great
+labors in the campaign; yet his associates were aided to some extent by
+the rather meagre character of the newspapers which now reached them,
+newspapers published in small towns, and therefore unable to pay for
+long despatches from the East. But even these were censored with the
+most jealous care; if they contained anything about the hot tariff
+discussion off there in the Atlantic States, they disappeared before
+they could reach the candidate. All the news was inspected with the most
+rigid care, just as if the real feeling of his subjects was being hidden
+from a kaiser or a czar.
+
+But Harley and his friends soon found that they had laid upon themselves
+a great and onerous task, and to Harley, at least, it was all the
+heavier because he found, at last, that his heart was not wholly in it.
+Despite all their caution, references to the tariff debate would dribble
+in; Jimmy Grayson began to grow suspicious; he would ask about the work
+of the campaign orators in the East, and he seemed surprised that his
+friends, above all the correspondents, should have so little news on the
+subject.
+
+"I should like to see some of the New York or Chicago newspapers, even
+if they are ten days old," he said. "It seems odd that we have not had
+any for a week now."
+
+"The metropolitan press scarcely reaches these isolated regions," said
+Harley.
+
+"We have been in isolated regions before, and we had the New York and
+Chicago newspapers every day."
+
+Harley did not answer, and presently contrived some excuse for leaving
+Jimmy Grayson, being much troubled in mind, not alone because the
+candidate was growing suspicious, but because of a rising belief that he
+ought to know, that the truth should not be hidden from him. If the
+tariff was to be an issue, then the candidate should declare himself,
+cost what it might. Yet Harley, for the present, followed the course
+that he had set. But he shivered a little when he looked at the New
+York and Chicago newspapers that were smuggled about the train; the
+tariff question was swelling in importance, and the head-lines over the
+debates were growing bigger.
+
+A stray copy of the _Monitor_ reached them, and it was big with
+prophecy: "At last the gauntlet has been thrown down by the wise, the
+conservative, and the high moral element of the party." It said,
+editorially: "Our impulsive young man will learn that there are older
+and soberer heads, and he must bow his own to them. The _Monitor_ has
+long foreseen this necessary crisis, although the blind multitude would
+not believe us, and we are both glad and proud to say that we have had
+our modest little share in forcing it."
+
+The candidate sent for Harley the next noon, and when the correspondent
+entered the state-room set aside for his use, he saw that Mr. Grayson's
+face was grave. He held a yellow sheet of paper, evidently a telegraph
+form, in his right hand, and was tapping it lightly with the forefinger
+of his left hand.
+
+"Harley," he said, smiling the frank smile that made him so many
+friends; "I've got in the habit of looking upon you as a friend and sort
+of confidential adviser."
+
+"It makes me happy to hear you say so," said Harley, who was gratified.
+
+Jimmy Grayson looked at the telegram, and his face became grave. Then he
+handed it to Harley, saying, "I have here something that I do not
+altogether understand. Read it."
+
+It was from New York, and it said:
+
+"Your silence on tariff issue admirable. Keep it up. Don't let enemy
+force you into action."
+
+It was signed with the name of a New York politician well-known as a
+trimmer.
+
+Mr. Grayson looked Harley squarely in the eye, and the correspondent's
+face fell.
+
+"Now what does it mean?"
+
+Harley was silent.
+
+"What does it mean?" continued Mr. Grayson, in a perplexed tone. "The
+tariff has not been a real issue in this campaign. Now why does he
+congratulate me on my silence?"
+
+Harley did not speak and Jimmy Grayson's face grew grave.
+
+"I am sorry that we have not been able to keep fully informed about the
+campaign in the East," he said. "I am bound to assume from this that the
+tariff issue has been raised there, and if a fight is to be made upon it
+I, as the head of the ticket, must do my share."
+
+Then Harley confessed, and in doing so relieved his conscience, in which
+he was wise, both from the moral and prudential points of view, because
+the truth about the situation could not be hidden any longer from the
+acute mind of Jimmy Grayson. He concealed nothing, he showed that he was
+the leader of the conspiracy, and he described their devious attempts,
+with their relative success and failure.
+
+"Harley," said the candidate, when the tale was told, "I am more than
+ever convinced that you are my sincere friend. You would not have done
+this if you were not. It was a mistake, but you certainly meant well."
+
+"I did it because I thought I could help."
+
+"I know it, but I repeat that it was a mistake. Such an important matter
+could not be kept permanently in the background. It was bound to come
+forward, and with all the greater force because it had been restrained
+so long. I don't think any harm has been done, but I'll have to take the
+management of it into my own hands now."
+
+He smiled again with such frankness and sincerity that Harley's feelings
+were not hurt by his words, but he quickly realized the truth of his
+assertion about the increased force of the disclosure because it had
+been kept back so long. Now the avalanche struck them. When Harley left
+the state-room, Churchill came to him.
+
+"Harley," he said, "the _Monitor_ has telegraphed me to get a thousand
+words from Mr. Grayson, if I can, on the tariff issue. My first duty is
+to my paper, and I am bound to obey these instructions."
+
+"It's all right, he knows now; go right in to see him; but I am sure he
+won't talk to you about it; he isn't ready yet."
+
+Three or four more correspondents received instructions of the same
+character, and in addition there was a rain of telegrams for Jimmy
+Grayson himself and for his party associates. It seemed that the issue
+had suddenly culminated in the East, and the candidate would be bound to
+speak. But the telegrams to Mr. Grayson were of a varying nature; many
+of them were opposed to revision, and they were usually signed by men of
+wealth and power, those who furnished the sinews of war, as necessary in
+a political campaign--and entirely within the confines of honesty,
+too--as the cannon and the rifles are on the field of battle. Others
+took another view, and it was apparent to everybody that great trouble
+in the party was at hand.
+
+Gloom settled over the train. They were ready at all times to fight the
+enemy, but how to handle defection among their own men was a puzzling
+thing, and there was cause for despair. Sylvia, however, was glad that
+Mr. Grayson knew. She said that he would do right, whatever it might be.
+
+"I've been in to see Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Heathcote to Harley, "and I
+suggested that he might continue his silence on the great question. You
+see, he is not bound to speak. If he doesn't want to, nobody can make
+him."
+
+"No, nobody can make him speak, nor can anybody keep him from it if he
+wishes to do so."
+
+While they talked the train was slowing down for a stop at a tiny
+village of a dozen houses, and when there a long telegram was brought to
+Mr. Heathcote. He read it with absorbed attention, and when he looked up
+at Harley his face showed relief.
+
+"This is good! This is good!" he said. "The telegram is dated Chicago,
+and it tells me that a big committee of New York, Philadelphia, and
+Boston men is coming on to see Mr. Grayson. They are good members of our
+own party, all in favor of letting the tariff alone, and I think they
+can bring such pressure to bear that they will save us."
+
+Harley himself felt relief. The committee might achieve something, and,
+at any rate, the responsibility would rest upon more heads.
+
+"When can we expect these men?" he asked.
+
+"In two days; they are already well on their way."
+
+"Being an Eastern man yourself, it will fall to your lot to be the
+intermediary."
+
+"I suppose so," said Mr. Heathcote, and he sighed a little.
+
+True to Mr. Heathcote's prediction, the committee overtook them two days
+later at a way-station, and Harley saw at once that strenuous days were
+ahead, because the committee had a full sense of its own largeness and
+importance, a fact evident even to those less acute than Harley; and it
+was led by Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon themselves. It was composed of
+eight men, all middle-aged or more, and every one was set in a way of
+thinking peculiar to the business in which he had spent many years and
+in which he had made much money.
+
+All glittered with the gloss of prosperity. When they left the train
+they put on polished silk-hats, brought forth by ready servants, and
+when they walked through the streets of the little villages they were
+resplendent in long, black frock-coats and light trousers. They were
+not, as Mr. Heathcote had been in his primordial condition, young and
+merely mistaken, but they had passed the time of life when there was
+anything to be learned; in fact, they were quite well aware that they
+knew everything, particularly those subjects pertaining to the growth
+and prosperity of the country.
+
+The leader of the committee was Mr. Clinton Goodnight, who, as has been
+told, was a manufacturer of immense wealth and also a member of the
+Lower House of Congress, thus combining in himself the loftiest
+attributes of law-making and money-making. He was helped, too, by a
+manner of great solemnity and a slow, deep voice that placed emphasis
+upon every alternate word, thus adding impressiveness to everything he
+said. He was assiduously seconded by Mr. Henry Crayon, thin-faced and
+alert as ever, speaking in short, snappy sentences, from which all
+useless adjectives were elided. Mr. Crayon was self-made, and was
+willing that it should be known. He, too, had fathomed the depths of
+knowledge.
+
+They were introduced to Mr. Grayson by Mr. Heathcote, who, with useful
+experience of his own not far behind him, was able to show much tact.
+
+"I am glad to meet you again, Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Goodnight, in a
+large, rotund manner. "I am sorry I did not see more of you when we were
+together in the House. But you were very young then, you know. Who'd
+have thought that you would be so conspicuous now? I dare say you did
+not expect to see us here. We business-men are usually so much engrossed
+with affairs that we do not have time for politics, but there come
+occasions when our help, especially our advice, is needed, and this is
+one of them."
+
+Harley saw a faint smile pass over the face of the candidate, but Jimmy
+Grayson was a man of infinite tact, which, instead of being allied to
+greatness, is a part of greatness itself, and he took no notice of
+anything in Mr. Goodnight's words or manner. On the contrary, he
+welcomed him and his associate with real warmth; he was glad to see the
+great business interests of the country represented in person in the
+campaign; it ought always to be so; if the solid men took more part in
+the elections it would be better for all.
+
+Every member of the committee smiled a satisfied smile and admitted that
+Mr. Grayson's remarks were true. This was progress, as Harley could see.
+The committee may have come with advice and reprobation in its soul, but
+clearly it was placated, for the present.
+
+"We give proof of devotion to cause," said Mr. Crayon, in his sharp,
+snappy way. "Have come all the way from great financial centres to these
+lonely plains. Heavy sacrifice of time. Hope it will be duly
+appreciated."
+
+"You can rest easy on that point," said Jimmy Grayson, as the faint
+smile again passed over his face. "Your intentions will be taken at
+their full value."
+
+"We wish to have a long and thorough talk with you a little later on,"
+said Mr. Goodnight. "The subject is one of the greatest importance, and
+the age and experience of the members of this committee fit us to deal
+with it."
+
+"Undoubtedly," said Jimmy Grayson, and Harley thought that his voice was
+a little dryer than usual.
+
+Fortunately the members of the committee had their own special car,
+equipped with many luxuries, and it was attached to Jimmy Grayson's
+train. Hence there was no crowding and no displacing of the old
+travellers, but it was clear that there were now two parties following
+the candidate, since the old and the new did not coalesce. The members
+of the committee showed at once that they knew themselves to be the
+mainstay of the country, while the others were merely frivolous and
+unstable politicians.
+
+Sylvia, of course, was eager to know what they had said and how they
+bore themselves, and Harley was anxious to gratify her.
+
+"They said they were very great men, and they bore themselves
+accordingly."
+
+"Uncle James is a greater man than all of them put together."
+
+"I foresee trouble," said Hobart, joyfully, to Harley a little later. "I
+can feel it in the air around me, I breathe it, I can even see it."
+
+"Hobart," said Harley, pityingly, "you only obey your instincts."
+
+"Wherein I am a wise man," replied Hobart, with satisfaction. "I am out
+here to get news, and the livelier the news the better. Now I think
+that these gentlemen will soon furnish us something worth writing
+about."
+
+"I am afraid so," said Harley, despondently.
+
+The committee was in no haste to speak. Its members dined luxuriously in
+their private car, and invited to join them those whom they thought
+worthy of the honor--only a very few besides the ladies. Among these was
+Harley; but it was Jimmy Grayson who took him.
+
+The conversation was exclusively commercial and financial. Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates were well aware that the
+whole science of government pertained to the development of trade, and
+it was the business of a people, as well as of a man, to stick to the
+main point. It was for this reason, too, that Mr. Crayon incidentally
+let it be understood that he did not value a college education. He had
+several university graduates working for him on small salaries, while he
+had never been inside the walls of a university, and that was the
+beginning and end of the matter; there could be no further discussion.
+
+"I understand you are connected with the press," he said to Harley, who
+sat in the next chair. "I should think there was not much in that; but
+still, with careful, diligent man, it might serve as opening into
+financial circles. You must come in contact with men of importance. I
+know a man, originally a writer for press, who has risen to be a bank
+cashier. Worthy fellow."
+
+"I am sure that he must be," said Harley, and Mr. Crayon's opinion of
+him rose.
+
+The atmosphere of which Hobart spoke with such emphasis did not permeate
+the special car. There was no sign of trouble around the bountiful
+dining-table. The committee had its own way and did all the talking,
+leaving Mr. Grayson, Mr. Heathcote, and the others in silence. Hence
+there was no chance of a disagreement, and, as Harley judged, Mr.
+Goodnight and Mr. Crayon were assured that this pleasant state of
+affairs would continue.
+
+Mr. Crayon, who was pleased with his neighbor, again gave Mr. Harley
+enlightenment. He asked him about the country through which they were
+passing, and was kind enough to consider his information of some weight.
+But he permitted Harley to furnish only the premises; it was reserved
+for himself to draw the conclusions; he predicted with absolute
+certainty the future of this region and the amount of revenue it would
+yield through its threefold interests--agricultural, pastoral, and
+mineral. He added that only the trained mind could make these accurate
+estimates.
+
+"Well, what happened?" asked Hobart, when Harley returned to his own
+car.
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Nothing? Maybe so, but it won't remain nothing long. You just wait and
+see."
+
+Sylvia, to whom these men were, of course, polite, summed them up very
+accurately in a remark that she made to Harley.
+
+"It is impossible to teach them anything," she said, "because they know
+everything already."
+
+An hour later the candidate spoke at a small station to a large audience
+composed of people typical of the region--miners, farmers, and cowboys,
+variously attired, but all quiet and peaceful. There was not a sign of
+disorder, there was nothing even remotely resembling the toughs of the
+great Eastern cities. This seemed to be a surprise to the members of
+the committee, who sat in a formidable semicircle on the stage behind
+the candidate. But as the surprise wore away a touch of disdain appeared
+in their manner; they seemed to doubt whether the region and its people
+were of any importance.
+
+To Harley the speech of the morning was of particular interest, and he
+watched Jimmy Grayson with the closest attention. He wanted to see
+whether he would venture upon the treacherous ocean of the tariff, and
+he had been unable to draw from his manner any idea of his intention.
+But Jimmy Grayson did not launch his bark upon those stormy waters. He
+handled many issues, and never did he allow any one in the audience to
+doubt his meaning; it was a plain yea or nay, and he drew applause from
+the audience or a disapproving silence, according to its feelings.
+
+But the committee was satisfied, the faces of the members shone with
+pleasure, and Harley, reading their minds, saw how they told themselves
+of the quick effect their presence had upon Jimmy Grayson. It was well
+for men of weight to surround a Presidential candidate; despite himself,
+with strong, grave faces beside him he would put a prudent restraint
+upon his words. The long trip from the East and the temporary sacrifice
+of important interests was proving to be worth the price. When the
+speech was over, they congratulated him upon his caution and wisdom.
+
+But that afternoon they were caught under a deluge of Eastern
+newspapers, and in them all the tariff discussion loomed formidably.
+There was every indication, too, that this big storm-cloud was moving
+westward; already it was hovering over the Missouri River Valley,
+because the newspapers of Kansas City and Omaha, like those of Chicago
+and New York, fairly darkened with it.
+
+And the telegrams, too, continued to fall on Jimmy Grayson thick and
+fast. They came in yellow showers; all the correspondents received
+orders to get long interviews with him upon the subject, if possible,
+and the leaders in every part of the country were telegraphing to do
+this and to do that, or not to do either. It was evident that a great
+population wanted to know just how Jimmy Grayson stood on the tariff.
+
+The members of the committee took alarm; Harley saw them bustling in
+uneasily to Jimmy Grayson, and whispering to him much and often.
+
+"It's begun! It's begun! The war is on!" said Hobart, gleefully. "I hear
+the dropping bullets of the skirmishers!"
+
+"Hobart, you'd exult over an earthquake!" exclaimed Harley, wrathfully.
+
+But he knew Hobart's words to be true, and presently he drifted back to
+Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"Mr. Harley is my intimate personal friend," said the candidate to some
+of the members of the committee who looked askance at the correspondent;
+"and what you say before me you can say before him. He knows what to
+print and what not to print."
+
+"It is this," said Mr. Goodnight, and Mr. Crayon nodded violently in
+affirmation; "all the news shows that this tariff agitation is growing
+fast. But it is only a trick of the enemy to force an expression from
+us. They are united in favor of the tariff and we are not. There is a
+division within our ranks. Many of us, and I may say it is the more
+solid and conservative wing of the party, the men who really understand
+the world, know that it is not wise to meddle with the question. Leave
+well enough alone. We are interested in this ourselves, and, as you
+know, we furnish the sinews of war."
+
+He stopped and coughed significantly, and Mr. Crayon also coughed
+significantly. The remaining members of the committee did likewise.
+Jimmy Grayson looked thoughtful.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "I confess to you that my mind has been upon this
+subject for several days past."
+
+"But you will listen to advice," said Mr. Goodnight, hastily.
+
+"Certainly! Certainly!" said Jimmy Grayson. "But you see the time is
+coming when I must decide upon some course in regard to it. I appreciate
+the self-sacrifice of you gentlemen in leaving your business interests
+to come so far, and I shall be glad if we can co-operate. We reach
+Philipsburg to-night; I make a speech there, but it will be over early.
+Suppose we have our talk immediately afterwards."
+
+The committee at once accepted the offer and expressed satisfaction. Mr.
+Grayson showed every sign of tractability, and they began to feel again
+that their valuable time had not been expended in vain.
+
+Harley told Sylvia that the affair was now bound to come to a head very
+soon, but she repeated her confidence in her uncle.
+
+Hobart, however, was gloomy; his joy of the morning seemed to have
+passed quickly.
+
+"I don't like it," he remarked to Harley. "Jimmy Grayson seems to have
+followed the lead of these men without once saying: 'I am the nominee
+and it is for me to say.'"
+
+"And why not? Every dictate of prudence requires that he should. What is
+the use of taking up such a troublesome question at this late day of the
+campaign?"
+
+"But there will be no fight!" This was said very plaintively.
+
+Harley smiled.
+
+"I sincerely hope we will escape one," he said.
+
+Mr. Grayson, after the brief talk, retired to his state-room, and for a
+long time did not see anybody. Harley knew that he was thinking deeply,
+and when the time came for the next speech at another way-station, he
+followed close behind and was keenly watchful.
+
+Again the members of the committee arranged themselves on the stage in a
+formidable semicircle behind the speaker, and surveyed the audience with
+an air that bore a tinge of weary disdain. They were in one of the most
+barren parts of the country, a section that could never be developed
+into anything great, and Mr. Crayon looked upon a speech there as a
+sheer waste of time.
+
+The candidate spoke upon many important issues, and then he began to
+skirmish gingerly around the edge of one that hitherto had been
+permitted to slumber quietly. He did not show any wish to make a direct
+attack, just a desire to worry and tease, as it were, a disposition to
+fire a few shots, more for the sake of creating an alarm than to do
+damage.
+
+The committee at once felt apprehension. This was forbidden ground. The
+candidate was growing entirely too frivolous; he should be reminded of
+his duty to the country and to great business interests. Yet they could
+do nothing at the moment; Mr. Grayson was speaking, and it was
+impossible to interrupt him.
+
+But Harley, attentive and knowing everything that passed in their minds,
+enjoyed their uneasiness. He saw them quiver and shrink, and then grow
+angry, as Mr. Grayson skirmished closer and closer to the forbidden
+ground, that area sown with traps and pitfalls, in which many a man has
+broken his political limbs, yea, has even lost his political life. He
+watched the massive Mr. Goodnight as he swelled with importance and
+indignation. He knew that the great manufacturer was on pins to get at
+the candidate, to tell him the terrible mistake that he was so near to
+making, and perhaps to lecture him a little on the indiscretions of
+youth and inexperience. But, perforce, he remained silent until Mr.
+Grayson concluded, and then as the crowd was leaving, he approached him.
+The candidate seemed to be in a light and joyous humor, and he lifted
+his hand in a gesture that was a dismissal of care.
+
+"Remember our coming conference to-night, Mr. Goodnight," he said. "We
+will discuss everything then."
+
+He smiled as he spoke, and walked on, but Mr. Goodnight felt himself
+waved aside in a manner that was not pleasing to his sense of dignity;
+he was sixty years old, and he had done great things in the world.
+
+Harley and Hobart saw it all, and light began to appear on Hobart's
+gloomy countenance.
+
+"Harley," he said, "I believe that after all my first intuition was
+correct. We may yet have trouble."
+
+Harley was not so sure. It seemed to him that the affair, which was
+really not an affair, merely the bud and promise of one, could be
+adjusted, especially in these shortening days of the campaign. Tact
+would do it, and he was full of hope.
+
+The members of the committee went into their private car and were
+inhospitable the remainder of the day; apparently they wished to be
+alone, and no one was inclined to violate their wish. Harley supposed
+that they were in conference, and he was correct.
+
+They arrived at Philipsburg in a gorgeous twilight that wrapped the
+Western mountains in red and gold, but Harley scarcely noticed either
+the town or the colors over it. He was full of anxiety, as he began to
+share Hobart's view that something was going to happen, although he did
+not take the same cheerful view of trouble.
+
+The speech at Philipsburg was not long. Again Jimmy Grayson skirmished
+around the dangerous question, but, as before, he did not make any
+direct attack upon it. Just when the committee became most alarmed, he
+withdrew his forces, and the speech once more closed with the decisive
+things unsaid.
+
+But as soon as the crowd dispersed, the Great Philipsburg Conference
+began. The large parlor of the hotel had been obtained, and when Jimmy
+Grayson started, he put his hand on Harley's shoulder, saying:
+
+"Harley, the press is excluded from this conference, which is secret,
+but I take you with me in your capacity as a private citizen. I have
+made it a requisite with the committee, because you are a friend and I
+may need your help."
+
+Harley gave him a glance of gratitude and appreciation, and the two
+together entered the designated room. It was a large, cheerful
+apartment, with a wood-fire burning on the broad hearth. The members of
+the committee were already there, and Mr. Goodnight stood importantly,
+back to the fire, with a hand in either pocket, and a coat-tail under
+either arm. Mr. Crayon leaned against the wall and gently stroked his
+arm.
+
+They exchanged the usual commonplaces about the weather and the
+campaign, and, as they spoke, most of the committee looked darkly at
+Harley, but they said nothing. It was quite evident that his presence
+was a matter arranged definitely by Mr. Grayson, and it was politic for
+them to endorse it.
+
+Mr. Grayson settled himself easily into an armchair, and looked around
+as if to say he was ready to listen. Harley stood by a window, careless
+in manner, seemingly, but never more watchful in his life, and on fire
+with curiosity.
+
+Mr. Goodnight glanced at Mr. Crayon, and Mr. Crayon glanced at Mr.
+Goodnight. There came at once to Harley an amusing thought about putting
+the bell on the tiger. But perhaps these men regarded themselves as
+tigers.
+
+Mr. Goodnight gave a premonitory cough, and taking his hands out of his
+pockets let his coat-tails drop. This also was a signal.
+
+"Mr. Grayson," he said, "we have admired your campaign--have admired it
+greatly; we have appreciated the skill with which you have kept away
+from dangerous subjects, and we have been sure that it would continue to
+the end, but I must confess that this confidence of ours was shaken a
+little to-day--I trust that I am not hurting your feelings."
+
+"Oh no, not at all. I also have a statement to make," said Jimmy
+Grayson, ingenuously. "But I shall be glad to hear yours first."
+
+The big men were somewhat disconcerted, and Mr. Crayon spoke up briskly:
+
+"Great issues at stake. In such emergencies Presidential nominees must
+hear advice."
+
+"You are right," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely. "A Presidential nominee
+ought always to listen to advice."
+
+Mr. Goodnight's face cleared.
+
+"We feel that we are in a position to speak plainly, Mr. Grayson," he
+said. "We are elderly men, used to the handling of large affairs,
+and--and this cannot be said of all others in our party. We noticed
+to-day how you skirted dangerously upon the tariff question, which we
+think--in fact, which we know--should be avoided. It is a dangerous
+thing, and we trust it is only an indiscretion that will not be
+repeated; or, perhaps, it might be a little sop to these people out
+here, who really do not count."
+
+Harley glanced at Jimmy Grayson, who was distinctly in the position of
+one receiving a lecture from his elders, and, therefore, from those who
+knew more than he. But the face of the candidate expressed nothing save
+gravity and attention.
+
+"That is quite true," he said.
+
+"I am glad that you recognize our need," said Mr. Goodnight. "I do not
+know how you feel personally upon this great question, but, as I take
+it, politics and one's private opinion are different things."
+
+Jimmy Grayson raised his head as if he were going to speak, but he let
+it drop without saying anything, and the great manufacturer continued:
+
+"It is often necessary to submerge the lesser in the greater, and never
+was there a more obvious instance of it than this. We, and by 'we' I
+mean the great financial interests of the party, are interested in the
+tariff, and believe that it is best as it is. We do not know how you
+stand personally, but there is no question how you should stand
+politically. We men of finance may be in a minority within the party in
+the matter of votes, but perhaps we may constitute a majority in other
+and more important respects."
+
+"All wings of the party are entitled to an opinion," said Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"True, but the opinion of one wing may be worth more than the opinion of
+another wing," continued Mr. Goodnight; "and for that reason we who
+stand at the centres from which the affairs of America are conducted are
+here. We see the unwisdom of approaching such a subject, and, above all,
+the destruction that would be caused if you were to speak fully upon it.
+It is a topic that must be eliminated."
+
+Harley saw a quick glitter appear in the eyes of Jimmy Grayson, and then
+it was shut out by the lowered lids.
+
+"But if this is an issue, and if I am to judge from the overwhelming
+testimony of the press it is an issue," said Mr. Grayson, gently, "ought
+I not in duty both to my party and myself declare how I stand upon it? I
+freely confess to you that the matter looks somewhat troublesome, and,
+therefore, I am glad that we can consult with one another."
+
+"Why troublesome?" exclaimed Mr. Crayon, shortly. "Seems to me, Mr.
+Grayson, that your shrewd political eye would see point at once. Above
+all things must avoid split in the party. Campaign will soon close, you
+are here in Far West, nothing can force you to speak, you avoid issue to
+the last; clever politics, seems to me."
+
+And Mr. Crayon rubbed his smooth chin, his eye lighting up with a
+satisfied smile. Harley glanced again at Jimmy Grayson, and saw a frown
+pass over his face, but it was fleeting, and when he spoke once more his
+voice was unemotional.
+
+"Clever politics is a phrase hard to define," he said. "One does not
+always know just where cleverness lies. I have not said anything
+definite upon this issue, but it doubtless occurs to you gentlemen that
+I may have opinions."
+
+The committee stirred, and Mr. Crayon and Mr. Goodnight looked at each
+other; it was evident to them that they had not taken the candidate in
+hand too soon. Harley felt no abatement of interest.
+
+"That is just the point," said Mr. Goodnight, "and so we have come West.
+We felt that we must act."
+
+Harley expected to see a flame of wrath appear on Jimmy Grayson's face,
+but the candidate was unmoved.
+
+"Of course you know what would happen if you were to declare for
+reduction," said Mr. Goodnight. They seemed to take it for granted that
+if he declared at all it would be for reduction.
+
+"Not at all," replied Mr. Grayson.
+
+"But I do," said Mr. Goodnight, with emphasis. "The wealthy, the
+important wing of the party, would be bound to disown you."
+
+"Ah!" said Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Harley felt a thrill of anger, but he did not move.
+
+The silent members of the committee, who were sitting, stirred in their
+chairs, and their clothes rustled importantly. They felt that
+equivocation and indirection were thrust aside, and the law was now
+being laid down.
+
+"Then I am to understand that silence on this question is a requisite,"
+said Mr. Grayson, mildly.
+
+"Undoubtedly," replied Mr. Goodnight, with growing emphasis. "We are
+quite convinced of its necessity, and it is the demand that we make. A
+Presidential candidate must always listen to advice."
+
+"But sometimes it has seemed to me," said Mr. Grayson, musingly, "that
+in a Presidential campaign the public is entitled to certain privileges,
+or, rather, that it has certain rights, and chief among these is to know
+just how its candidate stands on any important issue."
+
+"It would never do! It would never do!" exclaimed Mr. Goodnight,
+hastily, and with some temper. "We cannot allow it!"
+
+Harley glanced again at Jimmy Grayson, but the candidate's lids were
+lowered, and no flash came from his eye.
+
+"I put it forward in a tentative way," he said, in the same mild and
+musing tone. "Of course, I may be mistaken. I have received many
+telegrams from important people asking how I stand, and I notice that
+the press is discussing the same question very actively."
+
+"They can be waved aside," said Mr. Crayon, loftily. "Telegrams can go
+unanswered, and why bother about a foolish press?"
+
+"Still," said Jimmy Grayson, mildly, but tenaciously, "the public has
+certain rights."
+
+"An ignorant mob that can be left in ignorance," said Mr. Crayon,
+briskly.
+
+"Nothing must be said! Nothing must be said! Quite resolved upon that!"
+exclaimed Mr. Goodnight, brusquely.
+
+"This resolution is unchangeable, I take it?" asked Jimmy Grayson, in
+tones milder than ever.
+
+"There is not the least possibility of a change," replied Mr.
+Goodnight, in a tone of finality. "We have considered the question from
+every side, and nothing is to be said. Of course, if you were to declare
+for a revision, we should have to abandon you at once to overwhelming
+defeat."
+
+"But I should like to say a few words upon the subject," said Jimmy
+Grayson, and there was a slight touch of pleading in his tone, "just as
+a sort of salve to my conscience. You see I am troubled about all these
+requests that I should declare myself, and I have certain ideas about
+what a candidate should do, in which I differ from you, and in which
+probably I am wrong, but I cannot help it. I should like to ease my
+mind, and hence I ask you that I be permitted to say a few words. Just
+one little speech, and I will not handle the subject again, if you
+direct me not to do so."
+
+"We are against it; we are against saying a single word," declared Mr.
+Goodnight.
+
+"Just one little speech," pleaded Jimmy Grayson. "I think the people are
+entitled to it. We stop to-morrow at a small station, a place of not
+more than twenty houses; I should like to say something there, and that
+would serve as a claim later on that I had not avoided the issue. But,
+as I said, I promise you that I will not touch the subject again without
+your permission."
+
+"Don't believe in it! Don't believe in it!" said Mr. Crayon, snappily.
+
+"I am afraid I shall have to insist," said Jimmy Grayson, plaintively.
+"I do not like to say anything that would displease such powerful
+friends, but our people are peculiar, sometimes. I feel that I must
+touch the subject a little when we reach Waterville to-morrow morning."
+
+He spoke in his most propitiatory tones, but the committee was still
+stirred. Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates demanded
+absolute silence, and they had not found it difficult to overawe the
+candidate. Yet there was a certain mild persistence in his tone which
+told them that they should humor him a little, as one would a spoiled or
+hurt child. They, as men of the world, knew that it was not well to bear
+too hard on the bit.
+
+They conferred a little, leaving Jimmy Grayson alone in his chair, where
+he remained silent and with inexpressive face. Harley still stood by the
+window. He had never spoken, but nothing escaped his attention. More
+than once he was hot with anger, but none of the committeemen ever
+looked at him.
+
+"If you insist, and as you say you will, we yield this little point,"
+said Mr. Goodnight, "but we only do so because Waterville is such a
+small place. Even then we are not sure that it is not an indiscretion,
+to call it by a mild name, and if anything should come of it you would
+have to bear the full responsibility, Mr. Grayson."
+
+"That is true," said Jimmy Grayson, cheerfully, "but as you have said,
+Waterville is a small, a very small place; one could hardly find a
+smaller on the map."
+
+"In that event it will doubtless do no harm," said Mr. Goodnight,
+relaxing a little, and Mr. Crayon, stroking his smoothly shaven chin,
+said after him: "No harm; no harm, perhaps, in so small a place!"
+
+Harley had never moved from the window, and again he studied Jimmy
+Grayson's face with the keenest attention. Harley was a fine judge of
+character, but he could read nothing there, save gravity. As for
+himself, he felt often those hot thrills of anger at the words of these
+men; would nothing stir them from their complacency? He had, too, a
+sense of pain at Jimmy Grayson's lack of resentment. It was true that
+their support was a necessity, but after all they were a minority within
+the party, and one might remind them of the fact. Yet Jimmy Grayson
+probably knew best; he understood politics, and perhaps his course was
+the wiser. But Harley sighed.
+
+After the victory, although it had not been a difficult one to win, the
+members of the committee were disposed to condescend a little. They sent
+to their private car for champagne and other luxuries which the
+candidate and Harley touched but lightly, and they treated even Harley,
+the newspaper-man, with graciousness.
+
+Mr. Crayon felt the flame of humor sparkling in his veins, and he jested
+lightly on the little speech at Waterville. "Just think of our candidate
+wasting sweetness on desert air," he said, "for Waterville is in desert,
+and, as I am reliably informed, has less than forty inhabitants."
+
+Jimmy Grayson showed no resentment, but smiled gravely.
+
+"Of course Mr. Harley understands that all this is _sub rosa_," said Mr.
+Goodnight, looking severely at the correspondent.
+
+"Mr. Harley knows it, and he is to be trusted entirely," said Jimmy
+Grayson. "Otherwise I should not have brought him with me. I vouch for
+the fact that he will say nothing of this meeting until we give him
+permission."
+
+Mr. Grayson presently excused himself, on the plea that he needed sleep,
+a plea which was admitted by everybody, and Harley also withdrew, while
+the members of the committee went to their private car pleased with the
+evening's work. Thus the Great Philipsburg Conference came to an end.
+
+The candidate and Harley walked together to their rooms through a rather
+dim hall, but it was not too dim to hide from Harley a singular
+expression that passed over the face of the candidate. It was gone like
+a flash, but it seemed to Harley to be a compound of anger and
+anticipation. Wisely he kept silent, and Jimmy Grayson, stopping a
+moment at his own door, said, in the grave but otherwise expressionless
+tone that he had used throughout the discussion:
+
+"Good-night, Harley; I don't think we shall forget this evening, shall
+we?"
+
+"No," replied Harley, and he tried to decipher a meaning in Jimmy
+Grayson's tone, but he could not.
+
+When Harley turned away, he found Hobart, Blaisdell, Churchill, and all
+the other correspondents waiting for him at the end of the hall to get
+the news of the conference.
+
+"There is nothing, not a line," said Harley.
+
+They looked at him incredulously.
+
+"It is the truth, I assure you," continued Harley. "I am not sending a
+word to my own paper. I am going straight to my bed."
+
+"If you say so, Harley, I believe you," said Churchill. "Besides, it's
+past one o'clock now, and that's past four o'clock in New York and past
+three in Chicago; all the papers have gone to press, and we couldn't
+send anything if we wanted to do so."
+
+"There is nothing to tell you," said Harley, "except that Mr. Grayson
+will allude to the tariff in his speech to-morrow, or, rather, this
+morning, at Waterville. He has promised the committee not to do so
+again--they were not very willing to grant him even so little--but it is
+a sort of sop to Cerberus; later on, if any one twits him with avoiding
+the revision, he can say, and say truthfully, that he has spoken on it."
+
+"I see," said Churchill.
+
+And before they could ask him anything more Harley had entered his own
+room and was going to bed.
+
+The morning dawned badly. The sun shone dimly through a mass of dirty
+brown clouds, and the mountains were hidden in mist. A slow and
+provoking cold rain was falling. It was also a start at the first
+daylight, and, forced to rise too early from their beds, all were in a
+bad humor. Even Sylvia was hid in a heavy cloak, and she did not smile.
+Harley had told her that he could make nothing of the conference the
+night before.
+
+They reached Waterville an hour later, and they found it even smaller
+and bleaker than they expected. Although the usual body of citizens was
+on hand to meet them at the train, the attendance was less than at any
+point hitherto. The shed under which Jimmy Grayson was to speak would
+easily hold them.
+
+But the members of the committee, when they came from their private car,
+showed satisfaction. They had enjoyed a good breakfast, their _chef_, as
+Harley could testify, was one of the best, and they were not averse to
+hearing the candidate make his record good. Hence they were all
+comfortably arranged on the platform in their usual solid semicircle
+when Mr. Grayson appeared. The candidate himself was a bit later than
+usual, but he gave them a cheerful good-morning when he appeared, and
+then proceeded at once to the matter of the speech.
+
+The audience, though small, greeted Mr. Grayson with the heartiest
+applause, and he soon had them under his spell. He talked a while on the
+customary issues, and then he said:
+
+"Gentlemen, there is one question which seemed in previous campaigns to
+be of paramount importance, but in this it has been suffered a long time
+to rest. Lately, however, it has been rising into prominence again. In
+the great centres of population to the eastward it has become a question
+first in the minds of the people, and before the campaign closes it is
+bound to become as momentous here."
+
+Harley, in a seat at the corner of the stage, glanced at the committee,
+and he noticed a slight shade of disapproval on all their faces. The
+candidate was a little too strong in his preamble, but they smiled again
+when they noticed his face which wore an expression so gentle and
+innocent.
+
+"It has been but recently that the matter came to my attention,"
+continued the candidate, in an easy, conversational tone, "but in the
+time since then I have been thinking about it a great deal. This
+question I need scarcely tell you is the revision of the tariff, and I
+am going to speak to you about it this morning."
+
+There was a sudden cheer from the audience, and the people seemed to
+draw closer around the speaker's stand. Their faces glowed with
+interest. Sylvia sat up straight and her eyes sparkled. The committee
+looked a warning at Jimmy Grayson, but he did not see it.
+
+"This question has come up late," he said, "and perhaps it could have
+been put aside. I have been told that it would be for the good of our
+party, particularly in this campaign, to do so, and many have advised
+me to keep silence, saying that I could consistently and honorably
+follow such a course, as our platform does not declare itself on the
+question; but there are some things that trouble me. This is an issue, I
+feel sure, which must be threshed out sooner or later, and as it is now
+so importantly before the country I think that I, as the standard-bearer
+of our party, should have an opinion upon it."
+
+The audience cheered again, and longer and louder than ever. Sylvia's
+eyes not only sparkled, they flashed. Mr. Goodnight half rose in his
+seat and said something in a loud whisper to the candidate, but Mr.
+Grayson did not hear it and went on with his speech.
+
+"It did not take me long to make up my mind," he continued. "I have
+decided opinions upon the subject, and what they are I shall tell you
+before I leave this stage; but first I want to tell you a story."
+
+Mr. Grayson did not tell stories often; he did so only when they were
+thoroughly relevant, and Hobart, Blaisdell, and the other correspondents
+leaned forward with sudden interest. Sylvia's face glowed.
+
+"I think I'll sharpen my lead-pencils," said Hobart.
+
+"I would if I were you," said Harley.
+
+"This story," continued the candidate, in an easy, confidential manner,
+"is about a man who was in a position much like mine. He was the nominee
+of his party for a most important office, and towards the close of his
+campaign a great issue came up again, just as in my case. He did not
+think that he ought to keep silent about it, but when he was thinking
+over what he ought to say a committee of men, representing a minority in
+his party, arrived from the great centres of population, industry, and
+finance--he was then far away in a thinly settled and somewhat
+isolated region."
+
+Again the committee stirred, and they whispered loudly both to one
+another and to Mr. Grayson, but he paid no heed to them and spoke on.
+All the correspondents were writing rapidly, eagerly, and with rapt
+attention, while Sylvia's eyes still sparkled and flashed.
+
+"Well, the members of this committee and the man met," continued the
+candidate, "and from the first they treated him as one who might have an
+opinion of his own but who must not be allowed to express it. They were
+not bad men, perhaps, but a long course of exclusive attention to their
+own personal interests had, we will say, narrowed them. That personal
+advantage was always dangling before them; they could see nothing else.
+The sun rose and set in its interest, and such an affair as the
+government of a mighty nation like the United States must be regulated
+with sole regard to it. They thought they knew everything in the world
+when they knew only one thing in it. Their ignorance was equalled only
+by their presumption."
+
+The rolling cheer came once more from the audience, but Harley saw that
+the faces of the committee had turned red. They whispered no more, but
+stared angrily and uneasily at Jimmy Grayson, who did not notice them.
+
+"How glad I am that I sharpened all my lead-pencils!" said Hobart, in a
+low tone to Harley.
+
+But Harley never stopped writing.
+
+"They did not even have the tact to treat this candidate with courtesy
+and consideration," continued Mr. Grayson. "They lectured him on his
+comparative youth and his ignorance of the world, when it was they who
+were ignorant. They told him, without hesitation, regardless of his own
+opinion and the fact that he was a free man among free men, that he must
+not speak on this issue. They threatened him."
+
+"Did he take the bluff?" shouted a big man in the audience.
+
+"Wait and we shall see," said Jimmy Grayson, sweetly. "They were
+entitled to their opinion, and he would have heard their advice, but
+their manner was intolerable; they undertook to treat him as a child.
+They called him to a conference, and there they laid down the law to him
+as a school-master would order a sulking child to be good."
+
+"Did he take the bluff?" again shouted the big man in the crowd.
+
+"Wait and we shall see," repeated Jimmy Grayson, as sweetly as ever.
+"Well, this conference came to pass, and it lasted a long time, but only
+the committee talked; they gave the candidate scarcely a chance to say a
+word. They treated him with increasing arrogance. They said that if he
+declared himself upon this great issue they would bolt the party and let
+him go headlong to destruction."
+
+"The traitors!" shouted the big man in the audience. But the members of
+the committee, from some strange cause, seemed to be struck speechless.
+Their jaws fell, but the faces of them all were as red as fire. Sylvia
+leaned forward and clapped her gloved hands.
+
+"Blaisdell," whispered Hobart, "slip away and arrange at the
+telegraph-office; any of us will give you his report. I shall have at
+least five thousand words myself."
+
+Blaisdell slid noiselessly away.
+
+"The candidate endured it all, but only for the time," thundered Jimmy
+Grayson, and now his voice was swelling with passion, while his eyes
+fairly sparkled with heat and anger--"but only for the time. He had
+decided opinions upon this subject, as I have upon the question of
+tariff revision, and he intended to utter them as I intend to utter
+mine. They said--and they said it with intolerable condescension and
+patronage--that for the sake of his record he might make one little
+speech upon the subject before a few people out in what they called the
+desert, and he accepted the concession. But there was rage in his heart.
+He was willing to be beaten by the biggest majority ever given against a
+Presidential candidate before he would yield to such insolent dictation.
+Moreover, there was the question of his true opinion, which the people
+had a right to know, and he took his resolve. There was that little
+speech, and he remembered the telegraph wire, the thin line that binds
+the farthest little village to the great world, and I say he took his
+resolve."
+
+"He called the bluff!" shouted the big man in the audience, in a perfect
+roar of triumph, and Jimmy Grayson smiled sweetly.
+
+Suddenly Mr. Goodnight, in all the might of his majesty and importance,
+rose up and stalked from the stage, and the eleven other members of the
+committee, headed by Mr. Crayon, followed him in an angry file,
+accompanied by the derisive shouts of the audience. They quickened their
+pace somewhat when they reached solid ground, but before they were
+within the sheltering confines of their private car, Jimmy Grayson was
+launched upon his great and thrilling tariff speech, in which he
+invested the driest subject in the world with an interest that absorbed
+the attention of ninety million people.
+
+All day the wires eastward and westward sang with the burden of the
+great speech made in the tiny hamlet of Waterville, in the Wyoming
+mountains, and the next morning it occupied the front pages of ten
+thousand newspapers. It was absolutely clear and decisive. No one could
+doubt how the candidate stood. He was heart and soul for revision.
+Sylvia threw her arms around his neck, and said, "Uncle James, I was
+never prouder of you than I am at this moment."
+
+When they left Waterville the private car of the committee was still
+attached to their train, but there was no communication between it and
+the other cars. About the middle of the afternoon they reached a
+junction with another railroad line. There the private car was cut off
+and attached to a new engine. Then it sped eastward at the rate of fifty
+miles an hour.
+
+Meanwhile the correspondents were holding a little conference of their
+own.
+
+"They will bolt him sure," said Hobart. "Will it ruin Jimmy Grayson?"
+
+"I believe not," said Harley, who had been thinking much. "Of course
+there will be a split, but such courage, and his way of meeting their
+attack, will appeal to the people; it will bring him thousands of new
+votes."
+
+"Whether it does or does not," said Hobart, "if I had been in his place
+I'd have done as he did."
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+ALONE WITH NATURE
+
+
+When the party returned to the train after Jimmy Grayson's thrilling
+defiance there was an air of relief, even joyousness, about them all. No
+more diplomacy, no more watching for blows in the dark, no more waiting,
+now they knew who their friends were, and they knew equally well their
+enemies. They could strike straight at Goodnight, Crayon, and all the
+others. Only in the heart of nearly every one of them there was still
+mourning for the lost leader, for "King" Plummer, whom a gust of passion
+had led astray.
+
+"Well," said Hobart, "I thank God that the split has come at last. Even
+if we are beaten out of our boots, I've got that defiance to remember,
+and the picture of Jimmy Grayson refusing either to be browbeaten or
+cajoled, even though the price was the Presidency."
+
+"We know where we stand," said Mr. Heathcote, "and that at least is a
+gain."
+
+As for Sylvia, she was thrilling with pride. Her uncle's high heroism,
+his superb truthfulness appealed to every quality in her woman's soul,
+and with another impulse full as womanly she hated Goodnight, Crayon,
+and their associates with all her heart; she believed them capable of
+any crime, personal as well as political. She felt so intensely upon
+the subject that she wanted to speak of it to somebody else, but Mr. and
+Mrs. Grayson had withdrawn to the drawing-room, and all the
+correspondents were deep in their work, as it would be necessary to send
+very long despatches to the great cities that day.
+
+Harley wrote five or six thousand words full of fire and zeal. As usual,
+he wrote from the "inside," and his was not a bare record of facts; one
+reading it, though three thousand miles away, was upon the scene
+himself; everything passed before him alive; he saw the heroic figure of
+the candidate thundering forth his denunciation; he knew all that it
+cost, the full penalty, and he shared the stern impulse which such a
+speaker in such a situation must feel; he, too, saw the astonishment on
+the faces of the committee, astonishment followed by fear and rage, and
+he shared also the noble thrill that must come to a man who had lost all
+save honor, but was proud in the losing. Harley was always a good
+writer, but now as he wrote he saw every word burning before him, so
+intense were his feelings, and even across the United States he
+communicated the same thrill to those who read.
+
+His despatch brought from his abrupt editor the one word "Splendid!" and
+it attracted marked attention not only wherever the _Gazette_ went, but
+where also went the numerous journals into which it was copied.
+Everybody who read it said, "What a magnificent figure Jimmy Grayson
+is!" and the impression was deepened and widened by other writers on the
+train who were inferior in powers only to Harley. In this his day of
+great disaster the candidate was to find that there were friends who
+were truly bound to him with "hooks of steel." Nor was he ungrateful.
+The moisture rose in his eyes when he first heard of their accounts,
+and in privacy he confided to his wife that he did not know how to thank
+them.
+
+"If I were you I should not say anything," she advised. "They will like
+it better if you don't."
+
+And he did not.
+
+Now the campaign took on a new phase. Even in the beginning it had
+differed from any other ever waged in America, and since the Philipsburg
+conference that difference, already great, increased. It was permeated
+throughout by the personal element, party platforms sank into the
+background, and in the foreground stood the titanic figure of Jimmy
+Grayson fighting single-handed against a host of foes.
+
+His hero appealed more powerfully than ever to Harley; every sympathy
+within him was aroused by this lone figure who stood like Horatius at
+the bridge--the old simile was always coming to him--and under its
+influence his despatches took on a vivid coloring and a keen, searching
+quality that thrilled all who read. And many other newspapers gave the
+same lifelike impression.
+
+The figure of the candidate, although he was admittedly a beaten man,
+loomed larger than ever to the whole country, and his enemies, although
+counting already the fruits of victory, began to feel a certain awe of
+him. They showed an anxiety to keep away from him, even in what they
+considered his dying moments, and no speaker dared to meet him on the
+platform, despite the recollections of his defeat at Egmont. The
+opposition often alluded to this "defeat," and sought to make great
+capital of it, but the sensation that it had created at first faded. It
+was surrounded by too many brilliant triumphs; people would say that on
+the day of his defeat he was ill, like Napoleon at Leipsic; that he was
+giving daily proofs that he was without a match in the world, and one
+such little incident did not count.
+
+The split in the party was made complete. Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and
+eighteen of their associates, all men of wealth and influence, came out
+in a formal signed statement published first in the _Monitor_, stating
+their position in calmness and moderation and in measured language. They
+said that they had tried to support Mr. Grayson; they had given him
+every chance; they had always been ready with advice; they had sought to
+instil in him a full sense of his responsibility, and to impart to his
+mind the breadth and solidity so necessary in a Presidential nominee;
+they were strong in party loyalty, and they hesitated long before taking
+such a momentous step; but they knew that in every great crisis brave
+men who would not hesitate at great risk to lead must be found;
+therefore they stepped into the breach. Reluctantly and with much grief
+they announced that they could not support Mr. Grayson. He was a menace
+to the country, and they felt that they must remove this danger; hence
+they would support the other side, and they advised all the solid worth
+of the country, those who cared for the national honor, to do likewise.
+
+The _Monitor_ commented editorially in its finest vein upon this tribute
+to conscience. It was glad to know that there were yet brave and honest
+men; it was never worth while to despair of the republic so long as such
+lofty and heroic citizens as Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon were
+vouchsafed to it. The American people were frivolous and superficial,
+but there was a saving remnant, men who might almost compare with the
+great statesmen of Europe, and in every emergency, every crisis, it was
+they who would make enormous sacrifice of private interest and save the
+state.
+
+Churchill followed the lead, and in a long despatch made a ferocious
+attack upon Jimmy Grayson, the man. Then, with a concealed sense of
+importance, he waited until the paper arrived, and when the two hours
+that he thought necessary to make the impression deep had passed he went
+in to Mr. Grayson and announced with an air of great dignity that he was
+prepared to leave the train; he felt that as a keen and remorseless
+critic his presence would put a severe constraint upon the candidate;
+there was nothing personal in his course, and he did not wish to prevent
+anybody from doing his best; he was aware that he must be regarded with
+the greatest hostility and apprehension, and therefore he would retire,
+seeking his news either by going before or by following.
+
+"Why, Mr. Churchill!" exclaimed the candidate, in surprise, "we do not
+dream of letting you go. You have been so long with us that your place
+could not be filled. I cannot consent to such a thing! You must stay
+with us to the end!"
+
+Churchill felt that his shot had missed again, but he said:
+
+"I spoke out of consideration. I thought that my continued presence here
+might have a somewhat disconcerting effect upon you."
+
+"Not at all! Not at all!" replied the candidate, courageously. "It's a
+blow, but we prefer to bear it rather than lose you. Ah, here is my
+niece, Sylvia; perhaps she can persuade you. Sylvia, Mr. Churchill
+speaks of leaving us; he thinks that he ought to do so because he is a
+critic of us. Sylvia, I leave him in your hands, and I want you to
+persuade him that it is only his exaggerated sense of honor."
+
+Sylvia was not averse to the task. She was wholly feminine, and hence
+there was in her a trace of cajolery which she now used. She told
+Churchill that her uncle and all his friends felt the truth and edge of
+his criticisms, but they felt, too, that although he was in the
+opposition now, they might, nevertheless, profit by them. And there was
+the influence of his personal presence on the train--his gravity of
+manner and his weighed and measured speech were a useful antidote to the
+flippancy and levity of his associates.
+
+Sylvia said these things rather by indirection than by plain words, and
+under the influence of such soothing speech Churchill gradually melted
+and became forgiving; he would stay, but it was partly for the sake of
+Miss Morgan that he stayed, and later in the day he confided to Mr.
+Heathcote that he was surprised at the way Sylvia was coming out; she
+really had strong and attractive qualities; if she were to marry a man
+of refinement and knowledge of the world who would exercise a
+stimulating and also a corrective influence upon her, she might become a
+very fine woman. Mr. Heathcote bowed assent, but looked away from
+Churchill and out of the window. Churchill's opinion of Mr. Heathcote
+also improved.
+
+There was yet one element in the situation that was not clarified. Mr.
+Plummer not only failed to appear upon the scene, but did not
+communicate in any manner with either the Graysons or Sylvia. They heard
+of him as floating about the Northwest and full of hot talk, but no one
+could put his hand upon him, and they were puzzled, because they had
+expected decisive, straight-from-the-shoulder action from the "King."
+
+In this week Harley saw Sylvia almost every hour in the day, but never
+once did he speak of the subject that was nearest both their hearts.
+Sometimes he thought that it would have been better had the Graysons
+granted her request to go, because he could see that she was suffering
+from a constant nervous strain, and that her gayety with the group was
+often forced.
+
+They came at last to Grafton, a village in the corner of North Dakota,
+where a sweep of low mountains opens out for a space and forms a wide
+valley. In that hollow lies Grafton, and to Harley it looked warm and
+inviting. The candidate was to speak here, and as Harley ascertained in
+advance that Mr. Grayson did not intend to say anything new, merely
+repeating a speech of the day before, he did not consider it necessary
+to be present; instead, he chose to take a walk through the town and its
+outskirts for the sake of fresh air, exercise, and some solitary musing.
+
+The autumn was far advanced in that Northern latitude, but the chill of
+winter had not yet come. The wide sky of glittering blue hung high, and
+in the thin air the mountain-peaks that stood far away came near; the
+wooden houses of the new town were gilded and softened by the yellow
+sunshine.
+
+Harley saw the usual audience--the ranchmen, the sheep-herders, the
+miners, and the railroad-men--all flocking towards the stand where the
+candidate would speak, and exchanging jocose or admiring comment,
+because this was to them both a holiday and a ceremony.
+
+Only a minute or two sufficed to carry him to the outskirts of the
+little town, and he would have paid no further attention to the crowd,
+but he thought he saw on its fringe a broad, powerful back that he knew.
+When he undertook to take the second look and make sure the back was
+gone, and Harley went on, telling himself, as one is apt to do, that it
+was only his fancy. The echo of cheering came to his ears, and he knew
+that the candidate, as usual, held the audience in his grasp. Presently
+the echo died, and those that followed it did not come to him, as he had
+left the town behind; although from the low crest of a swell he could
+see the heads of the people surrounding Jimmy Grayson, and by the way
+they bobbed back and forth he knew that the enthusiasm was boiling.
+
+He went down the far side of the swell, passed a clump of bushes, and
+came face to face with Sylvia Morgan. She, too, leaving the speech, had
+been walking, and the color of her face was deepened by the exercise and
+the crisp, bracing air. It had given her, also, an obvious exhilaration,
+probably physical, that Harley had not seen before in a long time, and
+her smile was of pure welcoming joy.
+
+Harley's was an answering smile, but his heart was full of a longing and
+an anger equally fierce. Never had she seemed to him more to be desired
+than on that morning; tall, straight, and young, instinct with the life
+and strength of the great upland reaches upon which she lived, her pure
+soul looking out of her pure eyes, she was a woman to be won by the man
+to whom her love was given, and he rebelled because he did not have the
+right. Temptation was strong within him, and he had excuse.
+
+"Speeches, however good, do not appeal to you to-day?" he said.
+
+"No, I prefer the mountains."
+
+She pointed to the line of peaks that formed a border of darker blue on
+the horizon.
+
+"So do I," said Harley, with emphasis, but he meant, at that moment,
+that he was glad to be alone with her.
+
+"Since chance has brought us together," he said, "why should we not
+continue in this way?"
+
+They walked on, and he was very close to her, so close that when a
+wanton wind caught a stray ringlet of her hair it brushed lightly
+against his cheek. Faint and fleeting as was the touch, every nerve
+thrilled. He said fiercely to himself that she was his and should remain
+his.
+
+They came to a little brook, a stream of ice-cold water flowing down
+from the distant mountains, and he helped her across, although a single
+step would have carried her from bank to bank. Then, too, he held her
+hand in his longer than the case warranted, and again he tingled. He
+said nothing, nor did she, but she glanced at him and she was a little
+afraid; his lips were closed in the firm fashion that she knew, and his
+eyes were on the distant mountains. Behind them came a broad shadow, but
+neither looked back.
+
+Jimmy Grayson was a great man, but Cæsar and his fortunes were now
+completely forgotten by both Harley and Sylvia; each was thinking only
+of the other, and though they were still silent, they wandered on and
+on, Sylvia content that Harley was by her side, and Harley happy to feel
+her so near that her hair blown in the wind had touched his face. Had
+they looked back they would have seen the shadow come a little nearer
+and raise its arm in an angry gesture. The town sank behind the swells,
+and before lay only a brown expanse of country that rolled away with
+unbroken monotony. A slight grayish tint, as of a mist, crept into the
+glittering blue of the sky, but Harley and Sylvia did not notice it.
+
+Sylvia felt, in a way, as if she were in a state of suspended animation.
+The world had paused for a moment, and for that reason she knew that
+fate was impending; she, too, felt a thrill running through every nerve,
+and she felt the presence, so near her, of the man whom she loved, and
+would always love. He was master to-day, and she knew that she would do
+whatever he should ask her; all her resolves, all the long course of
+strengthening through which she might put herself would melt away in the
+heat of an emotion that was too strong for her; if he said that they
+should slip back to the town, take a train to the next station and get
+married there, forgetful of her promise, "King" Plummer, the campaign,
+her uncle, and everything else, she would go with him. But she
+remembered to pray that he would not say it.
+
+Harley still did not speak. He, too, was struggling with himself, and
+saying, over and over under his breath, that he should remember his
+duty. Sylvia glanced at him covertly from time to time, and, while she
+yet felt a little fear, she admired the firm curve of his chin and the
+clear cut of his face. They came at last to a clump of dwarfed trees,
+sheltered between the swells, and they stopped.
+
+"Sylvia," said Harley, "I felt only joy when I met you, but I am sorry
+now that the chance brought us together this time, because it is a
+greater grief to see you go. I thought once that we might be together
+always, because I know that you are mine, mine in spirit at least, no
+matter to whom the law may give you, but now--"
+
+He broke off and looked at her with longing.
+
+"It is better that I should leave you and go alone," she said.
+
+She held out her hand.
+
+"This is a good-bye," she said.
+
+"But it shall not be so cold a one!" he exclaimed.
+
+He put his arms around her, and kissed her full upon the lips.
+
+"Oh, John!" she cried, and when he released her she ran back upon their
+path, her face very red, although she was in no wise angry with him.
+Harley walked on, and he did not raise his head until the shadow that
+followed them stood across his way. Then, when he looked up, he found
+himself gazing into the muzzle of a very large revolver, held by a
+large, brown hand. Behind the hand, and lowering at him, was the
+inflamed and determined face of "King" Plummer.
+
+In this crisis neither of the two wasted words. Each was a man of
+action, and each knew that long speech was vanity of vanities.
+
+Harley was pale; life was sweet, never sweeter than when it seemed to be
+leaving, but he did not flinch.
+
+"You have stolen her from me," said the "King." "I saw what you did
+there; you ought to be willing to pay the price."
+
+"I object to the word 'stolen,'" said Harley, calmly. "The love of
+Sylvia Morgan is not a thing that could be stolen by anybody."
+
+"Words differ, but acts don't. I've been a border man, and I've got to
+do things in the border way."
+
+"One of which is to come armed upon an unarmed man?"
+
+Harley saw the "King" flinch, but the finger did not leave the trigger.
+
+"You took from me when I wasn't looking all that I love best, and I'll
+take from you all I can."
+
+The red face of "King" Plummer suddenly turned gray, and Harley saw it,
+but he did not see what caused it. There was the light, swift tread of
+footsteps behind him, a warm breath upon his face, and then Sylvia's
+arms were around his neck and she was upon his breast.
+
+"Shoot if you want to," she said to the "King," "but your bullet will
+strike me first."
+
+Her eyes, for the first time in her life, sparkled defiance at him, and
+their gaze stabbed the "King" to the heart.
+
+Harley strove to put her aside, but she clung to him with strong, young
+arms.
+
+The "King's" face, pale before, now became white. It was, perhaps, the
+first time in his life that all the blood had left it, and it showed the
+power of this new and sudden emotion. "King" Plummer, in a flash, saw
+many things. The finger that lay upon the trigger trembled, and then,
+with a cry of fear, this man who feared no other man threw his pistol to
+the earth.
+
+"My God, Sylvia!" he exclaimed. "What do you think I am?"
+
+"Not a murderer!"
+
+"No, I am not; but I came very near to being one."'
+
+He looked at the two, in each other's arms as it were, and turned away,
+leaving the pistol upon the ground. "King" Plummer had seen enough for
+one day.
+
+They watched him until the broad back passed over a swell and was lost.
+Then Sylvia, blushing, remembered, and took her arms from Harley's neck.
+
+"You have saved my life," said Harley.
+
+"I do not think that he would have fired."
+
+"You have saved it, anyhow. Now it is yours, and you must take it. He
+cannot claim you after this."
+
+The blush became brilliant.
+
+"He has not given me up. He has not said so."
+
+"But he will give you up. He shall. You are mine now. Come!"
+
+He took her unresisting hand in his, and again they walked side by side,
+so close that the strong wind once more brushed the little ringlet
+against his cheek.
+
+It is a peculiarity of Grafton that the low swells around it, rolling
+away towards the mountains, look just alike everywhere. One has to be a
+resident, and an old-timer at that, to be able to tell one from another.
+Harley and Sylvia, hand-in-hand, had little thought of such things as
+these, nor were they anxious to reach Grafton quickly; yet the time when
+they must be there would come, and Harley at last interrupted a
+pleasanter occupation by exclaiming:
+
+"Why, where is Grafton? We should have reached it long ago!"
+
+Sylvia saw only the low swells, rolling away, one after the other; there
+was no glimpse of a house, no smoke on the horizon to tell where the
+village had hid itself so suddenly. Around them were the low ridges, and
+afar the circle of blue mountains. Save for themselves, it seemed a lone
+and desolate world. Sylvia became white; she knew their situation better
+than Harley.
+
+"We have lost the town! We mistook the direction!" she said.
+
+"We can easily find it again; it must be there."
+
+He pointed in the direction in which he thought Grafton lay, and
+continued:
+
+"It will merely make our walk back to town the longer, and that is what
+I like."
+
+But she, who had lived her life on the plains and in the mountains, was
+not so sure. She knew that they had walked far, because not even the
+smoke of Grafton could be seen now. Yet he was with her.
+
+"Suppose we try that direction," she assented.
+
+"And if it isn't right, we will try another; our train stays at Grafton
+all day."
+
+They walked on, saying to each other the little things that mean nothing
+to others, but which lovers love, and Grafton yet lay hidden in its
+place between the swells. The skies, changing now from a bright to a
+steely gray, were unmarred by a single wisp of smoke.
+
+Harley felt at last an uneasiness which increased gradually as they went
+on; the country was provokingly monotonous, one swell was like another,
+and the dips between were just the same; there were patches of brown
+grass eaten down by cattle, but mostly the soil was bare; it seemed to
+Harley, at that moment, a weary and ugly land, but it set off the star
+in the midst of it--Sylvia--like a diamond in the dust. He looked up;
+the mountains, before blue and distinct in the clear sky, were now gray
+and vague.
+
+"We must have walked fast and far," he said. "Look how that range of
+mountains has moved away."
+
+Sylvia looked, and her face whitened again.
+
+"It is not distance, John," she said. "It is a mist. See, the clouds are
+coming!"
+
+The mountains moved farther away and became shadowy; the steel-gray of
+the skies darkened; up from the southwest rolled ugly brown clouds;
+there was a rush of chill air.
+
+Harley understood all, and a shiver passed over him. But his fear was
+for her, not for himself.
+
+"It is going to snow," said Sylvia.
+
+"And we are lost in this desert; it was I, too, who brought you here,"
+said Harley.
+
+She looked up into his eyes, and her face was not pale.
+
+"We are together," she said.
+
+He bent his head and kissed her, for the second time that day.
+
+"You are the bravest woman in the world, Sylvia," he said. "Now we live
+or die together, and we are not afraid."
+
+"We are not afraid."
+
+He put his arm around her waist, and she did not resist. Both expected
+to die, and they felt that they belonged to each other for eternity. A
+strange, spiritual exaltation possessed them; the world about them was
+unreal now--they two were all that was real.
+
+"The snow comes, dearest," she said.
+
+Up from the southwest the ugly brown clouds were still rolling, and the
+sky above them still darkened; the mountains were gone in the mist, the
+chill wind strengthened and shrieked over the plain. Harley kept his arm
+around Sylvia's waist, and drew her more closely to him that he might
+shelter her.
+
+"Let the snow come," he said.
+
+Great white flakes, borne upon the edge of the wind, fell damp upon
+their faces, and suddenly the air was filled with them as they came in
+blinding clouds; the wind ceased to shriek and died, and the brown
+clouds, now fused into one mass that covered all the heavens, opened and
+let down the snow in unbroken volume.
+
+"We must go on, sweetheart," said Harley, rousing himself. "To stand
+here is death. We may find some kind of shelter if we go; there is none
+in this place."
+
+They walked on, their heads bent a little, as the snow was coming
+straight down. They could not see twenty yards before them through the
+white cloud, and Harley was scarcely conscious whether they climbed the
+swells or descended into the dips between.
+
+Sylvia covered her head with a small shawl that she wore. Harley wanted
+to take off his coat and wrap it around her, but she would not let him.
+
+"I am not cold," she said; "I think it is the walking that keeps me
+warm."
+
+It was partly that, but it was more the presence of Harley and the state
+of spiritual exaltation in which they remained. Both took it as a matter
+of course that they were to die in a few hours, but they had no fear of
+this death, and it was not even worth while to talk or think of it.
+Harley had spoken merely through habit and instinct of moving on lest
+they die, and it was these same unconscious motives that made them
+struggle, although they took no interest in their own efforts.
+
+"We may come to a clump of trees," said Sylvia, "or to a hollow in a
+rocky hill-side; that happens sometimes in this part of the Dakotas."
+
+"Maybe we shall," said Harley, but he thought no more about it.
+
+The wind rose again and swept over the plain with a shriek and a howl.
+Columns and cones of snow were whirled past them and over them; wind and
+snow together made it harder for them to keep their feet.
+
+"If we don't find that hollow soon, we won't need it," said Harley.
+
+"No," she said.
+
+She was very close to him, and when she looked up he could see a smile
+on her face.
+
+"Death is not terrible," she said.
+
+"Not with you."
+
+The shriek of the wind had now become a moan like the moan of a desolate
+world. They came to two or three dwarfed trees growing close to one an
+other, but they gave no shelter, and, Harley being in dread lest
+branches should be blown off and against Sylvia, they went on.
+
+"What will they think has become of us?" said Sylvia.
+
+But the only thought it brought into Harley's mind at that moment was
+the interruption it would cause to the campaign. He was sorry for Jimmy
+Grayson. He felt that the girl's step was growing less steady. Obviously
+she was becoming weaker.
+
+"Lean against me," he said; "I am strong enough for both."
+
+She said nothing, but he felt her shoulder press more heavily against
+him. He drew his hat-brim down that he might keep the whirling flakes
+from his eyes, and staggered blindly forward. His knee struck against
+something hard, and, putting out his hand, he touched stone and earth.
+
+"Here is a hill," he said, without joy, and he uncovered his eyes again
+to seek shelter. He did not find it there, but farther on, in another
+hill, was a rocky alcove that in earlier days had been the den of some
+wild animal. It was carpeted with old dead leaves, and it faced the
+east, while the wind and the snow came from the southwest. It was only a
+hollow, running back three or four feet, and one must crouch to enter;
+but except near the door there was no snow in it, and the storm drove by
+in vain.
+
+"Here is our house, Sylvia," exclaimed Harley, with a strong ring in his
+voice, and he drew her in. He raked up the old, musty, dead leaves in a
+heap, and made her sit upon them. He was the man now, the masculine
+animal who ruled, and she obeyed without protest.
+
+"Hark to the storm! How the wind whistles!" he said.
+
+Pyramids and columns of snow whirled by the mouth of their little
+hollow, and they crouched close together. Out upon the plain the shriek
+of the wind was weird and unearthly. Now and then some blast, fiercer
+and more tortuous than the rest, drove a fringe of snow so far into the
+hollow that it fell a wet skim across their faces.
+
+Sylvia did not move or speak for a long time, and when Harley looked out
+again the snow was thinner but the wind was still high, and it was
+growing much colder. The blast lashed his face with a whip of ice.
+
+He turned back in alarm, and took Sylvia's hand in his. It was cold, and
+it seemed to him that the blood in it had ceased to run.
+
+"Sylvia! Sylvia!" he cried in fear, and not knowing what else to say.
+"What is the matter?"
+
+"This, I think, is death," she replied, in sleepy content.
+
+It was dark in the hollow, whether the darkness of coming night or the
+darkness of the storm Harley did not know nor care. He could not see her
+face, but he touched it; it, too, was cold.
+
+He felt a pang of agony. When both expected to die he had neither fear
+nor sorrow; now she was about to die alone and leave him!
+
+"Sylvia! Sylvia!" he cried. "It is not death! You cannot go!"
+
+He rubbed her hands violently, and even her cheeks. He called to her
+over and over again, and she awoke from her numbing torpor.
+
+"It was beginning to be like an easy sleep," she said.
+
+"That is what we must fight," said Harley.
+
+He brushed up all the leaves at the mouth of the hollow as a sort of
+barrier, and he believed that it gave help. Then he sat down on a small
+ledge of stone and leaned against the wall.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "I want you to live, and you cannot live if this cold
+creeps into your body again. Sit here."
+
+She hesitated, and in the darkness he did not see her blush.
+
+"Why should you not? It may be our last day."
+
+He drew her down upon his knees, then closer to him, and put his arms
+around her. Presently he could feel her face against his, and it was
+cold no longer. Neither spoke nor moved, but Harley could feel that she
+was warm, and he could hear her soft, regular breathing. After a while
+he stirred a little, and he found that she was asleep. Her hands and
+face were still warm. He did not move again. She spoke once in her
+sleep, and all that she said was his name.
+
+Outside the plain was a vast sheet of snow, over which the cold wind
+moaned, and out of the east the night was coming.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+THE "KING'S" AWAKENING
+
+
+When "King" Plummet left Harley and Sylvia on the plain, he strode
+blindly forward, his heart filled with rage, grief, and self-accusation.
+He said aloud: "William Plummer, you are fifty years old, and you have
+made of yourself the damnedest fool in the whole Northwest!"
+
+Hitherto he had always held the belief that if Harley were away she
+would soon forget him and would be happy as his wife. Now he knew that
+this could never come to pass, and the truth filled him with dismay.
+
+He had ridden across country with no knowledge of Mr. Grayson's presence
+in Grafton until he was very near the place; then, when he heard of it,
+he was overwhelmed with a great desire to see these people and bid them
+defiance. He was a man who fought his enemies, and he would show them
+what he could do. So he rode into Grafton, and slipped quietly into a
+saloon to get a tonic. He was a border man bred in border ways, and
+usually liquor would have had no effect on him, but to-day it was fire
+to a brain already on fire. All his grievances now became great
+wrongs--he was an injured man whom the world persecuted; Grayson, for
+whom he had done so much in political life, had betrayed him; the girl
+whom he was going to marry had betrayed him, too, and this young
+Eastern slip, Harley, was surely laughing at him.
+
+These thoughts were intolerable to the "King," who had hitherto been
+victorious always, and now his rage centred on Harley; he saw Harley
+everywhere, at every point of the compass wherever he looked, and when
+he came out of the saloon and went down the deserted street he saw
+Harley in reality, strolling along absently, his eyes upon the ground.
+He thought first that the correspondent was on his way to join the crowd
+around the speaker's stand, but he soon perceived that he was going in
+another direction. It was "King" Plummer's first impulse--there was
+still liquid fire in his veins--to overtake Harley and demand the only
+kind of satisfaction that such a man as he should have. Then he wished
+to see where Harley was going, because he had a premonition--false in
+this case, the meeting was by accident--that he was on his way to
+Sylvia; so he decided to follow as an animal stalks its game. Only the
+most powerful emotion conjoined with other circumstances could have made
+the "King" do such a thing, as his nature was essentially open, and he
+loved open methods. Yet he trailed his enemy with the skill and cunning
+of an Indian.
+
+He saw Harley and Sylvia meet, and all his suspicions were confirmed.
+Again he felt a fierce impulse, and it was to rush upon the guilty pair,
+but he restrained it and still followed. His perceptions were trained to
+other things, but he was in no danger of being seen by them; they were
+too much absorbed in each other, and all the world passed by them
+unnoticed. The "King," though a rough, blunt man, saw this, and it made
+the fire in him burn the hotter.
+
+He saw them stop at last, he saw Harley kiss Sylvia, and then he saw
+the girl turn away. He waited until he saw Sylvia pass over the swell,
+and then he took his opportunity. Whether he would have fired if Sylvia
+had not come he could not say to himself afterwards in his cooler
+moments. Remorse upon this point tortured him for some time.
+
+When he turned away he saw nothing. He was agitated by the powerful
+truth that Sylvia preferred death with Harley to life with him, and all
+his views were inward. He still did not know what he would do, but there
+was much of a moving nature to him in the scene that he left. He had
+never before seen such a look on a woman's face as that on Sylvia's when
+she threw herself upon Harley's breast and defied his bullet; it was
+beautiful and wonderfully pathetic, and something like a sob came from
+the burly "King." Harley, too, had borne himself like a man; there was
+no fear in the face of the Eastern youth when he looked into the muzzle
+of the pistol that threatened instant death; "King" Plummer remembered
+more than once in the early days when he had been covered by the
+levelled weapon of an enemy, and he knew how hard it was in such a case
+to control one's nerves and keep steady. He could not help respecting a
+courage fully the equal of his own.
+
+He wandered on in a series of circles that did not take him far, and in
+a half-hour he stopped at the crest of a swell higher than the rest. He
+saw Sylvia and Harley far away--but he knew them well--walking side by
+side. "Well, I suppose they have the right!" he said, moodily. The fire
+within him was dying down, but he added; "I'll be damned if I look at
+them making love."
+
+The "King" had the habits bred by long years of necessity and
+precaution, and unless the distracting circumstances were very powerful
+he was always a keen observer of weather and locality. Now the fire was
+low, but he was almost at the edge of the town before his blood became
+normal and cool. Then he looked about. A half-mile away he saw a mass of
+heads, sometimes rising and falling, and a faint echo of cheers came to
+him. He knew that the candidate was still speaking, and he smiled rather
+sourly. Then he was conscious that the sunshine was not so brilliant,
+and there was a feeling of chill damp in the wind that came up from the
+southwest.
+
+The "King" glanced up at the sky; it had turned a steely gray, and ugly
+brown clouds were coming up over the rim of the southwestern horizon.
+"There's going to be an early snow," he said, and for the moment the
+matter gave him no further concern. Then Sylvia and Harley suddenly shot
+up and filled his whole horizon. He had seen them far from where he
+stood, and they were going directly away from the town, not towards it!
+And one was a girl and the other a tenderfoot!
+
+Now Harley disappeared from the "King's" horizon as suddenly as he had
+come into it, and the solitary figure of Sylvia filled all its space.
+She was not a woman now, but the desolate little girl whom he had found
+alone in the mountains, vainly trying to bury her massacred dead, and
+whom he had carried away on his saddle-bow. All the long years of
+protection and tenderness that he had given her came back to him; there
+was only the image of the slim little girl with flying curls who ran to
+meet him and who called him "Daddy!"
+
+That little girl was lost out there on the plain, and as sure as the sun
+had gone from the heavens a snow-storm was coming fast on the wings of
+the southwestern wind. He knew, and his heart was filled with grief and
+despair; no rage was left there; that fire had burned out completely,
+and it seemed to the "King" that it never could be lighted again. It was
+wonderful now to him that the flame could ever have been so fierce. And
+the boy Harley was lost, too. Mr. Plummer again remembered, and with a
+certain admiration, how brave Harley had been, and he remembered, too,
+that when he first saw him his impulse was to like him greatly.
+
+He ran back towards the swell where he had last beheld them, hoping to
+find them or at least to follow upon their traces before the snow fell
+and hid the trail. He was an old frontiersman, and with a favorable soil
+he might do it. But long before he reached the swell the snow flew, and
+the brown clouds and the whirling flakes together blotted out all the
+plain, save the little circle in which he stood.
+
+He raised his powerful voice and called in tones that carried far,
+"Sylvia! Sylvia!" But no sound came back save the lonely cry of the wind
+and the soft, whirring rush of the snow, like the soft beat of wings.
+The "King" was a brave and sanguine man, physically and mentally
+disposed to hope, but his heart dropped like lead in water. He saw the
+slim little girl, with flying brown hair, dead and cold in the snow.
+Then his courage came back, and with it all his mental coolness. He did
+not seek to rush after them, floundering here and there in the
+semi-darkness and calling vainly, but hurried back to the town.
+
+The people had just returned from the candidate's speech, and were
+crowding into the lobby of the hotel to shake Mr. Grayson's hand and to
+tell him that he would win by a "million majority." The candidate was
+enduring this ordeal with his usual good-nature and grace, although the
+crowded room was hot and close, and the odor of steaming boots arose.
+
+Into this packed mass of human beings "King" Plummer burst like a bomb.
+"Help! All of you!" he cried, and his voice cracked like a rifle. "They
+are lost out on the plain in the storm, and they were wandering away
+from the town! Miss Morgan! Sylvia! My child! And the young man,
+Harley!"
+
+There was no mistaking the "King's" meaning. Here was a mountain man,
+one who knew of what he was talking, one who would raise no false alarm.
+Both grief and command were in his voice, and the Dakotans responded
+upon the instant; they knew Sylvia, too--her fresh, young beauty, coming
+into so small a town, was noticed at once. To the last man they went out
+into the storm to the rescue; and there were many women who were
+willing, too.
+
+The candidate seized Mr. Plummer's arm in a fierce grasp.
+
+"Do you mean to say that Sylvia and Harley are lost in that?" he cried,
+and he pointed into the mass of driving snow.
+
+"Ay, they are there," said the "King," "but we will find them."
+
+"We will find them," echoed Jimmy Grayson, and, though they strove to
+make him stay at the hotel, he drew his overcoat about his ears and was
+by his side as "King" Plummer led the way. Hobart, Blaisdell, even old
+Tremaine, and Churchill as well, were there, too.
+
+They knew that Sylvia and Harley were somewhere north of the town, and,
+dividing into groups, five or six to a group, they spread out to a
+great distance. They carried whiskey for warmth, and lanterns with
+which to signal to each other, and for guidance in the night that might
+come before they returned. In the twilight of the storm these lanterns
+twinkled dimly.
+
+The "King" himself carried a lantern, and Jimmy Grayson, by his side,
+could read his face. Mr. Plummer had not told him a word, but he could
+guess the story. He had come upon them, there was a violent scene of
+some kind, and now the "King," with death threatening "his little girl,"
+was stricken with remorse. All the candidate's anger against Mr. Plummer
+was gone, melted away suddenly--and he saw that the "King's" wrath
+against himself was gone the same way. Now he felt only pity for the
+stricken man.
+
+The great line of men moved across the plain towards the north, calling
+to each other now and then and waving the dim lanterns. Jimmy Grayson
+listened for the welcome cry that the lost had been found, but it did
+not come. The "King" did not speak save to give orders--he had naturally
+assumed command of the relief party, and his position was not disputed.
+
+They advanced far northward, and they noticed with increased alarm the
+thickening of the storm. Whirlwinds of snow beat in their faces. Jimmy
+Grayson once heard the big, burly man by his side say, in a kind of
+sobbing whisper, "Oh, my little girl!" and he felt a catch in his own
+throat.
+
+Then he repeated the "King's" own words, "We will find them."
+
+"And alive!" said the "King," in fierce defiance.
+
+He did not speak again for a long time. He seemed to become unconscious
+of the presence by his side of Jimmy Grayson, the man whom in his hot
+wrath he had threatened to betray. At last he turned his head and said,
+as if it were an impulse:
+
+"Mr. Grayson, they said I was going to knife you, and I meant to do it!
+They tempted me, and I was willing to be tempted by them; but, by God! I
+gave them no promise and I won't. I was your friend, and I'm your friend
+again!"
+
+"A better I never hope to have," said Jimmy Grayson, and in the storm
+the hands of the two men met in a grasp as true as it was strong.
+
+"We will not speak of this again," said Mr. Grayson and they never did.
+A resident of Grafton, Mr. Harrison, came up to them, fighting his way
+through the snow.
+
+"Mr. Plummer," he said, "there are some rocky hills three or four miles
+north of here, with hollows and sort of half-way caves here and there in
+their sides. It's barely possible that Mr. Harley and Miss Morgan have
+got to one of those places. I think we ought to go there at once,
+because, because--"
+
+The man's voice failed.
+
+"Speak out," said the "King," "I can stand it."
+
+"Well, it's just this, though I hate to say it. It's a sure thing that
+they've gone a long distance, an' if they've hit on one of the hollows
+we're likely to find 'em alive if we get there pretty soon, but if they
+ain't in a hollow they'll be--they'll be--"
+
+"They'll be dead when we do find them. Take us to the hills, Mr.
+Harrison."
+
+The man, lantern in hand, strode on, and with him were Mr. Grayson and
+Mr. Plummer. Hobart was at the candidate's elbow. Twilight was at hand
+and the darkness was increasing, although the snow was thinning. Hobart,
+peering out on the plain, saw only the swells of snow rising and
+falling like a white sea, and overhead the sky of sullen clouds. He
+marked the agony on the faces of the candidate and the "King," and his
+own heart was heavy. There was no thrill over a mystery now; the lost
+were too dear to him.
+
+"It's night," said Mr. Plummer. In his heart was the fear that the two,
+overpowered, had fallen down and slowly frozen to death under the snow,
+but he did not dare to whisper it to others.
+
+It was heavy work going through the drifts and keeping the right way
+over a plain that had the similarity of the sea, but the men did not
+falter. Jimmy Grayson was always looking into the darkness, striving to
+see the darker line or blur that would mark the hills, but he asked no
+questions. The snow ceased, and after a while low, black slopes appeared
+against the dusky horizon.
+
+"The hills!" said the candidate, and the Grafton man nodded. They
+increased their pace until they were almost running. Neither Mr. Grayson
+nor Mr. Plummer knew it, but the Grafton man had little hope; he had
+merely suggested the place as a last chance.
+
+It took them much longer than they thought or hoped to reach the hills,
+but when they came to them they began a rapid search. The "King" and the
+candidate were still together, and the former had taken a lantern from
+one of the men. They had been looking among the hills for about a
+quarter of an hour, and they drew somewhat away from the others. The
+"King" raised his lantern at intervals and threw ribbons of light along
+the white slopes. They came to a hill a little higher than the rest, and
+he raised the lantern again. It was not a white reflection that came,
+but something misty and brown.
+
+"Dead leaves!" cried the "King." "It's a cave or a hollow."
+
+He raised the lantern higher, and the light shone directly in at the
+opening; it shone, too, upon Sylvia's face as she lay asleep in Harley's
+arms.
+
+"Babes in the wood!" muttered Hobart, who had come up behind them.
+
+The "King" paused a moment. The picture appealed to him, too, and he saw
+then in Harley only the rescuer of "his little girl." His heart yearned
+over Harley also. Then he uttered a joyous shout, dropped his lantern,
+and seized Sylvia. "Daddy," she said, awakening and putting her arms
+around his neck, "I've come back."
+
+"God bless you, my child, my daughter!" he said.
+
+To Harley it was all a dream; there was something the matter with
+him--there was a sort of dull, unreal feeling, and these men that he
+knew seemed to be very far away. Nor did he understand why they pulled
+him out so roughly, rubbed snow on his face and ears, and chafed his
+hands violently. Afterwards he remembered hearing dimly some one say,
+"We're just in time; he was freezing to death," and then he wished they
+would be gentler. Fiery stuff was poured down his throat, and he coughed
+and struggled, but they had no mercy. Then they committed the crowning
+outrage--they took him by the arms, held him up and made him run back
+and forth in the snow. After that the pain came; there were strong
+needle-pricks all through him, and he heard some one say in a foolish
+tone of satisfaction, "He's coming around all right." Then they poured
+more fiery stuff down his throat.
+
+After a while the needle pains ceased, and Harley understood that they
+had saved him from freezing to death. He thought at once of Sylvia;
+there she stood wrapped from chin to heel in a great fur coat, and she
+smiled at him.
+
+It was a slow but happy walk back to Grafton. The "King's" joyful shout
+had been repeated and passed on to all the searchers, and all the
+lanterns had been whirled aloft in rejoicing signal. Messengers were
+already hurrying on to Grafton with the news.
+
+Harley walked by the side of Mr. Grayson, who had given his hand one
+strong clasp and who had said, "Harley, it was like finding a brother."
+Sylvia leaned on Mr. Plummer's arm because the whole of her strength had
+not yet come back. "Daddy," she whispered, "where did you come from?
+We've been waiting for you a long time."
+
+"Something up there must have called me," he replied, reverently,
+pointing to the heavens, in which the new stars twinkled. "Sylvia," he
+continued, "I'm not a fool any more. Forgive your old daddy and you can
+love the boy."
+
+"Not unless you are really, truly, and wholly willing, daddy."
+
+"Really, truly, and wholly, my little girl."
+
+"Now you must tell him so, daddy."
+
+"I'll tell him so."
+
+They were startled by Sylvia suddenly stopping, throwing her arms around
+Mr. Plummer's neck, and kissing him. But they ascribed it to the
+hysteria natural in a woman under such circumstances.
+
+The world was still unreal to Harley. Now and then the people with whom
+he was walking seemed very far away, merely vague black shadows on the
+white plain of snow; all but Sylvia, who smiled again at him, and who
+he thought had drawn him back to earth.
+
+As they approached the town the "King" gave Sylvia to her uncle and fell
+back a little, until he was by the side of Harley.
+
+"Lad," he said, and he used the word because he felt that Harley was
+very much younger than he, "you've won her and she's yours; I'll give
+her to you. I've played the part of father to her, and it's what I ought
+to keep on playing. I see it now. I guess I keep a daughter and gain a
+son."
+
+Harley looked squarely into his eyes--the world was real now--and he saw
+the utmost sincerity there.
+
+"Mr. Plummer," he said, "you are one of God's noblemen."
+
+The "King's" hand and Harley's met in a strong and true grip, and those
+who noticed thought it was another incident due wholly to the stress of
+the night and the storm.
+
+When they reached the town Mrs. Grayson took Sylvia in her arms and the
+others left her. Jimmy Grayson was to speak the next day at Freeport, a
+village a little farther on, but that speech was never delivered, and
+when the Freeport people heard the reason they made no complaint.
+
+It was announced the next morning that Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia would
+leave at once for the candidate's home, as their part of the campaign
+was finished, but Harley found Sylvia alone in the little parlor of the
+hotel. She was sitting by the window looking out at the vast snowy
+plains and the dim blue mountains afar, and apparently she did not hear
+him as he entered, although he closed the door behind him with a slight
+noise. He leaned over her and took one of her hands in both of his.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "won't you come away from the window a moment?"
+
+He did not wait for her answer, but drew her away.
+
+"I do not want any one in the street to see me kiss you," he said, and
+he kissed her.
+
+Her cheeks, already red, grew redder.
+
+"You mustn't do that," she said.
+
+"I can't help myself," he said, humbly, and did it again.
+
+"I have the right," he added, "because you are mine now. Last night Mr.
+Plummer, of his own free will and volition, gave you to me."
+
+"Good old daddy!" she murmured.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+ELECTION NIGHT
+
+
+At last came the great day which was to tell whether their efforts were
+a brilliant success or a dire failure--there was no middle ground--and
+the special train took them to the small city in which the candidate
+lived. All the correspondents were yet with him, as on the eventful
+night following the eventful day they must tell the world how Jimmy
+Grayson looked and what he said when the wires brought the news, good or
+bad. A few faithful political friends had been invited also to stay with
+him to the end, and they completed the group which would share the
+hospitality of the candidate, who must smile and be the good host while
+the nation was returning his sentence. Harley thought it a bitter
+ordeal, but it could not be helped.
+
+After his recognition of the great fact that Sylvia and Harley loved
+each other and belonged to each other, "King" Plummer had gone to Idaho
+for a while, but he rejoined them on the homeward journey, and his
+spirits seemed fully recovered. He drifted easily in conversation about
+her into the old paternal relationship with Sylvia which became him so
+well, and he never again alluded to that vain dream of his that he might
+be something else. Moreover, after his temporary alienation he had
+become a more ardent Graysonite than ever, and would not hear of
+anything except his triumphant election, despite the immense power of
+the forces allied against him.
+
+While they changed cars often in the West, the one that bore them to the
+candidate's town had been their home for several weeks, and even the
+engine was the same; thus the train attendants fell under the spell of
+Jimmy Grayson, and when he walked down their car-steps for the last time
+they came around him in their soiled working clothes and wished him
+success. It was scarcely dawn then, the east was not yet white, but
+Harley could see sincerity written all over their honest faces, and
+Jimmy Grayson, who had listened to ten thousand words of the same kind,
+some true and some false, was much moved.
+
+"Sir," said the engineer, "at midnight, when the tale is told, I shall
+be three hundred miles from here, but if you are not the man, then it is
+a tale that I shall not care to hear."
+
+"Friends," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely, "I am glad to have your good
+wishes; the good wish is the father of the good act, and whatever tale
+the coming night has to tell let us endure it without vaunting or
+complaint."
+
+As Mr. Grayson and his friends walked away in the growing dawn, the
+railroad men raised a cheer. A little later Harley heard the puff, puff
+of a locomotive followed by the grinding of wheels, and the train which
+had been their home whirled away into that West where they had seen and
+done so many strange things. Harley tried to follow it awhile with his
+eyes, because this was like a parting with a human being, an old and
+faithful friend; he felt, too, that the most vivid chapter yet in his
+life was closing. Unconsciously he raised his hand and waved good-bye;
+the others, noticing the act, understood and were silent.
+
+All were under the influence of the morning, which was dawning slowly
+and ill. There are fine days in November, yet we cannot depend upon it,
+and now the month was in one of its bad humors. An overcast sun was
+struggling through brown, ominous clouds, and its light was pale and
+cold. A sharp wind whistled against the houses, yet shuttered and silent
+in these early morning hours. The city was still asleep, and did not
+know that the candidate had come home to hear his fate.
+
+"Is this ugly sky an omen of ill?" asked Churchill, who, despite his
+supercilious nature and the fact that he represented an opposition
+newspaper, had come at last under the spell of Jimmy Grayson and was in
+a way one of the band.
+
+"If it is a gray sky for Mr. Grayson, it is a gray sky for the other
+man, too, and I draw no inference from the circumstance," replied
+Harley.
+
+Nevertheless there was an oppression over the whole group--perhaps it
+was because they were so near the end; and scarcely another word was
+said as they walked along the silent street, each thinking of the day at
+hand and the night to follow.
+
+The candidate had offered all the hospitality of his house, but none
+would accept, not wishing to intrude upon the first freshness of his
+family reunion; they intended to register at the hotels and come to his
+home later on for the news of the day. So they stopped at a street
+corner, bade him a short farewell, and allowed him to go on alone.
+
+But Harley could not resist the temptation of looking back. They had
+arrived in the town two hours ahead of time, and he knew that the
+candidate's family were not yet expecting him, but he could see the
+house behind its shield of trees, now swept of foliage, and already
+there were signs of life about it. He saw the candidate's wife run down
+the steps and meet her husband, and then he looked away.
+
+"This is one part of a Presidential campaign that we must not watch," he
+said to the group about him, and without a word they walked to their
+hotel, not glancing back again, although more than one in the group was
+secretly envious of Harley, because of the welcome that they knew
+awaited him a little later.
+
+It was a good hotel that received them, and it was an abounding
+breakfast that awaited them there. Harley sat near a window of the
+dining-room, where he could look out upon the street and see the city
+coming to life, a process that began but slowly, because it is always a
+holiday when the people cast their votes for a President. Yet the city
+awoke at last, men began to appear in the streets, a polling-booth
+opposite the hotel was opened, and the Presidential election had begun.
+
+The dining-room was now filling up, and all around Harley and his
+friends rose the hum of interested talk. People were beginning to
+speculate on the result, and to point out the strangers whom Jimmy
+Grayson had brought among them.
+
+Harley presently went into the lobby and found it crowded. All there
+were touched by a keen, eager interest, and were balancing the chances.
+The correspondent, alert, watchful, saw that the bulk of opinion was
+against Jimmy Grayson. He saw, too, that while there was much local
+pride in the candidate, it was tinctured by envy, and here and there by
+malice. He realized to the full the truth of the old adage that a
+prophet is never without honor save in his own country.
+
+In that crowded lobby were men who had been conspicuous in local public
+life when Jimmy Grayson was a mere boy, and they could not understand
+how he had passed them; it was a chance, they said and believed--mere
+luck, not merit. Others, in a tone of patronage, told stories of the
+days when he was a threadbare and penniless young attorney, and they
+named at least five other men of his age who had been more promising.
+Then they depreciated his gifts, and in the same breath disclaimed all
+intention of doing so, believing, too, that the disclaimer was genuine.
+Yet Harley had no great blame for these men; he understood how bitter it
+was for them to see the hero march by while they stood still, and it was
+not the first instance of the kind that he had noticed.
+
+But the crowd, on the whole, was loyal, and sincerely wished Jimmy
+Grayson success. Yet they could not keep down gloomy forebodings. There
+had been a defection of a minority within the party, led by Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates, who had gone bodily into
+the enemy's camp, a procedure which had made much noise in the American
+world, and none could tell how much it would cost. The story of the
+Philipsburg conference and Jimmy Grayson's great speech at Waterville
+was known to everybody, and now, while the old politicians applauded his
+courage and honesty, they began to fear its effects. Harley felt the
+same thrill of apprehension, the momentary timidity, that even the
+bravest experience when about to go into battle.
+
+Those in the lobby soon knew Harley and his friends, and the nature of
+their business, and many questions which they could not answer were
+asked them. "You have been with Jimmy Grayson all along; will he win?"
+and whether it was Harley or another he was forced to reply that he did
+not know.
+
+Harley now looked at his watch, something he had been eager to do for a
+time that seemed interminable to him; it was yet early, so the watch
+told him, but he looked out next at the heavens and the day was
+unfolding. "I will go now; I refuse to wait any longer," he said to
+himself, and he slipped away from the crowd.
+
+He went rapidly down the street, and the Presidential campaign was not
+in his mind at all; the only thought there was Sylvia! Sylvia! He stood
+presently before the Grayson door and rang the bell. He remembered how
+he had rung that same bell five months ago, never dreaming that his fate
+would answer his ring. And now that same happy fate was answering it
+again, because, when the door swung back, there was Sylvia, her hand
+upon the bolt and the smile of young love that has found its own upon
+her face.
+
+"I knew it was you--I knew your ring," she said, unconscious of the fact
+that one ring is like another.
+
+"And you came to meet me," said Harley. "It is fitting; you opened it
+first to me and you let my happiness in."
+
+"And you brought mine with you when you came."
+
+They were young and much in love.
+
+Harley stepped inside, and she closed the door.
+
+"I think I shall kiss you," he said.
+
+"Uncle James and Aunt Anna are in the next room."
+
+"I don't want to kiss either Uncle James or Aunt Anna."
+
+"They might come."
+
+"I defy them--yes, I bid defiance even to a Presidential nominee."
+
+He put his arm around her waist and kissed her.
+
+"You know that he hasn't had time to come."
+
+"Then I give him another chance. I defy that terrible man again. Yes, I
+defy him twice, thrice, and more times."
+
+She struggled a little, and her cheeks flamed, but she thought how fine,
+tall, and masterful he was, and how long it was since she had seen
+him--it had not really been long.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "this is the next best day."
+
+"The next best day?" wonderingly.
+
+"The next best day to the one on which we shall be married. I think I
+shall defy your terrible uncle again."
+
+And she blushed redder than ever. As a matter of fact the "terrible
+uncle," hearing a step in the hall, came to the door of his room and saw
+this defiance issued to him not only once, but twice. Whereupon he
+promptly went back into his own room, shut the door, and said to his
+wife, "Anna, you must not go into the hall for at least ten minutes." He
+remembered some meetings of his own, and Mrs. Grayson, although she had
+not looked into the hall, understood perfectly.
+
+Presently Sylvia, keeping herself well into the background, showed
+Harley into the parlor, and he paid his respects to Mrs. Grayson, who
+was sincerely glad to see him again. She looked upon him now as one of
+the family. "King" Plummer came before long, and by-and-by he and Harley
+went into the town to seek political news. "But I'll be back soon," he
+said to Sylvia.
+
+"And I'll be at the door when you come," she said to him.
+
+They did not spend more than an hour in the town, and when they returned
+the other correspondents were with them. The day had not improved, the
+lowering clouds still stalked across the horizon, and the wind came cold
+and sharp out of the northwest.
+
+"I've had a telegram from New York saying that a great vote is being
+polled," said Hobart, "and I've no doubt it's the case throughout the
+East. Yet Jimmy Grayson is bound to sit at home helpless while all this
+great battle is going on."
+
+"He has done his work already," said Harley; "and now it is the rank and
+file who count."
+
+There was no sign of gloom at the Grayson home. The candidate,
+refreshed, and with his half-dozen young children around him, was
+unfeignedly happy, while Mrs. Grayson, hovering near her husband, who
+had been practically lost to her for, lo! these many months, showed the
+same joy and relief. She received the group with genuine warmth--her
+husband's friends were hers--and bade them make the house their home
+until the fight was over. Sylvia greeted them as old comrades, which, in
+fact, they were. A room with tables for writing was already set apart
+for their use.
+
+The children were in holiday attire and thrilled by excitement; they
+could not be suppressed. They were well aware what it was to be
+President of the United States, and they failed to understand how any
+one could vote against their father. "If he is beaten," thought Harley,
+"it is not Mr. Grayson nor Mrs. Grayson who will feel the most
+disappointment, but these little children."
+
+Neither the candidate nor his wife alluded to the Presidential race,
+seeming to enjoy this short respite after the long strain and before the
+crucial trial yet to come. They talked of the small affairs of the home,
+and she gave the news of their neighbors, as if they would make the most
+of this brief hour; yet it was not wholly natural, there was in it a
+note of suspense, and Harley knew that, despite the joy of reunion, the
+shadow of the coming night was already over them. Jimmy Grayson must
+feel that while he idled about his own home the ballots were falling in
+the boxes off to the East and to the West by the hundred thousand, and
+his own fate was being decided.
+
+Harley and Sylvia, after the greetings and the casual talk, slipped away
+from the others. There was a little glass-covered piazza at the back of
+the house, and there they sat.
+
+"Now you must tell me all that you have been doing since I left you."
+
+"Nothing worth the telling. How could anything interesting happen after
+you had gone? But I've been doing some fine thinking."
+
+"Of what?"
+
+"Of you!--always you! I've had to tear up the first page of many of my
+despatches."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I would address them to Sylvia instead of to the _Gazette_."
+
+"John, I didn't know that you had imagination."
+
+"It isn't imagination; I don't need imagination when I'm near you or
+thinking of you, which is all the time."
+
+"And you are going to marry a Western girl, after all?" irrelevantly.
+
+"I wouldn't marry any other kind, and there is only one of them that I
+would marry."
+
+They did not speak again for a half-minute, but what they said was
+relevant.
+
+But the best of times must come to an end, even if it is merely to give
+way to another good time, and Harley could not remain long at the
+candidate's house, but strolled with Blaisdell and two or three others
+through the city. He, too, had a sense of helplessness in regard to the
+campaign. Like Jimmy Grayson, he was now condemned to a period of
+inaction, and, strive as he might, he could not aid his friend a
+particle. They went to the local headquarters of the party--two parlors
+of the largest hotel in the city.
+
+The rooms, which had been thrown together, were packed with men and
+thick with tobacco-smoke, making the air heavy and hot. News there was
+none, but clouds of rumor and gossip. The telegraph said bad weather,
+cold and raw, with gusts of rain, prevailed all over the United States,
+but that an enormous vote was being polled, nevertheless. In all the
+booths in all the great cities long lines of people were waiting, and
+reports of the same character were coming from the country districts.
+But with the secret ballot there was nothing whatever to indicate which
+way this vote was being cast, nor would there be until the polls were
+closed and the official count was begun. It was said that in many of the
+precincts of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia more than half the vote
+was cast already, so eager were both sides for victory. These bulletins,
+more or less vague as they came from time to time, were posted on a
+blackboard, and their vagueness did not keep them from arousing the
+keenest interest.
+
+Dexter, the chairman of the state committee, a thin-faced man who talked
+little, shook his head ominously.
+
+"I don't like the enormous vote they are polling so early in the big
+cities," he said. "It shows that the band of traitors led by Goodnight,
+Crayon, and their kind are getting in their work."
+
+"But we don't know it to be a fact," said Harley, resolved that the
+cloud should have its silver lining. "For every man in that crowd eager
+to cast a vote against Jimmy Grayson, there may be one eager to cast a
+vote for him."
+
+Dexter shook his head again, and with increased gloom. Harley's argument
+might appeal to his hopes, but not to his judgment.
+
+"I'm sorry that Jimmy Grayson made his attack upon that committee," he
+said. "It spoke well for his courage and honesty, but it was bad
+politics."
+
+"I think that courage and honesty are good politics," said Harley, and
+he left Dexter to his pessimistic thoughts.
+
+The rooms were growing too close, and there was an absence of definite
+news, so he went again into the open air. The character of the day was
+unchanged; it was still dark with ominous clouds trooping across the
+sky, and the wind had grown more bitter.
+
+Harley now found himself under the strain of an extreme anxiety. He did
+not realize until this day how deeply his own feelings were interwoven
+with the fate of the campaign, and how bleak the night would look to him
+and Sylvia if Mr. Grayson were beaten--and he knew that the odds were
+against him; despite himself, he, a man of calm mind and strong will,
+was a prey to nerves. He began to shrink at the thought of the count of
+the votes, and to fear the first real bulletins.
+
+He walked about the streets awhile to steady himself, and then looked at
+his watch. It was past noon there, but later in the East and earlier in
+the West; yet the bulk of the ballots were cast already. In three or
+four hours more the tabulated vote in the states farthest east would
+begin to arrive, and they would listen to the opening chapter of the
+story, a story which he feared to hear.
+
+Absorbed in his thoughts, he had strolled unconsciously towards the
+country. There, at a turn of the road, he met two people in a light
+wagon, and they were the candidate and his wife Mrs. Grayson driving.
+Harley looked up in surprise at their calm, cheerful faces. How could
+they assume such an air with the combat at its height?
+
+"I'm sorry you and Sylvia were not with us," said Mr. Grayson; "Mrs.
+Grayson has been taking me to see the changes in the country since I
+went campaigning. There are a half-dozen new residences in the suburb
+out yonder, and they've built a new foot-bridge, too, over the river.
+Oh, our city is looking up!"
+
+They drove on cheerfully, and Harley went back to town. All the
+arrangements for the night were made; the two great telegraph companies
+would handle their despatches in equal proportion, and would send
+bulletins of the count, as fast as they came, to the candidate.
+Headquarters would do the same, and there would be no lack of news.
+
+Harley rejoined his comrades at the hotel, but stayed with them only a
+little while, because he, of course, was to dine with Sylvia and the
+Graysons. All the others had been invited, but they did not wish to
+overwhelm the candidate on this day of all days, and none except "King"
+Plummer would go.
+
+"Lucky fellow," said Hobart, as Harley walked away.
+
+"But not luckier than he deserves," said Blaisdell.
+
+After dinner Hobart looked at his watch, then shut it, and with a quick
+motion thrust it into his pocket.
+
+"The polls have closed in three-fourths of the states," he said, "and
+probably somebody is elected. I wonder who it is?"
+
+Nobody replied, but on their way to Jimmy Grayson's house they passed
+through the party headquarters. The rooms were so crowded that they
+could scarcely move, but they managed to approach the blackboard, and
+they saw written upon it:
+
+"Goodnight, Crayon, and others claim decisive defeat of Grayson. Assert
+that he will not get one-third the vote of the electoral college."
+
+"What nonsense!" exclaimed Hobart, who felt a thrill of anger. "Why,
+they have not begun the count of the vote anywhere!"
+
+They left the rooms and went into the street. The November twilight was
+coming earlier than ever under the shadow of the thickening clouds, and
+already lights were beginning to shine from many windows. Uniformed
+messenger-boys were passing.
+
+"The wires will soon be talking," said Churchill.
+
+The candidate's house was not inferior to any in the number of its
+lights. In the cold, dark twilight it reared a cheerful front, and the
+candidate himself, when he received them, was steady and calm.
+
+"Some of our friends are here already," he said, and he had them shown
+into the large room, where the tables for their use had been placed.
+
+It was brilliantly illuminated, and a dozen men were sitting about
+speculating on the events of the day and hoping for a happy result.
+Among them was old Senator Curtis, who had come all the way from
+Wyoming, and he was loudly declaring that if Mr. Grayson were not
+elected he would never take any interest in another Presidential
+election. The others made no comment on his declaration.
+
+Harley came in late. At dinner with the Graysons he had been thinking,
+when he looked at Sylvia's lovely face across the table, that it would
+always be just across the table from him now, and the thought was such a
+happy one that it clung to him.
+
+The correspondents disposed themselves about the room, and placed pencil
+and paper on the tables; yet there would be nothing for them to write
+for a long time. They were only to tell the story of how the candidate
+took it, after the story itself was told. Their business was with either
+a pæan or a dirge.
+
+Harley looked around at the group, all of whom he knew.
+
+"Have you fellows thought that this is our last meeting?" he asked.
+
+There was a sudden silence in the room. All seemed to feel the solemnity
+of the moment. Out in the street some happy men, who had helped to empty
+the bowl, were singing a campaign song, and its sound came faintly to
+the group.
+
+"A wager to you boys that none of you can name the state from which the
+first completed return will come. What odds will you give?" said "King"
+Plummer, who was resolutely seeking to be cheerful.
+
+"We won't take your wager because we'd win, sure," said Hobart. "It will
+be a precinct in New York City, up-town. They get through quick there;
+they never fail to be first."
+
+"Whatever the vote there is, I am going to look upon it as an omen,"
+said Mr. Heathcote. "If our majority is reduced it will mean a bad
+start, good ending; if our majority is increased, it will mean that a
+good beginning is half the battle."
+
+Dexter, the chairman of the state campaign committee, entered, his thin
+face still shadowed by gloomy thoughts.
+
+"We've had a few bulletins at headquarters, but nothing definite," he
+said. "All the reports so far are from the East, of course, owing to the
+difference in time, but I'd like mighty well to know what they are doing
+out there on the Slope and in the Rockies."
+
+"We'll know in good time, Charlie; just you wait," said Jimmy Grayson,
+who was the calmest man in the room.
+
+"I've done enough waiting already to last me the rest of my life," said
+Dexter, moodily.
+
+The door was opened softly, and four or five pairs of young eyes peeped
+shyly into the room. The candidate, with assurances that there was
+nothing to be told, gently pushed the youthful figures away and closed
+the door again.
+
+"I would put them to bed," he said, apologetically, "but they can't
+sleep, and it is not any use for them to try; so they are supposed to be
+shepherded in another part of the house by a nurse, but they seem to
+break the bounds now and then."
+
+"I claim the privilege of carrying them the good news when we get it, if
+they are still awake," said Harley.
+
+A messenger-boy entered with a despatch, but it contained no
+information, merely an assurance from a devoted New England adherent
+that he believed Jimmy Grayson was elected, as he felt it in his bones.
+
+"Why does a man waste time and money in telegraphing us a thing like
+that?" said Dexter. "It isn't worth anything."
+
+But Harley was not so sure. He believed with Jimmy Grayson that good
+wishes had more than a sentimental value. He went to the window and
+gazed into the street. The number of people singing campaign songs as
+they waited for the news was increasing, and the echoes of much laughter
+and talk floated towards the house. Farther down the street they were
+throwing flash-lights on white canvas in front of a great crowd, but so
+far the bulletins were only humorous quotations or patent-medicine
+advertisements, each to be saluted at the beginning with a cheer and at
+the end with a groan. He turned back to the table just as another boy
+bearing a despatch entered the room.
+
+Mr. Dexter had constituted himself the clerk of the evening--that is, he
+was to sit at the centre-table and read the despatches as they came. He
+took the yellow envelope from the boy, tore it open, and paused a
+moment. Then all knew by the change upon his face that the first news
+had come. Dexter turned to Hobart.
+
+"You were right," he said, "it is from New York City, up-town. The
+Thirty-first Assembly District in the City of New York gives a majority
+of 824 for Grayson. This is official."
+
+At another table sat a man with a book containing the complete vote of
+all the election districts in every state of the Union at the preceding
+Presidential election. All looked inquiringly at him, and he instantly
+made the comparison.
+
+"We carried the Thirty-first Assembly District of the City of New York
+by 1077 four years ago," he said. "Our majority suffers a net loss of
+253."
+
+"Did I not tell you?" exclaimed Heathcote. "A bad start makes a good
+ending."
+
+"It's a happy sign," said Sylvia, with her usual resolute hopefulness.
+
+But, despite themselves, a gloom settled upon all; the first report from
+the battle was ominous--such a loss continued would throw the election
+heavily in favor of the other man--and after her remark they were
+silent.
+
+Mrs. Grayson looked into the room, but they told her there was nothing,
+and, whether she believed them or not, she closed the door again without
+further question.
+
+"Here comes another boy," said Hobart, who was at the window, watching
+the crowd before the transparency.
+
+"Now this is good news, sure," said "King" Plummer.
+
+It was from another assembly district in New York City, and the party
+majority was cut down again, but this time the reduction was only 62
+votes.
+
+"That's better," said Mr. Heathcote.
+
+"It will have to be a great deal better to elect our man," whispered
+Hobart to Harley.
+
+Harley went to the window again, and looked down the street towards the
+transparency, where the opposition voters were cheering wildly at the
+first news so favorable to their side. Despite himself, Harley felt an
+unreasoning anger towards them. "You cheer about nothing," he said to
+himself. "This is only a few thousand votes among millions." Then he was
+ashamed of his feeling, and left the window.
+
+"The Hub speaks!" exclaimed Mr. Dexter, as he tore open another
+envelope. Then he announced a vote from one of the wards of Boston.
+
+"And it speaks right," said the man with the book. "Mr. Grayson cuts
+down the majority polled against us there four years ago by 433 votes."
+
+A little cheer was raised in the room, and down the street at the
+transparency there was a cheer, too, but the voices were not the same as
+those that cheered a few moments ago.
+
+"Good old Boston," said Hobart, "and we made that gain right where the
+enemy thought he was strongest!"
+
+The first gain of the evening had a hopeful effect upon all, and they
+spoke cheerfully.
+
+But a vote from Providence, a minute later went the other way, and it
+was followed by one of a similar nature from New Haven. The gloom
+returned. Their minds fluctuated with the bulletins.
+
+"It was too good to last," whispered Hobart, downcast.
+
+The children again appeared at the door and wanted to know if their
+father was elected. Sylvia took upon herself the task of assuring them
+that he was not yet elected, but he certainly would be before many
+hours. Then they went away sanguine and satisfied, and trying to keep
+sleepy eyelids from closing. In the street the noise was increasing as
+the crowd received facts, and the cheers were loud and various. But
+those of the enemy predominated, and Harley thrilled more than once with
+silent anger. A half-dozen men passed the house singing a song in
+derision of Jimmy Grayson; some of the words came to them through the
+window, and Sylvia flushed, but Mr. Grayson himself showed no sign that
+he understood.
+
+The telegrams now were arriving fast; there were two streams of boys,
+one coming in at the door and the other going out, and Mr. Dexter, at
+the table, settled to his work. For a while the chief sounds in the room
+were the tearing of paper, the rustling of unfolded despatches, and the
+dry voice of the chairman announcing results. These votes were all from
+Eastern cities, where the polls closed early and the ballots could be
+counted quickly. Over the West and the Far West darkness still brooded,
+and the country districts everywhere were silent.
+
+Yet Harley knew that throughout the United States the utmost activity
+prevailed. To him the night was wonderful; in a day of perfect peace
+nearly twenty million votes had been cast, and the most powerful ruler
+in the world had been made by the free choice of the nation, just as
+four years or eight years hence another ruler would be made in his place
+by the same free choice, the old giving way to the new. Now to-night
+they were trying to find out who this ruler was, and no one yet could
+tell.
+
+But the tale would be told in a few hours. Harley knew that over an area
+of three million square miles, as large as the ancient civilized world,
+men were at work counting, down to the last remote mountain hamlet, and
+putting the result on the wires as they counted it. And ninety million
+people waited, ready to abide by the result, whether it was their man or
+the other. To him there was something extraordinary in this organized,
+this peaceful but tremendous activity. To-night all the efforts of the
+world's most energetic nation were bent upon a single point. In each
+state the wires talked from every town and village to a common centre,
+and each state in turn, through its metropolis, talked to the common
+centre of them all, and the general result of all they said would be
+known to everybody before morning. It seemed marvellous to him, although
+he understood it perfectly, that a few hours after the boxes were opened
+the votes should be counted and accredited to the proper man.
+
+He resumed his seat at a table, although there was yet but little for
+him to write, and listened to the dry, monotonous voice of Dexter as he
+called the vote. The results were still of a variable nature, gains here
+and losses there, but on the whole the losses were the larger, and the
+atmosphere of the room grew more discouraging. The great state of New
+York, upon which they had relied, was showing every sign that it would
+not justify their faith. The returns from the city of New York, from
+Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, were all bad, and the most resolute hopes
+could not make them otherwise.
+
+"'As goes New York, so goes the Union,'" whispered Hobart, quoting an
+old proverb.
+
+"Maybe that rule will be broken at last," replied Harley, hopefully.
+
+But even Sylvia looked gloomy. There was one thought, as these returns
+came, in the minds of them all. It was that the members of the
+Philipsburg Committee had made good their threat; their defection had
+drawn from Grayson thousands of votes in a pivotal state, and if he had
+ever had a chance of election this took it from him. Yet no one uttered
+a word of reproach for Jimmy Grayson, although Harley knew that those
+who called themselves practical politicians were silently upbraiding
+him. He feared that they might consider their early warnings justified,
+and he resented it.
+
+A discordant note, too, was sounded by the South; Alabama, a state that
+they considered sure, although by a small majority, would go for the
+other man if the returns continued of the same tone. The only ray of
+light came from New England, whence it had not been expected. The large
+cities there were showing slight increases for Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"Who would have thought it?" said Mr. Heathcote.
+
+But it seemed too small to have any effect, and they turned their minds
+to other parts of the country that seemed to be more promising ground.
+The voice of Mr. Dexter, growing hoarse from incessant use and wholly
+without expression, read a bulletin from New York:
+
+"Great crowd in front of the residence of the Honorable Mr. Goodnight,
+on upper Fifth Avenue, and he is speaking to them from the steps. Says
+the election of their man is assured. Derides Mr. Grayson; says no man
+can betray predominant interests and succeed. Crowd hooting the name of
+Grayson."
+
+"The traitor!" exclaimed Hobart.
+
+But Jimmy Grayson said nothing. Harley watched him closely, and he knew
+now that the candidate's expressionless face was but a mask--it was only
+human that he should feel deep emotion. Harley saw his lips quiver
+faintly now and then, and once or twice his eyes flashed. Down the
+street, in front of the transparency, there was a tremendous noise, the
+people had divided according to their predilections and were singing
+rival campaign songs, but there was no disorder.
+
+Waiters came in bearing refreshments, and during a lull in the bulletins
+they ate and drank. Mrs. Grayson also joined them for a little while.
+She said nothing about the news, and Harley inferred from her silence
+on the point that she knew it to be discouraging. But he saw her give
+her husband a glance of pride and devotion that said as plain as print,
+"Even if you are beaten, you are the man who should have been elected."
+She reported that the younger of the children had dropped off to sleep,
+but the others were still eager.
+
+Again some men passing the house raised a cry in derision of Jimmy
+Grayson, and Mrs. Grayson's face flushed. The others did not know what
+to do; they could not go out and rebuke the deriders, as that would only
+make a bad matter worse, but the men soon passed on. Mrs. Grayson stayed
+only a little while in the room, retiring on the plea of domestic
+duties. Jimmy Grayson, too, went out to see his children, he said, but
+Harley thought that man and wife wished to talk over the prospect.
+
+The news, after the lull, began to come faster than ever. The West spoke
+at last, and its first words came through Denver and Salt Lake, but its
+voice was non-committal. There was nothing in it to indicate how
+Colorado and Utah, both doubtful states, would go. But presently, when
+Mr. Dexter broke an envelope and opened a bulletin, he laughed.
+
+"Boys," he said, "here's faith for you: the precinct of Waterville, in
+Wyoming casts every one of her votes for Grayson."
+
+They cheered. Certainly the people who had heard Mr. Grayson's decisive
+speech were loyal to him, and they should have honor despite their
+fewness. But immediately behind it came a bulletin that gave them the
+heaviest blow they had yet received.
+
+"Complete returns from more than three-fourths of the precincts in the
+state," read Mr. Dexter, "show beyond doubt that New Jersey has gone at
+least 20,000 against Grayson."
+
+"I never did think much of New Jersey, anyhow," said Hobart, sourly.
+
+They laughed, but there was no mirth in the laugh. Tears rose in
+Sylvia's eyes. Ten minutes later, Alabama had wheeled into line with New
+Jersey it was certainly against Grayson and the news from New York was
+growing worse. Harley, in his heart, knew that there was no hope of the
+state, although he tried to draw encouragement from scattered votes here
+and there. From the Middle West the news was mixed, but its general
+tenor was not favorable. But New England was still behaving well.
+
+"Our vote in Massachusetts surprises me," said Mr. Heathcote; "we shall
+more than cut their majority in half. We shall carry Boston and
+Worcester, and we are even making gains in the country districts."
+
+"Almost complete returns from Michigan and Wisconsin show that the
+former has gone for Grayson by a substantial majority, and the latter
+against him by a majority about the same," read Mr. Dexter.
+
+"Which shows that Michigan is much the finer state of the two," said
+Hobart.
+
+"One state at least is secure," said Harley.
+
+They heard a tremendous cheer down the street in front of the
+transparency, and Harley went to the window. His heart fell when he saw
+that the cheer, was continued, came from the opposition crowd. It was
+announced definitely on the cloth that New York had gone against
+Grayson; the returns permitted no doubt of it, and there was reason why
+the enemy should rejoice. Presently their own bulletins confirmed the
+bad news, and announced that off in another city the bands were
+serenading the other man.
+
+Blow followed blow. Connecticut, despite gains made there, went against
+Grayson by a majority, small it is true, but decisive, and Illinois and
+Indiana speedily followed her bad lead. To Harley all seemed over, and
+he could not take it with resignation. Jimmy Grayson was the better man
+on the better platform, and he should have been elected. It was a crime
+to reject him. An angry mist came over his eyes, and he walked into the
+hall that no one should see it. But Mr. and Mrs. Grayson stood at the
+end of the hall, evidently having just come from the children's room,
+and before he could turn away he heard her say:
+
+"We have lost, but you are still the man of the nation to me."
+
+As he was returning he met Sylvia, and now the tears in her eyes were
+plainly visible.
+
+"John, it can't be true! He isn't beaten, is he?"
+
+"No, it is not true, Sylvia," he said, telling what he did not believe.
+"We still have a chance."
+
+They returned at once to the room, and Mr. Grayson came in a minute
+later, his face wearing the same marble mask. When two or three forced
+themselves to speak encouraging words, he smiled and said there was yet
+hope. But Harley had none, and he felt sure that Jimmy Grayson, too, was
+without it.
+
+"Good news from Iowa!" suddenly cried Mr. Dexter. "A despatch from Des
+Moines reports heavy gains for Grayson throughout the south and west of
+the state."
+
+Here was a fresh breath of life, and for a moment they felt glad, but
+North Dakota, a state for which they had hoped but scarcely expected,
+soon reported against them. The good news could not last.
+
+"Anything more from Massachusetts?" asked Mr. Heathcote.
+
+Mr. Dexter was opening a despatch and he gave a gasp when he looked at
+it.
+
+"Massachusetts in doubt!" he exclaimed. "Grayson makes heavy gains in
+the country districts as well as in the cities. Our National Committee
+is claiming Massachusetts!"
+
+There was a burst of cheering in the room. They had never even hoped for
+Massachusetts. From first to last it was conceded to the enemy.
+
+"Oh, if Massachusetts only had as many votes as New York!" groaned
+Hobart. "This is so good it can't be true!"
+
+But Sylvia smiled through her tears.
+
+Soon there was another cheer. Fresh despatches from Massachusetts
+confirmed the earlier news and made it yet better; then the state was in
+doubt, now it inclined to Jimmy Grayson; the gains came in, steady and
+large.
+
+"We've got it by at least 20,000," exclaimed Mr. Dexter, exultantly.
+"It's a regular upset. Who'd have thought it?"
+
+It was true. It was known in a quarter of an hour that Massachusetts had
+given a majority of 25,000 for Grayson, and behind their big sister came
+New Hampshire and Rhode Island, with small but sure majorities. Jimmy
+Grayson had carried three New England states, when all of them had been
+conceded to the enemy, one of the most surprising changes ever known in
+a Presidential election.
+
+There were repeated cheers in the room. Even Jimmy Grayson was compelled
+to smile in satisfaction. But Harley did not have hope. This, in his
+opinion, was merely a pleasant incident--it could not have much effect
+on the result; Massachusetts had a large vote, but those of New
+Hampshire and Rhode Island were small, and there against them stood the
+gigantic state of New York, towering like a mountain. New York had the
+biggest vote of all, and he did not see how it could be overcome.
+
+Harley now and then wrote a paragraph of his despatch to his newspaper,
+telling of the scene at the candidate's house and how he and his friends
+looked and talked, but it did not take all his time. By-and-by he went
+out on the steps to see the crowd in the streets and to get the fresh
+air. The night was cold and raw, but its touch was soothing. His
+thoughts were with Jimmy Grayson. He yet had little hope, and he was
+thinking of all those gigantic labors wasted; it was a case where a man
+must win or lose every thing. At the transparency the rival crowds were
+cheering or groaning according to the news that came.
+
+Harley turned back and met Mrs. Grayson.
+
+"Tell me, Mr. Harley," she said, and her eyes were eager, "just how the
+election stands so far. I know that you will tell me the truth; is there
+really as much hope as the others seem to feel?"
+
+Harley looked into her clear, brave eyes, and he replied honestly:
+
+"I think there is some hope, Mrs. Grayson, but not much. Too many big
+states have gone against us, and we cannot offset big states with little
+ones. New York, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Alabama are all in the
+hostile line."
+
+"Thank you for the truth," she said. "I can stand it, and so can Mr.
+Grayson."
+
+But Harley was not sure. He felt at times that this ordeal was too
+great for any man or woman. When he returned to the room they were
+announcing news from the Pacific coast.
+
+"We have Washington," said Mr. Dexter; "and Oregon is against us, but
+California is in doubt."
+
+"But we mean to have California," said Sylvia, and the others smiled.
+
+Good reports came from the Rocky Mountain region, all the states there
+except Utah going for Grayson. It had been thought once by both sides
+that these doubtful states would decide the election, but with the great
+upset in the East and Middle West affairs took on another complexion,
+and they must make new calculations.
+
+"Has anything been heard from Pennsylvania?" asked Mr. Heathcote.
+
+Several laughed, and the laugh was significant.
+
+"Nothing at all," replied Mr. Dexter, and there was a suggestion of
+contempt in his tone; "but why should we want to hear anything? It's
+sure for the enemy by at least 100,000, and he may get 200,000.
+Pennsylvania is one state from which I don't want to hear anything at
+all."
+
+They laughed again, but, as nothing yet came from Pennsylvania, Harley's
+curiosity about it began to rise. "Strange that we do not hear
+anything," he said; but Mr. Dexter laughed, and promised to read in an
+extra loud tone the first Pennsylvania bulletin they should get.
+
+It was nearly midnight now and the election was still undecided;
+midnight came and the situation was yet unchanged, but a full half-hour
+later Mr. Dexter cleared his throat and said, in a high voice:
+
+"Listen, Mr. Harley! Here's your first Pennsylvania bulletin!"
+
+He was sarcastic both in voice and look.
+
+"Complete reports from Pittsburg, Alleghany, and their surrounding
+districts show remarkable change. This district gives 20,000 majority
+for Grayson."
+
+Then Mr. Dexter, holding the telegram in his hand, sat open-mouthed,
+barely realizing what he had read. But Harley sprang up with exultant
+cry. For once he lost his self-control.
+
+"We are not beaten yet!" he cried.
+
+"We are not beaten yet!" echoed Sylvia.
+
+They waited feverishly for more Pennsylvania news, and presently it came
+in a despatch from Philadelphia. Grayson had carried that great city by
+a small majority, and the enemy was frightened about the state. A third
+despatch from Harrisburg, the state capital, confirmed the news; the
+state of Pennsylvania, coming next to New York in the size of its vote,
+was in doubt. It was the most astonishing fact of the election, but
+every return showed that Grayson had developed marvellous strength
+there. The National Committee issued a bulletin claiming it, but the
+other side claimed it, too; it would be at least two hours yet before
+the claim could be decided, and they must suffer in suspense.
+
+Harley and Hobart walked together into the street. Harley's forehead was
+damp.
+
+"This is getting on my nerves," he said.
+
+"If Pennsylvania goes for Grayson, what then?" asked Hobart.
+
+"It means that Grayson is elected; an hour ago I could not have dreamed
+of such a thing."
+
+Down the street the crowd was roaring and cheering, and the roars and
+cheers were about equally divided between the two parties.
+
+When they returned to the room the volunteer secretary was just
+announcing that Iowa was safely in the Grayson column. It was conceded
+to him by 15,000. Further news from Pennsylvania was indecisive, but it
+continued good.
+
+Mrs. Grayson was in the room, and Harley looked at her and her husband.
+The faces of both had become grave, and Harley knew why. The
+Presidential chair was not wholly out of sight, after all, and the
+chance was sufficient to bring upon them both a sense of mighty
+responsibilities. There was a great shout down the street.
+
+"They have posted a bulletin," said Hobart, who was at the window. "It
+says that California has gone for Grayson by 10,000, and that all
+indications point to his carrying Ohio."
+
+"I was right, and we do have California," said Sylvia.
+
+Again Jimmy Grayson and his wife exchanged that grave look. It seemed
+that each was frightened a little. But Mr. Dexter did not notice it. He
+was reading a telegram from New York saying that consternation over the
+news from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Iowa prevailed in the hostile
+ranks; they no longer claimed the election, they merely asserted that it
+was in doubt; it was admitted that while Goodnight, Crayon, and their
+friends had taken many votes from Jimmy Grayson, he was making up the
+difference, and perhaps more, elsewhere.
+
+"If Jimmy Grayson were to come so near and yet miss, it would be more
+than mortal flesh could bear," whispered Hobart.
+
+"It would have to be borne," replied Harley.
+
+It was far past one o'clock in the morning. The room was hot and close.
+The floor was littered with envelopes and telegrams. The two lines of
+telegraph-boys had trodden two trails in the carpet, and Harley began
+to feel the long strain. All the men had red eyes and black streaks
+under them. Yet they were as keen as ever to hear the last detail. It
+seemed to every one that the fate of Jimmy Grayson was now hanging in
+the balance; a feather would tip it this way or that, and the room sank
+into an unusual silence, the silence of painful suspense.
+
+There was a long wait and then came a telegram rather thicker than the
+others. Somehow all of them felt that this told the story, and the
+fingers of Mr. Dexter trembled as he tore open the envelope. He paused,
+holding it a moment between his fingers, and then, in a quivering voice,
+he read:
+
+"Complete returns from the state of Pennsylvania give it to Grayson by
+18,000, and he is chosen President of the United States by a majority of
+36 in the electoral college. Our enemies concede their defeat. We send
+our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Grayson on his victory, and on the
+great campaign he made. Everybody here recognizes that it was Grayson
+who won for Grayson."
+
+It was signed with the name of the chairman of the National Committee,
+and with a deep "Ah!" the reader let it fall upon the table, where it
+lay. Then there was a half-minute of intense silence in the room. That
+for which they had long fought and for which they had scarcely hoped had
+come at the eleventh hour. Mr. Grayson was the President-elect. They
+could not speak; they were awed.
+
+It was Mrs. Grayson who first broke the silence. She ran to her husband,
+threw her arms around him, and exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, Jimmy! It is almost too much for us to undertake!"
+
+But Jimmy Grayson was not afraid. He stood up and Harley saw a glow of
+deep emotion come over his face.
+
+"As God is my judge," he said, "I shall try with my utmost strength to
+fulfil the duties of this high place."
+
+Sylvia, not knowing what else to do, put her hand in Harley's; and he
+held it.
+
+There was a tremendous burst of cheering in front of the house, and a
+band began to play. Above the music swelled a continuous roar for the
+President-elect, "Grayson!" "Grayson!" "Grayson!" They were all for him
+now. There was no need for Harley to wake up the children; the thunders
+of applause already brought them, triumphing in a result of which they
+had never felt any doubt.
+
+"You will have to speak to the people, Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Dexter.
+"It is their right. You are no longer a free man; you belong to the
+nation now."
+
+The President-elect went out on the veranda and spoke to them with a
+certain solemnity and majesty while they listened in respectful silence.
+Meanwhile telegrams of congratulation were pouring into the house from
+all parts of the world, and out in the distant mountains men came down
+to the camps and spoke to each other about the President-to-be.
+
+
+Harley's last despatch was sent, the crowd was gone, the other
+correspondents were on their way to the hotel, and the people were
+turning out the lights, but he yet lingered at the Grayson home. It was
+Jimmy Grayson who asked him to wait a moment, and they stood alone on
+the dark veranda.
+
+"Harley," said Jimmy Grayson, and there was much feeling in his voice,
+"you have been the best friend I ever had, and I am so selfish that I
+do not want to lose you. Stay with me; be my secretary. In these later
+days the office of the President's secretary has grown to be a big one.
+I think that you are the best man in the world for it, and if I am
+re-elected you shall go into the Cabinet. You will be old enough then.
+Remember, Harley, that it is I who ask a favor now, and it is for you to
+grant it."
+
+The hands of the two strong men met in a strong grasp.
+
+"I accept the offer," said Harley.
+
+The President-elect turned away, faded into the darkness of his own
+house, and another figure took his place. A small, warm hand slipped
+into Harley's, and he held it fast.
+
+"What was he saying to you?" asked Sylvia.
+
+"He was asking me to be his secretary."
+
+"And your reply?"
+
+"I hesitated and asked for a bribe."
+
+"Oh, John!"
+
+"I said that if, one month from to-day and with the assistance of a
+minister, he would give you to me forever, I would take the place."
+
+"What did he say then?"
+
+"He said the price was high, but I could have it. And we shall all be
+together again for four years more, and perhaps eight."
+
+Her eyes, very close to his, were shining through a mist of happy tears,
+and, standing there at the doorstep, he kissed her in the darkness.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Candidate, by Joseph Alexander Altsheler
+
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Candidate, by Joseph A. Altsheler.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Candidate, by Joseph Alexander Altsheler
+
+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 Candidate
+       A Political Romance
+
+Author: Joseph Alexander Altsheler
+
+Release Date: April 22, 2008 [EBook #25132]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CANDIDATE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Taavi Kalju, Martin Pettit and the Online
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+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="center"><img src="images/001.jpg" width='420' height='700' alt="THE CANDIDATE A POLITICAL ROMANCE BY
+ JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER HARPER &amp; BROTHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON" /></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1905, by <span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="center">PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="index">
+<ul>
+<li><span class="mono">CHAPTER</span></li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#I">I.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE NOMINEE</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#II">II.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE MAID</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#III">III.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE START</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#IV">IV.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE FIRST SPEECH</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#V">V.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;"KING" PLUMMER</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#VI">VI.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;ON THE ROAD</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#VII">VII.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;HIS GREATEST SPEECH</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#VIII">VIII.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;SYLVIA'S RETURN</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#IX">IX.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;JIMMY GRAYSON'S SPELL</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#X">X.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE "KING'S" REQUEST</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XI">XI.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE HARRYING OF HERBERT</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XII">XII.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;CHURCHILL STRIKES</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XIII">XIII.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE THIRD DEGREE</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XIV">XIV.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE DEAD CITY</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XV">XV.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;WORDS BY THE WAY</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XVI">XVI.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;BY THE FIRELIGHT</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XVII">XVII.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE SPELLBINDER</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XVIII">XVIII.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE SACRIFICE</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XIX">XIX.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;AN IDAHO STORM</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XX">XX.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE GREAT PHILIPSBURG CONFERENCE</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XXI">XXI.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;ALONE WITH NATURE</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XXII">XXII.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;THE "KING'S" AWAKENING</li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#XXIII">XXIII.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;ELECTION NIGHT</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1>THE CANDIDATE</h1>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2>
+
+<h3>THE NOMINEE</h3>
+
+<p>The huge convention-hall still rang with the thunders of applause, and
+most of the delegates were on their feet shouting or waving their hats,
+when Harley slipped from his desk and made his way quietly to the little
+side-door leading from the stage. It was all over now but the noise;
+after a long and desperate fight Grayson, a young lawyer, with little
+more than a local reputation, had been nominated by his party for the
+Presidency of the United States, and Harley, alert, eager, and fond of
+dramatic effects, intended to be the first who should tell him the
+surprising fact.</p>
+
+<p>He paused a moment, with his hand on the door, and, looking out upon the
+hall with its multitude of hot, excited faces, ran quickly over the
+events of the last three or four days. Ten thousand people had sat
+there, hour after hour, waiting for the result, and now the result had
+come. The rival parties had entered their conventions, full of doubt and
+apprehension. There was a singular dearth of great men; the old ones
+were all dead or disabled, and the new ones had not appeared; the nation
+was conscious, too,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> of a new feeling, and all were bound to recognize
+it; the sense of dependency upon the Old World in certain matters which
+applied to the mental state rather than anything material was almost
+gone; the democracy had grown more democratic and the republic was more
+republican; within the nation itself the West was taking a greater
+prominence, and the East did not begrudge it. It was felt by everybody
+in either party that it would be wiser to nominate a Western man, and,
+the first having done so, the second, as all knew it must, now followed
+the good example.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, both conventions had nominated "dark horses," but the second
+nominee was the "darker" of the two. James Madison Grayson,
+affectionately called Jimmy Grayson by his neighbors and admirers, was
+quite young, without a gray hair in his head, tall, powerfully built,
+smooth-shaven, and with honest eyes that gazed straight into yours. He
+was known as a brave man, with fine oratorical powers and a winning
+personality, but he had come to the convention merely as a delegate, and
+without any thought of securing the nomination for himself. Not a single
+vote had been instructed for him, but in that lay his opportunity. All
+the conspicuous candidates were weak; good men in themselves, a solid
+political objection could be raised against every one of them, and for a
+while the voting was scattered and desultory. Then Grayson began to
+attract attention; as a delegate he had spoken two or three times,
+always briefly, but with grace and to the point, and the people were
+glad both to see him and to hear him.</p>
+
+<p>At last a far-sighted old man from the same state knew that the moment
+had come when the convention,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> staggering about in the dark, could be
+led easily along any road that seemed the path of light. He mentioned
+the name of Grayson, putting it forward mildly as a suggestion that he
+would withdraw at the first opposition, but his very mildness warded off
+attack. Received rather lightly at first, the suggestion soon made a
+strong appeal to the delegates. Nothing could be urged against Grayson;
+he was quite young, it was true, but youth was needed to make a great
+campaign&mdash;the odds were heavily in favor of the other party. Nor were
+there lacking those who, expecting defeat, said that a young man could
+bear it better than an old one, and a beating now might train him for a
+victory four years hence.</p>
+
+<p>Grayson himself was surprised when he heard the report, nor could he
+ever be convinced that he would be nominated; he regarded the whole
+thing as absurd, a few votes, no more, might be cast for him, but, as
+was fit and decent, he withdrew from the hall. All those whose names
+were before the convention were expected to remain at home or elsewhere
+in the city, and Jimmy Grayson and his wife stayed quietly in their
+rooms at the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Harley had believed this evening that the nomination of Grayson was at
+hand. It was an intuitive sense, a sort of premonition that the
+battalions were closing in for the final conflict, and he did not doubt
+the result. He had just returned from a war on the other side of the
+world, where he had been present as the correspondent of a great New
+York journal on many battle-fields, and he often noticed this strained,
+breathless feeling that the moment had come, just before the combat was
+joined. Now this convention-hall was none the less a battle-field though
+the weapons were ballots, not bullets, and Harley<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> believed in his
+intuition. At midnight the flood-tide swept in, bearing Grayson on its
+crest, and, when they saw that he was the man, everybody flocked to him,
+making the nomination unanimous by a rising vote.</p>
+
+<p>Harley now stood a moment at the door, listening to the cheers as they
+swelled again, then he stepped out and ran swiftly down the street. A
+fat policeman, taking him for a fleeing pickpocket, shouted to him to
+stop, but he flitted by and was gone.</p>
+
+<p>It was only two or three blocks to the hotel, where Mr. Grayson sat
+quietly in his room, and Harley was running swiftly, but in the minute
+or two that elapsed much passed through his mind. After his long stay
+abroad he had returned with a renewed sense, not alone of the power and
+might of his own country, but also of its goodness; it was here, and
+here alone, that all careers were open to all; nowhere else in the world
+could a relatively obscure young lawyer have been put forward, and
+peacefully, too, for the headship of ninety million people. It was this
+thought that thrilled him, and it was why he wished to be the first who
+should tell the young lawyer of it. He had made the acquaintance of
+Jimmy Grayson the day before; the two had talked for a while about
+public questions, and each had felt that it was the beginning of a
+friendship, so he had no hesitation now in making himself an unannounced
+herald.</p>
+
+<p>He ran into the hotel, darted up the stairway&mdash;Jimmy Grayson's rooms
+were on the first floor&mdash;and knocked at the door of the nominee. A light
+shone from the transom, and he heard a quick, strong step approaching.
+Then the door was thrown open by Mr. Grayson himself, and Mrs. Grayson,
+who stood in the centre of the room, looked with inquiry at the
+correspondent.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>"Why, Mr. Harley, I'm glad to see you," said Mr. Grayson, with a
+welcoming tone in his voice. "Come in, but I warn you that you cannot
+interview me any further I'm not worth it; I've told you all I know."</p>
+
+<p>Harley said nothing, but stepped into the room, closing the door behind
+him. He saw that they yet knew nothing&mdash;there had been no messenger, no
+telephone call, and the news was his to tell. He bowed to Mrs. Grayson,
+and then he felt a moment of embarrassment, but his long experience and
+natural poise came quickly to his aid.</p>
+
+<p>"I do want to interview you, Mr. Grayson," he said, quietly; "and it is
+upon a subject to which we did not allude in our former talk."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson glanced at his wife, and her look, replying to his,
+indicated the same puzzling state. Both knew that the chief
+correspondent of one of the greatest journals in the world would not
+leave a Presidential convention in the hour of birth to secure an
+irrelevant interview.</p>
+
+<p>"If I can serve you, Mr. Harley, I shall be glad to do so," said Jimmy
+Grayson, somewhat dryly; "but I really do not see how I can."</p>
+
+<p>"I am quite sure that you can," said Harley, with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>He listened a moment, but he did not hear any step in the hall nor the
+jingling of any telephone bell. Both Mr. and Mrs. Grayson waited
+expectantly, curious to see what he had in mind.</p>
+
+<p>"If you were to be nominated for the Presidency, I should like to tell
+the <i>Gazette</i> what your programme would be&mdash;that is, what sort of a
+campaign you would conduct," said Harley, deliberately.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson laughed and glanced again at his wife.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a wise rule for a man in public life never to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> answer
+hypothetical questions; of that I am sure, Mr. Harley," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure of it, too," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson bit his lip. It seemed to him that the correspondent would
+make a jest, and the hour was unfitting.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall answer your question when I am nominated," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you will answer it now," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden flush passed over Mr. Grayson's face and left it white. Mrs.
+Grayson trembled and glanced again at her husband, still in a puzzled
+state.</p>
+
+<p>"Your meaning is not clear, Mr. Harley," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"It should be. When I left the convention-hall, two minutes ago, they
+had just made the nomination unanimous. I wished to be the first to tell
+the news, and I have had my wish."</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of the nominee looked straight into those of Harley, but the
+correspondent did not flinch. It was obvious that he was telling the
+truth.</p>
+
+<p>"The notifying committee will be here in a few minutes," he said. "Ah, I
+hear their step on the stair now."</p>
+
+<p>The tread of men walking quickly and the sound of voices raised in
+eagerness came to the room. The powerful figure of Jimmy Grayson
+trembled slightly, then grew rigid.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not dream of it," he said, as if to himself; "nor have I now
+sought to take it from others."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor have you done so," said Harley, boldly; "because it belonged to no
+man."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson stepped forward, as if in fear that her husband was about
+to be taken from her, because at that moment the volume of the voices
+and the trampling increased and paused at her door. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> the crowd
+poured into the room and hailed the victor.</p>
+
+<p>Harley slipped to one side, and no one in the committee knew that the
+nominee had been notified already, but the correspondent never ceased to
+watch Jimmy Grayson. He saw how the nature of the man rose to the great
+responsibility that had been put upon him, how he nerved himself for his
+mighty task. He stood among them all, cool, dignified, and ready. Harley
+was proud that this was one of his countrymen, and when his last
+despatch was filed that night he wired to his editor in New York:
+"Please send me on the campaign with Grayson. I think it is going to be
+a great one." And back came the answer: "Stay with him until it is all
+over, election night."</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of Harley, like those of so many of his countrymen, had always
+been turned eastward. To him New York was the ultimate expression of
+America, and beyond the great city lay the influence of Europe, of that
+Old World to which belonged the most of art and literature. The books
+that he read were written chiefly by Europeans, and the remainder by the
+men of New England and New York. He had never put it into so many words,
+even mentally, but he had a definite impression that the great world of
+affairs was composed of central and western Europe and a half-dozen
+Northern coast states of the American Union; beyond this centre of light
+lay a shadow land, growing darker as the distance from the central rays
+increased, inhabited by people, worthy no doubt, but merely forming a
+chorus for those who had the speaking parts.</p>
+
+<p>The course of Harley's life confirmed him in this opinion, which perhaps
+was due more to literature<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> than to anything else. With his eyes fixed
+on New York, the desire to go there followed, and when he succeeded,
+early, and became the correspondent of a great journal, he was soon
+immersed in the affairs of that world which seemed the world of action
+to him; and, being so much occupied thus, he forgot the regions which
+apparently lay in the shadow, including the greater portion of his own
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Hence the two great Presidential conventions, in each of which Western
+influences were paramount, and in each of which a Western man was
+chosen, created upon him a new and surprising impression. He found
+himself in the presence of unexpected forces; he became aware that there
+was another way of looking at things, and this powerful sensation was
+deepened by the personality of Mr. Grayson, in whom he saw intuitively
+that there was something fresh, original, and strong; he seemed less
+hackneyed and more joyous than the types that he found in the old states
+of the Union or the Old World, and, because of this, the interest of
+Harley, whose mind had a singularly keen and inquiring quality, was
+aroused; the regions that apparently lay in the shadow might have enough
+light, after all, and, seeing before him a campaign not less exciting
+than a war, he resolved to stay in it until the last battle was fought.</p>
+
+<p>He took out the telegram from his editor and read it over again with
+keen satisfaction. "Out of one war and into another," he murmured. The
+conventions had been held early; it was now only the first week in June,
+and the election would be in the first week of November; before him lay
+five months of stress and perhaps storm, but he thought of it only with
+pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>Harley always travelled light, carrying only two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> valises, and an hour
+sufficed for his packing. Then, like the old campaigner that he was, he
+slept soundly, and early the next morning he went again to the hotel at
+which the Graysons were staying. He felt a little hesitation in sending
+up a card so soon, knowing what swarms of people Mr. Grayson had been
+compelled to receive and how badly he must stand in need of rest, but
+there was no help for it.</p>
+
+<p>While he sat in the huge lobby waiting the return of the boy, the hum of
+many voices about him rose almost to a roar, varied by the rustling of
+many newspapers. The place was filled with men, talking over the
+thrilling events of the night before, the nomination and the nominee,
+while every newspaper bore upon its front page a great picture of the
+new candidate.</p>
+
+<p>The boy came back with a message that Mr. Grayson would see him; and
+Harley, a minute later, was knocking at the door, which the candidate
+himself opened. This man, who was his own usher, was the nominee of a
+great party, he might become the President of the United States&mdash;of
+ninety million people, of what was in nearly every material sense the
+first power in the world; and yet Harley, when in Europe, seeking
+information from the youngest and least <i>attach&eacute;</i> of a legation, had
+been compelled to go through an infinite amount of form and flummery.
+The contrast was lasting.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in," said Mr. Grayson, courteously, and Harley at once acted upon
+the invitation. Mrs. Grayson, at the same moment, came from the inner
+room, quiet and self-contained, and Harley bowed with respect.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say there is nothing you wish to ask me which a lady should not
+hear," said Mr. Grayson,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> with a slight smile. "Mrs. Grayson is my chief
+political adviser."</p>
+
+<p>"It is no secret," replied Harley, also smiling. "I have merely come to
+tell you that the <i>Gazette</i>, my paper, has instructed me to keep watch
+over you from now until election night, and to describe at once and at
+great length for its readers every one of your wicked deeds. So I am
+here to tell you that I wish to go along with you. You are public
+property, you know, and you can't escape."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that," said Jimmy Grayson, heartily; "and I do not seek to
+escape. I am glad the representative of the <i>Gazette</i> is to be you. I do
+not know what course your paper will take, but I am sure that we shall
+be friends."</p>
+
+<p>"The <i>Gazette</i> is independent; its editor is likely to attack you for
+some things and to praise you for others. But I am here to tell the
+news."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we are comrades for a long journey," said Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was settled simply and easily by the two who were most
+concerned, and Harley throughout the little interview was struck by the
+difference between this man and many other famous men with whom in the
+course of business he had held journalistic dealings. Here was a lack of
+conventionality, and an even stronger note of simplicity and freshness.
+The candidate, with his new honors, still held himself as one of the
+people, it never occurred to him that he might assume a pose and the
+public would accept it; he was democracy personified, and he was such
+because he was unconscious of it. His perfect freedom of manner, which
+Harley had not liked at first, now became more attractive.</p>
+
+<p>"We leave at eleven o'clock for my home," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> Mr. Grayson, "and arrive
+there to-morrow morning. I have some preparations to make, but I shall
+begin the campaign a day or two later."</p>
+
+<p>"I intend to go with you to your town," said Harley. "You know the
+compact; I cannot let you out of my sight."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson, a grave, quiet woman, spoke for the first time.</p>
+
+<p>"You shall come along, not merely as a sentinel, but as one of our
+little party, if you will, on one condition," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"What is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"On condition that you come to our house and take dinner with us
+to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Harley gave her a grateful look. He felt that the candidate's wife
+approved of him, and he liked the approval of those who evidently knew
+how to think. And it would be far pleasanter to travel with Jimmy
+Grayson as a friend than as one suspected.</p>
+
+<p>"I am honored, Mrs. Grayson," he said, "and I shall be happy to come."</p>
+
+<p>Then he left them, and when he passed into the hall he saw that the
+burden of greatness was being thrust already upon the Grayson family, as
+callers of various types and with various requests were seeking their
+rooms. But he hurried back to his own hotel, and as it was some distance
+away he took the street-car. There he was confronted by long rows of
+newspapers which hid the faces of men, and whenever a front page was
+turned towards him the open countenance of Mr. Grayson looked out at him
+with smiling eyes. Everybody was reading the account of the convention,
+and now and then they discussed it; they spoke of the candidate
+familiarly; he was "Jimmy" Grayson to them&mdash;rarely did they call him
+Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> Grayson; but there was no disrespect or disesteem in their use of
+the diminutive "Jimmy." They merely regarded him as one of themselves,
+and their position in the matter differed in no wise from that of Mr.
+Grayson; it was a matter of course with both. To Harley, fresh from
+other lands, it seemed in the first breath singular, and yet in the
+second he liked it; the easy give-and-take promoted the smoothness of
+life, and men might assume false values, but they were not able to keep
+them. His thoughts returned for a moment to the least little <i>attach&eacute;</i>
+whose manner was more important than that of a Presidential nominee.</p>
+
+<p>Harley, with his two valises, was at the station somewhat ahead of time,
+as he wished to see Mr. and Mrs. Grayson arrive, curious to know in what
+sort of state or lack of it they would come.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson's intention of going at once to his home was not published
+in the press, and there was only the ordinary crowd at the station, some
+coming, some leaving, but all bearing upon their faces the marks of
+haste and impatience. As the people hurried to and fro, the sound of
+many tongues arose. There was nearly every accent of Europe, but the
+American rose over and enveloped all. Many writers from other lands,
+seeking only the bad, had pronounced the Babel coarse, vulgar, and
+sordid; but Harley, seeking the good, saw in it men and women toiling to
+better their condition in the world, and that fact he knew was not bad.</p>
+
+<p>Through the station windows he saw the tall buildings rise floor on
+floor, and there was a clang of car-bells that never ceased. In the
+fresh morning air it was inspiriting, and Harley felt himself a part of
+the crowd. He was no hermit. Life and activity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> and the spectacle of
+people filled with hope always pleased him.</p>
+
+<p>An ordinary cab arrived, and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, alighting from it,
+bought their tickets at the window, just like anybody else, and then
+sought inconspicuous seats in the corner of the waiting-room, as their
+train would not be ready for five minutes. In the hastening crowd they
+were not noticed at first, but even in the dusk of the corner the
+smoothly shaven face and massive features of Mr. Grayson were soon
+noticed. His picture had been staring at them all from the front page of
+the newspapers, and here was the reality, too like to be overlooked.
+There was a sudden delay in the crowd; the two streams, one flowing
+outward and the other inward, wavered, then stopped and began to stare
+at the candidate, not intrusively, but with a kindly curiosity that it
+considered legitimate. Harley had quietly joined the Graysons, and they
+gave him a sincere welcome. The people unfamiliar with his face began to
+speculate audibly on his identity.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd in the station, reinforced from many side-doors, thickened,
+and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, under the gaze of so many eyes, became uneasy
+and shy. Harley, who had been made a member of their party, found
+himself sharing this awkward feeling, and he was glad to hear the
+announcement that the train was ready.</p>
+
+<p>The three abreast moved towards the gate, and the crowd opened a way
+just wide enough, down which they marched, still under the human battery
+of a thousand eyes. To Harley, although little of this gaze was meant
+for him, the sensation was indescribable. It was something to be an
+object of so much curiosity, but the thrill was more than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> offset by the
+weight that it put upon one's ease of manner.</p>
+
+<p>He saw many of the people&mdash;it was a curious manifestation&mdash;reach out and
+touch the candidate's sleeve lightly as he passed. But Mr. Grayson, if
+he knew it, took no notice and marched straight ahead, all expression
+discharged from his face. Harley saw that this was the disguise eminent
+public men must assume upon occasions, and he was willing that they
+should keep the task.</p>
+
+<p>When the great iron gate leading to his train was closed behind him,
+Harley felt a mighty sense of relief. It seemed to him that he had run a
+gantlet not much inferior to that through which the Indians put the
+captive backwoodsmen, and the dark-red walls of the car rose before him
+a fortress of safety.</p>
+
+<p>It was an ordinary Pullman, and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson had not secured the
+drawing-room, but the usual berths like Harley's, and he joined them in
+their seats. He felt now a certain pleasure in the situation. The
+pressure of circumstances was making him, in a sense and for the time
+being, a member of their family. He was glad that the other
+correspondents would wait to join the candidate at his home, as it gave
+him a greater chance to establish those personal relations needful on a
+long campaign that must be made together.</p>
+
+<p>The whistle blew, the train moved, and they passed through miles of
+city, and then through suburbs growing thinner until they melted away
+into the clean, green prairie, and Harley, opening the window, was glad
+to breathe the unvexed air that came across a thousand miles of the
+West. He leaned back in his seat and luxuriously watched the quietly
+rolling country, tender with the breath of spring, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> it spun past.
+That mighty West of which he had thought so little seemed to reach out
+with its arms and invite him, and he was glad to go.</p>
+
+<p>Presently he was aware of an unusual movement of people down the aisles
+of the car, accompanied by a certain slowing of the pace when they
+passed the seats in which the Graysons and he sat. They were coming from
+the other cars, too, and now and then the aisle would choke up a little,
+but in a moment the shifting figures would relieve it, and the endless
+procession of faces moved on.</p>
+
+<p>The Graysons, following Harley's example, were gazing out of the window
+at the cheerful country, but the correspondent knew that Mr. Grayson was
+fully conscious of this human stream, and that he himself was the cause
+of it. Yet he lost none of his good temper even when some, venturing
+further, asked if he were not the nominee, adding that it was a pride to
+them to meet him and speak to him. In fact, the change from silence to
+conversation was a relief to Mr. Grayson, varying the monotony of that
+fixed gaze to which he had been subjected so long, and it was now that
+Harley saw him in a most favorable guise. His consciousness of a great
+talent did not interfere with a perfect democracy; it did not cause him
+to assume an air that said to these people, "I am better than you, keep
+your distance," but he gave the impression of ability solely through his
+simplicity of manner and the ease with which he adapted himself to the
+caliber of the person who spoke to him.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the train swung westward hour after hour, and the procession
+through the car never ceased. The manner of the candidate did not
+change; however weary he may have grown, he was always affable,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> but not
+gushing, and Harley, watching keenly, judged that the impression he made
+was always favorable. He strove, too, to interpret this manner and to
+read the mind behind it. Was Mr. Grayson really great or merely a man of
+ready speech and pleasing address? Harley was willing to admit that the
+latter were qualities in themselves not far from great, but on the main
+contention he reserved his judgment. He was still divided in his
+opinions, sometimes approving the complete democracy of the candidate
+and sometimes condemning. He had been born in the South, in a border
+state, and he grew up there amid many of the forms and formalities of
+the old school, and the associations of youth are not easily lost. Nor
+had a subsequent residence in the East brushed them away. This world of
+the West was still, in many respects, new to him.</p>
+
+<p>He ate luncheon in the dining-car with the Graysons, and he noticed the
+bubbling joy of the black waiter who served them, and who showed two
+rows of white teeth in a perpetual smile. Harley appreciated him so much
+that he doubled his tip, but, as they were still watched by many eyes in
+the dining-car, he felt a certain nervousness in handling his knife and
+fork, as if the penalty of greatness, even by association, were too
+heavy for him. Once his eyes caught those of Mrs. Grayson, and a faint,
+whimsical smile passed over her face, a smile so infectious, despite its
+faintness, that Harley was compelled to reply in like fashion. It told
+him that she understood his constraint, and that she, too, felt it, but
+Harley doubted whether it was in like degree, as he believed that in the
+main women are better fitted than men to endure such ordeals. Mr.
+Grayson himself apparently took no notice.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>Harley returned to their car with the Graysons, but in the afternoon he
+detached himself somewhat, and came in touch with the fluctuating crowd
+that passed down the aisle&mdash;it was always a part of his duty, as well as
+his inclination, to know the thoughts and feelings of outsiders, because
+it was outsiders who made the world, and it was from them, too, that the
+insiders came.</p>
+
+<p>Harley found here that the chief motive as yet was curiosity; the
+campaign had not entered upon its sharp and positive state, and the
+personality of Mr. Grayson and of his opponent still remained to be
+defined clearly.</p>
+
+<p>The train sped westward through the granary of the world, cutting in an
+almost direct line across the mighty valley of the Mississippi, and they
+were still hundreds of miles away from the Grayson home. In going west
+both parties had gone very far west, and the two candidates not only
+lived beyond the Mississippi, but beyond the Missouri as well.</p>
+
+<p>The prairies were in their tenderest green, and the young grass bent
+lightly before a gentle west wind. In a sky of silky blue little clouds
+floated and trailed off here and there into patches of white like
+drifting snow, and Harley unconsciously fell to watching them and
+wondering where they went.</p>
+
+<p>The sun, a huge red ball, sank in the prairie, twilight fell, the ordeal
+of the dining-car was repeated, and not long afterwards Harley sought
+his bed in the swaying berth. The next morning they were in the home
+town, and there were a band and a reception committee, and Harley
+slipped quietly away to his hotel, being reminded first by the Graysons
+that he was to take dinner with them.</p>
+
+<p>He spent most of the day wandering about the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> town, gathering hitherto
+unnoticed facts about the early life of Mr. James Grayson, which in the
+afternoon he despatched eastward. Then he prepared for dinner, but here
+he was confronted by a serious problem&mdash;should one so far west wear
+evening clothes or not? But he decided at last in the affirmative,
+feeling that it would be the safe course, and, hiding the formality of
+his raiment under a light overcoat, he went forth into the street. Five
+minutes' walk took him to the house of Mr. Grayson, which stood in the
+outskirts, a red brick structure two stories in height, plain and
+comfortable, with a well-shaded lawn about it. It was now quite dark,
+but lights shone from several windows, and Harley, without hesitation,
+rang the bell.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2>
+
+<h3>THE MAID</h3>
+
+<p>Harley's ring was not answered at once, and as he stood on the step he
+glanced back at the city, which, in the dark, showed only the formless
+bulk of houses and the cold electric lights here and there. Then he
+heard a light step, and the door was thrown open. He handed his card to
+the maid, merely saying, "Mr. and Mrs. Grayson," and waited to be shown
+into the parlor. But the girl, whose face he could not see, as the hall
+was dimly lighted, held it in her hand, looking first at the name and
+then at him. Harley, feeling a slight impatience, stepped inside and
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"I assure you that I am the real owner of it&mdash;that is, of the name on
+the card."</p>
+
+<p>"What proof have you?" she asked, calmly.</p>
+
+<p>Harley had heard recently many phases of the servant-girl question, and
+this development of it amused him. She must be one of those ignorant and
+stubborn foreigners&mdash;a Swede or a German.</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you take the proof for granted and risk it," he said. "Mr. and
+Mrs. Grayson can quickly decide for you, and tell you whether I am
+right."</p>
+
+<p>"They have gone out for a little walk," she said, still standing in the
+way, "and so many strange people are coming here now that I don't know
+whether to show you in or not. Maybe you are a reporter?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>"Well, and what then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Or worse; perhaps you are a photographer."</p>
+
+<p>"If I am, you can see that I have no camera."</p>
+
+<p>"You might have a little one hidden under your overcoat."</p>
+
+<p>"It is night, and cameras are used in the sunshine."</p>
+
+<p>"We have electric lights."</p>
+
+<p>Harley began to feel provoked. There were limits to perverseness, or
+should be.</p>
+
+<p>"I am expected to dinner by Mr. and Mrs. Grayson," he said. "Will you
+kindly cease to keep me waiting and show me in? I shall not steal any of
+the furniture."</p>
+
+<p>The maid was annoyingly calm.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. and Mrs. Grayson have not yet returned from a little walk which
+they were afraid to undertake until it grew dark," she said. "But I
+think I'll risk it and show you in if you will hold up your hand and
+swear that you haven't a camera hidden under your overcoat."</p>
+
+<p>Harley's sense of humor came to his aid, and he held up his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I do solemnly swear," he said.</p>
+
+<p>He tried to see the face of this maid, who showed a perversity that was
+unequalled in an experience by no means limited, but she stood in the
+duskiest part of the dim hall, and he failed. He knew merely that she
+was tall and slender, and when she turned to lead the way he heard a
+faint sound like the light tinkle of a suppressed laugh. Harley started,
+and his face flushed with anger. He had encountered often those who
+tried to snub him, and usually he had been able to take care of himself,
+but to be laughed at by a housemaid was a new thing in his experience,
+and he was far from liking it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>She indicated a small parlor with a wave of her hand and said:</p>
+
+<p>"You can go in there and wait. You have promised not to steal the
+furniture, and, as the room contains only a piano, a table, and some
+chairs, all of which are too big to be hidden under your overcoat, I
+think that you will keep your promise."</p>
+
+<p>She sped lightly away, leaving Harley trembling so much with amazement
+and anger that he forgot for at least two minutes to sit down. When he
+took off his overcoat he murmured: "Before Mr. Grayson thinks of ruling
+the United States he should discipline his own household."</p>
+
+<p>The house was quiet; he heard no one stirring anywhere. The light from
+an electric lamp in the street shone into the parlor, and by its rays he
+saw Mr. and Mrs. Grayson coming up the street. Then the maid had told
+the truth about the "little walk," and he was early.</p>
+
+<p>He leaned back in his chair and watched the pair as they approached
+their own house. Evidently they had stolen these few minutes in the dark
+to be alone with each other, and Harley sympathized with them, because
+it would be a long time before the wife could claim again that her
+husband was her own. They entered a side-gate, passed through the lawn,
+and a minute later were welcoming Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"We did not expect to be gone so long," said Mrs. Grayson; "but we see
+that you have found the right place."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes," said Harley; "a maid showed me in." Then he added: "I am very
+glad, indeed, to have been invited here, but if you want any more
+privacy I don't think you should have asked me; my kind will soon be
+down upon you like a swarm of locusts."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>Mr. Grayson laughed and took a stack of telegraph envelopes six inches
+thick from a table.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, Mr. Harley," he said. "They will be here to-morrow,
+ready for the start. There are more than twenty applications for space
+on our train, and all of them shall have it. I don't think that the boys
+and I shall quarrel."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson excused herself, and presently they were summoned to
+dinner. Stepping out of a dusky hall into a brilliantly lighted room,
+Harley was dazzled for a moment, but he found himself bowing when she
+introduced him to "My niece, Miss Morgan, of Idaho." Then he saw a tall,
+slender girl, with a singularly frank and open countenance, and a hand
+extended to him as familiarly as if she had known him all her life.
+Harley, although he had not expected the offer of the hand, took it and
+gave it one little shake. He felt an unaccountable embarrassment. He saw
+a faint twinkle in the girl's eye, as if she found something amusing in
+his appearance, and he feared that he had made a mistake in coming in
+evening-dress. He flushed a little and felt a slight resentment towards
+Mrs. Grayson, because she had not told him of this niece; but he was
+relieved for the moment by an introduction to the third guest, Mrs.
+Boyle, an elderly lady, also a relative, but more distantly so.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Boyle merely bowed, and at once returned Harley to the custody of
+the niece from Idaho, of whom he felt some fear, her singular freedom of
+manner and the faint twinkle that still lurked in her eye putting him on
+edge. Moreover, he was assigned to a seat next to her, and, as obviously
+he was expected to entertain her, his fear increased. This girl was not
+only Western, but Far Western, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> in his opinion, there was none so
+wise who could tell what she would do or say. He repeated to himself the
+word "Idaho," and it sounded remote, rough, and wild.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle James tells me that you are a correspondent, the representative
+of the New York <i>Gazette</i>," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"And that you are to go with him on the campaign and write brilliant
+accounts of the things that never happen."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure that Mr. Grayson was not your authority for such a
+statement," said Harley, with a smile, although he did not wholly relish
+her banter.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no, Uncle James is a very polite man, and very considerate of the
+feelings of others."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is a supposition of your own?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no, not a supposition at all; the New York newspapers sometimes
+reach us even in Idaho."</p>
+
+<p>Harley did not respond to her banter, thinking it premature, as she had
+never seen him before. He could not forget the reserve and shyness
+natural to him, and he felt a sense of hostility. He glanced at her, and
+saw a cheek ruddier than the cheeks of American women usually are, and a
+chin with an unusually firm curve. Her hair was dark brown, and when the
+electric light flashed upon her it seemed to be streaked with dull gold.
+But the chin held him with an odd sort of fascination, and he strove to
+read her character in it. "Bold and resolute," he decided, "but too
+Western, entirely too Far Western. She needs civilizing." He was rather
+glad that he was going away with Mr. Grayson on the morrow and would not
+see her again.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think," she said; "that the life of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> newspaper correspondent
+is extremely interesting. You have all the pleasures and none of the
+responsibilities; you go to war, but you do not fight; you enter great
+political campaigns, but you cannot be defeated; you are always with the
+victor and never with the vanquished; you are not bound by geographical
+limits nor by facts, nor&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me, Miss Morgan," interrupted Harley, with dignity. "In my
+profession, as in all others, there are irresponsible persons, but the
+great majority of its followers are conscientious and industrious. If
+you only knew how&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"That sounds as if it had been prepared in advance," she exclaimed. "I
+am sure that you have used it many times before."</p>
+
+<p>"You must not mind Sylvia," said Mrs. Grayson, smiling her grave, quiet
+smile. "She seldom means what she says, or says what she means."</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Anna," exclaimed Miss Morgan, "you are really too hard upon your
+beloved niece. I never before dined with the staff correspondent of a
+great New York newspaper, and I am really seeking information. Now I
+wish to know if in his profession imagination is the most valuable
+quality, as I have heard it said."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you wish to embroil me with the press so early?" asked Mr. Grayson,
+laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard great tales about them and their daring," she persisted.
+"I am not sure that even now he has not a camera concealed under his
+coat."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Sylvia, what a strange thing to say!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley started in his seat and flushed a deep red. "Miss Morgan, I
+shall have to ask your pardon," he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>Mr. and Mrs. Grayson looked at them in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is something that we do not understand," said Mr. Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Uncle James, there is nothing strange about what I have said,"
+continued Miss Morgan, with the most innocent face. "I thought all of
+them carried cameras, else how do we get all the wonderful pictures?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley felt inclined to tell the entire table his experience, but on
+second thought he remained silent, as the girl from Idaho began to pique
+him, and he was not willing that the advantage should remain wholly with
+her, especially when she was from the very Far West. So he affected
+complete indifference, and, when they asked him about his adventures in
+the recent war on the other side of the world, he talked freely about
+them, which he had never done before, because, like most Americans, he
+was a modest man, enduring in silence lectures on the sin of boasting
+from others who boasted as they breathed. Most of the time he spoke
+apparently to Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, but he kept a side-look upon the
+girl from Idaho who had played with him and humiliated him.</p>
+
+<p>She became silent, as if satisfied with the flight of the arrows that
+had gone already from her quiver, and seemed to listen with an air of
+becoming respect; but Harley surprised once or twice the lurking twinkle
+in her eye, and he was not sure that she was wholly subdued. Opposition
+and difficulties always increased his resolve, and he doubled his
+efforts. He spoke lightly of the kingdoms and republics whose fortunes
+he had followed in a casual way and of the men whom the heave of affairs
+had brought to the surface for a space, and always he kept that
+side-look upon her. These relations, surely, would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>impress, because
+what could she, a child of the Idaho wilds, know of the great world? And
+its very mystery would heighten to her its coloring and effect.</p>
+
+<p>Harley could talk well, all the better because he talked so rarely of
+himself, and even now it was of himself only by indirection, because he
+spoke chiefly of men whom he had known and deeds that he had witnessed.
+Watching the girl closely with that side-look, he did not see the
+twinkle reappear in her eye; instead she sat demure and silent, and he
+judged that he had taken her beyond her depth. At last he stopped, and
+she said, in a subdued tone:</p>
+
+<p>"Did I not tell you, Uncle James, that imagination was the great quality
+the correspondents need?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley flushed, but he could not keep from joining Mr. Grayson in his
+laugh. The candidate, besides laughing, glanced affectionately at the
+girl. It was evident that his niece was a favorite with Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall ask Miss Morgan to tell me about Idaho," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"It's quite wild, you know," she said, gravely; "and all the people need
+taming. But it would be a great task."</p>
+
+<p>When they went back to the drawing-room Harley and the girl were behind
+the others, and he lingered a moment beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Morgan," he said, "I want to ask your pardon again. You know it
+was in the dark, and mine was an honest mistake."</p>
+
+<p>"I will if you will tell me one thing."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you really got a camera with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"If I had I should take a picture of you and not of Mr. Grayson."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>Harley remained awhile longer, and Miss Morgan's treatment remained
+familiar and somewhat disconcerting, rather like the manner of an elder
+sister to her young brother than of a girl to a man whom she had known
+only two or three hours. When he rose to leave, she again offered him
+her hand with perfect coolness. Harley, in a perfunctory manner,
+expressed his regret that he was not likely to see her again, as he was
+to leave the next day with Mr. Grayson. The provoking twinkle appeared
+again in the corner of her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't intend that you shall forget me, Mr. Harley," she said,
+"because you <i>are</i> to see me again. When you come to Washington in
+search of news, I shall be there as the second lady of the land&mdash;Aunt
+Anna will be first."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, of course, I forgot that," said Harley, but he was not sure that
+she had Washington in mind, remembering Mrs. Grayson's assertion that
+she did not always mean what she said nor say what she meant.</p>
+
+<p>The night was quite dark, and when he had gone a few yards Harley
+stopped and looked back at the house. He felt a distinct sense of
+relief, because he was gone from the presence of the mountain girl who
+was not of his kind, and whom he did not know how to take; being a man,
+he could not retort upon her in her own fashion, and she was able to
+make him feel cheap.</p>
+
+<p>The drawing-room was still lighted, and he saw the Idaho girl pass in
+front of one of the low windows, her figure completely outlined by the
+luminous veil. It seemed to him to express a singular, flexible
+grace&mdash;perhaps the result of mountain life&mdash;but he was loath to admit
+it, as she troubled him. Harley, although young, had been in many lands
+and among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> many people. He had seen many women who were beautiful, and
+some who were brilliant, but it had been easy to forget every one of
+them; they hardly made a ripple in the stream of his work, and often it
+was an effort to recall them. He had expected to dismiss this Idaho girl
+in the same manner, but she would not go, and he was intensely annoyed
+with himself.</p>
+
+<p>He went to the telegraph-office, wrote and filed his despatch, and then,
+lighting a cigar, strolled slowly through the streets. It was not eleven
+o'clock, but it seemed that everybody except himself was in bed and
+asleep. The lights in all the houses were out, and there was no sound
+whatever save that of the wind as it came in from the prairie and
+stirred the new foliage of the trees. "And this is our wicked America,
+for which my foreign friends used to offer me sincere condolences!"
+murmured Harley.</p>
+
+<p>But he returned quickly to his own mental disturbance. He felt as he
+used to feel on the eve of a battle that all knew was coming off, there
+on the other side of the world. He was then with an army which he was
+not at all sure was in the right; but when he sat on a hill-top in the
+night, looking at the flickering lights of the enemy ahead, and knowing
+that the combat would be joined at dawn, he could not resist a feeling
+of comradeship with that army to which, for a time&mdash;and in a sense,
+perhaps, alien&mdash;he belonged. Those soldiers about him became friends,
+and the enemy out there was an enemy for him, too. It was the same now
+when he was to go on a long journey with Jimmy Grayson, who stood upon a
+platform of which he had many doubts.</p>
+
+<p>He turned back to the hotel, and when he entered the lobby a swarm of
+men fell upon him and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>demanded the instant delivery of any news which
+he might have and they had not. They were correspondents who had come by
+every train that afternoon&mdash;Hobart, Churchill, Blaisdell, Lawson, and
+others, making more than a score&mdash;some representing journals that would
+support Grayson, and others journals that would call him names, many and
+bad.</p>
+
+<p>"We hear that you have been to dinner with the candidate," said
+Churchill, the representative of the New York <i>Monitor</i>, a sneering
+sheet owned by one foreigner and edited by another, which kept its eye
+on Europe, and considered European opinion final, particularly in regard
+to American affairs; "so you can tell us if it is true that he picks his
+teeth at table with a fork."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a good man for the <i>Monitor</i>, Churchill," said Harley, sharply.
+"Your humor is in perfect accord with the high taste displayed, and you
+show the same dignity and consideration in your references to political
+opponents."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I see," said Churchill, sneering just as he had been taught to
+sneer by the <i>Monitor</i>. "He is the first guest to dine with the
+Presidential nominee, and he is overpowered by the honor."</p>
+
+<p>"You shut up, Churchill!" said Hobart, another of the correspondents.
+"You sha'n't pick a quarrel with Harley, and you sha'n't be a
+mischief-maker here. There are enough of us to see that you don't."</p>
+
+<p>Harley turned his back scornfully upon Churchill, who said nothing more,
+and began to tell his friends of Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"He is an orator," he said. "We know that by undoubted report, and his
+manner is simple and most agreeable. He has more of the quality called
+personal magnetism than any other man I ever saw."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>"What of his ability?" asked Tremaine, the oldest of the correspondents.</p>
+
+<p>Harley thought a little while before replying.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't make up my mind on that point," he said. "I find in him, so far
+as I can see, a certain simplicity, I might almost say an innocence,
+which is remarkable. He is unlike the other public men whom I have met,
+but I don't know whether this innocence indicates superficiality or a
+tact and skill lying so deep that he is able to plan an ambush for the
+best of his enemies."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we are to be with him five months," said Tremaine, "and it is our
+business to find out."</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2>
+
+<h3>THE START</h3>
+
+<p>They were to start at dawn the next day, going back to Chicago, where
+the campaign would be opened, and Harley, ever alert, was dressing while
+it was yet dusk. From a corner of the dining-room, where he snatched a
+quick breakfast, he saw the sun shoot out of the prairie like a great
+red cannon-ball and the world swim up into a sea of rosy light. Then he
+ran for the special train, which was puffing and whistling at the
+station, and the flock of correspondents was at his heels.</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw Mr. and Mrs. Grayson alighting from a cab, and, satisfied
+with the one glance, he entered the car and sought his place. Always,
+like the trained soldier, he located his camp, or rather base, before
+beginning his operations, and he made himself comfortable there with his
+fellows until the train was well clear of the city and the straggling
+suburbs that hung to it like a ragged fringe. Then he decided to go into
+the next coach to see Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, making, as it were, a dinner
+call.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate and his wife had taken the drawing-room, not from any
+desire of his for seclusion or as an artificial aid to greatness, but
+because he saw that it was necessary if he would have any time for
+thought or rest. Harley approached the compartment, expecting to be
+announced by the porter, but a veiled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> lady in the seat next to it rose
+up before him. She lifted the veil, which was not a disguise, instead
+being intended merely as a protection against the dust that one gathers
+on a railroad journey, and Harley stopped in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"And so you see, Mr. Correspondent," she said, "that your farewell was
+useless. You behold me again inside of twelve hours. I wanted to tell
+you last night that I was going on this train, as Uncle James has great
+confidence in my political judgment and feels the constant need of my
+advice, but I was afraid you would not believe me. So I have preferred
+to let you see for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>She gave Harley a look which he could not interpret as anything but
+saucy, and his attention was called again by the bold, fine curve of her
+chin, and he was saying to himself: "A wild life in the mountains surely
+develops courage and self-reliance, but at the expense of the more
+delicate and more attractive qualities." Then he said aloud, and
+politely:</p>
+
+<p>"I see no reason, Miss Morgan, why you should have credited me with a
+lack of faith in your word. Have I said anything to induce such a belief
+in your mind?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, you have merely looked it."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not always look as I feel," said Harley, in embarrassment, "and I
+want to tell you, Miss Morgan, that I am very glad you are going with us
+on this Chicago trip."</p>
+
+<p>"You look as if you meant that," she said, gravely; "but if I am to take
+you at your word, you mean nothing of the kind."</p>
+
+<p>"I do mean it; I assure you I do," said Harley, hastily. "But are Mr.
+and Mrs. Grayson ready to receive visitors?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>"That depends. I am not sure that I want Uncle James interviewed so
+early in the day. At least I want to know in advance the subject of the
+interview. You can give me, as it were, the heads of your discourse.
+Come, tell me, and I will render a decision."</p>
+
+<p>She regarded Harley with a grave face, and he was divided between
+vexation and a sort of reluctant admiration of her coolness. She was
+bold and forward, not to say impertinent, but she seemed wholly
+unconscious of it, and, after all, she was from one of the wildest parts
+of Idaho. He kindly excused much of her conduct on the ground of early
+association.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not seek to interview any one," he said; "I merely wish to pay my
+respects to Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, having been their guest, as you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, then you can go in," she said, and, calling to the porter, she told
+him to announce Mr. Harley, of the New York <i>Gazette</i>. "Of the New York
+<i>Gazette</i>," she said again, with what Harley considered unnecessary
+repetition and emphasis, and he had a new count against her.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Grayson received him with courtesy, even with warmth, and
+Harley saw that he had made new progress in their esteem. He remained
+with them only a few minutes, and he said nothing about the
+objectionable conduct of Miss Morgan, who had set herself as a guard
+upon their door. He deemed it wiser to make no reference to her at all,
+because she was only an insignificant and momentary incident of the
+campaign, not really relevant. Chicago was merely a beginning, and they
+would drop her there. When he returned from the drawing-room, she was
+still sitting near the door, and at his appearance she looked up pertly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>"Did you find him in a good-humor?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I think Mr. Grayson is always in a good-humor, or at least he is able
+to appear so."</p>
+
+<p>"I doubt whether perpetual good-humor, or the appearance of it, is
+desirable. One ought to make a difference in favor of friends; I do not
+care to present an amiable face to my enemies."</p>
+
+<p>She pursed up her lips and looked thoughtful.</p>
+
+<p>"When Uncle James goes to Washington to take the Presidency," she
+continued, "he will need me to protect him from the people who have no
+business with him."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope the last remark is not personal?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no," she said; "I recognize the fact that the press must be
+tolerated."</p>
+
+<p>Harley again felt piqued, and, not willing to retire with the sense of
+defeat fresh upon him, he sat down near her and began to talk to her of
+her Western life. He wished to know more about the genesis and progress
+of a girl who seemed to him so strange, but he was not able to confine
+her to certain channels of narrative. She was flippant and vague, full
+of allusions to wild things like Indians or buffaloes or grizzly bears,
+but with no detailed statement, and Harley gathered that her childhood
+had been in complete touch with these primitive facts. Only such early
+associations could account for the absence of so many conventions.</p>
+
+<p>The correspondents who travelled with Harley were mostly men of
+experience, readily adaptable, and the addition of a new member to Mr.
+Grayson's party could not escape their attention. Harley was surprised
+and shocked to find that all of them were well acquainted with Miss
+Morgan inside of six hours, and that they seemed to be much better
+comrades<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> with her than he had been. Hobart, the most frivolous of the
+lot, and the most careless of speech, returning from the Grayson car,
+informed him that she was a "great girl, as fine as silk."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a queer expression to apply to a lady," said Harley. "It smacks
+of the Bowery."</p>
+
+<p>"And what if it does?" replied Hobart, coolly. "I often find the Bowery
+both terse and truthful. And in this case the expression fits Miss
+Morgan. She's the real article&mdash;no fuss and frills, just a daughter of
+the West, never pretending that she is what she isn't. I heard her speak
+of you, Harley, and I don't think she likes you, old man. What have you
+been doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope I have been behaving as a gentleman should," replied Harley,
+with some asperity; "and if I have been unlucky enough to incur her
+dislike, I shall endure it as best I can."</p>
+
+<p>He spoke in an indifferent tone, as if his endurance would not be
+severely tested.</p>
+
+<p>"But you are missing a good time," said Hobart. "There are not less than
+a dozen of us at her feet, and the Grayson car is full of jollity. I'm
+going back."</p>
+
+<p>He returned to the car, and Harley was left alone just then, as he
+wished to be, and with an effort he dismissed Miss Morgan from his
+thoughts. Mr. Grayson would speak that night in Chicago, and an audience
+of twenty thousand people was assured; this fact and the other one, that
+it would be his initial address, making the event of the first
+importance.</p>
+
+<p>Harley as a correspondent was able not only to chronicle facts, which is
+no great feat, but also to tell why, to state the connection between
+them, and to re-create the atmosphere in which those facts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>occurred and
+which made them possible. He was well aware that a fact was dependent
+for its quality&mdash;that is, for its degree of good or evil&mdash;upon its
+surrounding atmosphere, just as a man is influenced by the air that he
+breathes, and for this reason he wished to send in advance a despatch
+about Mr. Grayson and his personality as created by his birth and
+associations.</p>
+
+<p>He rested his pad on the car-seat and began to write, but Miss Morgan
+intruded herself in the first line. This question of character, created
+by environment, would apply to her as well as to her uncle; but Harley,
+angrily refusing to consider it, tore off the sheet of paper and,
+throwing it on the floor, began again. The second trial was more
+successful, and he soon became absorbed in the effort to describe Mr.
+Grayson and his remarkable personality, which might be either deep and
+complex or of the simplest Western type.</p>
+
+<p>As he wrote Harley became more and more absorbed in his subject, and
+with the absorption came spontaneity. He did not know how well he was
+writing, nor what a vivid picture he was presenting to the vast Eastern
+population to whom Jimmy Grayson was as yet but a name. It was a
+despatch that became famous, reprinted all over the Union, and quoted as
+the first description of the candidate as he really was&mdash;that is, of the
+man. And yet Harley, reading it days later, recognized in it something
+that nobody else saw. It was a blend. In every fourth line Sylvia Morgan
+again, and despite his efforts, had obtruded herself. He had borrowed
+something from her to add to Jimmy Grayson, and he felt that he had been
+seeking excuses for her manner.</p>
+
+<p>But this fact did not impinge upon Harley now,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> when he read the
+despatch preparatory to filing it at Chicago. He merely felt that he had
+made an attempt to solve Jimmy Grayson, and in doing so had fulfilled
+his duty.</p>
+
+<p>As he folded up the article the loud voice of Hobart hailed him from the
+other end of the car, and he beheld that irresponsible man entering with
+the candidate's niece.</p>
+
+<p>"You see what he has been about all this time, Miss Morgan?" said
+Hobart. "He has been at work. Harley, you know, is the only
+conscientious man among us."</p>
+
+<p>"I have remarked already his devotion to duty," she said, sedately; "but
+do you think, Mr. Hobart, we should disturb him now? We do not know that
+he has finished his task."</p>
+
+<p>Harley flushed. He did not wish to be thought a prig or one who made a
+pretence of great industry, and, although Miss Morgan's voice was
+without expression, he believed that irony lay hidden somewhere in it.</p>
+
+<p>"You are mistaken," he said; "my work is over, for the time, at least.
+It was something that had to be done, or I should not have stolen off
+here alone."</p>
+
+<p>Then he went back with them to the Grayson car, where a joyous group had
+gathered. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson were in the drawing-room, with the door
+shut, working upon the candidate's speech at Chicago, Harley surmised,
+and hence there was no restraint. Of this group the girl from Idaho was
+the centre and the sun. She seemed to be on good terms with them all, to
+the great surprise of Harley, who had known her longer than they, and
+who had not been able to get on with her at all, and he sat rather on
+the fringe of the throng, saying but little.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>Again she inspired him with hostility; she seemed, as before, too bold,
+too boisterous, too much the mountain maid, although he could not
+analyze any particular incident as wrong in itself. And clearly she had
+won the liking, even the admiration, of his associates, all of whom were
+men of wide experience. Tremaine, the dean of the corps, a ruddy,
+white-haired old fellow, who had written despatches from the
+Russo-Turkish war, which was ancient history to Harley, warmed visibly
+to Miss Morgan. "It is always the way with those old gallants," was
+Harley's silent comment. But he had never before characterized Tremaine
+in such a manner.</p>
+
+<p>He was afraid of her sharp tongue, knowing that a woman in such respects
+is never averse to taking an unfair advantage of a man; but she paid no
+heed to him, talking with the others and passing over him as if he had
+not been present; and, while this was what he wanted in the first place,
+yet, now that he had it, he resented it as something undeserved. But if
+she would not speak to him, he, too, would keep silence, a silence which
+he was convinced had in it a disdainful quality; hence it was not
+without a certain comfort and satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley was forced to admit that if she was of the bold and
+boisterous type, she was a favorable specimen within those unfavorable
+limits. While she was familiar, in a measure, with these men, yet she
+was able to keep them at the proper distance, and no one presumed, in
+any respect. She radiated purity and innocence, and it was to ignorance
+only that Harley now charged her faults.</p>
+
+<p>They reached Chicago the next morning, and at noon Hobart knocked at the
+door of Harley's room at the hotel.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>"There is some idle time this afternoon," said Hobart, "and Tremaine and
+I have asked Miss Morgan to go driving. She has accepted, but it takes
+four to make a party, and you are the lucky fourth."</p>
+
+<p>He allowed no protestations, and, after all, Harley, who had been under
+much strain for some time, was not averse to an hour or two in the fresh
+air.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Morgan has never been in Chicago before," said Hobart, "and it is
+our duty to show it to her."</p>
+
+<p>Hobart, who drove, put Miss Morgan upon the seat beside him, and
+Tremaine and Harley, who sat behind, occupied what was to some extent
+the post of disadvantage; but Tremaine, safe in his years, would not
+permit the rear seat to be neglected. He talked constantly, and her
+face, of necessity, was often turned to them, giving Harley opportunity
+to see that it had a most becoming flush.</p>
+
+<p>She had an eager interest in everything&mdash;the tall buildings, the
+wind-swept streets, and the glimpses of the wide, green lake. Harley saw
+that Chicago bulked much more largely in her imagination than in his,
+and he began to fear that he had been neglectful; it was the most
+concrete expression of the West, and, as the greatest achievement of a
+new people in city building, it deserved attention for qualities
+peculiarly its own, and there could be no doubt either of Miss Morgan's
+admiration or pleasure. She was seeking neither for the old nor the
+picturesque, which are not always synonymous, but was in full sympathy
+with the fresh, active, and, on the whole, joyous life around her. It
+was sufficient to her to be a part of the human tide, and to feel by
+contact the keenness and zest of the human endeavor. She was not
+troubled by the absence of ruins.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>"But the city is flat and unpicturesque," once said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"All the better," she rejoined. "I have so much of silence and grandeur
+in Idaho that I enjoy the sight of two million people at work on this
+billiard-table that is Chicago. I like my own kind, I like to talk to it
+and have it talk to me. I suppose that the mountains have a voice, but
+the voice is too big for perpetual conversation with a poor little
+mortal like myself. After a while I want to come down to my own level,
+and I find it here."</p>
+
+<p>Harley glanced at her. The flush was still on her face, and there was a
+soft light in her eyes. He could not doubt that she was sincere, and she
+started in his mind thoughts that were not altogether new to him; he
+wondered if excessive reverence for the antique did not indicate a
+detachment from the present, and therefore from life itself, and, as a
+logical sequence, a lack of feeling for one's own kind. He had heard an
+elderly man from Chicago, dragged about by his wife and daughters in
+Rome, exclaim in disgust, "I would not give a single street corner in
+Chicago for all Rome!" The elderly Chicagoan had been drowned in
+derisive laughter, but Harley could understand his point of view, and
+now, as he remembered him, he had for him a fellow-feeling.</p>
+
+<p>Hobart took them through many streets, one much like another, and then
+over a white asphalt drive beside the great lake. The shores were low,
+but to Harley the lake had the calm restlessness and expanse of the sea,
+and the wind had the same keen tang that comes over miles of salt. He
+saw the girl's eyes linger upon the vast sheet of green, and the
+incipient hostility that he felt towards her disappeared for a time.
+Somewhere in her nature, strait though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> the place might be, there was a
+feeling for fine things, and he felt a kindred glow.</p>
+
+<p>They were rather quiet when they drove back towards the hotel, but she
+spoke at last of her uncle James and his speech that night, which might
+justify the expectations of either his friends or his enemies. There had
+grown up lately in the theatrical world a practice of "trying a new
+piece on the dog"&mdash;that is, of presenting it first in some small town
+which was not too particular&mdash;but now the political world was moving
+differently in this particular case. The candidate was to make his first
+appearance in one of the greatest of cities, before two million people,
+so to speak, and the ordeal would be so severe that Harley found himself
+apprehensive for Jimmy Grayson's sake. The feeling was shared by his
+niece.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't think he will fail, do you?" she said, in an appealing tone
+to Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"Fail!" replied that irrepressible optimist. "He can't fail! The bigger
+the crowd the better he will rise to the occasion."</p>
+
+<p>But she did not seem to be wholly convinced by Hobart's cheerfulness,
+which was too general in its nature&mdash;that is, inclusive of
+everything&mdash;and turned to Harley and Tremaine as if seeking
+confirmation.</p>
+
+<p>"It will be a terrible test," said Harley, frankly, "but I feel sure
+that Mr. Grayson will pass it with glory. He is a born orator, and he
+has courage."</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you for your belief," she said, giving Harley a swift glance of
+gratitude, and unaccountably he felt a pleasing glow at the first
+gracious words she had ever spoken to him.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not bear it if he failed," she continued. "He is my uncle, and
+he is our own Western man. What things would be in the newspapers to-morrow!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>"If Mr. Grayson should fail to-night, he would recover himself at his
+second speech; he has your spirit, you know," said the ancient Tremaine.</p>
+
+<p>But she did not seem to relish his elderly gallantry. "How do you know I
+have spirit?" she asked. "I have done nothing to indicate it."</p>
+
+<p>"I inferred it," replied he, bowing, but she only lifted her chin
+incredulously, and Tremaine subsided, his suppression giving Harley some
+quiet enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>They returned, chiefly in silence, to the hotel. The dusk was coming
+down over the great city, and with it a grayish mist that hid the walls
+of the buildings, although the electric lights in lofty stories twinkled
+through it like signal-fires from hill-tops. Miss Morgan seemed subdued,
+and at the hotel door she said to them in dismissal: "I thank you; you
+have given me much pleasure."</p>
+
+<p>"I rather think that she is wrapped up in Mr. Grayson's success," said
+Hobart, "and, as she intimates, it will come pretty near to breaking her
+heart if he fails."</p>
+
+<p>In the lobby Harley met Churchill, of the <i>Monitor</i>, and Churchill, as
+usual, was sneering.</p>
+
+<p>"I imagine that Grayson will make a display of provincialism to-night,"
+he said. "America will have to blush for herself. I have copies of the
+<i>Monitor</i>, and all our London cables show the greatest amazement in
+Great Britain and on the Continent that we should put up such an <i>outr&eacute;</i>
+Western character for President, one of the Boys, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"The Grayson of the <i>Monitor</i> is not the Grayson of reality," replied
+Harley, "and the opinion of Europe does not matter, because Europe knows
+nothing about Mr. Grayson."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>"Oh, I see! You are falling under the influence," said Churchill,
+nastily.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" demanded Harley.</p>
+
+<p>But Churchill would not answer. He sauntered away still sneering. Harley
+looked after him angrily, but concluded in a few moments that his wrath
+was not worth while&mdash;Churchill, trained to look always in the wrong
+direction could never see anything right.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE FIRST SPEECH</h3>
+
+<p>When Harley started at an early hour for the vast hall in which Mr.
+Grayson was to speak, he realized that there was full cause for the
+trepidation of his feminine kind&mdash;perhaps in such moments women tremble
+for their men more than they ever tremble for themselves&mdash;and he had
+plenty of sympathy for Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan. The city, astir
+with the coming speech, was free to express in advance its opinion of
+it, both vocally and through its press, which was fairly divided&mdash;that
+is, one-half was convinced that it would be an overwhelming triumph, and
+the other half was equally sure that it would be a failure just as
+overwhelming.</p>
+
+<p>Harley had in his pocket a copy of his own paper&mdash;the <i>Gazette</i>&mdash;the
+latest to reach him, and he had read it with the greatest care, but he
+saw that it remained independent; so far, it neither endorsed nor
+attacked Grayson; and, also, he had a telegram from his editor
+instructing him to narrate the events of the evening with the strictest
+impartiality, not only as concerned facts, but, above all, to transmit
+the exact color and atmosphere of the occasion. "I know that this is
+hard to do," he said, but with the deft and useful little compliment
+that a wise employer knows how to put in at the end, he added: "I am
+sure that you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> can do it." And he knew his man; Harley would certainly
+do it.</p>
+
+<p>Harley, seated in an obscure corner of the stage, but one offering many
+points of vantage for his own view, saw the vast crowd come quickly into
+the hall, among the largest in the world, and he heard the hum of
+voices, in which he thought he could distinguish two notes, one of favor
+and one of attack. Yet the audience was orderly, and on the whole the
+element of curiosity prevailed. The correspondent, quick to read such
+signs, saw that the people had an open mind in regard to Jimmy Grayson;
+it was left to the candidate to make his own impression. Churchill took
+a seat near him and began to annoy him with depreciatory remarks about
+Grayson, not spoken to Harley in particular, but to the wide world.
+Hobart once said that Churchill needed no audience, preferring to talk
+to the air, which could make no reply of its own, but must return an
+echo.</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw Mrs. Grayson and her niece slip quietly into a box, sitting
+well back, where they could be seen but little by the audience; and
+then, knowing that Mr. Grayson had arrived, he went behind the wings,
+where the candidate sat waiting.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson received him with a calm and pleasant word; if his family
+were in a tremble, he was not; at least he was able to hide any
+apprehension that he might feel, and he remarked, jestingly: "It is
+apparent that I will have an audience, Mr. Harley; they will not ignore
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"No, you are a good puller," rejoined Harley.</p>
+
+<p>There were some dry preliminaries&mdash;introductory remarks by the chairman
+and other necessary bores&mdash;and then the audience began to call for
+Grayson. The speech would be reported in full by short-hand, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> which
+mechanical work the staff correspondent always hires a member of that
+guild, and Harley was free for the present. He resolved to go into the
+box with Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan, but he changed his mind when he
+glanced at their faces. There was pallor in their cheeks, and their
+whole attitude was of strained and intense waiting. For them the crucial
+moment had come, and Harley had too much humanity to disturb them, even
+with well-meant efforts, at such a moment.</p>
+
+<p>The hum in the crowd increased to a roar, a thunderous call for Grayson,
+but there was a pause on the stage, where no figures moved. The chairman
+glanced uneasily towards the wings and shuffled in his seat as if he did
+not know what to do, but his apprehension did not last long.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate appeared, coming forward with a steady step, his face pale
+and apparently inexpressive; but Harley could see that the eyes, usually
+so calm, were lighted up by a fire from within. Suddenly all his fear
+for Grayson sank away; it came upon him with the finality of a lightning
+flash that here was a man who would not fail, and by an unknown impulse
+he looked from the candidate to the box in which Miss Morgan sat. She
+seemed to have read his faith in his eyes, for a look of relief, even
+joy, came over her face.</p>
+
+<p>This intuition of the two was justified, as the candidate did not have
+to conquer his audience. He held it in his spell from the opening
+sentence; the golden and compelling oratory, afterwards so famous, was
+here poured before the greater world for the first time. Harley listened
+to the periods, smooth but powerful, and he could not throw off their
+charm; some things were said of which he was not sure, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> others with
+which he positively disagreed, but for the time they all seemed true.
+Jimmy Grayson believed them&mdash;there could be no doubt of it; every word
+was tinged with the vivid hue of sincerity&mdash;that was why they held the
+audience in a spell that it could not escape; these were convictions,
+not arguments that he was speaking, and the people received them as
+such. Moreover, he was always clear and direct, he had a Greek precision
+of speech, and there was none in the audience who could not follow him.</p>
+
+<p>Harley, no orator himself, had in the course of his profession heard
+much oratory, some good, much bad, and even now he struggled against the
+charm of Grayson's voice and manner, and sought to see what lay behind
+them. Was there back of this golden veil any great originating or
+executive power, or was he, like so many others who speak well, a voice
+and nothing more? An orator might win the Presidency of the United
+States, but his gift would not necessarily qualify him to administer the
+office. It was a tribute to Harley's power of will or detachment that he
+was able at such a time to ask himself such a question.</p>
+
+<p>But he forgot these after-thoughts in the pleasurable sympathy that his
+view of the candidate's wife and niece aroused. Their faces were
+illumined with joy. Feeling his spell so strongly themselves, they knew
+without looking that the audience felt it, too, and the evening could be
+no fuller for them. Here he was, a hero not only for his womenkind, but
+for all whom his womenkind could see, and Harley thought that under the
+influence of this feeling Miss Morgan's features had become very soft
+and feminine. The curve of the jaw was gentle rather than firm, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> now
+in her softer moments it seemed to Harley that something might be made
+of this mountain girl, say by the deft hands of an Eastern and older
+woman. Then he blushed at himself for such a condescending thought, and
+turned to his task&mdash;that is, the effort to reproduce for readers in New
+York, the next morning, the atmosphere of that evening in a Chicago
+hall, and the exact relation that Mr. Grayson, the people, and the
+events of the hour bore to each other.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was a conscientious man, interested in his work, and when he gave
+the last page of the despatch to a telegraph-boy the speech was nearly
+over. He said emphatically that it was a success, that the audience was
+brought thoroughly under the spell, but whether this spell would endure
+after the candidate was gone he did not undertake to prophesy. The
+coldest and most critical seeker after truth and nothing but the truth
+could have found no fault with what he wrote.</p>
+
+<p>He gave the last page of the despatch to the telegraph-boy, and entered
+the secluded box that held Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan. Two elderly
+Chicago men, who played at politics and who were warm enthusiasts for
+Grayson, were there, and Harley was introduced to them. But he talked to
+them only as long as politeness demanded, and then, with all sincerity,
+he congratulated Mrs. Grayson on her husband's triumph.</p>
+
+<p>"I never had a doubt of it," she replied, her voice tremulous, and
+honestly forgetful in the glory of the moment of all the fears that had
+been assailing her a few hours ago. "I knew what he could do."</p>
+
+<p>Harley turned presently to Miss Morgan, and he spoke in the same vein to
+her, but she asked, with some asperity, "Did you think he could fail?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>"Failure is possible, I suppose, in the case of anybody."</p>
+
+<p>"But you do not know our Western spirit."</p>
+
+<p>"I am learning."</p>
+
+<p>Her gentleness was gone. She resented what she chose to consider an
+attempt at patronage of the West, and Harley again was made the target
+for the arrows of her sarcasm. Yet he did not resent it with his
+original acerbity; custom was dulling the sharp edge of her weapons,
+and, instead of wounding him, they rather provoked and drew him on. He
+was able to reply lightly, to suggest vaguely the crudities of Idaho,
+and to incite her to yet more strenuous battle for her beloved
+mountains.</p>
+
+<p>But both ceased to talk, because the candidate was approaching his
+climax, and the grand swell of his speech had in it a musical quality
+that did not detract from its power to carry conviction. Then he closed,
+and the thunders of applause rose again and again. At last, after bowing
+many times to the gratified audience, he came back to the box, and his
+niece, her eyes shining with delight, sprang up, as if driven by an
+impulse, and, throwing her arms about his neck, kissed him. The act was
+seen by many, and it was applauded, but Harley did not like it; her
+emotion seemed to him too youthful, to smack too little of restraint&mdash;in
+short, to be too Western. Despite himself, he frowned, and when she
+turned back towards the box she saw the frown still upon his face. There
+was an instant fiery flash in her eye, and she drew herself up as if in
+haughty defiance, but she said nothing then, nor did she speak later
+when she left with the Graysons, merely giving him a cold good-night
+bow.</p>
+
+<p>Harley lingered a little with the other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>correspondents, and was among
+the last to leave the building. He was thinking of the Idaho girl, but
+he did not fail to notice what was going on, and he saw a group of
+middle-aged or elderly men, the majority of them portly in figure and
+autocratic in bearing, follow the trail of Jimmy Grayson. Although
+familiar with the faces of only one or two in the group, he knew
+instinctively who they were. It was a gathering of the great, moneyed
+men of the party, eager to see the attitude of Grayson upon affairs that
+concerned them intimately, and prompt to take action in accordance. They
+were the guardians of "vested" interests, interests watched over as few
+things in this world are, and they were resolved to see that they took
+no harm. But the speech of the night had been general in its nature, a
+preliminary as it were, and Harley judged that they would do nothing as
+yet but skirmish upon the outskirts, keeping a wary eye for the main
+battle when it should be joined.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you notice them?" asked white-haired Tremaine in his ear.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes," replied Harley, who knew at once what he meant; "I watched
+them leave the hall."</p>
+
+<p>"One gets to know them instinctively," said Tremaine. "I've seen them
+like a herd of bull-dogs&mdash;if such animals travelled in herds&mdash;on the
+heels of every presidential candidate for the last forty years, and that
+covers ten campaigns. But I suppose they have as much right to look
+after their interests as the farmer or mechanic has to look after his."</p>
+
+<p>"Yet it is worth while to watch them," said Harley, and all in the group
+concurred.</p>
+
+<p>They were to leave in the afternoon for Milwaukee, which gave plenty of
+time for rest, and Harley, who needed it, slept late. But when he rose
+and dressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> he went forth at once, after his habit, for the morning
+papers, buying them all in order to weigh as well as he could the
+Chicago opinion of Grayson. The first that he picked up was sensational
+in character, and what he saw on the front page did not please him at
+all. There was plenty of space devoted to Grayson, but almost as much
+was given to an incident of the evening as to Grayson himself. There was
+a huge picture of a beautiful young girl throwing her arms around Jimmy
+Grayson's neck, and kissing him enthusiastically. The two occupied the
+centre of the stage close to the footlights, and twenty thousand people
+were frantically cheering the spectacle. By the side of this picture was
+another, a perfectly correct portrait of Miss Morgan, evidently taken
+from a photograph, and under it were the lines: "Jimmy Grayson's
+Egeria&mdash;the Beautiful Young Girl Who Furnishes the Western Fire for His
+Speeches."</p>
+
+<p>And then in two columns of leaded type, under a pyramid of head-lines,
+was told the story of Sylvia Morgan. Flushed with enthusiasm, the
+account said, she had come from Idaho to help her uncle, the candidate.
+Although only eighteen years of age&mdash;she was twenty-two&mdash;she had
+displayed a most remarkable perception and grasp of politics and of
+great issues. It was she, with her youthful zeal, who inspired Mr.
+Grayson and his friends with courage for a conflict against odds. He
+consulted her daily about his speeches; it was she who always put into
+them some happy thought, some telling phrase that was sure to captivate
+the people. In a pinch she could make a speech herself, and she would
+probably be seen on the stump in the West. And she was as beautiful as
+she was intellectual and eloquent; she would be the most picturesque
+feature of this or any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> campaign ever waged in America. It continued in
+this vein for two columns, employing all the latest devices of the
+newest and yellowest journalism, of which the process is quite simple,
+provided you have no conscience&mdash;that is, you take a grain of fact and
+you build upon it a mountain of fancy, and the mountain will be shaped
+according to the taste of the builder.</p>
+
+<p>Harley would have laughed&mdash;these things always seemed to him childish or
+flippant rather than wicked&mdash;if it had not been for the photograph. That
+was too real; it was exactly like Sylvia Morgan, and it implied
+connivance between the newspaper and some body else. In Idaho it might
+have one look, but here in Chicago it would have another, and in New
+York it would have still another and yet worse. She ought to see the
+true aspect of these things. To Harley, reared with the old-fashioned
+Southern ideals, from which he never departed, it was all inexpressibly
+distasteful&mdash;he did not stop to ask himself why he should be more
+concerned about the picture of Miss Morgan than those of many other
+women whom he saw in the newspapers&mdash;and his feeling was not improved by
+the entrance of Churchill and his sneering comment.</p>
+
+<p>"A good picture of her," said Churchill. "These Western girls like such
+things. Of course she sent it to the newspaper office."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know anything of the kind, nor do you, I think," replied
+Harley, with asperity. "Nor am I aware that the West is any fonder than
+the East of notoriety."</p>
+
+<p>"Have it any way you wish," said Churchill, superciliously. "But I fail
+to see why you should disturb yourself so much over the matter."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>His tone was so annoying that Harley felt like striking him, but instead
+ignored him, and Churchill strolled carelessly on, humming a tune, as he
+had seen insolent people on the stage do in such moments.</p>
+
+<p>Harley thrust the newspaper into his pocket, and went into one of the
+ladies' parlors, where he saw Miss Morgan sitting by a window and
+looking out at the hasty life of Chicago. She did not hear his approach
+until he was very near, and then, starting at the sound of his
+footsteps, she looked up, and her cheeks flushed.</p>
+
+<p>"It should be a happy day for you," said Harley, "and I suppose that you
+are enjoying the triumph."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should I not?" she replied. "I have a share in it."</p>
+
+<p>"So you have, and the press has recognized it."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was just looking at a very good picture of you," said Harley, and he
+spread the paper before her, hoping that she would express surprise and
+distaste. But she showed neither.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I've seen that already," she said, quite coolly. "Don't you think
+it a good picture?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no fault to find with the likeness," replied Harley, with some
+meaning in his tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Then what fault have you to find?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley was embarrassed, and hesitated, seeking for the right words&mdash;what
+did it matter to him if she failed to show the reserve that he thought
+part of a gentlewoman's nature.</p>
+
+<p>"You infer more than I meant," he said, at last. "I merely felt surprise
+that they should have obtained a photograph so quickly."</p>
+
+<p>The slightly deepened flush in her cheeks remained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> and she surveyed him
+with the same cool air of defiance.</p>
+
+<p>"They would have had a picture, anyhow, something made up; was it not
+better, then, to furnish them a real one than to have a burlesque
+published?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's hardly usual," said Harley, more embarrassed than ever. "But
+really, Miss Morgan, I have no right to speak of it in any connection."</p>
+
+<p>"No, but you were intending to do so. It was in your eye when I looked
+up and saw you coming towards me."</p>
+
+<p>Her voice had grown chilly, and her gaze was fixed on Harley. The
+Western girl certainly had dignity and reserve when she wished them, but
+he did not believe that she chose the right moments to display these
+admirable qualities.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not know that I had such a speaking countenance," said Harley.
+"And even if so, you must not forget that you might read it wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not think so," she said, still chilly, and, glancing up at the
+clock, she added: "It is almost twelve, and I promised Aunt Anna to be
+with her a half-hour ago."</p>
+
+<p>At the door she paused, turned back, and a flashing smile illuminated
+her face for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mr. Harley," she said, "don't you wish some newspaper would print
+your picture?"</p>
+
+<p>Then she was gone, leaving him flushed and irritated. He was angry, both
+at her and himself; at himself because he had expected to rebuke her, to
+show her indirectly and in a delicate way where she was wrong, and he
+had never even got as far as the attack. It was he who had been put upon
+the defence, when he had not expected to be in such a state, and his
+self-satisfaction suffered. But he told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> himself that she was a crude
+Western girl, and that it was nothing to him if she forced herself into
+the public gaze in a bold and theatrical manner.</p>
+
+<p>A little later all left for Milwaukee, where Mr. Grayson was to make
+another great speech in the evening, and Harley again refrained from
+joining the group that soon gathered around Miss Morgan, and Mrs.
+Grayson, also, who, being in a very happy mood, made a loan of her
+presence as a chaperon, she said, although, being a young woman still,
+it gave her pleasure to hear them speak of her husband's brilliant
+triumph the night before, and to enjoy the atmosphere of success that
+enveloped the car.</p>
+
+<p>The run from Chicago to Milwaukee is short, but Harley, despite his
+pique&mdash;he was young and naturally of a cheerful temperament&mdash;might have
+joined them before their arrival if his attention had not been attracted
+by another group, that body of portly, middle-aged men, heavy with
+wealth and respectability, who had silently cast a dark shadow upon the
+meeting at Chicago. They were men of power, men whose brief words went
+far, and they held in their hands strings that controlled many and vast
+interests when they pulled them, and their hands were always on the
+strings. They were not like the great, voluble public; they worked, by
+choice and by opportunity, in silence and the dark, and their kind has
+existed in every rich country from Babylonia to the United States of
+America. They were the great financial magnates of Jimmy Grayson's
+party, and nothing that he might do could escape their notice and
+consideration. It was more than likely that in the course of the
+campaign he would feel a great power pressing upon him, and he would not
+be able to say who propelled it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>Harley knew some of these men by name; one, the leader of the party, a
+massive, red-faced man, was the Honorable Clinton Goodnight, a member of
+the Lower House of Congress from New York, but primarily a manufacturer,
+a man of many millions; and the younger and slenderer man, with the
+delicately trimmed and pointed beard, was Henry Crayon, one of the
+shrewdest bankers in Wall Street. These two, at least, he knew by face,
+but no trained observer could doubt that the others were of the same
+kind.</p>
+
+<p>Although silent and as yet casting only a shadow, Harley felt that
+sooner or later these men would cause trouble. He had an intuition that
+the campaign before them was going to be the most famous in the Union,
+dealing with mighty issues and infused with powerful personalities.
+Great changes had occurred in the country in the last few years, its
+centre of gravity was shifting, and the election in November would
+decide many things. He felt as if all the forces were gathering for a
+titanic conflict, and his heart thrilled with the omens and presages. It
+was a pleasurable thrill, too, because he was going to be in the thick
+of it, right beside the general of one of the great armies.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached Milwaukee, Harley and all the correspondents went to
+the same hotel with the Graysons, and they remarked jocularly to the
+nominee that they would watch over him now night and day until the first
+Tuesday in November, and he, being a man of tact and human sympathies,
+without any affectations, was able to be a good fellow with them all,
+merely a first among his equals.</p>
+
+<p>There was a great crowd at the station, ready to welcome the candidate,
+and the sound of shouting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> and joyous welcome arose; but Harley, anxious
+to reach the hotel, slipped from the throng and sprang into a carriage,
+one of a number evidently waiting for the Grayson party. It was a closed
+vehicle, and he did not notice until he sat down that it was already
+occupied, at least in part, by a lady. Then he sprang up, red-faced and
+apologetic, but the lady laughed&mdash;a curious little laugh, ironic, but
+not wholly unpleasant&mdash;and put out a detaining hand, detaining by way of
+gesture, because she did not touch him.</p>
+
+<p>"You are very much surprised to find me here, Mr. Harley," said Miss
+Morgan. "You thought, of course, that I would be in the centre of that
+crowd, receiving applause and shaking hands, just as if I were a
+candidate, like my uncle James. You would not believe me if I told you
+that I came here to escape it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why shouldn't I believe it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I am going to tell you that your displeasure over the picture
+has made me feel so badly that I am resolved to do better, to be more
+modest, more retiring."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Morgan, you do me wrong," said Harley, with reddening face. "I
+have had no such thoughts."</p>
+
+<p>"You fib in a good cause, but you cannot deceive me; I read your
+thoughts, but I am very forgiving, and I am resolved that we shall have
+a pleasant ride to the hotel together. Now, entertain me, tell me about
+that war, of which you saw so much."</p>
+
+<p>She was not in jest, and she compelled him to talk. It was far from the
+station to the hotel, and she revealed a knowledge of the world's
+affairs that Harley thought astonishing in one coming from the depths of
+the Idaho mountains. She touched, too, upon the things that interested
+him most, and drew him on until he was talking with a zest and interest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+that permitted no self-consciousness. Resolved that he would not tell
+what he had seen, and by nature reserved, he was, within five minutes,
+under her deft questions, in the middle of a long narrative of events on
+the other side of the world. He saw her listening, her eyes bright, her
+lips slightly parted, and he knew that he held her attention. He was
+aware, too, that he was flattered by the interest that he had been able
+to create in the mind of this Idaho girl whose opinion he had been
+holding so cheaply.</p>
+
+<p>"I envy a man," she said, at last, sighing a little. "You can go where
+you please and do what you please. Even our 'advanced women' have less
+liberty than the man who is not advanced at all. And yet I do not want
+to be a man. That, I suppose, is a paradox."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was about to make a light reply, something in the tone of
+perforced compliment, but a glimpse of her caused him to change his
+mind. She seemed to have a touch of genuine sadness, and, instead, he
+said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>When the carriage reached the ladies' entrance of the hotel they were
+still silent, and as Harley helped her from the carriage her manner was
+unchanged. The little touch of sadness was yet there, and it appealed to
+him. She surprised his look of sympathy, and the color in her cheeks
+increased.</p>
+
+<p>"I am tired," she said. "I just begin to realize how greatly so much
+travelling and so many crowds weigh upon one."</p>
+
+<p>Then, with the first smile of comradeship that she had given him, she
+went into the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>The Graysons, Miss Morgan, Harley, Hobart, and a few others formed a
+family group again at the table, when they dined that evening, and all
+the tensity and anxiety visible the day before was gone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> Mr. Grayson's
+success in Chicago had been too complete, too sweeping to leave doubt of
+its continuance; he would be the hero and leader of his party, not a
+weight upon it, and the question now was whether or not the party had
+votes enough; hence there was a certain light and joyous air about them
+which gave to their short stay in the dining-room a finer flavor than
+any that a <i>chef</i> could add.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill, of the <i>Monitor</i>, was not one of this party. Churchill did
+not confine his criticisms to his professional activities, but had a
+disposition to carry them into private life, injecting roughness into
+social intercourse, which ought to be smooth and easy. Therefore,
+somewhat to his own surprise, which ought not to have been the case, he
+had not become a member of this family group, and had much to say about
+the "frivolous familiarity" of Jimmy Grayson and "his lack of dignity."</p>
+
+<p>But on this evening Churchill had no desire to sit at table with the
+Graysons, because he felt that something great was going to happen in
+his life. For more than a day, now, he had been on the trail of a mighty
+movement that he believed hidden from all save himself and those behind
+this movement. He, too, had noticed the appearance at Chicago of the
+heavy, rich, elderly men, and he had spoken to one or two of them with
+all the respect and deference that their eminent position in the
+financial world drew from every writer of the <i>Monitor</i>. And his
+deference had been rewarded, because that afternoon he received a hint,
+and it came from no less a personage than the Honorable Clinton
+Goodnight himself, a hint that Churchill rightly thought was worth much
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>There was another large hotel in Milwaukee, and it was to this that the
+financiers had gone, having <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>ascertained first that Grayson would not be
+there; nor did they intend to go to the speech that evening. They had
+already, in the address at Chicago, weighed accurately the power of
+Jimmy Grayson with his party, and with wary old eyes, long used to
+watching the world and its people, they had seen that it would be great.
+Hence he was a man to be handled with skill and care, to be led, not
+knowing that he was led, by a bridle invisible to all save those who
+held it&mdash;but they, the financiers, would know very well who held it.</p>
+
+<p>It was these men to whom Churchill came, having slipped quietly away
+from his associates, drawn by a hint that he might secure an interview
+of great importance, two columns in length and exclusive. Churchill was
+a true product of the <i>Monitor</i>, a worshipper of accomplished facts, a
+supporter of every old convention, believing that anything new or in
+rough attire was bad. Although he would have denied it if accused, he
+nearly always confounded manners with morals, and to him the opinion of
+Europe was final. Hence the <i>Monitor</i> and Churchill were well suited to
+each other. Moreover, Churchill enjoyed the society of the great&mdash;that
+is, of those who seemed to him to be the great&mdash;and he had an admirable
+flexibility of temperament; while easily able and willing to be very
+nasty to those whom he thought of an inferior grade, he was equally able
+and willing to be extremely deferential to those whose grade he
+considered superior. He was also intolerant in opinion, thinking that
+any one who differed from him on the subjects of the day was necessarily
+a scoundrel, wherein he was again in perfect accord with the <i>Monitor</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It was, therefore, with an acute delight, blossoming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> into exultation,
+that Churchill slipped away from his associates and hastened towards the
+hotel where the financial magnates were staying. These were really great
+men, not the productions of a moment, thrown briefly into the
+lime-light, but solid like the pyramids. Mr. Goodnight must be worth
+forty millions, at the least, and he was a power in many circles.
+Churchill thrilled with delight that such a being should hint to him to
+come and be talked to, and he was more than ever conscious of his own
+superiority to his professional associates.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill was not awed by the hotel clerk, but haughtily asked that his
+card be sent at once to Mr. Goodnight, and he concealed his pride when
+the message came back that he be shown up as soon as possible. He
+received it as the natural tribute to his importance, and he took his
+time as he followed the guiding hall-boy. But at the door of Mr.
+Goodnight his manner changed; it became deferential, as befitted modest
+merit in the presence of true and recognized greatness.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodnight was hospitable; there was no false pride about him; he was
+able in being great to be simple also, and Mr. Crayon and the others
+present shared his attractive manner.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Mr. Churchill," he said, as he shook hands heartily with the
+correspondent, "it gives me pleasure, indeed, to welcome you here. We
+noticed your bearing in Chicago, and we were impressed by it. We
+therefore had an additional pleasure when we learned that you were the
+correspondent of the <i>Monitor</i>, New York's ablest and most conservative
+journal. The American press grows flippant and unreliable nowadays, Mr.
+Churchill, but the waves of sensationalism wash in vain around the solid
+base<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> of the old <i>Monitor</i>. There she stands, as steady as ever, a
+genuine light-house in the darkness."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodnight, being a member of Congress, was able to acquire and to
+exhibit at convenient times a certain poetical fervor which impressed
+several kinds of people. Now his associates rubbed their hands in
+admiration, and Churchill flushed with pleasure. A compliment to the
+<i>Monitor</i> was also a compliment to him, for was he not the very spirit
+and essence of the <i>Monitor</i>?</p>
+
+<p>"Before we get to business," continued Mr. Goodnight, in the most
+gratifyingly intimate manner, "suppose we have something just to wet our
+throats and promote conversation. This town, I believe, is famous for
+beer, but it is not impossible to get champagne here; in any event, we
+shall try it."</p>
+
+<p>He rang, the champagne was brought, opened, and drunk, and Churchill
+glowed with his sense of importance. These were men of many millions,
+twice his age, but he was now one with them. Certainly none of his
+associates would have been invited by them to such a conference, and he
+was able to appreciate the fact.</p>
+
+<p>"We want you, Mr. Churchill, to tell us something about Grayson," said
+Mr. Goodnight, in a most kindly tone; "not what all the world knows,
+those superficial facts which the most careless observer may glean, but
+something intimate and personal; we want you to give us an insight into
+his character, from which we may judge what he is likely to do or
+become. You know that he is from the West, the Far West, likely to be
+afflicted with local and provincial views, not to say heresies, and
+great vested interests within his own party feel a little shaky about
+him. We cannot have a revolutionary, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> even a parochial, character in
+the presidential chair. Those interests which are the very bulwark of
+the public must be respected. We must watch over him, and in order to
+know how and what to watch, we must have information. We rely upon you
+to furnish us this information."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill was intensely gratified at this tribute to his merit, but he
+was resolved not to show it even to these great men. Instead, he
+carelessly emptied his champagne glass, rubbed his chin thoughtfully,
+and then asked with a certain fulness of implication:</p>
+
+<p>"Upon what precise point do you wish information, Mr. Goodnight? Of
+course, I have not been with Mr. Grayson very long, but I can say
+truthfully that I have observed him closely within that time, and
+perhaps no phase of a rather complicated character has escaped me."</p>
+
+<p>"We feel quite sure of that," said Mr. Crayon, speaking for the first
+time, and using short, choppy sentences. "<i>Monitor</i>, as I happen to
+know, is extremely careful in the selection of its men, and this, I am
+journalist enough to understand, is most important errand upon which it
+can now send member of its staff."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill bowed courteously to the deserved compliment, and remained
+silent while Mr. Goodnight resumed the thread of talk.</p>
+
+<p>"What we want to know, Mr. Churchill," he said, "is in regard to the
+elements of stability in his character. Will he respect those mighty
+interests to which I have just alluded? Is he, as a comparatively young
+man, and one wholly ignorant of the great world of finance, likely to
+seek the opinion and advice of his elders? You know that we have the
+best wishes in the world for him. His interests and ours,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> if he but
+perceives it, run together, and it is our desire to preserve the utmost
+harmony within the party."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill bowed. Their opinion and his agreed in the most wonderful
+manner. It was hard to say, in his present exalted state, whether this
+circumstance confirmed their intelligence or his, but it certainly
+confirmed somebody's.</p>
+
+<p>"I have already taken note of these facts," he said, in the indifferent
+tone of one whose advice is asked often, "and I have observed that Mr.
+Grayson's character is immature, and, for the present at least,
+superficial. But I think he can be led; a man with a will not very
+strong can always be led, if those with stronger wills happen to be
+near, and Mr. Grayson's faults are due to weakness rather than vice."</p>
+
+<p>There was an exchange of significant looks among Mr. Goodnight, Mr.
+Crayon, and their friends, and then an emphatic nodding of heads, all of
+which indicated very clearly to Churchill that they admired his
+acuteness of perception, and were glad to have their own opinion
+confirmed by one who observed so well.</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't it be well to lay these facts before the readers of the
+<i>Monitor</i>?" suggested Mr. Goodnight, mildly. "We all know what a
+powerful organ the <i>Monitor</i> is, and what influence it has in
+conservative circles. It would be a hint to Mr. Grayson and his friends;
+it would show him the path in which he ought to walk, and it would save
+trouble later on in the campaign."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill's heart thrilled again. This was a greater honor even than he
+had hoped for; he was to sound the mighty trumpet note of the campaign,
+but his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> pride would not let him show the joy that he felt.</p>
+
+<p>"In giving these views&mdash;and I appreciate their great importance&mdash;shall I
+quote you and Mr. Crayon?" he asked, easily.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodnight mused a few moments, and twiddled his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>"We want the despatch to appear in the shape that will give it the
+greatest effect, and you are with us in that wish, Mr. Churchill," he
+said, confidingly. "Now this question arises: if our names appear it
+will look as if it were a matter between Mr. Grayson and ourselves
+personally, which is not the case; but if it appears on the authority of
+the <i>Monitor</i> and your own, which is weighty, it will then stand as a
+matter between Mr. Grayson and the people, and that is a fact past
+denying. Now, what do you think of it yourself, Mr. Churchill?"</p>
+
+<p>Since they left it so obviously to his intelligence, Churchill was bound
+to say that they were right, and he would write the warning, merely as
+coming from the great portion of the public that represented the solid
+interests of the country, the quiet, thinking people who never indulged
+in any foolish chase after a will-o'-the-wisp.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon made many further suggestions about the
+points of the despatch, but they admitted ingenuously that they were not
+able to write, that they possessed no literary and effective style, that
+it would be for Mr. Churchill to clothe their crude thoughts&mdash;that is,
+if he approved of them&mdash;in trenchant phrase and brilliant style.</p>
+
+<p>There was such an air of good-fellowship, and Churchill admitted to
+himself so freely that these men might make suggestions worth while,
+that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> decided, moreover, as the hour was growing late, to write the
+despatch there and then, and tell to the world through the columns of
+the <i>Monitor</i>, not what Jimmy Grayson ought to do, but all the things
+that he ought not to do, and they were many. The most important of these
+related to the tariff and the currency, which, in the view of Mr.
+Goodnight and his friends, should be left absolutely alone.</p>
+
+<p>Paper was produced, and Churchill began to write, often eliciting words
+of admiration from the others at the conciseness and precision with
+which he presented his views. It was cause for wonder, too, that they
+should find themselves agreeing with him so often, and they admired,
+also, the felicity of phrasing with which he continued to present all
+these things as the views of a great public, thus giving the despatch
+the flavor of news rather than opinion. When it was finished&mdash;and it
+would fill two full columns of the <i>Monitor</i>&mdash;the line was quite clearly
+drawn between what Jimmy Grayson could do and what he could not do&mdash;and
+Churchill was proud of the conviction that none but himself had drawn
+it. Mr. Grayson, reading this&mdash;and he certainly would read it&mdash;must know
+that it came from inspired sources, and he would see straight before him
+the path in which it was wise for him to walk. Churchill knew that he
+had rendered a great service, and he felt an honest glow.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I shall file this at once," he said, "as it is growing late,
+and there is an hour's difference between here and New York."</p>
+
+<p>They bade him a most complimentary adieu, suggesting that they would be
+glad to hear from him personally during the campaign, and announcing
+their willingness to serve him if they could; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> Churchill left the
+hotel, contented with himself and with them. When he was gone, they
+smiled and expressed to each other their satisfaction. In fifteen
+minutes swift operators were sending Churchill's despatch eastward.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2>
+
+<h3>"KING" PLUMMER</h3>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the evening was proving of no less interest to Harley than to
+Churchill, although in a quite different way. He had noticed, when they
+parted at the hotel door, the apparent sadness, or, rather, the touch of
+the pathetic in the manner of Miss Morgan, and he observed it again when
+they were all reunited at the hotel table. Heretofore she had been
+light, ironical, and bearing a full share in the talk, but now she
+merely replied when spoken to directly, and her tone had the tinge of
+melancholy. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson looked at her more than once, as if
+they were about to refer to some particular subject, but always they
+refrained; instead, they sought by light talk to divert attention from
+her, and they succeeded in every case but that of Harley.</p>
+
+<p>It was not a long dinner, and as they returned to the ladies' parlor
+they were welcomed by a loud, joyous cry, and out of the dark of the
+room a big man projected himself to greet them. His first words were for
+Miss Morgan, whom he affectionately called "Little Girl," and whom he
+seized by the hands and kissed on the forehead. It was a loud voice, but
+round, full, and mellow, and Harley judged that it came from a big
+nature as well as a big body.</p>
+
+<p>When the man stepped into the light, Harley saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> that he was over six
+feet high, and with a width according. His broad face was covered with
+short, iron-gray beard, and his head was thatched with hair equally
+thick and of the same gray shade. In years he might have been fifty, and
+it was Harley's first impression at this moment that the big man was
+Miss Morgan's father&mdash;it came to him with a rather queer feeling that it
+had never occurred to him to ask about her parents, whether they were
+living or dead, and what kind of people they were or had been.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger shook hands with Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, and expressed
+vocally the pleasure that his eyes also conveyed. Harley and Hobart were
+the only others present, and, turning to them, Mr. Grayson introduced
+the stranger, Mr. William Plummer&mdash;"King Plummer, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Then Harley remembered vaguely, and he began to place Mr. Plummer. He
+recalled allusions in the press to one William Plummer, otherwise "King"
+Plummer, who lived in the far Northwest, and who, having amassed
+millions in ranching and mining, had also become a great power in the
+political world, hence his term "King," which was more fitting in his
+case than in that of many real kings. He had developed remarkable skill
+in politics, and, as the phrase went, held Idaho, his own state, in the
+hollow of his hand, and in a close election could certainly swing
+Montana and Wyoming as he wished, and perhaps Utah and Washington, too.</p>
+
+<p>Harley's interest instantly became keen, and he did not take his eyes
+off "King" Plummer. Clearly he was a man of power; he fairly radiated
+it, not merely physically, but mentally. His gestures, his voice, every
+movement indicated a vast reserve strength. This was one of the great
+men whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> development the rough field of the new West had permitted.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was not alone interested in "King" Plummer, but also in the kiss
+that he had put upon the white forehead of Sylvia Morgan and his
+boisterous joy at seeing her. Since he was not her father, it was likely
+that he was her uncle, not by blood, as Jimmy Grayson was, but as the
+husband of an aunt, perhaps. Yes, this must be it, he concluded, and the
+kiss seemed more reasonable.</p>
+
+<p>When "King" Plummer was introduced to Harley and Hobart, he shook hands
+with them most cordially, but as keen a man as Harley could see that he
+regarded them as mere youths, or "kids," as the "King" himself would
+have said. There was nothing depreciatory in this beyond the difference
+between age and great achievement and youth which had not yet had the
+time to fulfil its promise, and Harley, because of it, felt no decrease
+of liking and respect for "King" Plummer.</p>
+
+<p>"The far Northwest is for you solidly, Jimmy," said the big man, with a
+joyous smile. "Idaho is right in line at the head of the procession, and
+Wyoming, Montana, and the others are following close after. They haven't
+many votes, but they have enough to decide this election."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson smiled. He had reason to smile. He, too, liked "King"
+Plummer, and, moreover, this was good news that he brought.</p>
+
+<p>"I fancy that you have had something to do with this," he said. "You
+still know how to whisper a sweet word in the ear of the people."</p>
+
+<p>The big man shook himself, laughed again, and looked satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I have done a lot of whispering," he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>admitted, "if you call it
+whispering, though most people, I'll gamble, would say it is like the
+clatter of a mill. And I've done some riding, too, both train and horse.
+The mountains are going to be all right. Don't you forget that, Jimmy."</p>
+
+<p>"And it's lucky for me that 'King' Plummer is my friend," said Mr.
+Grayson, sincerely.</p>
+
+<p>During this talk of politics, Sylvia Morgan was silent, and once, when
+"King" Plummer laid his big hand protectingly on her arm, she shrank
+slightly, but so slightly that no one save Harley noticed, not even the
+"King." The action roused doubts in his mind. Surely a girl would not
+shrink from her uncle in this manner, not from a big, kindly uncle like
+Plummer.</p>
+
+<p>"I wanted to get down to Chicago and hear you at your first speech,"
+went on "King" Plummer, in his big, booming voice, that filled the room,
+"but I couldn't manage it. There was a convention at Bois&eacute; that needed a
+little attention&mdash;one likes to look on at those things, you know"&mdash;his
+left eye contracted slightly&mdash;"and as soon as that was over I hurried
+down as fast as an express could bring me. But I've read in all the
+papers what a howlin' success it was, an' I'm goin' to hear you give it
+to the other fellows to-night&mdash;won't we, Sylvia?"</p>
+
+<p>He turned to the girl for confirmation of what needed no confirmation,
+and her eyes smiled into his with a certain pride. She seemed to Harley
+to admire his bigness, his openness of manner and speech, and his
+wholesome character. After all, he was her uncle; the look that she gave
+him then was that of one who received protection, half paternal and half
+elder-brotherly.</p>
+
+<p>"And now, Jimmy, I guess I've taken up enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> of your time," exclaimed
+"King" Plummer, his big, resonant chest-tones echoing in the room, "and
+it's for you to do all the talkin' that's left. But I'll be in a box
+listenin', and just you do your best for the credit of the West and the
+mountains."</p>
+
+<p>Grayson smiled and promised, and "King" Plummer joined them in the
+carriage that bore them to the hall. He took his place with them in such
+a natural and matter-of-fact manner that Harley was confirmed in his
+renewed opinion that he was Sylvia Morgan's uncle, or, at least, her
+next of kin, after Mr. Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>At the hall "King" Plummer, as he had promised, sat in a box with Mrs.
+Grayson and Miss Morgan, and always he led the applause, which in
+reality needed no leading, the triumph at Chicago being repeated in full
+degree. Harley, watching him from his desk, saw that the big man was
+filled with sanguine expectation of triumph, and, with the glow of Jimmy
+Grayson's oratory upon him, could not see any such result as defeat. But
+Miss Morgan was strangely silent, and all her vivacity of manner seemed
+to be gone.</p>
+
+<p>When the speech was nearly over Churchill sauntered in lazily by the
+stage entrance and took a seat near Harley. Harley had not noticed his
+previous absence until then.</p>
+
+<p>"How's the speech to-night?" he asked, languidly; "same old chestnuts, I
+suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"As this is Mr. Grayson's second speech," replied Harley, sharply, "it
+is a little early to call anything that he says 'same old chestnuts.'
+Besides, I don't think that repetition will ever be one of his faults.
+Why haven't you been here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I've been cruising around a bit on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>outside. The Associated
+Press, of course, will take care of the speech, which is mere routine."</p>
+
+<p>He spoke with such an air of supercilious and supreme satisfaction that
+Harley looked at him keenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Pick up anything?" he asked, briefly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, a trifle or two; nothing, however, that you would care about."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I wonder what it is that makes him so content with himself,"
+thought Harley, but he had little time to devote to Churchill, as his
+own despatch was occupying his attention.</p>
+
+<p>Harley could not go back to the hotel with the Grayson party when the
+speech was over, as he had to file his despatch first, but he saw them
+all the next morning at the breakfast-table. "King" Plummer was there,
+too, as expansive as ever, and showing mingled joy and sorrow&mdash;joy over
+the second triumph of the candidate, which was repeated at great length
+in the morning papers, and sorrow because he could not continue with
+them on the campaign, which moved to Detroit for the third night.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd be a happy man if I could do it," he said, in his booming tones,
+"happy for more reasons than one. It would be a big holiday to me.
+Wouldn't I enjoy hearing you tear the enemy to pieces night after night,
+Jimmy! and then I'd be with you right along, Sylvia."</p>
+
+<p>He looked at the girl, and his look was full of love and protection. She
+flushed and seemed embarrassed. But there was no hesitation or
+awkwardness about the big man.</p>
+
+<p>"Never you mind, little girl," he said; "when you are Mrs. Plummer&mdash;an'
+that ain't far away, I hope&mdash;you'll be with me all the time. Besides,
+I'm goin'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> to join Jimmy Grayson when he comes out West, an' make the
+campaign there with him."</p>
+
+<p>The color in Miss Morgan's face deepened, and she glanced, not at "King"
+Plummer or her uncle, but at Harley, and when her eyes met his the color
+in her cheeks deepened still further. Then she looked down at her plate
+and was silent and embarrassed.</p>
+
+<p>Harley, as he heard these words of the "King," felt a strange thrill of
+disapproval. It was, as he told himself, because of the disparity in
+ages. It was true that a man of this type was the very kind to restrain
+Sylvia Morgan, but twenty and fifty should never wed, man and wife
+should be young together and should grow old together. It was no
+business of his, and there was no obligation upon him to look after the
+happiness of either of these people, but it was an arrangement that he
+did not like, violating as it did his sense of fitness.</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer was to leave them an hour later, taking a train for St.
+Paul, and thence for Idaho. He bade them all a hearty good-bye, shaking
+hands warmly with Jimmy Grayson, to whom he wished a career of unbroken
+triumph, repeating these good wishes to Mrs. Grayson, and again kissing
+Sylvia Morgan on the forehead&mdash;the proper kiss, Harley thought, for
+fifty to bestow upon twenty, unless twenty should happen to be fifty's
+daughter.</p>
+
+<p>"We won't be separated long, Sylvia, girl," he said, and she flushed a
+deep red and then turned pale. To Harley he said:</p>
+
+<p>"And I'll try to show you the West, young man, when you come out there.
+This is no West; Milwaukee ain't West by a jugful. Just you wait till
+you get beyond the Missouri, then we'll show you the real West, and real
+life at the same time."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>There was a certain condescension in the tone of "King" Plummer, but
+Harley did not mind it; so far as the experience of life in the rough
+was concerned, the "King" had a right to condescend.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall hold you to your promise," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Then "King" Plummer, waving good-byes with a wide-armed sweep, large and
+hearty like himself, departed.</p>
+
+<p>"There goes a true man," said Mr. Grayson, and Harley spontaneously
+added confirmation. But Miss Morgan was silent. She waved back in
+response to the King of the Mountains, but her face was still pale, and
+she was silent for some time. Harley now knew that "King" Plummer was
+not her uncle nor her next of kin after Jimmy Grayson in any way, but he
+was unable to tell why this marriage-to-be had been arranged.</p>
+
+<p>But he quickly learned the secret, if secret it was; it was told to him
+on the train by Mrs. Grayson as they rode that afternoon to Detroit.</p>
+
+<p>"If you were ever in Idaho," she said, "you would soon hear the story of
+"King" Plummer and Sylvia. It is a tragedy of our West; that is, it
+began in a great tragedy, one of those tragedies of the plains and the
+mountains so numerous and so like each other that the historians forget
+to tell about them. Sylvia's mother was Mr. Grayson's eldest sister,
+much older than he. She and her husband and children were part of a
+wagon-train that was going up away into the Northwest where the
+railroads did not then reach.</p>
+
+<p>"It was long ago&mdash;when Sylvia was a little girl, not more than seven or
+eight&mdash;and the train was massacred by Utes just as they reached the
+Idaho line. The Utes were on the war-path&mdash;there had been some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> sort of
+an outbreak&mdash;and the train had been warned by the soldiers not to go on,
+but the emigrants were reckless. They laughed at danger, because they
+did not see it before their faces. They pushed on, and they were
+ambushed in a deep canyon.</p>
+
+<p>"There was hardly any fight at all, the attack was so sudden and
+unexpected. Before the people knew what was coming half of them were
+shot down, and then those awful savages were among them with tomahawk
+and knife. Mr. Harley, I've no use for the Indian. It is easy enough to
+get sentimental about him when you are away off in the East, but when
+you are close to him in the West all that feeling goes. I heard Sylvia
+tell about that massacre once, and only once. It was years ago, but I
+can't forget it; and if I can't forget it, do you think that she can?
+Her father was killed at the first fire from the bushes, and then an
+Indian, covered with paint and bears' claws, tomahawked both her mother
+and her little brother before her eyes&mdash;yes, and scalped them, too. He
+ran for the girl next, but Sylvia&mdash;I think it was just physical
+impulse&mdash;dashed away into the scrub, and the Indian turned aside for a
+victim nearer at hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia lay hid until night came, and there was silence over the
+mountain, the silence of death, Mr. Harley, because when she slipped
+back in the darkness to the emigrant train she found every soul that had
+been in it, besides herself, dead. Think, Mr. Harley, of that little
+girl alone in all those vast mountains, with her dead around her! Do you
+wonder that sometimes she seems hard?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't," replied Harley. Despite himself a mist came to his eyes
+over this pathetic tragedy of long ago.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>"Sylvia has never said much about that night she spent there with the
+dead, in the midst of the wrecked and plundered train, but when a number
+of border men, alarmed about the emigrants, pushed on the next day to
+save them if possible, what do you suppose they found her doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't guess."</p>
+
+<p>"She had got a spade somewhere from one of the wagons, and, little as
+she was, she was trying to bury her own dead. She was so busy that she
+didn't see them ride up, and William Plummer, their leader&mdash;he was a
+young man then&mdash;actually shed tears, so they say. Well, these men
+finished the burial, and Mr. Plummer put Sylvia on his horse before him
+and rode away. He adopted the little thing as his daughter. He said she
+was the bravest creature he had ever seen, and, as he was not likely to
+have any real daughter, she should take a place that ought to be filled.</p>
+
+<p>"Were the Utes who did this massacre punished?"</p>
+
+<p>"No one knows; the soldiers killed a number of them in battle, but
+whether the slain were those who ambushed the train is not decided in
+border history."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I understand the rest of the story of Mr. Plummer and Miss
+Morgan," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it is not hard to guess. Mr. Grayson and her other relatives
+farther East did not hear of her rescue until long afterwards; they
+supposed her dead&mdash;but no one could have cared for her better than Mr.
+Plummer. He kept her first at his mining-hut in the mountains, but after
+two or three years he took her into town to Bois&eacute;; he put her in the
+care of a woman there and sent her to school. He loved her already like
+a real daughter. She was just the kind to appeal to him, so brave and so
+fond of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> wild life. They say that at first she refused to stay in
+Bois&eacute;. She ran away and tried to go on foot to him away up in the
+mountains, where the mining-camp was. When he heard of it, they say he
+laughed, and I suspect that he swore an oath or two&mdash;he lived among
+rough men you know&mdash;but if he did, they were swear words of admiration;
+he said it was just like her independence and pluck. But he made her
+stay in Bois&eacute;."</p>
+
+<p>"He knew what was right and what was due both him and her, because now
+he was becoming a great man in the Northwest. He rose to power in both
+financial and public life, and his daughter must be equal to her
+fortune. But he spoiled her, you can see that, and how could he help
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"She was fifteen before we heard that she was alive, and then Mr.
+Grayson and her other relatives wanted to take her and care for her, but
+Mr. Plummer refused to give her up, and he was right. He had saved her
+when he found her a little girl alone in all those vast mountains, and
+he was entitled to her. Don't you think so, Mr. Harley?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do," replied Harley, with conviction.</p>
+
+<p>"We yielded to his superior claim, but he sent her more than once to see
+us. We loved her from the first, and we love her yet."</p>
+
+<p>Here Mrs. Grayson paused and hesitated over her words, as if in
+embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>"But it is not you and Mr. Grayson alone who love her," suggested
+Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not we alone; in Bois&eacute; everybody loves her, and at the mines and
+on Mr. Plummer's ranches they all love her, too."</p>
+
+<p>"I did not mean just that kind of love."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson flushed a little, but she continued:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>"You are speaking of Mr. Plummer himself; she was his daughter at first,
+and so long as she was a little girl I suppose that he never dreamed of
+her in any other light. But when she began to grow into a young woman,
+Mr. Harley&mdash;and a beautiful one, too, as beautiful as she is good&mdash;he
+began to look at her in a different way. When these elderly men, who
+have been so busy that they have not had time to fall in love, do fall
+in love, the fall is sudden and complete. Mr. Plummer was like the
+others. And what else could she do? She was too young to have seen much
+of the world. There was no young man, none of her own age, who had taken
+her heart. Mr. Plummer is a good man, and she owed him everything. Of
+course, she accepted him. I ask you, what else could she do?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a defensive note in her voice when she said: "I ask you, what
+else could she do?" and Harley replied, with due deliberation:</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps she could do nothing else, but sometimes, Mrs. Grayson, I have
+my doubts whether twenty and fifty can ever go happily together."</p>
+
+<p>"We like Mr. Plummer, and he is a great friend of my husband's."</p>
+
+<p>Harley said nothing, but he, too, liked Mr. Plummer, and he held him in
+the highest respect. It required little effort of the imagination to
+draw a picture of the brave mountaineer riding from the Indian massacre
+with that little girl upon his saddle-bow. And much of his criticism of
+Sylvia Morgan herself was disarmed. She was more a child of the
+mountains even than his first fancy had made her, and it was not a
+wonder that her spirit was often masculine in its strength and boldness.
+It was involuntary, but he thought of her with new warmth and
+admiration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> Incited by this feeling, he soon joined her and the group
+that was with her. He had expected to find her sad and comparatively
+silent, but he had never seen her in a more lively mood, full of light
+talk and jest and a gay good-humor that could not have failed to infect
+the most hardened cynic. Certainly he did not escape its influence, nor
+did he seek to do so, but as he watched her he thought there was a
+slight touch of feverishness to her high spirits, as if she had just
+escaped from some great danger.</p>
+
+<p>Before they reached Detroit he talked a while with Mr. Grayson, in the
+private drawing-room of the car&mdash;Mrs. Grayson had joined the others&mdash;and
+"King" Plummer was the subject of their talk.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he really such a great political power in the Northwest?" asked
+Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"He is. Even greater than popular report makes him. I believe that in a
+presidential election he could decide the vote of five or six of those
+lightly populated states. He has so many interests, so many strings that
+he holds, and he is a man of so much energy and will. You see, I want to
+keep "King" Plummer my friend."</p>
+
+<p>"I surely would, if I were in your place," said Harley, with conviction.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2>
+
+<h3>ON THE ROAD</h3>
+
+<p>The great success of Grayson as an orator was continued at Detroit. A
+vast audience hung breathless upon his words, and he played upon its
+emotions as he would, now thrilling the people with passion, and then
+stirring them to cheers that rolled like thunder. It became apparent
+that this hitherto obscure man from the Far West was the strongest
+nominee a somewhat disunited party could have named, and Harley, whose
+interest at first had been for the campaign itself rather than its
+result, began to have a feeling that after all Grayson might be
+elected&mdash;at least he had a fighting chance, which might be more if it
+were not for the shadow of Goodnight, Crayon, and their kind. Part of
+these men had gone back, among them the large and important Mr.
+Goodnight; but Harley saw the quiet Mr. Crayon still watching from a
+high box at Detroit, and he knew that no act or word of the candidate
+would escape the scrutiny of this powerful faction within the party.</p>
+
+<p>Ample proof of his conclusion, if it were needed, came the next morning
+in a copy of the New York <i>Monitor</i>, Churchill's paper, which contained
+on its front page a long, double-leaded despatch, under a Milwaukee date
+line. It was Hobart who brought it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> in to Mr. Grayson and his little
+party at the breakfast-table.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me for interrupting you, Mr. Grayson," he said, flourishing the
+paper as if it were a sort of flag; "but here is something that you are
+bound to see. It's what might be called a word in your ear, or, at
+least, it seems to me to have that sound. I guess that Churchill got a
+beat on us all in Milwaukee."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would join us, Mr. Hobart, and read the whole article to us,
+if you will be so kind," said the candidate, calmly.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could have pleased Hobart better, and he read with emphasis and
+care, resolved that his hearers should not lose a word. Churchill had a
+good style, and he possessed a certain skill in innuendo, therefore he
+was able throughout the article to make his meaning clear. He stated
+that among those surrounding the candidate&mdash;he could give names if he
+would, but it was not necessary&mdash;there was a certain feeling that Mr.
+Grayson was not quite&mdash;at least not yet&mdash;as large as the position for
+which he had been nominated. Keen observers had noticed in him a
+predisposition to rashness; he had spoken lightly more than once of
+great vested interests.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle James, how could you be so lacking in reverence?" exclaimed
+Sylvia Morgan.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson merely smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on, Mr. Hobart," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"'But some of the ablest minds in the country are closely watching Mr.
+Grayson,'" continued the article, "'and where he needs support or
+restraint he will receive it. There are certain issues not embodied in
+the platform from which he will be steered.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I think that is too much!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson, the indignant
+red rising in her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>"Their printing it does not make it true, Anna," said the candidate,
+mildly.</p>
+
+<p>"As if you did not know enough to run your own campaign!" exclaimed the
+indignant wife.</p>
+
+<p>But Jimmy Grayson continued to smile. "We must expect this sort of
+thing," he said; "it would be a dull campaign without it. Please go on,
+Mr. Hobart."</p>
+
+<p>A number of eminent citizens, the article continued, would make a
+temporary sacrifice of their great business interests for the sake of
+the campaign and the people, and with their restraining care it was not
+likely that Mr. Grayson could go far wrong, as he seemed to be an
+amiable man, amenable to advice. Thus it continued at much length, and
+Harley, keen and experienced in such matters, knew very well whence
+Churchill had drawn his inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>"The editor, also, makes comment upon this warning," said Hobart, who
+was undeniably enjoying himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think that the despatch was enough," said Mrs. Grayson, whose
+indignation was not yet cooled.</p>
+
+<p>"But it isn't, Mrs. Grayson," said Hobart; "at least, the editor of the
+<i>Monitor</i> does not think so. Listen.</p>
+
+<p>"'The campaign in behalf of our party has begun in the West, and we have
+felt the need of thoroughly reliable news from that quarter, free from
+the sensationalism and levity which we are sorry to say so often
+disgrace our American newspapers, and make them compare unfavorably with
+the graver and statelier columns of the English press.'"</p>
+
+<p>"He is an Englishman himself," said Harley&mdash;"American opinion through an
+English channel."</p>
+
+<p>Even Jimmy Grayson laughed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>"'At last we have obtained this information,'" continued Hobart,
+reading, "'and we are able to present it to-day to those earnest and
+sincere people, the cultivated minority who really count, and who
+constitute the leaven in the mass of the light and frivolous American
+people. A trusted correspondent of ours, judicious, impartial,
+absolutely devoid of prejudices, has obtained from high sources with
+which common journalistic circles are never in touch&mdash;&mdash;'"</p>
+
+<p>"How the bird befouls its own nest!" said the elderly Tremaine.</p>
+
+<p>"'&mdash;information that will throw much light upon a campaign and a
+candidate both obscure hitherto. This we present upon another page, and,
+as our cultivated readers will readily infer, the candidate, Mr.
+Grayson, is not a bad man&mdash;&mdash;'"</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks for that crowning mercy," said Mr. Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;but neither is he a great one; in short, he is, at least for the
+present, narrow and provincial; moreover, he is of an impulsive
+temperament that is likely to lead him into untrodden and dangerous
+paths. Our best hope lies in the fact that Mr. Grayson, who has not
+shown himself intractable, may be brought to see this, and will rely
+upon the advice of those who are fitted to lead rather than upon the
+reckless fancies of the Boys who are sure to surround him if he gives
+them a chance. In this emergency we are sure that all the best in the
+state will rally with us. The eyes of Europe are upon us, and we must
+vindicate ourselves.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle James," said Sylvia Morgan, sweetly, "I trust that you will
+remember throughout the campaign that the eye of Europe is upon you, and
+conduct yourself accordingly. I have noticed that in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> many of your
+speeches you seemed to be unconscious of the fact that Vienna and St.
+Petersburg were watching you. Such behavior will never do."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson smiled once more. He seemed to be less disturbed than any
+one else at the table, yet he knew that this was in truth a warning
+given by an important wing of the party, and, therefore, he must take
+thought of it. A prominent politician of Michigan was present, the guest
+of Mr. Grayson, and he did not take the threat as calmly as the
+candidate.</p>
+
+<p>"The writer of this despatch is with your party, I suppose," he said to
+Mr. Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes; it is Mr. Churchill. He has been with us since the start."</p>
+
+<p>"I would not let him go a mile farther; a man who writes like that&mdash;why,
+it's a positive insult to you!&mdash;should not be allowed on your train."</p>
+
+<p>The Michigan man's face flushed red, and in his anger he brought his
+hand down heavily on the table; but Harley did not look at him, his full
+attention being reserved for the candidate. Here was a test of his
+bigness. Would he prove equal to it?</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid that would be a mistake," said Jimmy Grayson, amiably, to
+the Michigan man, "a mistake in two respects: our Constitution
+guarantees the freedom of the press, and the <i>Monitor</i> and its
+correspondent have a right to write that way, if they wish to do so; and
+if we were to expel Mr. Churchill, it would give them all the greater
+ground for complaint. Now, perhaps I am, after all, a narrow and
+ignorant person who needs restraint."</p>
+
+<p>He spoke the last sentence in such a whimsical tone and with such a
+frank smile that they were all forced to laugh, even the Michigan man.
+But Harley felt relief. The candidate had shown no littleness.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>"I was sure that you would return such an answer, Uncle James," said
+Sylvia Morgan, and the look that she gave him was full of faith. "Now, I
+mean to help you by converting Mr. Churchill."</p>
+
+<p>"How will you do that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall smile upon him, use my winning ways, and draw him into the
+fold."</p>
+
+<p>There was a slight edge to her voice, and Harley was not sure of her
+meaning; but he and she were together in the parlor an hour later, when
+they met Churchill, and he had a chance to see. Churchill evidently was
+not expecting to find them there, but he assumed an important air,
+knowing that his despatches had been received and read, and feeling,
+therefore, that he was the author of a sensation. He anticipated
+hostility; he believed that Mr. Grayson's relatives and friends would
+assail him with harsh words, and he had spoken already to one or two
+persons of the six months' ordeal that he would have to endure. "But we
+must stand such things when they are incurred in the line of duty," he
+said, "and I have a way which, perhaps, will teach them to be not so
+ready in attacking me." He expected such a foray against him now, and
+his manner became haughty in the presence of Sylvia Morgan and Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"We&mdash;that is, all of us&mdash;have just been reading your despatch in the
+<i>Monitor</i>," she said, in a most winning tone, "and on behalf of Uncle
+James I want to thank you, Mr. Churchill."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill looked surprised but doubtful, and did not abate the stiffness
+of his attitude nor the severity of his gaze.</p>
+
+<p>"We do feel grateful to you," she continued, in the same winning tone.
+"There was never a man more willing than Uncle James to learn, and,
+coming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> out of the depths of the West, he knows that he needs help. And
+how beautifully you write, Mr. Churchill! It was all put so delicately
+that no one could possibly take offence."</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible to resist her manner, the honey of her words, and
+Churchill, who felt that she was but giving credit where credit was due,
+became less stern.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really like it, Miss Morgan?" he asked, and he permitted himself
+a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes," she replied, "and I noticed that the <i>Monitor</i> alone contained
+an article of this character, all about those big men who are watching
+over Uncle James, and will not let him go wrong. That is what you
+correspondents call a beat, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Churchill gave Harley a glance of triumph, but he replied, gravely:</p>
+
+<p>"I believe it is what we call a beat, Miss Morgan."</p>
+
+<p>"And you will continue to help us in the same way, won't you, Mr.
+Churchill?" she continued. "You know who those great men are; Mr.
+Harley, here, I am sure does not, nor does Mr. Blaisdell nor Mr. Hobart;
+you alone, as the <i>Monitor</i> says, can come into touch with such
+important circles, and you will warn us again and again in the columns
+of the <i>Monitor</i> when we are about to get into the wrong path. Oh, it
+would be a great service, and I know that Uncle James would appreciate
+it! You will be with us throughout the campaign, and you will have the
+chance! Now, promise me, Mr. Churchill, that you will do it."</p>
+
+<p>Her manner had become most appealing, and her face was slightly flushed.
+It was not the first time that Harley realized how handsome she was, and
+how winning she could be. It was his first thought, then,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> what a woman
+this mountain maid would make, and his second that "King" Plummer should
+continue to look upon her as his daughter&mdash;she was too young to be his
+wife.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was Churchill proof against her beauty and her blandishments. He
+felt suddenly that for her sake he could overlook some of Mr. Grayson's
+faults, or at least seek to amend them. It was not hard to make a
+promise to a pair of lovely eyes that craved his help.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Miss Morgan," he said, graciously, "since it is you who ask it, I
+will do my best. You know I am not really hostile to Mr. Grayson. The
+<i>Monitor</i> and I are of his party, and we shall certainly support him as
+long as he will let us."</p>
+
+<p>"You are so kind!" she said. "You have seen so much of the world, Mr.
+Churchill, that you can help us greatly. Uncle James, as I told you, is
+always willing to learn, and he will keep a sharp watch on the
+<i>Monitor</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"The <i>Monitor</i>, as I need not tell you," said Churchill, "is the chief
+organ in New York of good government, and it is never frivolous or
+inconsequential. I had hoped that what I sent from Milwaukee would have
+its effect, and I am glad to see, Miss Morgan, that it has."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill now permitted himself a smile longer and more complacent, and
+Harley felt a slight touch of pity that any man should be blinded thus
+by conceit. And Sylvia did not spare him; by alternate flattery and
+appeal she drew him further into the toils, and Harley was surprised at
+her skill. She did not seem to him now the girl from Idaho, the child of
+the mountains and of massacre, but a woman of variable moods, and all of
+them attractive, no whit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> inferior to her Eastern sisters in the
+delicate airs and graces that he was wont to associate with feminine
+perfection.</p>
+
+<p>As for Churchill, he yielded completely to her spell, not without some
+condescension and a memory of his own superiority, but he felt himself
+willing to comply with her request, particularly because it involved no
+sacrifice on his own part. He and the <i>Monitor</i> would certainly keep
+watch over Mr. Grayson, and he would never hesitate to write the words
+of warning when ever he felt that they were needed.</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you treat him that way?" asked Harley, when Churchill had gone.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by 'that way'?" she asked, and her chin took on a
+saucy uplift.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, to be plain, why did you make a fool of him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Was my help needed?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be too hard on Churchill," he said, "he's the creature of
+circumstance. Besides, you must not forget that he is going to watch
+over Mr. Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill did not join the general group until shortly before the
+departure for the evening speech, and then he approached with an
+undeniable air of hostility and defence, expecting to be attacked and
+having in readiness the weapons with which he had assured himself that
+he could repel them. Miss Morgan, it is true, had received him well, but
+she, so he had begun to believe, was a girl of perception and
+discrimination, and the fine taste shown by her would not be exhibited
+by others. The candidate, surprising him much, received him cordially,
+though not effusively, and he was made welcome in similar manner by the
+others. There was no allusion <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>whatever to his despatch, but he found
+himself included in the general gossip, just as if he were one of a
+group of good comrades.</p>
+
+<p>Yet Churchill was not wholly pleased. His great stroke seemed to be
+ignored by all except Miss Morgan, when they ought to be stirred deeply
+by it, and he felt a sense of diminished importance. There should be
+confusion among them, or at least trepidation. He closely studied the
+faces of Mr. Grayson and the others to see if they were merely masking
+their fire, but no attack came either then or later.</p>
+
+<p>Thus two or three days passed, and the campaign deepened and popular
+interest increased. Not since the eve of the Civil War had there been
+such complexity and intensity of interests, and never before had the
+personal factor been so strong. Out of the vast turmoil quickly emerged
+James Grayson as the most picturesque figure that ever appeared upon the
+stage of national politics in America. His powerful oratory, his daring,
+and his magnetic personality drew the eyes of all, and Harley saw that
+wherever he might be there the fight would be thickest. The
+correspondent's intuition had been right; he had come from a war on the
+other side of the world to enter another and greater campaign, one in
+which mind counted for more.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate, in his rising greatness, was even a hero to his own
+family; and from none did he draw greater admiration than from his
+niece, Sylvia Morgan. A fierce champion of the West, she always bitterly
+resented the unconscious patronage of the East, which was really the
+natural patronage of age rather than of convinced superiority; and her
+uncle's triumph filled her with delight, because, to her mind, it was
+the triumph of the West that she loved so well.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> Inspired with this
+feeling, she appealed to Harley about the sixth or seventh day of the
+campaign for his opinion on its result, and the correspondent hesitated
+over his answer. He found that his feeling towards her in this week had
+changed greatly, the elements in her character, which at first seemed to
+him masculine and forward, were now much modified and softened; always
+the picture of that child in the mountains, alone among her dead, rose
+before him, and then followed the picture of the little girl borne away
+on his saddle-bow by the brave borderer. He would think of her now with
+a singular softness, a real pity for those misty days which she herself
+had almost forgotten. Hence he hesitated, because what he deemed to be
+the truth would have in it a sting for her. But her clear eyes instantly
+read his hesitation.</p>
+
+<p>"You need not be afraid to tell me your real opinion, Mr. Harley," she
+said. "If you think the chances are against Uncle James, I should like
+you to say so."</p>
+
+<p>"I do think they are against him now, although they may not be so later
+on," replied he, equivocating with himself a little. "It is an uphill
+fight, and then one can easily deceive one's self; in a nation of eighty
+or ninety millions even a minority can surround a candidate with a
+multitude of people and a storm of enthusiasm."</p>
+
+<p>"But Uncle James is the greatest campaigner ever nominated for the
+Presidency," she said, "and we shall yet win."</p>
+
+<p>Harley said nothing in reply, but he gladly noticed her refusal to be
+discouraged, like other people having an admiration for courage and
+spirit. In fact, it seemed to him that she had a cheerfulness somewhat
+beyond the occasion.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>Three days later&mdash;they were in Pittsburg then&mdash;she received a letter
+addressed in a strong, heavy hand, her name being spelled in large
+letters. Sylvia Morgan was alone in the hotel parlor when it was brought
+to her, and a strange shadow, or rather the shadow of a shadow, came
+over her face as she held it uneasily in her fingers and looked at the
+Idaho postmark in the corner. She knew the handwriting well, and she
+knew that it was a true index to the character of its author&mdash;rough,
+strong, and large. That handwriting could not lie, neither could he. She
+continued to hesitate, with the letter in her hand; it was the first
+time that she had ever done so with a letter of his, and she felt that
+she was disloyal. She heard a voice in the other parlor&mdash;the wide doors
+between were open; it was the voice of Harley speaking to her uncle, and
+a flush crept into her cheeks. Then she shook herself in a sudden little
+whirl of anger, and abruptly opened the letter with a swift, tearing
+sound. It was a longer letter than he usually wrote, and he said:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">My dearest little Sylvia</span>&mdash;I have been here just two hours, and, I
+tell you, the sight of Idaho is good for the eyes, though it would
+be better if you were here with me, as you soon will be all the
+time, little one."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>She paused a moment, looking away, and the shadow of the shadow came
+back to her face. Then she murmured: "He is the best man in the world,"
+and resolutely went on:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"The more I see of the other states the better I like Idaho, and I
+like next best those that are most like it. Every peak out here
+nodded a welcome to me as I came in on the train. I've known them
+all for thirty years. I was a little afraid of them at first, they
+were so tall and solemn with their white<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> crests, but we are old
+friends now&mdash;I'll have a white crest myself before long, and I'm
+fairly tall now, though perhaps I'll never be solemn. And I drew a
+deep breath and a long breath, the first one in days, the moment I
+crossed the Idaho line. The East sits rather heavy on me [he called
+Chicago the East], and my eyes get tired with so many people
+passing before them. Now, I'm not running down the East, which is
+all right in its own way, but I am glad we have so much mountain
+and unwatered plain out here, because then the people can never get
+so thick that they tread on you; not that they mean to do it, but
+crowds shove just because they can't help it."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Sylvia smiled, and for a moment there was a little moisture in her eyes.
+"Good old daddy," she murmured. Somehow, the pet name "daddy" seemed
+just to fit him. Then the resolute little frown came over her face again
+and she went on.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"As I said, Idaho is a good state. I like it when I am here, and I
+like it all the better when I come back to it. God's people live in
+these Rocky Mountain states, and that is a reason why I am so
+red-hot to have your uncle James elected. He is one of God's
+people, too, and they have never yet had a man of ours sitting in
+the White House down there at Washington and bossing the job. I
+think maybe he will teach them a new trick or two in running the
+old ship of state. But, Sylvia, I am not thinking so much even of
+him as I am of you. I know that I am a good deal older than you, as
+people count years, but I can truly say that my heart is young, and
+I think that I will be a husky chap for a good long time to come.
+You know I've had you nearly all your life, Sylvia, and we have the
+advantage of knowing each other. You are on to all my curves&mdash;that
+is, you don't have to get married to me to learn my failings.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I haven't the polish that those Eastern fellows put on, or
+that is put on them, but out here in the mountains I amount to
+somebody&mdash;you must let me brag a little, Sylvia&mdash;and if a man
+doesn't bow pretty low to Mrs. William Plummer, I'll have to get
+out my old six-shooter&mdash;I haven't carried one now for ten
+years&mdash;and shoot all the hair off the top of his head."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>"He thinks he's joking, but I believe he would do it. Dear old daddy!"
+murmured Sylvia.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"I think you ought to become Mrs. Plummer now, Sylvia, but I guess
+I'm willing to wait until this campaign is over. For one ought to
+be willing to wait, if by waiting he can get such a good thing.
+Still, I hate to think of you away off there in the East, so many
+thousands of miles away from me, where there are no friendly old
+mountains to look down on you and watch over you, and I'm glad that
+my little girl is coming West again soon. I'll try to get down part
+of the way, say to Nebraska or Kansas, to meet you. I feel safer
+when I have you close by; then, if any of those young Eastern
+fellows should try to kidnap you and run away with you, my old
+six-shooter might have a word to say."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The sudden flush rose to her cheeks at this new joke, but she murmured
+nothing. The rest of the letter was about people whom they knew in Bois&eacute;
+and elsewhere in Idaho, and it closed:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Don't think I'm growing gushing at my age, Sylvia, but Idaho, fine
+as she is, isn't near complete without you, and this is why I want
+you back in it just as soon as you can come.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Yours, lovingly,</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">William Plummer.</span>"</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>She folded the letter carefully and put it back in the envelope. Then
+she sat for a long time, and her look was one of mingled tenderness and
+sadness. Her mind, too, ran back into the past, and she had a dim vision
+of the little child, who was herself, borne away on his saddle-horn by
+the strong mountaineer, who held her safely in the hollow of his arm.
+And then the years followed, and she always looked to the mountaineer
+for the protection and the love that were never wanting, but it was
+always the protection and love of one older and stronger than herself,
+one who belonged to the generation preceding her own.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>Mr. Grayson, Harley, and the others were gone, and she heard no voices
+in the next parlor. She realized with suddenness how strongly and in how
+brief a time this little group, travelling through a vast country, had
+become welded together by the very circumstances of their travel&mdash;the
+comradeship of the road&mdash;and she sighed. She and Mrs. Grayson were about
+to leave them and return to the Grayson home in the West, because women,
+no matter how nearly related, could not be taken all the way on an
+arduous campaign of six months. She had enjoyed this life, which was
+almost the life of a soldier&mdash;the crowds, the enthusiasm, the murmur,
+then the cheers of thousands of voices, the flight on swift trains from
+one city to another, the dash for the station sometimes before daylight,
+and all the freshness and keenness of youth about her. She had
+affiliated, she had become one of the group, and now that she was to
+leave it for a while she had a deep sense of loss.</p>
+
+<p>There was a step beside her, and Mrs. Grayson, the quiet, the tactful,
+and the observant, entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Sylvia," she said, "you are sitting in the dark!"</p>
+
+<p>She touched the button, turned on the electric lights, and noticed the
+letter lying in the girl's hand. Her glance passed swiftly to Sylvia's
+face and as swiftly passed away. She knew instinctively the writer of
+the letter, but she said nothing, waiting for Sylvia herself to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a letter from Mr. Plummer," said Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>"What does he say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not much besides his arrival at Bois&eacute;&mdash;just some foolishness of his;
+you know how he loves to jest."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have long known that," said Mrs. Grayson, but she noticed that
+Sylvia made no offer to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> show the letter. Hitherto the letters of "King"
+Plummer had been read by all the Graysons as a matter of course, just as
+one shares interesting news.</p>
+
+<p>"He is a good man, and he will be a good husband," said Mrs. Grayson.
+She was for the moment ruthless with a purpose, and when she said the
+words, although affecting not to watch, she saw the girl flinch&mdash;ever so
+little, but still she flinched.</p>
+
+<p>"The best man in the world," repeated Sylvia Morgan, softly.</p>
+
+<p>"And yet there are other good men," said Mrs. Grayson, quietly. "One
+good man does not exclude the existence of another."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia looked up at her, but she failed to take her meaning. Her quiet
+aunt sometimes spoke in parables, and waited for events to disclose her
+meaning.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan were to leave for the West the next
+afternoon, and shortly before their departure Harley came to tell them a
+temporary good-bye. Sylvia and he chanced to be alone for a little
+while, and she genuinely lamented her departure&mdash;they had become franker
+friends in these later days.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not see why women cannot go through a political campaign from
+beginning to end," she said; "I'm sure we can help Uncle James, and
+there will be, too, so many interesting things to see. It will be like a
+war without the wounds and death. I don't want to miss any of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I half agree with you," said Harley, smiling, "and I know that it would
+be a great deal nicer for the rest of us if you and Mrs. Grayson could
+go along."</p>
+
+<p>He paused, and he had a sudden bold thought.</p>
+
+<p>"If anything specially interesting happens that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> the newspapers don't
+tell about, will you let me write you an account of it?" he asked. "I
+should really like to tell you."</p>
+
+<p>She flushed ever so little, but she was of the free-and-open West, and
+Harley always gave her the impression of courteous strength&mdash;he would
+take no liberties.</p>
+
+<p>"You can write," she said, briefly, and then she immediately regretted
+her decision. It was the thought of "King" Plummer that made her regret
+it, but she had too much pride to change it now.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was at the train with Mr. Grayson when she and Mrs. Grayson left,
+and Sylvia found that he had seen to everything connected with their
+journey. Without making any noise, and without appearing to work much,
+he accomplished a good deal. She had an impulse once to thank him, but
+she restrained it, and she gave him a good-bye that was neither cool nor
+warm, just sufficiently conventional to leave no inference whatever. But
+when the train was gone and Mr. Grayson and he were riding back in the
+cab to the hotel, the candidate spoke of her.</p>
+
+<p>"She's a good girl, Harley," he said&mdash;he and Harley had grown to be such
+friends that he now dropped the "Mr." when he spoke directly to the
+correspondent. "She's real, as true as steel."</p>
+
+<p>He spoke with emphasis, but Harley said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>The group seemed to lose much of its vividness, color, and variety when
+the women departed, but they settled down to work, the most intense and
+exacting that Harley had ever known. All the great qualities of the
+candidate came out; he seemed to be made of iron, and on the stump he
+was without an equal; if any one in the audience was ready with a
+troublesome question, he was equally ready with an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> apt reply; nor could
+they disturb his good humor; and his smiling irony!&mdash;the rash fool who
+sought to deride him always found the laugh turned upon himself.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the East the party was stirred to mighty enthusiasm, and
+their antagonists, who had thought the election a foregone conclusion,
+were roused from their security. Again the combat deepened and entered
+upon a yet hotter phase. Meanwhile Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their
+powerful faction within the party, kept quiet for the time. Mr. Grayson
+was not yet treading on their toes, but he knew, and his friends knew,
+that they were watching every motion of his with a hundred eyes.
+Churchill's <i>Monitor</i> was constantly coming, laden with suggestion,
+advice, and warning, and Churchill himself alternately wore a look of
+importance and disappointment. No one ever made the slightest reference
+to his wise despatches. He had expected to be insulted, to be
+persecuted, to be a martyr for duty's sake, and, lo! he was treated
+always with courtesy, but his great work was ignored; he felt that they
+must see it, but then they might be too dull to notice its edge and
+weight. He now drew a certain consolation from his silent suffering, and
+strengthened himself anew for the task which he felt required a delicate
+and thoughtful mind.</p>
+
+<p>Harley wrote several times to Sylvia Morgan, both at Bois&eacute; and at her
+aunt's home&mdash;long, careful letters, in which he strove to confine
+himself to the purely narrative form, and to make these epistles
+interesting as documents. He spoke of many odd personal details by the
+way, and even at the distance of two thousand miles he continued to
+touch the campaign with the breath of life, although told at
+second-hand.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>The replies came in due time, brief, impersonal, thanking him for his
+trouble, and giving a little news of Mrs. Grayson, "King" Plummer, and
+herself. Harley was surprised to see with what terseness, strength, and
+elegance she expressed herself. "Perhaps there is a force in those
+mountains which unconsciously teaches simplicity and power," he found
+himself thinking. He was surprised, too, one day, when he was packing
+his valise for a hurried start, to see all her letters reposing neatly
+in one corner of the aforesaid valise. "Now, why have I done that?" he
+asked; "why have I saved those letters? They take up valuable space; I
+will destroy them." But when he closed the valise the undamaged letters
+were still neatly reposing in their allotted corner.</p>
+
+<p>Now the campaign in the East came to its end, and their special train
+swung westward into the states supposed to be most doubtful&mdash;first
+across the Mississippi, and then across the Missouri. The campaign
+entered upon a new phase amid new conditions&mdash;in a new world, in
+fact&mdash;and it required no intuition for Harley to feel that strange
+events were approaching.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2>
+
+<h3>HIS GREATEST SPEECH</h3>
+
+<p>It was the candidate's eighth speech that day, but Harley, who was in
+analytical mood, could see no decrease either in his energy or
+spontaneity of thought and expression. The words still came with the old
+dash and the old power, and the audience always hung upon them, the
+applause invariably rising like the rattle of rifle-fire. They had
+started at daylight, hurrying across the monotonous Western plains, in a
+dusty and uncomfortable car, stopping for a half-hour speech here, then
+racing for another at a second little village, and then a third race and
+a third speech, and so on. Nor was this the first day of such labors; it
+had been so week after week, and always it lasted through the day and
+far into the darkness, sometimes after midnight. But there was no sign
+to tell of it on the face of the candidate, save a slight redness around
+the edge of the eyelids, and a little hoarseness between the speeches
+when he talked to his friends in an ordinary tone.</p>
+
+<p>The village in which Grayson was speaking was a tiny place of twelve or
+fifteen houses, all square, unadorned, and ugly, standing in the centre
+of an illimitable prairie that rolled away on either side exactly like
+the waves of the sea, and with the same monotony. It was a
+weather-beaten gathering. The prairie winds are not good for the
+complexion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> and the cheeks of these people were brown, not red. On the
+outskirts of the crowd, still sitting on their ponies, were cowboys, who
+had ridden sixty miles across the Wyoming border to hear Grayson speak.
+They were dressed exactly like the cowboys of the pictures that Harley
+had seen in magazine stories of the Western plains. They wore the
+sombreros and leggings and leather belts, but there was no disorder, no
+cursing, no shouting nor yelling. This was a phase that had passed.</p>
+
+<p>They listened, too, with an eagerness that few Eastern audiences could
+show. This was not to them an entertainment or anything savoring of the
+spectacular; it was the next thing to the word of God. There was a
+reverence in their manner and bearing that appealed to Harley, and he
+read easily in their minds the belief that Jimmy Grayson was the
+greatest man in the world, and that he alone could bring to their
+country the greatness that they wished as much for the country as for
+themselves. Churchill sneered at this tone of the gathering, but Harley
+took another view. These men might be ignorant of the world, but he
+respected their hero-worship, and thought it a good quality in them.</p>
+
+<p>They heard the candidate tell of mighty corporations, of a vague and
+distant place called Wall Street, where fat men, with soft, white
+fingers and pouches under their eyes, sat in red-carpeted offices and
+pulled little but very strong strings that made farmers on the Western
+plains, two thousand miles away, dance like jumping-jacks, just as the
+fat men wished, and just when they wished. These fat men were allied
+with others in Europe, pouchy-eyed and smooth-fingered like themselves,
+and it was their object to own all the money-bags of the world, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+gather all the profits of the world's labor. Harley, watching these
+people, saw a spark appear in their eyes many times, but it was always
+brightest at the mention of Wall Street. That both speaker and those to
+whom his words were spoken were thoroughly sincere, he did not doubt for
+a moment.</p>
+
+<p>Grayson ceased, the engine blew the starting signal, the candidate and
+the correspondent swung aboard, and off they went. Harley looked back,
+and as long as he could see the station the little crowd on the lone
+prairie was still watching the disappearing train. There was something
+pathetic in the sight of these people following with their eyes until
+the last moment the man whom they considered their particular champion.</p>
+
+<p>It was but an ordinary train of day cars, the red plush of the seats now
+whitened by the prairie dust, and it was used in common by the
+candidate, the flock of correspondents, and a dozen politicians, the
+last chiefly committeemen or their friends, one being the governor of
+the state through which they were then travelling.</p>
+
+<p>Harley sought sleep as early as possible that night, because he would
+need all his strength for the next day, which was to be a
+record-breaker. A tremendous programme had been mapped out for Jimmy
+Grayson, and Harley, although aware of the candidate's great endurance,
+wondered how he would ever stand it. They were to cut the state from
+southeast to northwest, a distance of more than four hundred miles, and
+twenty-four speeches were to be made by the way. Fresh from war, Harley
+did not remember any more arduous journey, and, like an old campaigner,
+he prepared for it as best he could.</p>
+
+<p>It was not yet daylight when they were awakened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> for the start of the
+great day. A cold wind moaned around the hamlet as they ate their
+breakfast, and then hastened, valise in hand, and still half asleep, to
+the train, which stood steam up and ready to be off. They found several
+men already on board, and Churchill, when he saw them, uttered the brief
+word, "Natives!" They were typical men of the plains, thin, dry, and
+weather-beaten, and the correspondents at first paid but little
+attention to them. It was common enough for some local committeeman to
+take along a number of friends for a half-day or so, in order that they
+might have a chance to gratify their curiosity and show their admiration
+for the candidate.</p>
+
+<p>But the attention of Harley was attracted presently by one of the
+strangers, a smallish man of middle age, with a weak jaw and a look
+curiously compounded of eagerness and depression.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger's eye met Harley's, and, encouraged by his friendly look,
+he crossed the aisle and spoke to the correspondent.</p>
+
+<p>"You are one of them newspaper fellers that travels with Grayson, ain't
+you?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Harley admitted the charge.</p>
+
+<p>"And you see him every day?" continued the little man, admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"Many times a day."</p>
+
+<p>"My! My! Jest to think of your comin' away out here to take down what
+our Jimmy Grayson says, so them fellers in New York can read it! I'll
+bet he makes Wall Street shake. I wish I was like you, mister, and could
+be right alongside Jimmy Grayson every day for weeks and weeks, and
+could hear every word he said while he was poundin' them fellers in Wall
+Street who are ruinin' our country. He is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> greatest man in the
+world. Do you reckon I could get to speak to him and jest tech his
+hand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, certainly," replied Harley. He was moved by the little man's
+childlike and absolute faith and his reverence for Jimmy Grayson as a
+demigod. It was not without pathos, and Harley at once took him into the
+next car and introduced him to Grayson, who received him with the
+natural cordiality that never deserted him. Plover, the little man said
+was his name&mdash;William Plover, of Kalapoosa, Choctaw County. He regarded
+Grayson with awe, and, after the hand-shake, did not speak. Indeed, he
+seemed to wish no more, and made himself still smaller in a corner,
+where he listened attentively to everything that Grayson said.</p>
+
+<p>He also stood in the front row at each stopping-place, his eyes fixed on
+Grayson's face while the latter made his speech. The candidate,
+by-and-by, began to notice him there. It is often a habit with those who
+have to speak much in public to fix the eye on some especially
+interested auditor and talk to him directly. It assists in a sort of
+concentration, and gives the orator a willing target.</p>
+
+<p>Grayson now spoke straight to Plover, and Harley watched how the little
+man's emotions, as shown in his face, reflected in every part the
+orator's address. There was actual fire in his eyes, whenever Grayson
+mentioned that ogre, Wall Street, and tears rose when the speaker
+depicted the bad condition of the Western farmer.</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't I like to go on to Washington with Jimmy Grayson when he takes
+charge of the government!" exclaimed Plover to Harley when this speech
+was finished&mdash;"not to take a hand myself, but jest to see him make
+things hum! Won't he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> make them fat fellers in Wall Street squeal! He'll
+have the Robber Barons squirmin' on the griddle pretty quick, an'
+wheat'll go straight to a dollar a bushel, sure! I can see it now!"</p>
+
+<p>His exultation and delight lasted all the morning; but in the afternoon
+the depressed, crushed feeling which Harley had noticed at first in his
+look seemed to get control.</p>
+
+<p>Although his interest in Grayson's speeches and his devout admiration
+did not decrease, Plover's melancholy grew, and Harley by-and-by learned
+the cause of it from another man, somewhat similar in aspect, but larger
+of figure and stronger of face.</p>
+
+<p>"To tell you the truth, mister," said the man, with the easy freedom of
+the West, "Billy Plover&mdash;and my cousin he is, twice removed&mdash;my name's
+Sandidge&mdash;is runnin' away."</p>
+
+<p>"Running away?" exclaimed Harley, in surprise. "Where's he running to,
+and what's he running from?"</p>
+
+<p>"Where he's runnin' to, I don't know&mdash;California, or Washington, or
+Oregon, I guess. But I know mighty well what he's runnin' away from;
+it's his wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, a family trouble?" said Harley, whose delicacy would have caused
+him to refrain from asking more. But the garrulous cousin rambled on.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a trouble, and it ain't a trouble," he continued. "It's the
+weather and the crops, or maybe because Billy 'ain't had no weather nor
+no crops, either. You see, he's lived for the last ten years on a
+quarter-section out near Kalapoosa, with his wife, Susan, a good woman
+and a terrible hard worker, but the rain's been mighty light for three
+seasons, and Billy's wheat has failed every time. It's kinder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> got on
+his temper, and, as they 'ain't got any children to take care of, Billy
+he's been takin' to politics. Got an idea that he can speak, though he
+can't, worth shucks, and thinks he's got a mission to whack Wall Street,
+though I ain't sure but what Wall Street don't deserve it. Susan says he
+ain't got any business in politics, that he ought to leave that to
+better men, an' stay an' wrastle with the ground and the weather. So
+that made them take to spattin'."</p>
+
+<p>"And the upshot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Waal, the upshot was that Billy said he could stand it no longer. So
+last night he raked up half the spare cash, leavin' the rest and the
+farm and stock to Susan, an' he loped out. But first he said he had to
+hear Jimmy Grayson, who is mighty nigh a whole team of prophets to him,
+and, as Jimmy's goin' west, right on his way, he's come along. But
+to-night, at Jimmy's last stoppin'-place, he leaves us and takes a train
+straight to the coast. I'm sorry, because if Susan had time to see him
+and talk it over&mdash;you see, she's the man of the two&mdash;the whole thing
+would blow over, and they'd be back on the farm, workin' hard, and with
+good times ahead."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was moved by this pathetic little tragedy of the plains, the
+result of loneliness and hard times preying upon the tempers of two
+people. "Poor devil!" he thought. "It's as his cousin says; if Susan
+could only be face to face with him for five minutes, he'd drop his
+foolish idea of running away and go home."</p>
+
+<p>Then of that thought was born unto him a great idea, and he immediately
+hunted up the cousin again.</p>
+
+<p>"Is Kalapoosa a station on the telegraph line?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>"Would a telegram to that point be delivered to the Plover farm?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Why, what's up?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing; I just wanted to know. Now, can you tell me what time
+to-night, after our arrival, a man may take a train for the coast from
+Weeping Water, our last stop?"</p>
+
+<p>"We're due at Weepin' Water," replied the cousin, "at eleven to-night,
+but I cal'late it'll be nigher twelve when we strike the town. You see,
+this is a special train, runnin' on any old time, an' it's liable now
+and then to get laid out a half an hour or more. But, anyhow, we ought
+to beat the Denver Express, which is due at twelve-thirty in the
+mornin', an' stops ten minutes at the water-tank. It connects at Denver
+with the 'Frisco Express, an' I guess it's the train that Billy will
+take."</p>
+
+<p>"Does the Denver Express stop at Kalapoosa?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Kalapoosa ain't nothin' but a little bit of a place, but the
+Pawnee branch line comes in there, and the express gets some passengers
+off it. Say, mister, what's up?"</p>
+
+<p>But Harley evaded a direct answer, having now all the information he
+wished. He went back to the next car and wrote this despatch:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Kalapoosa</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Susan Plover</span>,&mdash;Take to-day's Denver Express and get off to-night
+at Weeping Water. You will find me at Grayson's speaking, standing
+just in front of him. Don't fail to come. Will explain everything
+to you then.</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">William Plover</span>."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Harley looked at this message with satisfaction. "I guess I'm a forger,"
+he mused; "but as the essence of wrong lies in the intention, I'm doing
+no harm."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>He stopped at the next station, prepaid the message, and, standing by,
+saw with his own eyes the operator send it. Then he returned to the
+train and resumed his work with fresh zest.</p>
+
+<p>And he had plenty to do. He had seen Jimmy Grayson make great displays
+of energy, but his vitality on this terrible day was amazing. On and on
+they went, right into the red eye of the sun. The hot rays poured down,
+and the dust whirled over the plain, entering the car in clouds, where
+it clothed everything&mdash;floors, seats, and men alike&mdash;until they were a
+uniform whitey-brown. It crept, too, into Harley's throat and stung his
+eyelids, but at each new speech the candidate seemed to rise fresher and
+stronger than ever, and at every good point he made the volleys of
+applause rose like rifle-shots.</p>
+
+<p>Harley, at the close of a speech late in the day, sought his new friend,
+Plover. The little man was crushed down in a seat, looking very gloomy.
+Harley knew that he was thinking of Kalapoosa, the spell of Grayson's
+eloquence being gone for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Tired, Mr. Plover?" said Harley, putting a friendly hand on his
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"A little bit," replied Plover.</p>
+
+<p>"But it's a great day," continued Harley. "I tell you, old man, it's one
+to be remembered. There never was such a campaign. The story of this
+ride will be in all the papers of the United States to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Ain't he great! Ain't he great!" exclaimed Plover, brightening into
+enthusiasm. "And don't he hit Wall Street some awful whacks?"</p>
+
+<p>"He certainly is great," replied Harley. "But you wait until we get to
+Weeping Water. That's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> the last stop, and he'll just turn himself loose
+there. You mustn't miss a word."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't," replied Plover. "I'll have time, because the Denver Express,
+on which I'm going to 'Frisco, don't leave there till twelve-forty. No,
+I won't miss the big speech at Weeping Water."</p>
+
+<p>They reached Weeping Water at last, although it was full midnight, and
+they were far behind time, and together they walked to the speaker's
+stand.</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw Plover in his accustomed place in the front rank, just under
+the light of the torches, where he would meet the speaker's eye, his
+face rapt and worshipful. Then he looked at his watch.</p>
+
+<p>"Twelve-fifteen," he said to himself. "The Denver Express will be here
+in another fifteen minutes, and Susan will fall on the neck of her
+Billy."</p>
+
+<p>Then he stopped to listen to Grayson. Never had Harley seen him more
+earnest, more forcible. He knew that the candidate must be sinking from
+physical weakness&mdash;his pale, drawn face showed that&mdash;but his spirit
+flamed up for this last speech, and the crowd was wholly under the spell
+of his powerful appeal.</p>
+
+<p>Harley met, presently, the cousin, Sandidge.</p>
+
+<p>"This is Grayson's greatest speech of the day," Harley said, "and how it
+must please Mr. Plover!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's so," replied Sandidge; "but Billy's all broke up over it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what's the matter?" asked Harley, in sudden alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"The Denver Express is nearly two hours and a half late&mdash;won't be here
+until three, and at Denver it'll miss the 'Frisco Express; won't be
+another for a day. So Billy, who's in a hurry to get to the coast&mdash;the
+old Nick's got into him, I reckon&mdash;is goin' by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> express on the B. P.;
+the train on the branch line that goes out there at two-ten connects
+with it, and so does the accommodation freight at two-forty. It's hard
+on Billy&mdash;he hates to miss any of Jimmy Grayson's speeches, but he's
+bound to go."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was touched by real sorrow. He drew his pencil-pad from his
+pocket, hastily wrote a few lines upon it, pushed his way to the stage,
+and thrust what he had written into Mr. Grayson's hands. The speaker,
+stopping to take a drink of water, read this note:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Grayson</span>,&mdash;The Denver Express is two hours and a half
+late. For God's sake speak until it comes; you will hear it at
+three, when it pulls into the station. It is a matter of life and
+death, and while you are speaking don't take your eye off the
+little man with the whiskers, who has been with us all day, and who
+always stands in front and looks up at you. I'll explain everything
+later, but please do it. Again I say it's a matter of life and
+death.</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">John Harley.</span>"</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Grayson looked in surprise at Harley, but he caught the appealing look
+on the face of the correspondent. He liked Harley, and he knew that he
+could trust him. He knew, moreover, that what Harley had written in the
+note must be true.</p>
+
+<p>Grayson did not hesitate, and, nodding slightly to Harley, turned and
+faced the crowd, like a soldier prepared for his last and desperate
+charge. His eyes sought those of the little man, his target, looking up
+at him. Then he fixed Plover with his gaze and began.</p>
+
+<p>They still tell in the West of Jimmy Grayson's speech at Weeping Water,
+as the veterans tell of Pickett's rush in the flame and the smoke up
+Cemetery Hill. He had gone on the stage a half-dead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> man. He had already
+been speaking nineteen hours that day. His eyes were red and swollen
+with train dust, prairie dust, and lack of sleep. Every bone in him
+ached. Every word stung his throat as it came, and his tongue was like a
+hot ember in his mouth. Deep lines ran away from his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>But Jimmy Grayson was inspired that night on the black prairie. The
+words leaped in livid flame from his lips. Never was his speech more
+free and bold, and always his burning eyes looked into those of Plover
+and held him.</p>
+
+<p>Closer and closer pressed the crowd. The darkness still rolled up,
+thicker and blacker than ever. Grayson's shoulders sank away, and only
+his face was visible now. The wind rose again, and whistled around the
+little town and shrieked far out on the lonely prairie. But above it
+rose the voice of Grayson, mellow, inspiring, and flowing full and free.</p>
+
+<p>Harley looked and listened, and his admiration grew and grew. "I don't
+agree with all he says," he thought, "but, my God! how well he says it."</p>
+
+<p>Then he cowered in the lee of a little building, that he might shelter
+himself from the bitter wind that was searching him to the marrow.</p>
+
+<p>Time passed. The speaker never faltered. A half-hour, an hour, and his
+voice was still full and mellow, nor had a soul left the crowd. Grayson
+himself seemed to feel a new access of strength from some hidden source,
+and his form expanded as he denounced the Trusts and the Robber Barons,
+and all the other iniquities that he felt it his duty to impale, but he
+never took his eyes from Plover; to him he was now talking with a force
+and directness that he had not equalled before. Time went on, and, as if
+half remembering some resolution, Plover's hand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> stole towards the
+little old silver watch that he carried in the left-hand pocket of his
+waistcoat. But just at that critical moment Grayson uttered the magical
+name, Wall Street, and Plover's hand fell back to his side with a jerk.
+Then Grayson rose to his best, and tore Wall Street to tatters.</p>
+
+<p>A whistle sounded, a bell rang, and a train began to rumble, but no one
+took note of it save Harley. The two-ten on the branch line to connect
+with the 'Frisco Express on the B. P. was moving out, and he breathed a
+great sigh of relief. "One gone," he said to himself; "now for the
+accommodation freight."</p>
+
+<p>The speech continued, but presently Grayson stopped for a hasty drink of
+water. Harley trembled. He was afraid that Grayson was breaking down,
+and his fears increased when he saw Plover's eyes leave the speaker's
+face and wander towards the station. But just at that moment the
+candidate caught the little man.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen to me!" thundered Grayson, "and let no true citizen here fail to
+heed what I am about to tell him."</p>
+
+<p>Plover could not resist the voice and those words of command. His
+thoughts, wandering towards the railroad station, were seized and
+brought back by the speaker. His eyes were fixed and held by Grayson,
+and he stood there as if chained to the spot.</p>
+
+<p>Time became strangely slow. The accommodation freight must be more than
+ten minutes late, Harley thought. He looked at his watch, and found that
+it was not due to leave for five minutes yet. So he settled himself to
+patient waiting, and listened to Grayson as he passed from one national
+topic to another. He saw, too, that the lines in the speaker's face were
+growing deeper and deeper, and he knew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> that he must be using his last
+ounces of strength. His soul was stirred with pity. Yet Grayson never
+faltered.</p>
+
+<p>The whistle blew, the bell rang, and again the train rumbled. The
+two-forty accommodation freight on the branch line to connect with the
+'Frisco Express on the B. P. was moving out, and Plover had been held.
+He could not go now, and once more Harley breathed that deep sigh of
+relief. Twenty minutes passed, and he heard far off in the east a faint
+rumble. He knew it was the Denver Express, and, in spite of his
+resolution, he began to grow nervous. Suppose the woman should not come?</p>
+
+<p>The rumble grew to a roar, and the train pulled into the station.
+Grayson was faithful to the last, and still thundered forth the
+invective that delighted the soul of Plover. The train whistled and
+moved off again, and Harley waited in breathless anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>A tall form rose out of the darkness, and a woman, middle-aged and
+honest of face, appeared. The correspondent knew that it must be Susan.
+It could be nobody else. She was looking around as if she sought some
+one. Harley's eye caught Grayson's, and it gave the signal.</p>
+
+<p>"And now, gentlemen," said the candidate, "I am done. I thank you for
+your attention, and I hope you will think well of what I have said."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he left the stage, and the crowd dispersed. But Harley
+waited, and he saw Plover and his wife meet. He saw, too, the look of
+surprise and then joy on the man's face, and he saw them throw their
+arms around each other's neck and kiss in the dark. They were only a
+poor, prosaic, and middle-aged couple, but he knew they were now happy
+and that all was right between them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>When Grayson went to his room, he fell from exhaustion in a half-faint
+across the bed; but when Harley told him the next afternoon the cause of
+it all, he laughed and said it was well worth the price.</p>
+
+<p>They obtained, about a week later, the New York papers containing an
+account of the record-breaking day. When Harley opened the <i>Monitor</i>,
+Churchill's paper, he read these head-lines:</p>
+
+<p class="center">GRAYSON'S GAB</p>
+
+<p class="center">HE IS TALKING THE FARMERS OF THE WEST TO<br />DEATH</p>
+
+<p class="center">TWENTY-FOUR SPEECHES IN TWENTY-FOUR<br />HOURS</p>
+
+<p class="center">HE TALKS FIFTY THOUSAND WORDS IN ONE DAY,<br />AND SAYS NOTHING</p>
+
+<p>But when he looked at the <i>Gazette</i>, he saw the following head-lines
+over his own account:</p>
+
+<p class="center">HIS GREATEST SPEECH</p>
+
+<p class="center">GRAYSON'S WONDERFUL EXHIBITION OF PLUCK<br />AND ENDURANCE</p>
+
+<p class="center">AFTER RIDING FOUR HUNDRED MILES AND MAKING<br />TWENTY-THREE SPEECHES HE HOLDS<br />
+AN AUDIENCE SPELLBOUND FOR<br />THREE HOURS AT HIS<br />TWENTY-FOURTH</p>
+
+<p class="center">SPEAKS FROM MIDNIGHT UNTIL THREE IN THE<br />MORNING IN THE OPEN AIR AND NOT A<br />
+SOUL LEAVES, THOUGH A BLIZZARD<br />WAS RAGING</p>
+
+<p>Harley sighed with satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"That managing editor of mine knows his business," he said to himself.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>SYLVIA'S RETURN</h3>
+
+<p>Harley slept late the next day, and it was the heavy, somewhat nervous
+slumber of utter exhaustion, like that which he had more than once
+experienced in the war on the other side of the world, after days of
+incessant marching. When he awoke, it was afternoon on the special
+train, and as he joined the group he was greeted with a suppressed
+cheer.</p>
+
+<p>"I understand that you stayed the whole thing through last night, or
+rather this morning," said Churchill, in a sneering tone. "There's
+devotion for you, boys!"</p>
+
+<p>"I was amply repaid," replied Harley, calmly. "His last speech was the
+most interesting; in fact, I think it was the greatest speech that I
+ever heard him make."</p>
+
+<p>"I fear that Jimmy Grayson is overdoing it," said the elderly Tremaine,
+soberly. "A Presidential nominee is not exactly master of himself, and I
+doubt whether he should have risked his voice, and perhaps the success
+of his party, speaking in that cold wind until three or four o'clock
+this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"He just loves to hear the sound of his own voice," said Churchill, his
+ugly sneer becoming uglier. "I think it undignified and absurd on the
+part of a man who is in the position that he is in."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was silent, and he was glad now that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> had said nothing in his
+despatch about the real reason for Grayson's long speaking. He had had
+at first a little struggle over it with his professional conscience,
+feeling that his duty required him to tell, but a little reflection
+decided him to the contrary. He had managed the affair, it was not a
+spontaneous occurrence, and, therefore, it was the private business of
+himself and Mr. James Grayson. It gave him great relief to be convinced
+thus, as he knew that otherwise the candidate would be severely
+criticised for it both by the opposition press and by a considerable
+number of his own party journals.</p>
+
+<p>But there was one person to whom Harley related the whole story. It was
+told in a letter to Sylvia Morgan, who was then at the home of the
+candidate with Mrs. Grayson. After describing all the details minutely,
+he gave his opinion: he held that it was right for a man, even in
+critical moments weighted with the fate of the many, to halt to do a
+good action which could affect only one or two. A great general at the
+height of a battle, seeing a wounded soldier helpless on the ground,
+might take the time to order relief for him without at all impairing the
+fate of the combat; to do otherwise would be a complete sacrifice of the
+individual for the sake of a mighty machine which would banish all
+humanity from life. He noticed that even Napoleon, in the midst of what
+might be called the most strenuous career the world has known, turned
+aside to do little acts of kindness.</p>
+
+<p>He was glad to find, when her reply came a few days later, that she
+agreed with him at least in the main part of his argument; but she
+called his attention to the fact that it was not Mr. Grayson, but Harley
+himself, who had injected this strange element into the combat when it
+was at its zenith; her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> uncle James had merely responded to a strong and
+moving appeal, which he would always do, because she knew the softness
+of his heart; yet she was not willing for him to go too far. A general
+might be able to turn aside for a moment at the height of the battle,
+and then he might not. She wished her uncle James to be judicious in his
+generosity, and not make any sacrifice which might prove too costly
+alike to himself and to others.</p>
+
+<p>"She is a compound of romance and strong common-sense," thought Harley,
+musing over the letter. "She wants the romance without paying the price.
+Now I wonder if that is not rather more the characteristic of women than
+of men."</p>
+
+<p>On the day following the receipt of this letter, a look of joy came over
+the face of the candidate and there was a visible exhilaration
+throughout his party. Men, worn, exhausted, and covered with the dust of
+the great plains, began to freshen up themselves as much as they could;
+there was a great brushing of soiled clothing, a hauling out of clean
+collars, a sharpening of razors, and a general inquiry, "How do I look?"
+The whole atmosphere of the train was changed, and it became much
+brighter and livelier. It was the candidate himself who wrought the
+transformation, after reading a letter, with the brief statement, "Mrs.
+Grayson and Sylvia will join us to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>All had begun to pine for feminine society, as soldiers, long on the
+march, desire the sight of women and the sound of their voices. It is
+true that they saw women often, and many of them&mdash;some who were
+beautiful and some who were not&mdash;as they sped through the West, but it
+was always a flitting and blurred glimpse. "I haven't got an impression<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+of the features of a single one of them," complained the elderly beau,
+Tremaine. Now two women whom they knew well and liked would be with them
+for days, and they rejoiced accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>It was at a little junction station in eastern Colorado, in the clear
+blue-and-silver of a fine morning, that Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia met
+them. Mr. Grayson and his party had been down about fifty miles on a
+branch line for a speech at a town of importance, and they had begun the
+return journey before daylight in order to make the connection. But when
+the gray dawn came through the dusty car-windows, it was odd to see how
+neat and careful all appeared, even under such difficult circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was surprised to realize the eagerness with which he looked
+forward to the meeting, and put it down to the long lack of feminine
+society. But he wondered if Sylvia had changed, if the nearer approach
+of her marriage with "King" Plummer would make her reserved and with her
+outlook on the future&mdash;that is, as one apart.</p>
+
+<p>He had a favorable seat in the car and he was the first to see them. The
+junction was a tiny place of not more than a half-dozen houses standing
+in the midst of a great plain, and it made a perfect silhouette against
+the gorgeous morning sunlight. Harley saw two slender figures outlined
+there in front of the station building, and, despite the distance, he
+knew them. There was to him something typically American and typically
+Western in these two women coming alone into that vast emptiness and
+waiting there in the utmost calmness, knowing that they were as safe as
+if they were in the heart of a great city, and perhaps safer.</p>
+
+<p>He knew, too, which was Sylvia; her manner, her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> bearing, the poise of
+her figure, had become familiar to him. Slender and upright, she was in
+harmony with the majesty of these great and silent spaces, but she did
+not now seem bold and forward to him; she was clothed in a different
+atmosphere altogether.</p>
+
+<p>There was a warm greeting for Mr. Grayson and the hand of fellowship for
+the others. Harley held Sylvia's fingers in his for a moment&mdash;just a
+moment&mdash;and said, with some emphasis:</p>
+
+<p>"Our little party has not been the same without you, Miss Morgan."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad to hear you say it," she replied, frankly, "and I'm glad to be
+back with all of you. It's a campaign that I enjoy."</p>
+
+<p>"It can be said for it that it is never monotonous."</p>
+
+<p>"That's one reason why I like it."</p>
+
+<p>She laughed a little, making no attempt to conceal her pleasure at this
+renewed touch with fresh, young life, and, because it was so obvious,
+Harley laughed also and shared her pleasure. He noticed, too, the new
+charm that she had in addition to the old, a softening of manner, a
+slight appeal that she made, without detracting in any wise from the
+impression of strength and self-reliance that she gave.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you leave 'King' Plummer?" he asked, unguardedly.</p>
+
+<p>"In Idaho," she replied, with sudden gravity. "He is well, and I believe
+that he is happy. He is umpiring a great quarrel between the cattlemen
+and the sheepmen, or, rather, he is compelling both to listen to him and
+to agree to a compromise that he has suggested. So he is really enjoying
+himself. You do not know the delight that he takes in the handling of
+large and rather rough affairs."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>"I can readily guess it; he seems to have been made for them."</p>
+
+<p>But she said no more of "King" Plummer, quickly turning the talk to the
+campaign, and showing at once that she had followed every phase of it
+with the closest and most anxious attention. Mrs. Grayson had walked on
+a little and was talking to her husband, but she glanced back and saw
+what she had expected. She and her husband turned presently in their
+walk, and she said, looking significantly at Harley and Miss Morgan:</p>
+
+<p>"It is a great pleasure to Sylvia to be with your party again."</p>
+
+<p>There was such a curious inflection to her voice that the candidate
+exclaimed, "Why, what do you mean, Anna?" and she merely replied, "Oh,
+nothing!" which meant everything. The candidate, understanding, looked
+more attentively, and his eyes contracted a little, as if he were not
+wholly pleased at what he saw.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a free world," he said, "but I am glad that 'King' Plummer will be
+with us again in a few days."</p>
+
+<p>But his wife, able to see further than he, merely looked thoughtful and
+did not reply.</p>
+
+<p>Harley's solitary talk with Miss Morgan was brief; it could not be
+anything else under the circumstances; Hobart, with all sail set, bore
+down upon them.</p>
+
+<p>"Come! Come, Harley!" he cried, with the perfect frankness that usually
+distinguished him, "we don't permit any selfish monopolists here. We are
+all cast away on a desert island, so to speak, and there are a lot of us
+men and only two women, one of whom is mortgaged!"</p>
+
+<p>Then he was welcoming Miss Morgan in florid style; and there, too, was
+the ancient beau, Tremaine,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> displaying all his little arts of elegance
+and despising Hobart's obvious methods; and Blaisdell, and all the
+others, forming a court about her and giving her an attention which
+could not fail to please her and bring a deeper red to her cheeks and a
+brighter flash to her eyes. It seemed to Mrs. Grayson, looking on, that
+the girl had been hungry for something which she had now found, and in
+finding which she was happy, and, despite her sense of loyalty, she felt
+a glow of sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>But the sense of duty in Mrs. Grayson was strong, and while she
+hesitated much and sought for mental excuses to avoid it, she wrote a
+long letter to "King" Plummer that evening in the waiting-room of a
+little wayside hotel. In many things that she said she was beautifully
+vague; but she told him how glad she was that he would join them so
+soon; she spoke of the quarrel between the cattlemen and the sheepmen as
+a closed affair, and complimented him on his skill in bringing it to an
+end so quickly; it was all the better because now he could come to them
+at once, and she boldly said how much Sylvia was missing him. But when
+she sealed and addressed the letter she reflected awhile before dropping
+it in the box on the wall.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, ought I to do this?" she asked herself. "Have I the right to
+hasten or to divert the course of affairs?"</p>
+
+<p>She decided that she had the right, and mailed the letter.</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer came a few days later&mdash;he said that he "just blew in a
+few days ahead of time"&mdash;and received a hearty welcome from everybody,
+which he returned in double measure in his broad, spontaneous way. He
+placed a sounding kiss upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> somewhat flushed brow of Sylvia Morgan,
+and exclaimed, "Well, my little girl, aren't you glad to see me ahead of
+time?" She replied quickly, though not loudly, that she was, and then he
+announced that he would stay with them for a long while. "These are my
+mountains," he said, "and I'll have to show you the way through them."</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer, although inclined to be masterful, was admitted at once
+into the full membership of the party, and he entered upon what he
+called his first long vacation. He showed the keenest enjoyment in the
+speeches, the crowds, the enthusiasm, the travelling, and the
+quick-shifting scenes. He was a boy with the boys, but the watchful Mrs.
+Grayson noticed a shade of difference between Sylvia with the "King"
+present and Sylvia with the "King" absent. With him present there was a
+little restraint, a slight effort on her part to watch herself; but with
+him away there was great spontaneity and freedom, especially with the
+younger members like Harley and Hobart, and even Churchill, who
+reluctantly admitted that Miss Morgan was a fine girl, "though rather
+Western, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson began to take thought with herself again, and the thought
+was taken with great seriousness. Had she been right in bringing "King"
+Plummer on so soon, although he did not even know that he was brought?
+She resolutely asked herself, too, how much of her action had been due
+to the knowledge that the "King" was a very important man to her
+husband, controlling, as he probably could, the vote of several mountain
+states. This question, which she could not answer, troubled her, and so
+did the conduct of Sylvia, who, usually so frank and straightforward,
+seemed to be suffering from a strange<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> attack of perverseness. For years
+she had obeyed "King" Plummer as her protector and as the one who had
+rightful control, but now she began to give him orders and to criticise
+many things that he did, to the unlimited astonishment of the "King,"
+who had never expected anything of the kind.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter with Sylvia? I never knew her to act in such a way
+before," he said to Mrs. Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"As she is to be your wife, and not a sort of ward, she is merely giving
+you a preliminary training," replied the candidate's wife, dryly.</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer looked at her in doubt, but he pondered the question
+deeply and was remarkably meek the next time Sylvia scolded him, whereat
+she showed less pleasure than ever. "King" Plummer was still in a maze
+and did not know what to say. The very next day he found himself deeper
+in the tangle, being scolded by Mrs. Grayson herself.</p>
+
+<p>They were waiting at a small station for some carriages which were to
+take them across the prairie, and, the air being clear and bracing, they
+stood outside, where Miss Morgan, as usual, held an involuntary court. A
+cloud of dust arose, and behind it quickly came a great herd of cattle,
+driven with much shouting and galloping of horses by a half-dozen
+cowboys. The herd was passing to the south a few hundred yards from the
+station, but Sylvia, thoroughly used to such sights, was not interested.
+Not so some of the others who went out to see, and among them was "King"
+Plummer, who began at once to calculate the number of cattle, their
+value, and how far they had come, all of which he did with great
+shrewdness.</p>
+
+<p>The "King's" absorption in this congenial <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>occupation was increased when
+he recognized the leader of the cowboys as an old friend and former
+associate in Idaho and Montana, with whom he could exchange much
+interesting news. Borrowing a horse from one of the men, he rode on with
+them for a mile or two.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson had seen "King" Plummer leave the group about Sylvia, and
+she marked it with a disapproving eye. She would have spoken to him
+then, but she had no chance, and she watched him until he borrowed the
+horse and rode on with the cowboys. Then she looked the other way and
+saw two figures walking up and down the station platform. They were
+Sylvia and Harley, engrossed in talk and caring not at all for the
+passage of the herd. The two brown heads were not far apart, and Mrs.
+Grayson was near enough to see that Sylvia's color was beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate's wife was annoyed, and, like any other good woman, she
+was ready to vent her annoyance on somebody. She walked out a little
+from the station, and presently she met "King" Plummer coming back. He
+dismounted, returned the horse to its owner, and approached her, the
+sparkle of enthusiasm in his eyes lighting up his brown face.</p>
+
+<p>"That was a pleasant surprise, Mrs. Grayson," he exclaimed. "The leader
+of those boys was Bill Ascott, whom I've known twenty years, an' he's
+brought those cattle so cleverly all the way from Montana that they are
+in as good condition now as they were the day they started. And I had a
+fine gallop with them, too."</p>
+
+<p>He had more to say, but he stopped when he noticed her deeply frowning
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"What is wrong, Mrs. Grayson?" he asked, in apprehension.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>"Oh, you had a fine gallop, did you!" she said, in a tone of biting
+irony. "I am glad of it. Mr. William Plummer ought to have his gallop,
+under any circumstances!"</p>
+
+<p>He stared at her in increasing amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that I'm counted a dull man, but you've got me now, Mrs.
+Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>She pointed to the station platform, where the two brown heads were
+still not far apart.</p>
+
+<p>"Without a word you left the woman that you are going to marry to look
+at a lot of cattle."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Sylvia is only a child, an' we've been used to each other for
+years. She understands."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, she will understand, or she isn't a woman," said Mrs. Grayson, and
+if possible the biting irony of her tone increased. "You will see, too,
+Mr. William Plummer, that one man at least did not neglect her for the
+sake of some dusty cattle."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Plummer stared again at the pair on the platform, and a mingled look
+of pain and apprehension came into his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You surely can't mean anything of that kind! Why, little Sylvia has
+promised&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"All things are possible, Mr. Plummer. My husband is a lawyer, and I
+have heard him quote often a maxim of the law which runs something like
+this, 'He must keep who can.'"</p>
+
+<p>She turned away and would not have another word to say to him then,
+leaving Mr. Plummer in much perplexity and trouble.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson herself was in a similar perplexity and trouble throughout
+the day. Her doubts about the letter she had written to "King" Plummer
+increased. Perhaps it would have been wiser to let affairs take their
+own course. The sight of the two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> brown heads and the two young faces on
+the station platform had made her very thoughtful, and she drew
+comparisons with "King" Plummer; there might be days in autumn which
+resembled those of spring, but it was only a fleeting resemblance,
+because autumn was itself, with its own coloring, its own fruits, and
+its own days, and nothing could turn it into spring. "I will not meddle
+again," she resolved, and then her mind was taken off the matter by an
+incident in her husband's progress. In Nebraska the men left the train
+for a few days, travelling by carriage, and here occurred the event
+which created a great stir in its time.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2>
+
+<h3>JIMMY GRAYSON'S SPELL</h3>
+
+<p>A night, after a beautiful, brown October day, came on dark and rainy,
+with fierce winds off the Rocky Mountains; and Harley, who was in the
+first carriage with the candidate, could barely see the heads of the
+horses, gently rising and falling as they splashed through the mud.
+Behind him he heard faintly the sound of wheels amid the wind and rain,
+and he knew that the other correspondents and the politicians, who
+always hung on the trail of Jimmy Grayson, shifting according to
+locality, were following their leader in single file.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia had remained on the special car, and expected to
+join them on the following day, although Sylvia was quite prepared to
+take the carriage journey across the country and dare all the risks of
+the darkness and possible bad weather. Indeed, with the fine spirit of
+the West and her own natural high courage, she wanted to go, saying that
+she could stand as much as a man, and only Mrs. Grayson's refusal to
+accompany her and the consequent lack of a chaperone compelled her to
+abandon the idea. Now Harley and Mr. Grayson were very glad that she was
+not out in the storm.</p>
+
+<p>Although the hood of the carriage was down and the collar of Harley's
+heavy coat was turned up to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> his ears, the cold rain, lashed by the
+wind, struck him in the face now and then.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't do anything by halves out here on these Western plains," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied Jimmy Grayson, "we don't deal in disguises; when we're hot
+we're hot, and when we're cold we're cold. Now, after a perfect day,
+we're having the wildest kind of a night. It's our way."</p>
+
+<p>It was then ten o'clock, and they had expected to reach Speedwell at
+midnight, crossing the Platte River on the big wooden bridge; but the
+rain, the darkness, and the singularly sticky quality of the black
+Nebraska mud would certainly delay them until one o'clock in the
+morning, and possibly much later. It was not a cheerful prospect for
+tired and sleepy men.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Grayson," said Harley, "without seeking to discredit you, I wish I
+had gone to another war instead of coming out here with you. That would
+have been less wearing."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"But you are seeing the West as few men from New York ever see it," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>The driver turned, and a little stream of water ran off his hat-brim
+into Harley's face.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the wind that holds us back, Mr. Grayson," he said; "if we leave
+the road and cut across the prairie on the hard ground it will save at
+least an hour."</p>
+
+<p>"By all means, turn out at once," said the candidate, "and the others
+will follow."</p>
+
+<p>"Wise driver; considerate man!" remarked Harley.</p>
+
+<p>There was marked relief the moment the wheels of the carriage struck the
+brown grass. They rolled easily once more, and the off horse, lifting up
+his head, neighed cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>"It means midnight, and not later, Harley," said the candidate, in a
+reassuring tone.</p>
+
+<p>Harley leaned back in his seat, and trusted all now to the wise and
+considerate driver who had proposed such a plan. The night was just as
+black as a hat, and the wind and rain moaned over the bleak and lonesome
+plains. They were far out in Nebraska, and, although they were near the
+Platte River, it was one of the most thinly inhabited sections of the
+state. They had not seen a light since leaving the last speaking-place
+at sundown. Harley wondered at the courage of the pioneers who crossed
+the great plains amid such a vast loneliness. He and the candidate were
+tired, and soon ceased to talk. The driver confined his attention to his
+business. Harley fell into a doze, from which he was awakened after a
+while by the sudden stoppage of the carriage. The candidate awoke at the
+same time. The rain had decreased, there was a partial moonlight, and
+the driver was turning upon them a shamefaced countenance.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" asked the candidate.</p>
+
+<p>"To tell you the truth, Mr. Grayson," replied the driver, in an
+apologetic tone. "I've gone wrong somehow or other, and I don't know
+just where we're at."</p>
+
+<p>"Lost?" said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"If you wish to put it that way, I reckon you're right," said the
+driver, with a touch of offence.</p>
+
+<p>"What has become of the other carriages?" asked Harley, looking back for
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon they didn't see us when we turned out, and they kept on along
+the road."</p>
+
+<p>There was no doubt about the plight into which they had got themselves.
+The plain seemed no less lonely than it was before the white man came.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>"What's that line of trees across yonder?" asked the candidate.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess it marks where the Platte runs," replied the driver.</p>
+
+<p>"Then drive to it; if we follow the trees we must reach the bridge, and
+then things will be simple."</p>
+
+<p>The driver became more cheerful, the rain ceased and the moonlight
+increased; but Harley lacked confidence. He had a deep distrust of the
+Platte River. It seemed to him the most ridiculous stream in the United
+States, making a presumptuous claim upon the map, and flowing often in a
+channel a mile wide with only a foot of water. But he feared the marshes
+and quicksands that bordered its shallow course.</p>
+
+<p>They reached the line of gaunt trees, dripping with water and whipped by
+the wind, and Harley's fears were justified. The river was there, but
+they could not approach it, lest they be swallowed up in the sand, and
+they turned back upon the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>"We must find a house," said the candidate; "if it comes to the pinch we
+can pass the night in the carriage, but I don't like to sleep sitting."</p>
+
+<p>They bore away from the river, driving at random, and after an hour saw
+a faint light under the dusky horizon.</p>
+
+<p>"The lone settler!" exclaimed Harley, who began to cherish fond
+anticipations of a bed. "Go straight for it, driver."</p>
+
+<p>The driver was not loath, and even the horses, seeming to have renewed
+hope, changed their sluggish walk to a trot. They had no hesitation in
+seeking shelter at that hour, entire strangers though they were, such an
+act being in perfect accordance with the laws of Western hospitality.</p>
+
+<p>As they approached, a bare wooden house, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>unprotected by trees, rose out
+of the plain. A wire fence enclosed a half-acre or so about it, and
+apparently there had been a few rather futile attempts to make a lawn.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks cheerless," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"But it holds beds," said the candidate.</p>
+
+<p>"You save your voice," said Harley; "I'll call the farmer, and I hope it
+will be a man who can speak English, and not some new Russian or
+Bohemian citizen."</p>
+
+<p>He sprang out of the carriage, glad to relieve himself from his cramped
+and stiff position, and walked towards the little gate in the wire
+fence. There was a sudden rush of light feet, a stream of fierce barks
+and snarls, and Harley sprang back in alarm as two large bull-dogs,
+red-mouthed, flung themselves against the fence.</p>
+
+<p>"I said you had no cause to regret that war," called the candidate from
+the carriage.</p>
+
+<p>The wires were strong, and they held the dogs; but the animals hung to
+the fence, as fierce as wolves; and Harley, lifting up his voice, added
+to the chorus with a "Hi! Hi! Mr. Farmer! Strangers want to stop with
+you!"</p>
+
+<p>The din was tremendous, and presently a window in the second story was
+shoved up, and a man, fully dressed, carrying a long-barrelled rifle in
+his hands, appeared at it. He called to the dogs, which ceased at once
+their barking and snarling, and then he gazed down at the intruders in
+no friendly manner. Harley saw him clearly, a tall, gaunt old man,
+white-haired, but muscular and strong. He held the rifle as if he were
+ready to use it&mdash;a most unusual thing in this part of the country, where
+householders seldom kept fire-arms.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>"What do you want?" he called, in a sharp, high voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Beds!" cried Harley. "We are lost, and if you don't take us in we'll
+have to sleep on the prairie, which is a trifle damp."</p>
+
+<p>"Waal, I 'low it hez rained a right smart," said the old man, grimly.</p>
+
+<p>Harley noticed at once the man's use of "right smart," an expression
+with which he had been familiar in another part of the country, and it
+encouraged him. He was sure now of hospitality.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you?" the old man called.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Grayson, the nominee for President of the United States, is in the
+carriage, and I am his friend, one of the newspaper correspondents
+travelling with him."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a minute."</p>
+
+<p>The window was closed, and in a few moments the old man came out at the
+front door. He carried the rifle on his shoulder, but Harley attributed
+the fact to his haste at the mention of Jimmy Grayson's name.</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Simpson&mdash;Daniel Simpson," he said, hospitably. "Tell the
+driver to put the horses in the barn."</p>
+
+<p>He waved his hand towards a low building in the rear of his residence,
+and then he invited the candidate and the correspondent to enter. He
+looked curiously, but with reverence, at the candidate.</p>
+
+<p>"You are really Jimmy Grayson," he said. "I'd know you off-hand by your
+picture, which I guess hez been printed in ev'ry newspaper in the United
+States. I 'low it's a powerful honor to me to hev you here."</p>
+
+<p>"And it's a tremendous accommodation to us for you to take us," said
+Jimmy Grayson, with his usual easy grace.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>But Harley was looking at Simpson with a gaze no less intent than the
+old man had bent upon Grayson. The accent and inflection of the host
+were of a region far distant from Nebraska, but Harley, who was born
+near that wild country, knew the long, lean, narrow type of face, with
+the high cheek-bones and the watchful black eyes. Moreover, there was
+something directly and personally familiar in the figure before him.</p>
+
+<p>Under any circumstances the manner of the old man would have drawn the
+attention of Harley, whose naturally keen observation was sharpened by
+the training of his profession. The old man seemed abstracted. His
+fingers moved absently on the stock of his rifle, and Harley inferred at
+once that he had something of unusual weight on his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Me an' the ol' woman hev been settin' late," said Simpson. "When you
+git ol' you don't sleep much. But it'll be a long time, Mr. Grayson,
+before that fits you."</p>
+
+<p>He led the way into a room better furnished than Harley had expected to
+see. A coal fire smouldered on the hearth, and the arrangement of the
+room showed some evidences of refinement and taste. An old woman was
+bent over the fire, but she rose when the men entered, and turned upon
+them a face which Harley knew at once to be that of one who had been
+frightened by something. Her eyes were red, as if she had been weeping.
+Harley looked from host to hostess with curious glance, but he was still
+silent.</p>
+
+<p>"This is Marthy, my wife, gen'lemen," said Simpson. "Marthy, this is Mr.
+Grayson, the greatest man in this here United States, and the other is
+one of the newspaper fellers that travels with him."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson bowed with great courtesy, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> apologized so gracefully
+for the intrusion that an ordinary person would have been glad to be
+intruded upon in such a manner. The woman said nothing, but stared
+vacantly at her guests. The old man came to her relief.</p>
+
+<p>"Marthy ain't used to visitors, least of all a man like you, Mr.
+Grayson, and it kind o' upsets her," he said. "You see, Marthy an' me
+lives here all by ourselves."</p>
+
+<p>The woman started and looked at him.</p>
+
+<p>"All by ourselves," repeated the man, firmly; "but we'll do the best we
+kin."</p>
+
+<p>"Daniel," suddenly exclaimed the old woman, in high, shrill tones, "why
+don't you put down your gun? Mr. Grayson'll think you're a-goin' to
+shoot him."</p>
+
+<p>The old man laughed, but the ever-watchful Harley saw that the laugh was
+not spontaneous.</p>
+
+<p>"I 'clar' to gracious," he said, "I clean forgot I had old Deadeye. You
+see, Mr. Grayson, when I heerd the dogs barkin', sez I to myself 'it's
+robbers, shore'; and before I h'ists the window up-stairs I reaches old
+Deadeye off the hooks, and then, if it had 'a' been robbers, it wouldn't
+'a' been healthy for 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure of that, Mr. Simpson," said Jimmy Grayson; "you don't look
+like a man who would allow himself to be run over."</p>
+
+<p>"An' I wouldn't," said the old man, with sudden, fierce emphasis. But he
+put the rifle on the hooks over the fireplace. Such hooks as these were
+not usual in Nebraska; but Jimmy Grayson was too polite to say anything,
+and Harley was still watching every movement of the old man. The driver
+returned at this moment from the stable, and, reporting that he had fed
+the horses, took his place with the others at the fire.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>"I 'low you-uns would like to eat a little," said the old man, laughing
+in the same unnatural way. "Marthy, tote in suthin' from the kitchen as
+quick as you kin."</p>
+
+<p>The old woman raised her startled, frightened eyes, and for a moment her
+glance met Harley's; it seemed to him to be full of entreaty; the whole
+atmosphere of the place was to him tense, strained, and tragic; why, he
+did not know, but he shook himself and decided that it was only the
+result of weariness, the long ride, and the night in the storm.
+Nevertheless, the feeling did not depart because he willed that it
+should go.</p>
+
+<p>"No, we thank you," Jimmy Grayson was saying; "we are not hungry; but we
+should like very much to go to bed."</p>
+
+<p>"It's jest with you," said Simpson. "Marthy, I'll show the gen'lemen to
+their room, and you kin stay here till I come back."</p>
+
+<p>The old woman did not speak, but stood in a crouched attitude looking at
+Grayson and then at Harley and then at the driver; it seemed to the
+correspondent that she did not dare trust her voice, and he saw fear
+still lurking in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Come along, gen'lemen," said Simpson, taking from the table a small
+lamp, that had been lighted at their entrance, and leading the way.</p>
+
+<p>Harley glanced back once at the door, and the woman's eyes met his in a
+look that was like one last despairing appeal. But there was nothing
+tangible, nothing that he could not say was the result of an overwrought
+fancy.</p>
+
+<p>It was a small and bare room, with only a single bed, to which the old
+man took them. "It's the best I've got," he said, apologetically. "Mr.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>Grayson, you an' the newspaper man kin sleep in the bed, an' t'other
+feller, I reckon, kin curl up on the floor."</p>
+
+<p>"It is good enough for anybody," said Jimmy Grayson, gallantly. As a
+matter of fact, both he and Harley had known what it was to fare worse.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night," the man said, and left them rather hastily, Harley
+thought; but the others took no notice, and were soon in sound slumber,
+the candidate because he had the rare power of going to sleep whenever
+there was a chance, and the driver because he was indifferent and tired.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley lay awake. An hour ago his dream of heaven was a bed, and
+now, the bed attained, sleep would not come near. Out of the stillness,
+after a while, he heard the gentle moving of feet below, and he sat up
+on the bed, all his suspicions confirmed. Something unusual was going on
+in this lone house! And it had been going on even before he and the
+candidate came!</p>
+
+<p>He listened to the moving feet for a few moments. Then the noise ceased,
+but Harley knew that there was no further chance of sleep for him, with
+his nerves on edge, and likely to remain there. He lay back on the edge
+of the bed, trying to accustom his eyes to the darkness, and presently
+he heard a sound, the most chilling that a man can hear. It was the
+sound of a woman, alone and in the dark, between midnight and morning,
+crying gently, but crying deeply, uncontrollably, and from her chest.</p>
+
+<p>Harley's resolve was taken at once. He slipped on his clothes and went
+to the door. His eyes were used now to the dark, and there was a window
+that shed a half-light.</p>
+
+<p>He stopped with his hand on the bolt, because he heard the low, wailing
+note more plainly, and he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> sure that it came from another room
+across the narrow hall. He turned the bolt, but the door refused to
+open. There was no key on the inside! They had been locked in, and for a
+purpose!</p>
+
+<p>Harley was fully aroused&mdash;on edge with excitement, but able to restrain
+it and to think clearly. There was an old grate in the room, apparently
+used but seldom, and, leaning against the wall beside it, an iron poker.
+Tiptoeing, he obtained the poker and returned to the door. The lock was
+a flimsy affair, and, inserting the point of the poker under the catch,
+he easily pried it off and put it gently on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Then he stepped out into the dusky hall and listened. The woman was yet
+crying, monotonously, but with such a note of woe that Harley was
+shaken. He had thought in his own room that it was the old woman who
+wept thus; but now in the hall he knew it to be a younger and fresher
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>He saw farther down another door, and he knew that it led to the room
+from which came the sounds of grief. He approached it cautiously, still
+holding the poker in his hands, and noticed that there was no key in the
+lock. The woman, whoever she might be, was locked in, as he and his
+comrades had been; but the empty keyhole gave him an idea. He blew
+through it, making a sort of whistling sound with his puckered lips. The
+crying ceased, all save an occasional low, half-smothered sob, as if the
+woman were making a supreme effort to control her feelings.</p>
+
+<p>Then Harley put his lips to the keyhole again and whispered: "What is
+the matter? It is a friend who asks." There was no reply, only a tense
+silence, even the occasional sobs ceasing. Then, after a few moments of
+waiting, Harley whispered, "Don't be alarmed; I am about to force the door."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>The door was of flimsy pine, and it gave quickly to the poker's
+leverage. Then, this useful weapon still in hand, Harley stepped into
+the room, where he heard a deep-drawn sigh that expressed mingled
+emotions.</p>
+
+<p>There was a window at the end of the room, and the moonlight shone
+clearly through, clothing with its full radiance a tall, slim girl, who
+had risen from a chair, and who stood trembling before Harley, fully
+dressed, although her long hair hung down her back and her eyes were red
+with weeping.</p>
+
+<p>She was handsome, but not with the broad face of the West. Hers was
+another type, a type that Harley knew well. The cheek-bones were a
+little high, the features delicate, the figure slender, and there was on
+her cheeks a rosy bloom that never grew under the cutting winds of the
+great plains.</p>
+
+<p>Harley knew at once that she was the daughter of the old couple below
+stairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not be afraid of me," he said, gently. "I know that you are in great
+trouble, but I will help you. I, too, am from Kentucky. I was born
+there, and I used to live there, though not in the mountains, as you
+did."</p>
+
+<p>The appeal and terror in her eyes changed to momentary surprise. "What
+do you know of me?" she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Very little of you, but more of your father. Years ago I was at his
+house in the Kentucky mountains. He was a leader in the Simpson-Eversley
+feud. I knew him to-night, but I have said nothing. Now, tell me, what
+is the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>His voice was soothing&mdash;that of a strong man who would protect, and the
+girl yielded to its influence. Brokenly she told the story. Many men had
+been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> killed in the feud, and the few Eversleys who were left had been
+scattered far in the mountains. Then old Daniel Simpson said that he
+would come out on the Great Plains, more than a thousand miles, and they
+had come.</p>
+
+<p>"There was one of the Eversleys&mdash;Henry Eversley&mdash;he was young and
+handsome. People said he was not bad. He, too, came to Nebraska. He
+found out where we lived; he has been here."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said Harley. He felt that they were coming to the gist of the
+matter.</p>
+
+<p>The girl, with a sudden passionate cry, threw herself upon her knees.
+"He is here now! He is here now!" she cried. "He is in the cellar, bound
+and gagged, and my father is going to kill him! But I love him! He came
+here to-night, and my father caught us together, and struck him down.
+But we meant nothing wrong. I declare before God that we did not! We
+were getting ready to run away together and to be married at Speedwell!"</p>
+
+<p>Harley shuddered. The impending tragedy was more terrible than he had
+feared.</p>
+
+<p>"You can do nothing!" exclaimed the girl. "My father is armed. He will
+have no interference! He cares nothing for what may come after! He
+thinks&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She could not say it all; but Harley knew well that what she would say
+was, "He thinks that he has been robbed of his honor by a mortal enemy."</p>
+
+<p>"Can you stay quietly in this room until morning?" he asked. "I know it
+is hard to wait under such circumstances, but you must do it for the
+sake of Henry Eversley."</p>
+
+<p>"And will you save him?"</p>
+
+<p>"He shall be saved."</p>
+
+<p>"I will wait," she said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>Harley slipped noiselessly out, and, closing the door behind him, went
+to his room, where he at once awakened the candidate.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson listened with intense attention to Harley's story. When
+the tale was over, he and Harley whispered together long and earnestly,
+and Jimmy Grayson frequently nodded his head in assent. Then they awoke
+the driver, a heavy man, but with a keen Western mind that at once
+became alert at the news of danger.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I got my bearings now," he said, in reply to a question of
+Harley's. "I asked the old fellow about it when I came up from the
+stable, and Speedwell is straight north from here. I can take one of the
+horses and hit the town before daylight. I know everybody there."</p>
+
+<p>"But how about the dogs?" asked Jimmy Grayson. "Can you get past them?"</p>
+
+<p>"No trouble there at all. After we came, the old fellow locked 'em up in
+a stall in the stable and left 'em there. I guess he didn't want to look
+to us as if he was too suspicious."</p>
+
+<p>"Then go, and God go with you!" said Jimmy Grayson, with deep feeling.</p>
+
+<p>The driver left at once, not by the stairway, near the foot of which the
+old man might be watching, but by a much simpler road. He raised the
+window of the room and swung out, sustained by Jimmy Grayson's powerful
+arms until his feet were within a yard of the ground. Then he dropped,
+ran lightly across the lawn, sprang over the wire fence, and soon
+disappeared in the grove where the girl had said that the horses were
+waiting. Jimmy Grayson closed the window with a deep sigh of relief.</p>
+
+<p>"He will do his part," he said; "now for ours."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>He did not seek to sleep again, and Harley could not think of it. One
+task occupied him a little while&mdash;the replacing of the lock on the
+door&mdash;but after that the hours passed heavily and in silence. The flush
+of dawn appeared in the east at last, and then they heard a faint step
+in the hall outside and the gentle turning of a key in a lock. Jimmy
+Grayson and Harley looked at each other and smiled grimly, but they said
+nothing. A half-hour later there was a loud knock on their door, and old
+Daniel Simpson bade them rise and get ready for breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"It is chiefly in your hands now," said Harley, in a low tone to Jimmy
+Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll be down in a few minutes, and we have had a good night's sleep,
+for which we thank you," he called to the old man.</p>
+
+<p>"You're welcome to it," replied Simpson. "You'll find water and towels
+on the porch down-stairs, and then you can come straight in to
+breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>They heard his step passing down the hall to the stairway, where it died
+away, and then they dressed deliberately. On the porch they found the
+water and towels as Simpson had said, and bathed and rubbed their faces.
+A golden sun was just rising from the prairie, and beads of water from
+the night's rain sparkled on the trees and grass. The wind came out of
+the southwest, fresh and glorious.</p>
+
+<p>They entered the dining-room, where the breakfast smoked on the table,
+and the old man and his wife were waiting. Harley could not see that
+they had changed in appearance in the morning glow. Simpson was still
+rugged and grim, while the woman yet cowered and now and then raised
+terrified and appealing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Whar's your driver?" asked Simpson.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>"He has gone down to the stable to feed and care for his horses,"
+replied the candidate, easily. "He's a very careful man, always looks
+after his horses before he looks after himself. He told us not to wait
+for him, as he'll be along directly."</p>
+
+<p>"Then be seated," said the old man, hospitably. "We've got corn-bread
+and ham-and-eggs and coffee, an' I guess you kin make out."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think so," said Jimmy Grayson. "Why, if I had not been as
+hungry as a wolf already, it would make me hungry just to look at it."</p>
+
+<p>The three sat down at the table, while Mrs. Simpson served them, going
+back and forth to the little kitchen adjoining for fresh supplies of hot
+food. Mr. Grayson did most of the talking, and it was addressed in an
+easy, confidential manner to old Daniel Simpson. The candidate's gift of
+conversational talk was equal to his gift of platform oratory, but never
+before had Harley known him to be so interesting and so attractive. He
+fairly radiated with the quality called personal magnetism, and soon the
+old man ate mechanically, while his attention was riveted on Jimmy
+Grayson. But by-and-by he seemed to remember something.</p>
+
+<p>"That driver of yourn is tarnal slow," he said; "he ought to be comin'
+in to breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>"You have diagnosed his chief fault," said Jimmy Grayson, with an easy
+laugh. "He is slow, extremely slow, but he will be along directly, and
+he doesn't mind cold victuals."</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned back to the easy flow of anecdote, chiefly about his
+political campaign, and Harley saw that the interest of the old man was
+centred upon him. The woman, without a word, brought in hot biscuits
+from the kitchen, but she did not lose her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> frightened look, glancing
+from one to another of the three with furtive, lowered eyes. But Jimmy
+Grayson, the golden-mouthed, talked gracefully, and the note of his
+discourse that morning was the sweetness and kindness of life; he saw
+only the sunny side of things; people were good and true, and peace was
+better than strife. His smiling, benevolent face and the mellow flow of
+his words enforced the lesson.</p>
+
+<p>The old man's face softened a little, and even Harley, though a prey to
+anxieties, felt the influence of Jimmy Grayson's spell. The little
+dining-room where they sat was at the rear of the house. Harley saw the
+golden sunshine of a perfect October day, and the wind that sang across
+the plain had the soft strain of a girl's voice. He felt that it was
+good to live that morning, and his spirits rose as he saw the old man
+fall further and further under the spell of Jimmy Grayson's eloquence.</p>
+
+<p>But Simpson raised himself presently and glanced at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"That driver of yourn is tarnal slow," he repeated. "Seems to me he'll
+never finish feedin' an' curryin' them horses!"</p>
+
+<p>"He is slow, extremely slow," laughed Jimmy Grayson. "If he were not so
+we should not have got lost last night, and we should not be here now,
+Mr. Simpson, trespassing on your hospitality. Perhaps the man does not
+want any breakfast; it's not the first time since he's been with us that
+he's gone without it."</p>
+
+<p>Then he launched again into the stream of a very pretty story that he
+had been telling, and the wavering attention of the old man returned.
+Harley gave all assistance. Despite his anxiety and his listening for
+sounds without, he kept his eyes fixed upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> Jimmy Grayson's face as if
+he would not miss a word.</p>
+
+<p>The breakfast went on to an unusual length. The candidate and Harley
+called again and again for hot biscuits and more coffee, and always the
+old woman served them silently, almost furtively.</p>
+
+<p>The story was finished, and just as it came to its end Simpson said,
+with a grim inflection:</p>
+
+<p>"It 'pears to me, Mr. Grayson, all you said about that driver of yourn
+is true. He hasn't come from the stable yet."</p>
+
+<p>There was the sound of a step in the hall, and the candidate said,
+quickly:</p>
+
+<p>"He's coming now; he'll be in presently, as soon as he washes his hands
+and face on the porch. No, sit down, Mr. Simpson; he needs no
+directions. We were speaking of the sacrifices that people make for one
+another, and it reminds me of a very pretty story that I must tell you."</p>
+
+<p>The old man sank into his chair, but his look wandered to the door. It
+seemed to Harley that light sounds came from the other part of the
+house, and the old man, too, seemed for a moment to be listening, but
+Jimmy Grayson at once began his story, and Simpson's attention came
+back.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a story of the mountains of eastern Kentucky," began the
+candidate, "and it is a love story&mdash;a very pretty one, I think."</p>
+
+<p>Simpson moved in his chair, and a sudden wondering look appeared in his
+eyes at the words "eastern Kentucky." The old woman, too, slightly
+raised her bent form and gazed eagerly at the candidate. But Jimmy
+Grayson took no notice, and continued.</p>
+
+<p>"This," he said, "is the love story of two people who were young then,
+but who are old now. Yet I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> am sure there is much affection and
+tenderness in their hearts, and often they must think fondly of those
+old days. The youth lived on the side of a mountain, and the girl lived
+on the side of another mountain not far away. He was tall, strong, and
+brave; she, too, was tall, as slender as one of the mountain saplings,
+with glorious brown hair and eyes, and a voice as musical as a mountain
+echo. Well, they met and they loved, loved truly and deeply. It might
+seem that the way was easy now for them to marry and go to a house of
+their own, but it was not. There was a bar."</p>
+
+<p>"A feud!" breathed the old man. The old woman put her hands to her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, a feud; they seem strange things to us here, but to those distant
+people in the mountains they seem the most natural thing in the world.
+The youth and the girl belonged to families that were at war with each
+other, and marriage between them would have been considered by all their
+relatives a mortal sin."</p>
+
+<p>The old man's eyes were fastened upon Jimmy Grayson's, but his look for
+the moment was distant, as if it were held by old memories. The woman
+was crying softly. Again the soft shuffle of feet in the other part of
+the house came to Harley's ears, but the old couple did not hear; the
+driver was forgotten; for all Simpson and his wife remembered, he might
+still be finishing his morning toilet on the porch.</p>
+
+<p>"They were compelled to meet in secret," continued Jimmy Grayson, "but
+the girl was frightened for him because she loved him. She told him that
+he must go away, that if her father and brothers heard of their meetings
+they would kill him; it was impossible for them to marry, but she loved
+him, she would never deny that. He listened to her gently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> and tenderly;
+he was a brave youth, as I have said, and he would not go away. He said
+that God had made them for each other, and she should be his wife; he
+would not go away; he was not afraid."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I was not afraid," breathed the old man, softly. The old woman had
+straightened herself up until she stood erect. There was a delicate
+flush on her face, and her eyes were luminous.</p>
+
+<p>"This youth was a hero, a gallant and chivalrous gentleman," continued
+Jimmy Grayson; "he loved the girl, and she loved him; there was no real
+reason in the world why they should not marry, and he was resolved that
+there should be none."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate's head was bent forward over his plate. His face was
+slightly flushed, and his burning eyes held Simpson's. Harley saw that
+he thrilled with his own story and the crisis for which it was told.
+Elsewhere in the building the faint noises went on, but Harley alone
+heard.</p>
+
+<p>"The youth did what I would have done and what you would have done, Mr.
+Simpson," continued Jimmy Grayson. "He did what nature and sense
+dictated. He overbore all resistance on the part of the girl, who in her
+heart was willing to be overborne. One dark night he stole her from her
+father's house and carried her away on his horse."</p>
+
+<p>"How well I remember it!" exclaimed the old man, with eyes a-gleam. "I
+had Marthy on the horse behind me, and my rifle on the pommel of the
+saddle before me."</p>
+
+<p>The old woman cried softly, but it seemed to Harley that the note of her
+weeping was not grief.</p>
+
+<p>"He stole her away," continued Jimmy Grayson, "and before morning they
+were married. Then he took her to a house of his own, and he sent word
+that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> if any man came to do them harm he would meet a rifle bullet. They
+knew that he was the best shot in the mountains, and that he was without
+fear, so they did not come. And that youth and that girl are still
+living, though both are old now, but neither has ever for a moment
+regretted that night."</p>
+
+<p>"You speak the truth," exclaimed the old man, striking his fist upon the
+table, while his eyes flashed with exultant fire. "We've never been
+sorry for a moment for what we did, hev we Marthy?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley had risen to his feet, and a signal look passed between him and
+the candidate.</p>
+
+<p>"And then," said Jimmy Grayson, "why do you deny to Henry Eversley the
+right to do what you did, and what you still glory in after all these
+years? Mr. Simpson, shake hands with your new son-in-law. He and his
+bride are waiting in the doorway."</p>
+
+<p>The old man sprang to his feet. His daughter and a youth, a handsome
+couple, stood at the entrance. Behind them were three or four men, one
+the driver, and another in clerical garb, evidently a minister.</p>
+
+<p>"They were married in your front parlor while we sat at breakfast," said
+Jimmy Grayson. "Mr. Simpson, your son-in-law is still offering you his
+hand."</p>
+
+<p>The bewildered look left the old man's eyes, and he took the
+outstretched hand in a hearty grasp.</p>
+
+<p>"Henry," he said, "you've won."</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2>
+
+<h3>THE "KING'S" REQUEST</h3>
+
+<p>An hour later the candidate, Harley, and the driver were on the way to
+the town at which they had intended to pass the preceding night. With
+ample instructions and a brilliant morning sunlight there was no further
+trouble about the direction, and they pursued their way in peace.</p>
+
+<p>The air was crisp and blowy, and the earth, new-washed by the rain, took
+on some of the tints of spring green, despite the lateness of the
+season. Harley, relaxed from the tension of the night before, leaned
+back in his seat and enjoyed the tonic breeze. No one of the three had
+much to say; all were in meditation, and the quiet and loneliness of the
+morning seemed to promote musing. They drove some miles across the
+rolling prairie without seeing a single house, but at last the driver
+pointed to a flickering patch of gold on the western horizon.</p>
+
+<p>"That," said he, "is the weather-vane on the cupola of the new
+court-house, and in another hour we'll be in town. I guess your people
+will be glad to see you, Mr. Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>"And I shall be glad to see them," said the candidate. A few minutes
+later he turned to the correspondent.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," he asked, "will you send anything to your paper about last night?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>"I have to do so," replied Harley, with a slight note of apology in his
+tone&mdash;this had not been his personal doing. "For a presidential
+candidate to get lost on the prairie in the dark and the storm, and then
+spend the night in a house in which only his presence of mind and
+eloquence prevent a murder, that is news&mdash;news of the first importance
+and the deepest interest. I am bound not only to send a despatch about
+it, but the despatch must be very long and full. And I suppose, too,
+that I shall have to tell it to the other fellows when we reach the
+town."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"I know you are right," he said, "but I wish you did not have to do it.
+The story puts me in a sensational light. It seems as if I were turning
+aside from the great issues of a campaign for personal adventure."</p>
+
+<p>"It was forced upon you."</p>
+
+<p>"So it was, but that fact does not take from it the sensational look."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was silent. He knew that Mr. Grayson's point was well made, but
+he knew also that he must send the despatch.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate made no further reference to the subject, and five minutes
+later they saw horsemen rise out of the plain and gallop towards them.
+As Harley had said, a presidential nominee was not lost in the dark and
+the storm every night, and this little Western town was mightily
+perturbed when Mr. Grayson failed to arrive. The others had come in
+safely, but already all the morning newspapers of the country had
+published the fact that the candidate was lost, swallowed up somewhere
+on the dark prairie. And Mr. Grayson's instinct was correct, too,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
+because mingled with the wonder and speculation was much criticism. It
+was boldly said in certain supercilious circles that he had probably
+turned aside on an impulse to look after some minor matter, perhaps
+something that was purely personal that had nothing to do with the
+campaign. Churchill, late the night before, had sent to the <i>Monitor</i> a
+despatch written in his most censorious manner, in that vein of
+reluctant condemnation that so well suited his sense of superiority. He
+was loath to admit that the candidate was proving inadequate to his high
+position, but the circumstances indicated it, and the proof was becoming
+cumulative. He also sent a telegram to the Honorable Mr. Goodnight, in
+New York, and the burden of it was the need of a restraining force, a
+force near at hand, and able to meet every evil with instant cure.</p>
+
+<p>But the Western horsemen who met Jimmy Grayson&mdash;they clung to their
+affectionate "Jimmy"&mdash;were swayed by no such emotions. They repeated a
+shout of welcome, and wanted to know how and where he had passed the
+night, to all of which questions the candidate, with easy humor,
+returned ready and truthful replies, although he did not say anything
+for the present about the adventure of the old man and of the young one
+who was now the old one's son-in-law.</p>
+
+<p>The driver took them straight towards a large and attractive hotel, and
+it seemed to Harley that half the population of the town was out to see
+the triumphant entry of the candidate. With all the attention of the
+crowd centred upon one man, Harley was able to slip quietly through the
+dense ranks and enter the hotel, where he fell at once into the hands of
+Sylvia Morgan. She came forward to meet him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> impulsively holding out
+her hands, the light of welcome sparkling in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"We did not know what had become of you," she exclaimed. "We feared that
+you had got lost in the quicksands of the river." And then, with a
+sudden flush, she added, somewhat lamely, "We are all so glad that Uncle
+James has got back safely."</p>
+
+<p>Harley had read undeniable relief and welcome in her eyes, and it gave
+him a peculiar thrill, a thrill at first of absolute and unthinking joy,
+followed at once by a little catch. Before him rose the square and
+massive vision of "King" Plummer, and he had an undefined sense of doing
+wrong.</p>
+
+<p>"We've brought him back safely," he said, after slight hesitation. "We
+spent the night very comfortably in a farm-house on the prairie."</p>
+
+<p>She noticed his hesitation, and her eyes became eager.</p>
+
+<p>"I do believe that you have had an adventure," she exclaimed. "I know
+that you have; I know by your look. You must tell it to me at once."</p>
+
+<p>"We have had an adventure," admitted Harley, "and there is no reason why
+I shouldn't tell you of it, as in a few hours a long account of it
+written by me will be going eastward."</p>
+
+<p>"I am waiting."</p>
+
+<p>Harley began at once with his narrative, and they became absorbed in it,
+he in the telling and she in the hearing. While he talked and she
+listened "King" Plummer approached. Now the "King" in these later few
+days had begun to study the ways of women, in so far as his limited
+experience enabled him to do so, a task to which he had never turned his
+attention before in his life. But the words of Mrs. Grayson rankled;
+they kept him unhappy, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> disturbed his self-satisfaction, and made
+him apprehensive for the future. He had been in the crowd that welcomed
+Jimmy Grayson, he had shaken the candidate's hand effusively, and now,
+when he entered the hotel, he found Sylvia Morgan welcoming John Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer did not like what he saw; it gave him his second shock,
+and he paused to examine the two with a yellow eye, and a mind reluctant
+to admit certain facts, among them the most obvious one, that they were
+a handsome couple, and of an age. And this was a fact that did not give
+the "King" pleasure. He did not dislike Harley; instead, he appreciated
+his good qualities, but just then he regarded him with an unfriendly
+glance; that reality of youth annoyed him. There was a glass on the
+other side of the room, and the "King" looked at his own reflection. He
+saw a large, powerful head and broad, strong features, the whole
+expressing a man at the height of his powers, at the very flood-tide of
+his strength. But it was not young. The hair was iron-gray, and there
+were many deep lines in the face&mdash;not unhandsome lines, yet they were
+lines.</p>
+
+<p>"With all his shameless youth," were the "King's" unuttered thoughts, "I
+could beat him at anything, except, perhaps, scribbling. I could live
+and prosper where he would starve to death." And surging upon the "King"
+came the memories of his long, triumphant, and joyous struggle with wild
+nature. Then he approached the couple, and greeted Harley with the
+good-nature that was really a part of him. Sylvia, with shining eyes,
+told at second hand, though not with diminished effect, the story of the
+night, and "King" Plummer was loud in his applause. He did not care<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+what criticism the supercilious might make, the act was to him
+spontaneous and natural.</p>
+
+<p>"But I don't see why you should have been with Jimmy Grayson then," he
+said, frankly, to Harley. "You are an Easterner, new to these parts, and
+it isn't right that just you should be along when the interestin' things
+happen."</p>
+
+<p>Harley could not help laughing at the na&iuml;ve remark, but he liked "King"
+Plummer all the better for it. The "King," however, gave him no more
+chance to talk alone that day with Sylvia. Mr. Plummer showed the
+greatest regard for Miss Morgan's health and comfort, and did not try to
+hide his solicitude; he was continually about her, arranging little
+conveniences for the journey, and introducing Idaho topics, familiar to
+them, but to which Harley was necessarily a stranger. The "King," with
+his wide sense of Western hospitality, would not have done this at
+another time, but in view of the close relationship between himself and
+Sylvia he regarded it as pardonable.</p>
+
+<p>The watchful Mrs. Grayson saw it all, and at first she regarded the
+"King" with an approving eye, but by-and-by the approval changed to a
+frown. There was something forced in his manner; it was just the least
+bit unconvincing. It was clear to her that he was overdoing it, and in
+her opinion that was as bad as not doing it at all. Nor did she like the
+spectacle of a middle-aged man of affairs trying to play the gallant;
+there was another manner, one just as good, that would become him more.
+She was impelled to admonish him again, but she restrained herself,
+reflecting that she had not improved matters by her first warning, and
+she might make them worse by her second. Nevertheless, she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> summoned the
+nominee of a great party to the American Presidency to a conference, and
+he came with more alacrity than he would have obeyed the call of a
+conference of governors.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia is doing what it is natural for her to do," she said, abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, my dear, why find fault with me because of it?" replied the
+mystified candidate.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't find fault with you; I merely want your advice, although I know
+that you can have none to give."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate wisely kept silent, and waited for the speaker of the
+house to proceed.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia is your niece, and Mr. Plummer is your most powerful political
+supporter in the West," she said. "If she jilts him because of any fancy
+or impulse&mdash;well, you know such things can make men, especially elderly
+men, do very strange deeds. I speak of it because I am sure it must have
+been in your thoughts."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate stirred uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a thing that I do not like to take into consideration," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Nor do I, but it forces itself upon us."</p>
+
+<p>"It is right that Harley should pay her attention. They are members of
+this party, and they are of an age likely to make them congenial."</p>
+
+<p>"That is where the danger lies. It may not amount at present to anything
+more than a fancy, but a fancy can make a very good beginning."</p>
+
+<p>They talked on at length and with much earnestness, but they could come
+to no other conclusion than to use that last refuge, silence and
+waiting.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Sylvia was enjoying herself. She was young and vigorous, and
+she had a keen zest in life.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> She was surrounded by men, some young,
+too, who had seen much of the world, and they interested her; neither
+would she have been human, nor of her sex, if their attentions had not
+pleased her; and there, too, was the great campaign throwing its glow
+over everything. She was gracious even to the "King," whom she had been
+treating rather worse than he deserved for several days. She seemed to
+appreciate his increased gallantry, and it was "dear old daddy" very
+often now, whether in the comparative privacy of the Grayson family
+circle or in the larger group of the young correspondents and
+politicians. The "King" was delighted with the change, and his own
+manner became easy and happy. He looked once or twice at the lady whom
+he considered his mentor, Mrs. Grayson, and expected to see approval and
+satisfaction on her face, too, but she was stern and impenetrable, and
+the "King" said to himself that after all she was not so startlingly
+acute.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia was telling some anecdote of the West to her new friends, and, as
+the incident was rather remarkable, she thought it necessary to have
+confirmation.</p>
+
+<p>"It happened before I was born, but you were there then, and you know
+all about it, don't you, daddy?"</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer quickly nodded confirmation and smiled at the memory. The
+event had interested him greatly, and he was glad to vouch for its
+truth. He was pleased all the more when he saw the others looking at him
+with the respect and deference due to&mdash;his thoughts halted suddenly in
+their course and turned into another channel. Then he found himself
+frowning. He did not like the conjunction of "dear old daddy" and of a
+thing that had happened many years ago.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>The "King" quietly slipped away from the party, and he noticed with
+intense gloom that his departure did not seem to make as much difference
+as it should. For a whole afternoon he was silent, and many corrugations
+formed temporarily in his brow, indicating resolved thought. Nor were
+appearances wrong, because the "King" was laboriously dragging himself
+up to the edge of a mighty resolution. He was physically as brave a man
+as ever walked; in early and rougher days he had borne a ready
+Winchester, but this emergency was something new in his experience, and
+naturally he hesitated at the venture. However, just after supper, when
+Sylvia was alone in the drawing-room of the car, he approached her. She
+looked up at him and smiled, but the "King's" face was set with the
+power of his resolve.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in, daddy," she said.</p>
+
+<p>The "King" did not smile, nor did he sit down.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," he said, "I have a favor to ask of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Why certainly, daddy, anything in reason, and I know you would not ask
+anything out of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia, I want you to promise me never to call me daddy again, either
+in private, as here between ourselves, or before others."</p>
+
+<p>She looked up at him, her eyes wide with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Why," she exclaimed, "I've called you that ever since you found me a
+little, little girl alone in the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, but it's time to stop. I'm no blood kin to you at all. And
+I'm not so ancient. The history of the West didn't begin with me."</p>
+
+<p>The wonder in her eyes deepened, and the "King" felt apprehensive,
+though he stood to his guns. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> when she laughed, a joyous,
+spontaneous laugh, he felt hurt.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll make you the promise readily enough," she said, "but I can't keep
+it; I really can't. I'll try awful hard, but I'm so used to daddy that
+it will be sure to pop out just when I'm expecting it least."</p>
+
+<p>The "King" looked at her moodily, not sure whether she was laughing at
+him or at her own perplexity.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you just try," he said, at last, yielding to a mood of compromise,
+and stalked abruptly out of the drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia, watching him, saw how stiffly and squarely he held his
+shoulders, and what long and abrupt strides he took, and her mood of
+merriment was suddenly succeeded by one of sadness mingled just a little
+with apprehension. She spoke twice under her breath, and the two brief
+sentences varied by only a single word. The first was "Dear old daddy!"
+and the second was "Poor old daddy!"</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE HARRYING OF HERBERT</h3>
+
+<p>An unexpected addition and honor was now approaching, and it was Hobart
+who told them of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Our little party is about to receive a touch of real distinction and
+dignity&mdash;something that it needs very much," he said, laying the
+newspaper that he had been reading upon the dusty car seat and glancing
+at Harley. They had returned to their special train.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" asked Harley, though his tone betrayed no great
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>"I quote from the columns of our staid contemporary, the New York
+<i>Monitor</i>, Churchill's sheet, the representative of solid, quiet, and
+cultured worth," said Hobart, pompously. "'It has been felt for some
+time by thoughtful leaders of our party in the East that Jimmy Grayson
+and the "shirt-sleeves" Western politicians who now surround him are
+showing too much familiarity with the people. A certain reserve, a
+certain dignity of manner which, while holding the crowd at a distance
+also inspires it with a proper respect, is desirable on the part of the
+official head of a great party, a presidential nominee. The personal
+democracy of Mr. Grayson is having a disconcerting effect upon important
+financial circles, and also is inspiring unfavorable comments in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>
+English press, extracts from which we print upon another page.'"</p>
+
+<p>"What on earth has the opinion of the English press to do with our
+presidential race?" asked Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"You may search me," replied Hobart. "I merely quote from the columns of
+the <i>Monitor</i>. But in order to save time, I tell you that all this
+preamble leads to the departure for the West of the Honorable Herbert
+Henry Heathcote, who, after his graduation at Harvard, took a course at
+Oxford, lived much abroad, and who now, by grace of his father's worth
+and millions, is the national committeeman from his state. For some days
+Herbert has been speeding in our direction, and to-morrow he will join
+us at Red Cloud. It is more than intimated that he will take charge of
+the tour of Jimmy Grayson, and put it upon the proper plane of dignity
+and reserve."</p>
+
+<p>Harley said no more, but, borrowing the paper, read the account
+carefully, and then put it down with a sigh, foreseeing trouble. Herbert
+Heathcote's father had been a great man in his time, self-created, a
+famous merchant, an able party worker, in thorough touch with American
+life, and he had served for many years as the honored chairman of the
+national committee, although in a moment of weakness he had sent his son
+abroad to be educated. Now he was dead, but remembered well, and as a
+presidential campaign costs much money&mdash;legitimate money&mdash;and his son
+was a prodigal giver, the leaders could not refuse to the younger
+Heathcote the place of national committeeman from his state.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of it?" asked Harley, at last.</p>
+
+<p>"I refuse to think," replied Hobart. "I shall merely wait and see."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>But the Honorable William Plummer expressed his scorn in words befitting
+his open character.</p>
+
+<p>The paper was passed on until it reached Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia. Mrs.
+Grayson, with her usual reserve, said nothing. Sylvia was openly
+indignant.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall snub this man," she said, "unless he is of the kind that thinks
+it cannot be snubbed."</p>
+
+<p>"I fear that it is his kind," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks like it," she said.</p>
+
+<p>At noon the next day, when they were at Red Cloud, Herbert Henry
+Heathcote arrived on the train from the East, and the arrival of him was
+witnessed by Harley, Hobart, Mr. Plummer, and several others, who had
+gone to the station for that purpose and none other.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Heathcote, as he alighted from the train, was obviously a person of
+importance, his apparel, even had his manner been hidden, disclosing the
+fact to the most casual observer. A felt hat, narrow-brimmed and
+beautifully creased in the crown, sat gracefully upon his head. His
+light overcoat was baggy enough in the back to hold another man, as Mr.
+Heathcote was not large, and white spats were the final touch of an
+outfit that made the less sophisticated of the spectators gasp. "King"
+Plummer swore half audibly.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish my luggage to be carried up to the hotel," said Mr. Heathcote,
+importantly, to the station agent.</p>
+
+<p>"He calls it 'luggage,' and this in Colorado!" groaned Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"Your what?" exclaimed the station agent, a large man in his
+shirt-sleeves, with a pen thrust behind his ear.</p>
+
+<p>"My luggage; my trunk," replied Mr. Heathcote.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>"Then you had better carry it yourself; I've nothing to do with it,"
+said the agent, with Western brusqueness, as he turned away.</p>
+
+<p>Harley, always ready to seize an opportunity, and resolved to mitigate
+things, stepped forward.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon, but this is Mr. Heathcote, is it not?" he asked,
+courteously.</p>
+
+<p>The committeeman put a glass in his eye and regarded him quite coolly.
+Harley, despite his habitual self-control, shuddered. He did not mind
+the supercilious gaze, but he knew the effect of the monocle upon the
+crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I am Mr. Heathcote," said the committeeman, "and you ah&mdash;I&mdash;don't
+believe&mdash;ah&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't been introduced," said Harley, with a smile, "but I can
+introduce myself; it's all right here in the West. I merely wanted to
+tell you that you had better get them at the hotel to send the porter
+down for your trunk. There are no carriages, but it's only a short walk
+to the hotel. It's the large white building on the hill in front of
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you&mdash;ah&mdash;Mr. Hardy."</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," corrected the correspondent, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"I was about to say&mdash;ah&mdash;that the press can make itself useful at
+times."</p>
+
+<p>Harley flushed slightly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, even under the most adverse circumstances," he said.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Heathcote was already on the way to the hotel, his white spats
+gleaming in the sunshine. It was evident that he intended to keep the
+press in its proper place.</p>
+
+<p>"You made a mistake when you volunteered your help, Harley," said
+Hobart. "A man like that should be received with a club. But you just
+wait<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> until the West gets through with him. Your revenge will be brought
+to you on a silver plate."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not thinking of myself," replied Harley, gravely. "It's the effect
+of this on Jimmy Grayson's campaign that's bothering me. Colorado is
+doubtful, and so are Utah and Wyoming and Idaho; can we go through them
+with a man like Heathcote, presumably in charge of our party?"</p>
+
+<p>Proof that Harley's fears were justified was forthcoming at once. The
+crowd at the station, drawn by various causes, had been usually large,
+and Mr. Heathcote was received with a gasp of amazement. But nothing was
+said until the white spats of the committeeman disappeared in the hotel.
+Then the people crowded around the correspondents, with whom a six
+hours' stop was sufficient to make them familiar. "Who is he?" they
+asked. "Is he a plutocrat?" "It's a Wall Street shark, sure." "Does
+Jimmy Grayson mean to hobnob with a man like that?" "Then we can't trust
+him either. He's going to be a monopolist, too, and his claiming to be
+champion of the people is all a bluff."</p>
+
+<p>Harley explained with care that Mr. Heathcote was important. To run a
+great presidential campaign required much money&mdash;special trains must be
+paid for, halls had to be hired for speakers, there was a vast amount of
+printing to be done, and many other expenses that must be met. Their
+party was poor, as everybody knew, most of the wealth being on the other
+side; and, when a man like Heathcote was willing to contribute his
+thousands, there was nothing to do but to take him. But they need not be
+alarmed; he could not corrupt Jimmy Grayson; the candidate was too
+stanch, too true, too much of a real man to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> be turned from the right
+path by any sinister Eastern influence.</p>
+
+<p>But the people were not mollified; they resented Mr. Heathcote's manner
+as well as his dress. Why had he not stopped at the station a few
+minutes, and shaken hands with those who would have been glad to meet
+him for the sake of fellowship in the party? Harley heard again the word
+"Plutocrat," and, deeming it wise to say nothing more for the present,
+walked back to the hotel. On the long porch sat a row of men in
+rocking-chairs&mdash;correspondents, town officials, and politicians,
+following in the wake of Jimmy Grayson. A state senator, a big,
+white-bearded man named Curtis, who had been travelling with them for
+three days, jerked his finger over his shoulder, pointing to the
+interior of the hotel, and said, mysteriously, to Harley:</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you get it?"</p>
+
+<p>"New York," replied Harley, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you lose it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," replied Harley, hopefully, "but we can try."</p>
+
+<p>Hobart, who was in the next chair, put his right foot across his left
+knee and nursed it judicially.</p>
+
+<p>"It is eating its dinner now," he said. "It said: 'Landlord, I want a
+table alone. I do not wish to be disturbed.' And just think, Harley,
+this is Colorado! Landlord, otherwise Bill Jeffreys, was so taken aback
+that he said, 'All right.' But the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote is
+being watched. There are three cowboys, at this very moment, peeping in
+at his window."</p>
+
+<p>There was a dead silence for at least a minute, broken at last by
+Barton.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," he said, "you do not yet know the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> full, the awful truth; I
+accidentally heard Heathcote telling Jeffreys about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what can be worse?" asked Harley, and he was in earnest.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Heathcote's man&mdash;his valet, do you understand&mdash;arrives to-night. He
+is to have a place in the car, and to travel with us, in order that he
+may wait on his master."</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer uttered an oath.</p>
+
+<p>"The West can stand a good many things, but it won't stand that," he
+exclaimed. "A national committeeman of our party travelling with his
+valet on the train with Jimmy Grayson! It'll cost us at least six
+states. We ain't women!"</p>
+
+<p>There succeeded a gloomy silence that lasted until Heathcote himself
+appeared upon the porch, fresh, dapper, and patronizing.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you enjoyed your dinner, Mr. Heathcote," said Harley, ever ready
+to be a peacemaker.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Mr. Hardy&mdash;ah, Harley; it did very well for the
+frontier&mdash;one does not expect much here, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Harley glanced uneasily at the men in the chairs, but Mr. Heathcote went
+on, condescendingly:</p>
+
+<p>"I am now going for an interview with Mr. Grayson in his room. We shall
+be there at least an hour, and we wish to be quite alone, as I have many
+things of importance to say."</p>
+
+<p>No one spoke, but twenty pairs of eyes followed the committeeman as he
+disappeared in the hotel on his way to Jimmy Grayson's room. Then
+Alvord, the town judge, a man of gigantic stature, rose to his feet and
+said, in a mimicking, feminine voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, I am going to the bar, and I shall be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> there at least an
+hour; I wish to be quite alone, as I shall have many important things to
+drink."</p>
+
+<p>There was a burst of laughter that relieved the constraint somewhat, and
+then, obedient to an invitation from the judge, they filed solemnly in
+to the bar.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate was to speak in the afternoon, and as he would raise some
+new issues, sure to be of interest to the whole country, Harley,
+following his familiar custom, went in search of Mr. Grayson for
+preliminary information. The hour set aside by Mr. Heathcote had passed
+long since, and Harley thought that he would be out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson's room was on the second floor, and Harley walked slowly
+up the steps, but at the head of the stairway he was met by Mr.
+Heathcote himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-afternoon," said Harley, cheerfully. "I hope that you had a
+pleasant talk with Mr. Grayson. I'm going in to see him now myself; a
+presidential nominee can't get much rest."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Heathcote drew himself up importantly.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon," he said, "but you cannot&mdash;ah&mdash;see Mr. Grayson.
+There has been a feeling with us in the East&mdash;we are in a position there
+to judge, being in thorough touch with the great world&mdash;that it was not
+advisable for Mr. Grayson to speak to or to come in direct contact with
+the press. This familiar talk with the newspapers rather impairs the
+confidence of our great magnates and prejudices us in the eyes of
+Europe. It is better&mdash;ah&mdash;that his remarks should be transmitted through
+a third person, who can give to the press what is fitting and reserve
+the remainder."</p>
+
+<p>Harley gazed at Heathcote in amazement, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> there was nothing in his
+manner to indicate that he was not in earnest.</p>
+
+<p>"And you are the third person, I suppose?" said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"I have so constituted myself," replied Mr. Heathcote, and his tone was
+aggravatingly quiet and assured. "As one conversant with great affairs,
+I am the most fit."</p>
+
+<p>"Has Mr. Grayson agreed to this?" asked Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear man, I cannot permit you to cross-examine me. But, really, I
+wish to be on good terms with the press, which is quite a useful
+institution within its limits. Now, you seem to be rather more sedate
+than the others, and I wish you would have the goodness to explain to
+them how I have taken affairs in hand."</p>
+
+<p>Harley flushed at his patronizing tone, and for a moment he was tempted
+to thrust him out of his way and proceed with his errand to Jimmy
+Grayson's room, but he reflected that it was better to let the
+committeeman make the rope for his own hanging, and he turned away with
+a quiet, "Very well, I shall forego the interview."</p>
+
+<p>But as he went back down the stairs he could not help asking himself the
+question, "Does Jimmy Grayson know? Could he have consented to such an
+arrangement?" and at once came the answer&mdash;"Impossible."</p>
+
+<p>He returned to the porch, where all the chairs were filled, although the
+talk was slow. He noticed, with pleasure, that Churchill was absent. The
+descending sun had just touched the crests of the distant mountains, and
+they swam in a tremulous golden glow. The sunset radiance over nature in
+her mighty aspects affected all on the porch, used as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> they were to it,
+and that was why they were silent. But they turned inquiring eyes upon
+Harley when he joined them.</p>
+
+<p>"What has become of Heathcote?" asked Barton.</p>
+
+<p>"He is engaged upon an important task just now," replied Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"And what is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is editing Jimmy Grayson's speech."</p>
+
+<p>Twenty chairs came down with a crash, and twenty pairs of eyes stared in
+indignant astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer's effort to hold himself in his chair seemed to be a
+strain.</p>
+
+<p>"He may not be doing that particular thing at this particular moment,"
+continued Harley, "but he told me very distinctly that he was here for
+that purpose, and he has also just told me that I could not see Jimmy
+Grayson, that he intended henceforth to act as an intermediary between
+the candidate and the press."</p>
+
+<p>"And you stood it?" exclaimed Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"For the present, yes," replied Harley, evenly; "and I did so because I
+thought I saw a better way out of the trouble than an immediate quarrel
+with Heathcote&mdash;a better way, above all, for Jimmy Grayson and the
+party."</p>
+
+<p>The Western men said nothing, though they looked their deep disgust, and
+presently they quitted the porch, leaving it, rocking-chairs and all, to
+the correspondents.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys," said Harley, earnestly, "I've a request to make of you. Let me
+take the lead in this affair; I've a plan that I think will work."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you are in a measure the chief of our corps," said Warrener, one
+of the Chicago men. "I don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> know why you are, but all of us have got
+to looking on you in that way."</p>
+
+<p>"I, for one, promise to be good and obey," said Hobart, "but I won't
+deny that it will be a hard job. Perhaps I could stand the man, if it
+were not for his accent&mdash;it sounds to me as if his voice were coming out
+of the top of his head, instead of his chest, where a good, honest voice
+ought to have its home."</p>
+
+<p>"Now you listen," said Harley, "and I will my tale unfold."</p>
+
+<p>Then they put their heads together and talked long and earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>The shaggy mountains were in deep shadow, and the sunset was creeping
+into the west when Jimmy Grayson came out on the porch where the
+correspondents yet sat. Harley at once noticed a significant change in
+his appearance; he looked troubled. Before, if he was troubled, he
+always hid it and turned a calm eye to every issue; but this evening
+there was something new and extraordinary about Jimmy Grayson; he was
+ashamed and apologetic obviously so, and Harley felt a thrill of pity
+that a man so intensely proud under all his democracy, or perhaps
+because of it, should be forced into a position in which he must be,
+seemingly at least, untrue to himself.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate hesitated and glanced at the correspondents, his comrades
+of many a long day, as if he expected them to ask him questions, but no
+one spoke. The sinking sun dropped behind the mountains, and the
+following shadow also lay across Jimmy Grayson's face. He was the
+nominee of a great party for President of the United States, but there
+was a heart in him, and these young men, who had gone with him through
+good times and bad times,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> through weary days and weary nights, were to
+him like the staff that has followed a general over many battle-fields.
+He glanced again at the correspondents, but, as they continued to stare
+resolutely at the dark mountains, he turned and walked abruptly into the
+hotel.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys," exclaimed Barton, "it's tough!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, damned tough," said Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer, who was with them, maintained a stony silence.</p>
+
+<p>An hour later the valet of the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote, a
+smooth, trim young Englishman, arrived in Red Cloud, and never before in
+his vassal life had he been a person of so much importance. The news had
+been spread in Red Cloud that a rare specimen was coming, a kind
+hitherto unknown in those regions. When John&mdash;that was his
+name&mdash;alighted from the train in the dusk of a vast, desolate Western
+night, a crowd of tanned, tall men was packed closely about him,
+watching every movement that he made. Harley saw him glance fearfully at
+the dark throng, but no one said a word. As he moved towards the hotel,
+a valise in either hand, the way opened before him, but the crowd,
+arranging itself in a solid mass behind him, followed, still silent,
+until he reached the shelter of the building and the protecting wing of
+his master. Then it dispersed in an orderly manner, but the only subject
+of conversation in Red Cloud was the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote
+and his "man," especially the "man."</p>
+
+<p>At the appointed hour the candidate spoke from a stage in the public
+square, and it would not be fair to say that his address fell flat; but
+for the first time in the long campaign Harley noticed a certain
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>coldness on the part of the audience, a sense of aloofness, as if Jimmy
+Grayson were not one of them, but a stranger in the town whom they must
+treat decently, although they might not approve of him or his ways. And
+Harley did not have to seek the cause, for there at a corner of the
+stage sat a dominating presence, the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote,
+his neck encircled by a very high collar, his trousers turned up at the
+bottom, and his white spats gleaming through the darkness. More eyes
+were upon him than upon the candidate, but Mr. Heathcote was not
+daunted. His own gaze, as it swept the audience, was at times
+disapproving and at other times condescending.</p>
+
+<p>About the middle of the speech the night, as usual, grew chilly, and Mr.
+Heathcote's "man," stepping upon the stage, assisted him on with a light
+overcoat. A gasp went up from the crowd, and the candidate, stopping,
+looked back and saw the cause. Again that shadow came over his face, but
+in a moment he recovered himself and went on as if there had been no
+interruption. When the speech was finished Mr. Heathcote stood a moment
+by the table at which Harley was still writing, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"I think you and your associates should leave out of your report that
+part about our foreign relations. However well received in the West, I
+doubt whether it would have a very good effect in the East."</p>
+
+<p>"But he said it," exclaimed Harley, looking up in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite true, but there should be a certain reserve on the part of the
+press. These expressions have about them a trace of rawness, perhaps
+inseparable from a man like our nominee, who is the product of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> Western
+conditions. I trust that I shall be able to correct this unfortunate
+tendency."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was burning with anger, but the long practice of self-control
+enabled him to hide it. He did not reply, but resumed his work. Mr.
+Heathcote spoke to him again, but Harley, his head bent over his pad,
+went on with his writing. Nor did any of the other correspondents speak.
+The committeeman, astonished and indignant, left the stage, and,
+followed by his "man," returned to the hotel between two silent files of
+spectators.</p>
+
+<p>"Experience number one," was the only comment of the correspondents, and
+it came from Barton.</p>
+
+<p>When Harley went into the hotel he saw Jimmy Grayson leaning against the
+clerk's desk as if he were waiting for something. He glanced at Harley,
+and there was a tinge of reproach in his look. Harley's resolution
+faltered, but it was only for a moment, and then, taking his key from
+the clerk, he went in silence to his room. He understood the position of
+Jimmy Grayson, he knew how much the party was indebted to Mr. Heathcote
+for payment of the campaign's necessary expenses, but he was determined
+to carry out his plan, which he believed would succeed.</p>
+
+<p>But there was one man in Jimmy Grayson's group to whom the appearance of
+Mr. Heathcote was welcome, and this was Churchill, who was sure that he
+recognized in him a kindred spirit. He sent a long despatch to the
+<i>Monitor</i>, telling of the very beneficial effect the committeeman's
+presence already exercised upon the campaign, particularly the new tone
+of dignity that he had given to it. He also cultivated Mr. Heathcote,
+and was willing to furnish him deferential advice.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>As the special train was to leave early the next morning for the
+northern part of the state, they ate breakfast in a dim dawn, with only
+the rim of the sun showing over the eastern mountains. Mr. Heathcote
+came in late and found every chair occupied. No one moved or took any
+notice. Jimmy Grayson looked embarrassed, and said in a propitiatory
+tone to the proprietor, who stood near the window:</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you fix a place for Mr. Heathcote?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess I kin bring in a little table from the kitchen," replied
+Bill Jeffreys, negligently, "but he'll have to hustle; that train goes
+in less than ten minutes."</p>
+
+<p>The table was brought in, and Mr. Heathcote ate more quickly than ever
+before in his life, although he found time for caustic criticism of the
+hotel accommodations in Red Cloud. Just as he put down his half-emptied
+coffee-cup the train blew a warning whistle.</p>
+
+<p>"That engineer is at least three minutes ahead of time," said Barton.</p>
+
+<p>"He's a lively fellow," said Hobart. "I was up early, and he told me he
+wasn't going to wait a single minute, even if he did have a Presidential
+nominee aboard."</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of Barton and Hobart met, and Barton understood.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better run for it," said Barton, and they hurried to the train,
+Mr. Heathcote borne on in the press. As they settled into their seats
+Barton pointed out of the window, and cried: "Look! Look! The 'man' is
+about to get left!"</p>
+
+<p>John, a valise in one hand and a hat-box in the other, was rushing for
+the train, which had already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> begun to move. But the conductor reached
+down the steps, grasped him by the collar, and dragged him, baggage and
+all, aboard. John appeared humbly before his master, who was silent,
+however, merely waving him to a seat. Mr. Heathcote was apparently
+indignant about something. By-and-by he stated that his valet had been
+forced to leave Red Cloud without anything to eat. Nobody had looked
+after the man, and he could not understand such neglect. He would like
+to have a porter bring him something. Old Senator Curtis, who was with
+them, spoke up from a full heart:</p>
+
+<p>"He'll have to go hungry. There's no dining-car on this train, and he
+can't get a bite, even for a bagful of money, till we get to Willow
+Grange at two o'clock this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>The senator was not excessively polite, and Mr. Heathcote opened his
+mouth as if to speak, but, changing his mind, closed it. He glanced at
+Jimmy Grayson, who looked troubled, although he, also, maintained
+silence. Neither would any one else speak; but every one was taking
+notice. Harley in his heart felt sorry for the poor valet, who seemed to
+be an inoffensive fellow, suited to his humble trade; but a political
+campaign in the Rocky Mountain West was no place for him; he must take
+what circumstances dealt out to him.</p>
+
+<p>The committeeman presently recovered his sense of his own worth and
+dignity, and spoke in a large manner of the plans that he would take to
+raise the tone of the campaign. The candidate still looked troubled and
+made no comment. The local public men, the correspondents, and all on
+the little train were silent, staring out of the windows, apparently
+engrossed in the scenery, which was now becoming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> grand and beautiful.
+Ridge rose above ridge, and afar the peaks, clad in eternal snow, looked
+down like heaven's silent sentinels.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Heathcote was very courteous to Mrs. Grayson, but at first he
+scarcely noticed Sylvia, although a little later he expressed admiration
+for her beauty, not doubting, however, that he would find her the
+possessor of an uncultivated mind.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the noon hour a tragic discovery was made. After the candidate's
+last speech in the evening the train would leave immediately for Utah,
+and all continuing on the way must sleep aboard. Room had been found in
+some manner for Mr. Heathcote, but every other berth, upper and lower,
+had been assigned long ago, and there was nothing left for his man. But
+Mr. Heathcote, resolved not to be trampled upon, went in a state of high
+indignation to the conductor.</p>
+
+<p>"I must have a place for my man. I cannot travel without an attendant."</p>
+
+<p>"Jimmy Grayson does," replied the conductor, a rude Democrat of the
+West; "and your fellow can't have any, because there ain't any to be
+had; besides, it's 'cordin' to train rules that dogs an' all such-like
+should travel in the baggage-car."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Heathcote refused to speak again to such a man, and complained to
+the candidate. But Jimmy Grayson could do nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"This train on which we now are is paid for jointly by the committeemen
+of Colorado, Utah, and Idaho," he said, "and I have nothing to do with
+the arrangements. I should not like to attempt interference."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Heathcote looked at old Senator Curtis, who seemed to be in charge,
+but, apprehending a blow to his dignity, he refrained from pressing the
+point,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> and the lackey slept that night as well as he could on a seat in
+the smoking-car.</p>
+
+<p>The next few days, which were passed chiefly in Utah, were full of color
+and events. Life became very strenuous for the Honorable Herbert Henry
+Heathcote. He learned how to take his meals on the wing, as it were, to
+run for trains, to snatch two hours' sleep anywhere between midnight and
+morning, and to be jostled by rude crowds that failed to recognize his
+superiority. The full-backed light overcoat, during its brief existence
+the focus of so much attention, was lost in a dinner rush and never
+reappeared. But, above all, Mr. Heathcote had upon his hands the care of
+the helpless, miserable lackey, and never did a sick baby require more
+attention. John was lost amid his strange and terrible surroundings. At
+mountain towns crowds of boys, and sometimes men, would surround him and
+jeer at his peculiar appearance, and his master would be compelled to
+come forcibly to his rescue. He never learned how to run for the car,
+with his arms full of baggage, and once, boarding a wrong train, he was
+run off on a branch line a full fifty miles. He was rescued only after
+infinite telegraphing and two days' time, when he reappeared,
+crestfallen and terrified.</p>
+
+<p>And there was trouble&mdash;plenty of it&mdash;aboard the train. There was never a
+berth for the lackey, who was relegated permanently to the smoking-car.
+Mr. Heathcote himself sometimes had to fight, bribe, and intrigue for
+one&mdash;and often he failed to get breakfast or dinner through false
+information or the carelessness of somebody. He made full acquaintance
+with the pangs of hunger, and many a time, when every nerve in him
+called for sleep, there was no place to lay his weary head.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>Now the iron entered the soul of the Honorable Herbert, and he became a
+soured and disappointed man, but he stuck gravely to his chosen task.
+Harley, despite his dislike, could not keep from admiring his tenacity.
+Nobody, except the candidate, paid the slightest attention to him; even
+Sylvia and Mrs. Grayson ignored him; if he made suggestions, nobody said
+anything to the contrary, but they were never adopted, and Mr. Heathcote
+noticed, too, that the others seemed to be enduring the life easily,
+while it was altogether too full for him. If there was any angle, he
+seemed somehow to knock against it; and if there was any pitfall, it was
+he who fell into it. But he gave no sign of returning to the East, and
+his misfortunes continued. From time to time they got copies of the
+Western papers containing full reports of Jimmy Grayson's canvass, and
+none of them, except the <i>Monitor</i>, ever spoke flatteringly of the
+Honorable Herbert or his efforts to put the campaign on a higher plane.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill spoke once to the group of correspondents and politicians
+about the lack of deference paid to the committeeman, but he was invited
+so feelingly to attend to his own business that he never again risked
+it. However, he said in his despatches to the <i>Monitor</i> that even Mr.
+Heathcote's efforts could not keep the campaign on a dignified level.</p>
+
+<p>At last, on one dreadful day, they lost the lackey again, and this time
+there was no hope of recovery. He had been seen, his hands full of
+baggage, running for the wrong train, and when they heard from him he
+was far down in Colorado, stranded, and there was no possible chance for
+him to overtake the "special." Accordingly, his master, acting under
+expert advice, telegraphed him money and a ticket<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> and ordered him back
+to New York. When the news was taken to the candidate Harley saw an
+obvious look of relief on his face. That valet had been a terrible
+weight upon the campaign, and none knew it better than Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Heathcote now became morose and silent. Much of his lofty and
+patronizing air disappeared, although the desire to instruct would crop
+out at times. Usually he was watchful and suspicious, but the struggle
+for bread and a place to sleep necessarily consumed a large portion of
+his energies. As time dragged on his manner became that of one hunted,
+but doggedly enduring, nevertheless. The candidate always spoke to him
+courteously, whenever he had a chance, but then there was little time
+for conversation, as the campaign was now hot and fast. Mr. Heathcote
+was, in fact, a man alone in the world, and outlawed too. The weight
+upon him grew heavier and heavier as his path became thornier and
+thornier; the angles, the corners, and the pitfalls seemed to multiply,
+and always he was the victim. Jimmy Grayson looked now and then as if he
+would like to interfere, but there was no way for him to interfere, nor
+any one with whom he could interfere.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Heathcote still clung bravely to some portions of his glorious
+wardrobe. The white spats he yet sported, in the face of a belligerent
+Western democracy, and he paid the full price. Harley acknowledged this
+merit in him, and once or twice, when the committeeman, amid the
+comments of the ribald crowd, turned a pathetic look upon him, he was
+moved to pity and a desire to help; but the last feeling he resolutely
+crushed, and held on his way.</p>
+
+<p>The campaign swung farther westward and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>northward, and into a primitive
+wilderness, where the audiences were composed solely of miners and
+cowboys. Old Senator Curtis and several other of the Colorado men were
+still with them, and one night they spoke at a mining hamlet on the
+slope of a mountain that shot ten thousand feet above them. The
+candidate was in great form, and made one of his best speeches, amid
+roars of applause. The audience was so well pleased that it would not
+disperse when he finished, and wished vociferously to know if there were
+not another spellbinder on the stage. Then the spirit of mischief
+entered the soul of Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>The Honorable Herbert sat at the corner of the stage, the white spats
+still gleaming defiance, his whole appearance, despite recent
+modifications, showing that he was a strange bird in a strange land.
+Hobart constituted himself chairman for the moment, and, pointing to Mr.
+Heathcote, said:</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, one of the ablest and most famous of our national
+committeemen is upon the stage, and he will be glad to address you."</p>
+
+<p>The audience cheered, half in expectation and half in derision, but the
+Honorable Herbert, who had never made a speech in his life, rose to the
+cry. His figure straightened up, there was a new light in his eye, and
+Harley, startled, did not know Mr. Heathcote. As he advanced to the edge
+of the stage the shouts of derision overcame those of expectation.
+Harley heard the words "Dude!" "Tenderfoot!" mingled with the cries, but
+the Honorable Herbert gave no sign that he heard. He reached the edge of
+the stage, waved his hand, and then there was silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Friends," he said&mdash;"I call you such, though you have not received me in
+a friendly manner&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>The crowd breathed hard, and some one uttered a threat, but another man
+commanded silence. "Give him a chance!" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You have not received me in a friendly manner," resumed the Honorable
+Herbert, "but I am your friend, and I am resolved that you shall be
+mine. I cannot make a speech to you, but I will tell you a story which
+perhaps will serve as well."</p>
+
+<p>"Go on with the story," said the men, doubtfully. On the stage there was
+a general waking-up. Correspondents and politicians alike recognized the
+Honorable Herbert's new manner, and they bent forward with interest.</p>
+
+<p>"My story," said Mr. Heathcote, "is of a man who had a fond and perhaps
+too generous father. This father had suffered great hardships, and he
+wished to save his son from them. What more natural? But perhaps, in his
+tenderness, he did the son a wrong. So this son grew up, not seeing the
+rough side of life, and finding all things easy. He lived in a part of
+the country that is old and rich, where what is called necessity you
+call luxury. He knew nothing of the world except that portion of it to
+which he was used. What more natural? Is not that human nature
+everywhere? He saw himself petted and admired, and in the course of time
+he felt himself a person of importance. Is not that natural, too?"</p>
+
+<p>He paused and looked over the audience, which was silent and attentive,
+held by the interest of something unusual and the deep, almost painful,
+earnestness of Mr. Heathcote's manner.</p>
+
+<p>"What's he coming to?" whispered Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know; wait and see," replied Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus the man grew up to know only a little world,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> the Honorable
+Herbert went on, "and he did not know how little it was. He was like a
+prisoner in a gorgeous room, who sees, without, snow and storm that
+cannot touch him, but who is a prisoner nevertheless. Those whom he met
+and with whom he lived his daily life were like him, and they thought
+they were the heart of this world. Everything about them was golden;
+they saw that people wished to hear of them, to read of them, to know
+all that they did, and their view of their importance grew every day.
+What more natural? Was not that human nature?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I see which way he is going," whispered Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>Harley nodded. The audience was still and intent, hanging on the words
+of the speaker.</p>
+
+<p>"This youth," continued Mr. Heathcote, "was sent by-and-by to Europe to
+have his education finished, and there all the ideas formed by his life
+in this country were confirmed in him. He saw a society, organized
+centuries ago, in which every man found a definite place for life
+assigned to him, in accordance with what fortune had done for him at
+birth. There he received deference and homage, even more than before,
+and the great, changing world, with its mighty tides and storms that
+flowed about his little group, leaving it untouched, was yet unknown to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"He came back to his own country, and the strong father who had
+sheltered him died. He was filled with an ambition to be a political
+power, as his father had been, and the dead hand brought him the place.
+Then he came into the West to join in a great political campaign, but it
+was his first real excursion into the real world, and his ignorance was
+heavy upon him."</p>
+
+<p>A deep "Ah!" ran through the crowd, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>Harley noticed a sudden look of
+respect upon the brown faces. They were beginning to see where the
+thread of the story would lead. Then Harley glanced at old Senator
+Curtis, whose lips moved tremulously for a moment. "King" Plummer was
+regarding the committeeman with astonished interest.</p>
+
+<p>"This man, I repeat," continued Mr. Heathcote, "came West with his
+ignorance, I might almost say with his sins heavy upon him, but it was
+not his fault; it was the fault, rather, of circumstances. He seemed a
+strange, a grotesque figure to these people of the West, but they should
+not have forgotten that they also seemed strange to him. It has been
+said that it takes many kinds of people to make a world, and they cannot
+all be alike. One point of view may differ from another point of view,
+and both may be right. If this man did anything wrong&mdash;and he admits
+that he did&mdash;he did it in ignorance. There were some with him who knew
+both points of view who might have helped him, but who did not; instead,
+they made life hard; they put countless difficulties in his way; they
+made him feel very wretched, very mean, and very little. He saw the
+other point of view at last, but he was not permitted to show that he
+saw it; he was put in such a position that his pride would not let him."</p>
+
+<p>The crowd suddenly burst into cheers. The keen Western men understood,
+and the mountain-slope gave back the echo, "Hurrah for Heathcote!" The
+Honorable Herbert's figure swelled and his eyes flashed. Grateful water
+was falling at last on the parched desert sands.</p>
+
+<p>"But, friends," he continued, "this man, though his lesson has been
+rough, comes to you with no resentment. He has broken the bars of his
+prison;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> he is in the real world at last, and he comes to you asking to
+be one of you, to give and take with the crowd. Will you have him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes!" a chorus of a thousand voices roared against the side of the
+mountain and came back in a thunderous echo.</p>
+
+<p>Old Senator Curtis sprang to his feet, seized Mr. Heathcote by the hand,
+and shouted:</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, I, too, need to apologize, and also I want to introduce to
+you a real man, Mr. Herbert Henry Heathcote."</p>
+
+<p>"Put me down for an apology, too," said "King" Plummer, in his big,
+booming tones.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson, on the outskirts of the crowd, returning to learn what
+the noise was about, saw and heard all, and murmured to a friend:</p>
+
+<p>"There is now a new member of our group, and all is well again."</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII</h2>
+
+<h3>CHURCHILL STRIKES</h3>
+
+<p>The conversion and adoption of Mr. Heathcote, as Hobart called it, was a
+pleasant incident in several senses, bringing much quiet gratification
+to them all, and particularly and obviously to the candidate. A hostile
+element, one intended by others to be hostile and interfering, had
+become friendly, which, of itself, was a great gain. Moreover, the
+smoothness of social intercourse was increased, and there, too, was a
+new type, adding to the variety and interest of the group.</p>
+
+<p>The only one not pleased was Churchill, who had expected much from Mr.
+Heathcote, and who now, as he considered it, saw the committeeman turn
+traitor. It was not a matter that he could handle fully in his
+despatches to the <i>Monitor</i>, being too intangible to allow of bald
+assertion, and he was reduced to indirect statement. This not satisfying
+him at all, he wrote a long letter to Mr. Goodnight, both for the sake
+of the cause and for the sake of his own feelings, which had been much
+lacerated. Its production cost him a great deal of thought and labor;
+but he had his reward, as its perusal after completion proved to him
+that it was a masterpiece.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill showed quite clearly to Mr. Goodnight the steady decay of the
+candidate's character and the lower levels to which his campaign was
+falling.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> In the security of a private letter it was not necessary for
+him to spare words, and Churchill spoke his mind forcibly about the
+manner in which Jimmy Grayson was pandering to the "common people," the
+"ignorant mob," the "million-footed." Churchill himself, although not
+old, had taken long ago the measure of these foolish common people, and
+he despised them, his contempt giving him a very pleasant conviction of
+his own superiority.</p>
+
+<p>He also poured a few vials of wrath upon the head of Mr. Heathcote, whom
+he characterized as a coward, not able to stand up against petty
+persecution, and from the committeeman he passed on to others of Mr.
+Grayson's immediate following, taking "King" Plummer next. Mr. Plummer,
+in his opinion, was an excellent type of democracy run to riot. He was
+one of the "boys" in every sense. He was wofully wanting in personal
+dignity, speaking to everybody in the most familiar manner, and
+encouraging the same form of address towards himself; he failed utterly
+to recognize the superiority of some other men, and he was grossly
+ignorant, knowing nothing whatever of Europe and the vast work that had
+been done there for civilization and order. Moreover, he could not be
+induced, even by the well-informed, to take any interest in the Old
+World, and once had had the rudeness to say to Churchill himself, "What
+in the devil is Europe to us?"</p>
+
+<p>Churchill thus subjected the views of "King" Plummer to the process of
+elaboration because they had made a vivid impression upon him. He and
+the "King" had never been able to get on together, the mountaineer
+treating him with rough indifference, and Churchill returning it with a
+hauteur which he considered very effective. To Churchill men of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> "King"
+Plummer's type seemed the greatest danger the country could have. Their
+lack of respect for diplomacy, their want of form and ceremony, their
+brutal habit of calling things by their names, were in his opinion
+revolutionary. He did not see how dealings with foreign nations, which
+always loomed very large to him, could be conducted by such men. Always
+in his mind was the question, What would they say in London and Vienna
+and Berlin? and the <i>Monitor</i>, which he served faithfully, confirmed him
+through its tone in this mental state. Still drawing his inspiration
+from the <i>Monitor</i>, he regarded a sneer as invariably the best weapon;
+if you were opposed to anything, the proper way to attack it was by
+sneering at it; then, not having used argument, you never put yourself
+in a position to have your arguments refuted.</p>
+
+<p>From "King" Plummer, Churchill passed to some of his associates&mdash;like
+the <i>Monitor</i>, he never hesitated to befoul his own nest&mdash;and he told
+Mr. Goodnight how the candidate was using them, how they had wholly
+fallen under the spell of his undeniable charm of manner, and how they
+wrote to please him rather than to tell the truth.</p>
+
+<p>As he sealed his long letter, Churchill felt the conscious glow of
+right-doing and stern self-sacrifice. He had written thus for the good
+of the party and the good of the country, and he was strengthened, too,
+by the feeling that he could not possibly be wrong. The <i>Monitor</i>
+cultivated the sense of omniscience, which it communicated in turn to
+all the members of its staff.</p>
+
+<p>He passed Sylvia Morgan on his way from the hotel reading-room to the
+lobby to mail his letter, and when he met her he quickly turned down
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> address on the envelope, in order that she might not see it. It was
+done by impulse, and Churchill, for the first time, had a feeling of
+guilt that made him angry.</p>
+
+<p>"That must be a love letter, Mr. Churchill," said Sylvia, teasing him
+with the easy freedom of the West. "Do you write her twenty-four pages,
+or only twenty?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no love except my work, Miss Morgan," replied Churchill,
+assuming his most grandiose air.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that a permanent affection, or a passing fancy?"</p>
+
+<p>Her face expressed the most eager interest, as if she could not possibly
+be happy until she had Churchill's answer. The words were frivolous, but
+her manner was most deferential, and Churchill concluded that she was
+expressing respect in as far as what he considered her shallow nature
+could do so.</p>
+
+<p>"It is, I hope, a permanent passion, Miss Morgan," he replied, gravely.
+"There is a pleasure in doing one's duty, particularly under
+disagreeable circumstances, which I am happy to say I have felt more
+than once, and custom usually strengthens one who walks in the right
+path."</p>
+
+<p>Still in this mood of contemplation, he regarded her, and he thought he
+saw a slight look of awe appear in her eyes. His opinion of her rose at
+once. While not able to show merit of the highest degree, she could
+perceive it in others, and this differentiated her from the rest of the
+group. Churchill allowed himself to see that she had a fine face and a
+slender, beautiful figure, and he felt it a pity that she should be
+thrown away on a crude, rough old mountaineer like Plummer.</p>
+
+<p>"I often think, Miss Morgan," he said, "that if you had lived in the
+East awhile you could have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> quite a match for any woman whom I have
+ever known."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," she replied, humbly. "Oh, if I could only have lived in the
+East just a little while!"</p>
+
+<p>"But I assure you, Miss Morgan, I have met some very remarkable women."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not doubt it, and they have had an equal good-fortune."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill looked suspiciously at her, but there was the same touch of
+deference in her manner, and he still honored her with his conversation.
+He permitted himself to discourse a little upon the affairs which he had
+embodied&mdash;"embodied" he felt was the word&mdash;in his letter, and she, with
+all a woman's intuition, and much of masculine reasoning power, guessed
+what the letter contained, although she did not know to whom it was
+going. Nor did she feel it wrong to be very attentive, as Churchill
+talked, because he was doing it of his own free will, and she had the
+fate of her uncle deeply at heart.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill spoke of the campaign, venturing upon polite criticisms of
+certain features that seemed objectionable to him, and, listening to
+him, she confirmed her opinion that he was the personal representative
+with Mr. Grayson of the chief elements within the party that could cause
+trouble. And she felt sure, too, that the letter he held in his hand
+would add fuel to the fire already burning. She happened also to be
+present several days later when a messenger-boy handed him a telegram,
+and, when he opened it, he made an involuntary motion to hide it, just
+as he had done with the letter. She pretended not to see, and walked
+away, but she knew as well as if he had told her that the telegram was
+the reply to the letter.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>Mr. Goodnight himself sent the despatch, and he thanked Churchill warmly
+for the very important information told so luminously in his letter. The
+solid and respectable portion of the party had hoped much from the
+presence of Mr. Heathcote, but as he had yielded to the influence of
+another, instead of exerting his own, it would be necessary to take
+additional action later. Meanwhile he requested Mr. Churchill to keep
+him accurately and promptly informed of everything, and Churchill at
+once telegraphed: "Despatch received. Will be glad to comply with your
+request."</p>
+
+<p>Then he congratulated himself, and felt good, his complacent demeanor
+forming a contrast to that of several others in the party. The latter
+were "King" Plummer, Sylvia Morgan, and John Harley, all of whom were
+unhappy.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was troubled by his conscience, and he could not do anything to
+keep it from sticking those little pins into him. Sylvia Morgan, despite
+herself, drew him on, not the less because his first feeling towards her
+had been one of hostility. She had a piquant touch, a manner full of
+unconscious allurement&mdash;the radiation of a pure soul, though it
+was&mdash;that he had never seen in any other woman, and the harder he fought
+against it, the more surely it conquered him. He took from his valise a
+copy of that old Chicago newspaper, with her picture on the front page,
+and wondered how he could have intimated that she was the cause of its
+being there. As he knew her better, he knew that she could not have done
+it, and he knew, too, that she would have scornfully resented any
+insinuation of having done so by refusing to deny it.</p>
+
+<p>The "King" was unhappy, too, in his way, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> that was very bad indeed
+for him. He had tried an effusive gallantry, and it did not seem to
+succeed any better than obedience to his own impulses&mdash;on the whole,
+rather worse; and now, not knowing what else to do, he sulked. It was
+not any sly sulking, but genuine, open sulking in his large, Western
+way, thus leaving it apparent to all that the great "King" Plummer was
+sad. And that meant much to the party, because in a sense it was now
+personally conducted by him. In his joyous mood, which was his usual
+mood until the present, he had a large and pervasive personality that
+was a wonderful help to travel and social intercourse. They missed his
+timely, if now and then a trifle rough, jests, his vast knowledge of the
+mountains, which had some good story of every town to which they came,
+and his infinite zest and humor, which also communicated more zest and
+humor to every one with him. It was a grievous day for them all when
+"King" Plummer began to mourn. More than one guessed the cause, but
+wisely they refrained from any attempt to remove it. They could do
+nothing but endure the gloom in silence, until the clouds passed, as
+they hoped they would pass.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate, too, was troubled, and sought the privacy of the special
+car's drawing-room more than usual. Sylvia Morgan had given him a hint
+that attacks upon him from a certain source were likely to be renewed,
+and, moreover, would increase in virulence. He soon found that she was
+right, as the copies of the <i>Monitor</i> that they now obtained were
+frankly cynical and unbelieving. All of its despatches from the West,
+Churchill's as well as others, were depreciatory. The candidate was
+invariably made to appear in a bad light&mdash;which is an easy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>matter to
+do, in any case, without sacrifice of the truth&mdash;that is, verbally, only
+the spirit being changed&mdash;and the editor reinforced them with strong
+criticisms, in which quotations from English writers and a French phrase
+now and then were freely employed. The whole burden of it was, "We
+support this candidate; but, oh, how hard it is for us to do it, how
+badly we feel about it, and how much easier it would be for us to
+support any other man!" It also printed many contributions from readers,
+in all of which the contributors spoke of themselves as belonging by
+nature and cultivation to the select few, "the saving remnant," who
+really knew what was good for the country. Here much latitude of
+expression was allowed, as the paper was not directly responsible for
+what these gentlemen said. They wrote of the way in which the dignity of
+a great party had been destroyed by the uncouth and talkative Westerner
+who had been lucky enough to secure the nomination. They felt that they
+had been shamed in the face of the world, and more than once asked the
+burning and painful question, "What will Europe say?" They asked, also,
+if it were yet too late to amend the error, and they threw forth the
+suggestion that the intelligent and cultured minority within the party
+might refrain from voting, when election day came, or, in a pinch, might
+vote for the other man.</p>
+
+<p>These communications were signed, sometimes, with Latin names, and
+sometimes with names in modern English, but always they indicated a
+certain sense of superiority and of detachment from the crowd on the
+part of the signers.</p>
+
+<p>The annoyance of the candidate increased as he read copies of the
+<i>Monitor</i>, which were sent to him in numbers. He knew that the paper was
+the chief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> spokesman of an influential minority within the party, and
+the divergence between the majority and the minority was already
+manifest. It was evident, too, that it was bound to become greater, and
+that was why the candidate was troubled. He wished to become President;
+it was his great desire, and he did not seek to conceal it; he
+considered it a legitimate, a noble ambition, one that any American had
+a right to have, and he was in the first flush of his great powers, when
+such a position would appeal most to a strong man. Now, even when the
+fight, with a united party, was desperate at best, he foresaw a
+defection, and hot wrath rose up in his veins against Goodnight, the
+<i>Monitor</i>, and all their following.</p>
+
+<p>But the worst of the whole position to a man of Grayson's open and
+direct temperament was the necessity to keep silent, even to dissemble,
+or, at least, to do that which seemed to him very near to dissembling.
+Although he was under so fierce a fire, he would not allow any one to
+find fault with Churchill for his despatches; and this was not always
+easy to do, because many of the local politicians, who were on the train
+from time to time, would grow hot at sight of the criticisms, and want
+to attack the writer. But Jimmy Grayson always interfered, and reminded
+them that it was the right of the press to speak so if it wished.
+Churchill still wondered, why he was not a martyr, and wasted his
+regrets. Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia maintained an eloquent silence.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, an event destined to give Churchill and the <i>Monitor</i> a yet
+greater shock was approaching.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE THIRD DEGREE</h3>
+
+<p>The candidate and his company were due one night at Grayville, a brisk
+Colorado town, dwelling snugly in the shadow of high mountains and
+hopeful of a brilliant future, based upon the mines within its limits
+and the great pastoral country beyond, as any of its inhabitants, asked
+or unasked, would readily have told you. Hence there was joy in the
+train, from Jimmy Grayson down, because the next day was to be Sunday, a
+period of rest, no speeches to be made, nothing to write, but just rest,
+sleeping, eating, idling, bathing, talking&mdash;whatever one chose to do.
+Only those who have been on arduous campaigns can appreciate the luxury
+of such a day now and then, cutting like a sweep of green grass across
+the long and dusty road.</p>
+
+<p>There was also quite a little group of women on the train, the wives of
+several Colorado political leaders having joined Sylvia and Mrs. Grayson
+for a while, and they, too, looked forward to a day of rest and the
+restoration of their toilets.</p>
+
+<p>"They tell me that Grayville has one of the best hotels in the
+mountains," said Barton to Harley, his brother correspondent. "That you
+can get a dinner in a dozen courses, if you want it, and every course
+good; that it has real porcelain-lined bath-tubs, and beds sure to cure
+the worst case of insomnia on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> earth. Do you think this improbable, this
+extravagant but most fascinating tale can be true, Harley?"</p>
+
+<p>"I live in hope," replied Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Jimmy Grayson has been here before," interrupted Hobart, "and he says
+it's true, every word of it; if Jimmy Grayson vouches for a thing, that
+settles it; and here is a copy of the Grayville <i>Argus</i>; it has to be a
+pretty good town that can publish as smart a daily as this."</p>
+
+<p>He handed a neat sheet to Barton, who laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"There speaks the great detective," he said. "You know, Harley, how
+Hobart is always arguing from the effect back to the cause."</p>
+
+<p>Hobart, in fact, was not a political writer, but a "murder mystery" man,
+and the best of his kind in New York, but the regular staff
+correspondent of his paper, the <i>Leader</i>, being ill, he had been sent in
+his place. He was a Harvard graduate and a gentleman with a taste for
+poetry, but he had a peculiar mind, upon which a murder mystery acted as
+an irritant&mdash;he could not rest until he had solved it&mdash;and his paper
+always put him on the great cases, such as those in which a vast
+metropolis like New York abounds. Now he was restless and discontented;
+the tour seemed to him the mere reporting of speeches and obvious
+incidents that everybody saw; there was nothing to unravel, nothing that
+called for the keen edge of a fine intellect.</p>
+
+<p>"Grayville, with all its advantages as a place of rest, is sure to be
+like the other mountain towns," he said, somewhat sourly&mdash;"the same
+houses, the same streets, the same people, I might almost say the same
+mountains. There will be nothing unusual, nothing out of the way."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>Harley had taken the paper from Barton's hands and was reading it.</p>
+
+<p>"At any rate, if Grayville is not unusual, it is to have an unusual
+time," he interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>"How so?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is to hear Jimmy Grayson speak Monday, and it is going to hang a man
+Tuesday. See, the two events get equal advance space, two columns each,
+on the front page."</p>
+
+<p>He handed the paper to Hobart, who looked at it a little while and then
+dropped it with an air of increasing discontent.</p>
+
+<p>"That may mean something to the natives," he said; "it may be an
+indication to them that their place is becoming important&mdash;a metropolis
+in which things happen&mdash;but it is nothing to me. This hanging case is
+stale and commonplace; it is perfectly clear; a young fellow named Boyd
+is to be hanged for killing his partner, another miner; no doubt about
+his guilt, plenty of witnesses against him, his own denial weak and
+halting&mdash;in fact, half a confession; jury out only five minutes; whole
+thing as bald and flat as this plain through which we are running."</p>
+
+<p>He tapped with his finger on the dusty car-window, and his expression
+was so gloomy that the others could not restrain a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Cheer up, old man," said Barton. "Four more hours and we are in
+Grayville; just think of that wonderful hotel, with its more wonderful
+beds and its yet more wonderful kitchen."</p>
+
+<p>The hotel was all that they either expected or hoped, and the dawn
+brought a beautiful Sunday, disclosing a pretty little frontier city
+with its green, irrigated valley on one side and the brown mountains,
+like a protecting wall, on the other. Harley slept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> late, and after
+breakfast came out upon the veranda to enjoy the luxury of a
+rocking-chair, with the soft October air around him and the majesty of
+the mountains before him. He hoped to find Sylvia there, but neither she
+nor any of the ladies was present. Instead, there was a persistent,
+inquiring spirit abroad which would not let him rest, and this spirit
+belonged to Hobart, the "mystery" man.</p>
+
+<p>Harley had not been enjoying the swinging ease of the rocking-chair five
+minutes before Hobart, the light of interest in his eyes, pounced upon
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley, old fellow," he exclaimed, "this is the first place we've
+struck in which Jimmy Grayson is not the overwhelming attraction."</p>
+
+<p>"The hanging, I suppose," said Harley, carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. What else could there be? It occurred to me last night, when
+I was reading the paper, that I might scare up a feature or two in the
+case, and I was out of my bed early this morning to try. It was a
+forlorn hope, I'll admit, but anything was better than nothing, and I've
+had my reward. I've had my reward, old fellow!"</p>
+
+<p>He chuckled outright in his glee. Harley smiled. Hobart always
+interested and amused him. The instinctive way in which he unfailingly
+rose to a "case" showed his natural genius for that sort of thing.</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't seen Boyd yet," continued Hobart, excitedly, "but I've found
+out this much already&mdash;there are people in Grayville who believe Boyd
+innocent. It is true that he and Wofford&mdash;the murdered man&mdash;had been
+quarrelling in Grayville, and Boyd was taken at the shanty with the
+blood-stained knife in his hand; but that doesn't settle it."</p>
+
+<p>Harley could not restrain an incredulous laugh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> "It seems to me those
+two circumstances, omitting the other proof, are pretty convincing," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>Hobart flushed. "You just wait until I finish," he said, somewhat
+defiantly. "Now Boyd, as I have learned, was a good-hearted, generous
+young fellow. The quarrel amounted to very little, and probably had been
+patched up before they reached their shack."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a view which the jury evidently could not take."</p>
+
+<p>"Juries are often wooden-headed."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course&mdash;in the eyes of superior people."</p>
+
+<p>"Now don't you try to be satirical&mdash;it's not your specialty. I mean to
+finish the tale. If you read the paper, you will recall that the shanty
+where the murder occurred was only a short distance from the
+mountain-road, and there were three witnesses&mdash;Bill Metzger, a dissolute
+cowboy who was passing, and who, attracted by Wofford's death-cry, ran
+to the cabin and found Boyd, blood-stained knife in hand, bending over
+the murdered man; Ed Thorpe, a tramp miner, who heard the same cry and
+who came up two or three minutes later; and, finally, Tim Williams, a
+town idler, who was on the mountain-side, hunting. The other two heard
+him fire his gun a few hundred yards away, and called to him. When he
+arrived, Boyd was still dazed and muttering to himself, as if
+overpowered by the horror of his crime."</p>
+
+<p>"If that isn't conclusive, then nothing is," said Harley, decisively.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not conclusive; there was no real motive for Boyd to do such a
+thing."</p>
+
+<p>"To whom did the knife belong?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was a long bread-knife that the two used at the cabin."</p>
+
+<p>"There you are! Proof on proof!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>"Now, you keep silent, Harley, and come with me, like a good fellow, and
+see Boyd in the jail. If you don't, I swear I'll pester the life out of
+you for a week."</p>
+
+<p>Harley rose reluctantly, as he knew that Hobart would keep his word. He
+believed it the idlest of errands, but the jail was only a short
+distance from them, and the business would not take long. On the way
+Hobart talked to him about the three witnesses. Metzger, the cowboy, on
+the day of the murder, had been riding in from a ranch farther down the
+valley; the other two had been about the town until a short time before
+the departure of Boyd and Wofford for their cabin.</p>
+
+<p>They reached the jail, a conspicuous stone building in the centre of the
+town, and were shown into the condemned man's cell. The jailer announced
+them with the statement:</p>
+
+<p>"Tim, here's two newspaper fellers from the East wants to see you."</p>
+
+<p>The prisoner was lying on a pallet in the corner of his cell, and he
+raised himself on his elbow when Harley and Hobart entered.</p>
+
+<p>"You are writers for the papers?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, clean from New York; they are with Jimmy Grayson," the jailer
+answered for them.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know as I've got anythin' to say to you," continued the
+prisoner. "I 'ain't got no picture to give you, an' if I had one I
+wouldn't give it. I don't want my hangin' to be all wrote up in the
+papers, with pictures an' things, too, jest to please the people in the
+East. If I've got to die, I'd rather do it quiet and peaceful, among the
+boys I know. I ain't no free circus."</p>
+
+<p>"We did not come to write you up; it was for another purpose," Harley
+hastened to say.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>He was surprised at the youth of the prisoner, who obviously was not
+over twenty-one, a mere boy, with good features and a look half defiant,
+half appealing.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what did you come for, then?" asked the boy.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was unable to answer this question, and he looked at Hobart as if
+to indicate the one who would reply. The "mystery" man did not seek to
+evade his responsibility in the least, and promptly said:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Boyd, I think you will acquit us of any intention to intrude upon
+you. It was the best of motives that brought us to you. I have always
+had an interest in cases of this sort, and when I heard of yours in the
+train, coming here, I received an impression then which has been
+strengthened on my arrival in Grayville. I believe you are innocent."</p>
+
+<p>The boy looked up. A sudden flash of gratitude, almost of hope, appeared
+in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I am!" he cried. "God knows I didn't kill Bill Wofford. He wuz my
+partner and we wuz like brothers. We did quarrel that mornin'&mdash;I don't
+deny it&mdash;and we both had been liquorin'; but I'd never hev struck him a
+blow of any kind, least of all a foul one."</p>
+
+<p>"Was it not true that you were found with the bloody knife in your hand,
+standing over his yet warm body?" asked Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"It's so, but it was somebody else that used the knife. Bill went on
+ahead, and when I come into the place I saw him on the floor an' the
+knife in 'im. I was struck all a-heap, but I did what anybody else would
+'a' done&mdash;I pulled the knife out. And then the fellers come in on me. I
+was rushed into a trial right away. Of course, I couldn't tell a
+straight tale;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> the horror of it was still in my brain, and the effect
+o' the liquor, too. I got all mixed up&mdash;but before God, gen'lemen, I
+didn't do it."</p>
+
+<p>His tone was strong with sincerity, and his expression was rather that
+of grief than remorse. Harley, who had had a long experience with all
+kinds of men in all kinds of situations, did not believe that he was
+either bad or guilty. Hobart spoke his thoughts aloud.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think you did it," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody believes I did," said Boyd, with pathetic resignation, "and I
+am to be hanged for it. So what does it matter now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to look for the guilty man," said Hobart, decidedly.</p>
+
+<p>Boyd shook his head and lay back on his pallet. The others, with a few
+words of hope, withdrew, and, when they were outside, Harley said:</p>
+
+<p>"Hobart, were you not wrong to sow the seed of hope in that man's mind
+when there is no hope?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is hope," replied Hobart; "I have a plan. Don't ask me anything
+about it&mdash;it's vague yet&mdash;but I may work it."</p>
+
+<p>Harley glanced at him, and, seeing that he was intense and eager, with
+his mind concentrated upon this single problem, resolved to leave him to
+his own course; so he spent part of the day, a wonderful autumn Sunday,
+in a rocking-chair on the piazza of the hotel, and another part walking
+with Sylvia. He told her of the murder case and Hobart's action, and her
+prompt sympathy was aroused.</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose he should really be innocent?" she said. "It would be an awful
+thing to hang an innocent man."</p>
+
+<p>"So it would. He certainly does not look like a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> bad fellow, but you
+know that those who are not bad are sometimes guilty. In any event I
+fail to see what Hobart can do."</p>
+
+<p>After the walk, which was all too brief, he returned to his
+rocking-chair on the piazza, but Grayville, being a small place, he knew
+everything that was going on within it, by means of a sort of mental
+telepathy that the born correspondent acquires. He knew, for instance,
+that Hobart was all the time with one or the other of the three
+witnesses&mdash;Metzger, Thorpe, or Williams&mdash;for the moment the most
+important persons in Grayville by reason of their conspicuous connection
+with the great case.</p>
+
+<p>When Hobart returned, the edge of the sun was behind the highest
+mountains; but he took no notice of Harley, walking past him without a
+word and burying himself somewhere in the interior of the hotel. Harley
+learned subsequently that he went directly to Jimmy Grayson's room, and
+remained there at least half an hour, in close conference with the
+candidate himself.</p>
+
+<p>The next day was a break in the great campaign. Owing to train
+connections, which are not trifles in the Far West, it was necessary, in
+order to complete the schedule, to spend an idle day at some place, and
+Grayville had been selected as the most comfortable and therefore the
+most suitable. And so the luxurious rest of the group was continued for
+twenty-four hours for all&mdash;save Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>Harley had never before seen the "mystery" man so eager and so full of
+suppressed excitement. He frequently passed his comrades, but he rarely
+spoke to them, or even noticed them; his mind was concentrated now upon
+a great affair in which they would be of no avail. Harley learned,
+however, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> he was still much in the company of the three witnesses,
+although he asked him no questions. Late in the afternoon he saw him
+alone and walking rapidly towards the hotel. It seemed to Harley that
+Hobart's head was borne somewhat high and in a manner exultantly, as if
+he were overcoming obstacles, and he was about to ask him again in
+regard to his progress, but Hobart once more sped by without a word and
+went into the hotel. Harley learned later that he held a secret
+conference with Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening everybody went to the opera-house to hear the candidate,
+but on the way Hobart said, casually, to Harley: "Old man, I don't think
+I'll sit in front to-night. I wish you would let me have your notes
+afterwards." "Of course," replied Harley, as he passed down the aisle
+and found his chair at the correspondents' table on the stage.</p>
+
+<p>There Harley watched the fine Western audience come into the theatre and
+find seats, with some noise but no disorder, a noise merely of men
+calling each other by name, and commenting in advance on what Jimmy
+Grayson would say. The other correspondents entered one by one&mdash;all
+except Hobart, and took their seats on the stage. Sylvia and Mrs.
+Grayson were with some ladies in a box. Harley looked for Hobart, and
+two or three times he saw him near the main entrance of the building.
+Once he was talking with a brown and longish-haired youth, and Harley,
+by casual inquiry, learned that it was Metzger, the cowboy. A man not
+greatly different in appearance, to whom Hobart spoke occasionally, was
+Thorpe, the tramp miner, and yet another, a tall fellow with a bulging
+underlip, Harley learned, was Williams, the third witness.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>Evidently the witnesses would attend Jimmy Grayson's meeting, which was
+natural, however, as every body in Grayville was sure to come, and
+Harley also surmised that Hobart had taken upon himself the task of
+instructing them as to the methods, the manner, and the greatness of the
+candidate. He had done such a thing himself, upon occasion, the Western
+interest in Jimmy Grayson being so great that often appeals were made to
+the correspondents for information about him more detailed than the
+newspapers gave.</p>
+
+<p>Harley studied the faces of the three witnesses as attentively as the
+distance and the light would admit, but they remained near the door,
+evidently intending to stand there, back to the wall, a plan sometimes
+adopted by those who may wish to slip out quietly before a speech is
+finished. Harley, the trained observer, saw that Hobart, without their
+knowledge, was shepherding them as the shepherd gently makes his sheep
+converge upon a common spot.</p>
+
+<p>The correspondent could draw no inference from the faces of the three
+men, which were all of usual Western types, without anything special to
+distinguish them, and his attention turned to the audience. He had
+received an intimation that Jimmy Grayson intended to deliver that
+evening a speech of unusual edge and weight. He would indict the other
+party in the most direct and forcible manner, pointing out that its sins
+were moral as well as political, but that a day of reckoning would come,
+when those who profited by such evil courses must pay the forfeit; it
+was a part of the law of nature, which was also the law of retribution.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate was a little late, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>opera-house was filled to the
+last seat, with many people standing in the aisles and about the doors.
+Harley, glancing again at the rows and rows of faces, saw the three
+witnesses almost together, and just to the right of the main entrance,
+where they leaned against the wall, facing the stage. Hobart fluttered
+about them, holding them in occasional talk, and Harley was just about
+to look again, and with increasing attention, but at that instant the
+great audience, with a common impulse and a kind of rushing sound, like
+the slide of an avalanche, rose to its feet. The candidate, coming from
+the wings, had just appeared upon the stage, and the welcome was
+spontaneous and overwhelming. Jimmy Grayson was always a serious man,
+but Harley noticed that evening, when he first appeared before the
+footlights, that his face looked tense and eager, as if he felt that a
+great task which he must assume lay just before him.</p>
+
+<p>He wasted no time, but went at once to the heart of his subject, the
+crime of a great party, the wicked ways by which it had attained its
+wicked ends, and from the opening sentence he had his big audience with
+him, heart and soul.</p>
+
+<p>The indictment was terrible: in a masterly way he summed up the charges
+and the proof, as a general marshals his forces for battle, and the
+crowd, so clear were his words and so strong his statements, could see
+them all marching in unison, like the battalions and brigades, towards
+the common point, the exposed centre of the enemy. The faces of Sylvia
+and Mrs. Grayson, in the box, glowed with pride.</p>
+
+<p>Again and again, at the pauses between sentences, the cheers of the
+audience rose and echoed, and then Harley would glance once more towards
+the door; there, always, he saw Hobart with the three <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>witnesses,
+gathered under his wing, as it were, all looking raptly and intently at
+Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate, by-and-by, seemed to concentrate his attention upon the
+four men at the door, and spoke directly to them. Harley saw one of the
+group move as if about to leave, but the hand of Hobart fell upon his
+arm and he stayed. Harley, too, was conscious presently of an unusual
+effect having the quality of weirdness. The lights seemed to go down in
+the whole opera-house, except near the door. Jimmy Grayson and the
+correspondents were in a semi-darkness, but Hobart and his three new
+friends beside the door stood in a light that was almost dazzling
+through contrast. The three witnesses now seemed to be fixed in that
+spot, and their eyes never wandered from Jimmy Grayson's face.</p>
+
+<p>Familiar as he was with the candidate's oratorical powers, Harley was
+surprised at his strength of invective that evening. He had proved the
+guilt, the overwhelming guilt, of the opposition party, and he was
+describing the punishment, a punishment sure to come, although many
+might deem it impossible:</p>
+
+<p>"But there would be a day of judgment; justice might sleep for a while,
+but she must awake at last, and, the longer vengeance was delayed, the
+more terrible it became. Then woe to the guilty."</p>
+
+<p>The audience was deeply impressed by the eloquence of Jimmy Grayson,
+coinciding so well with their own views. Harley saw a look of awe appear
+upon the faces of many&mdash;Sylvia's face was pale&mdash;and the house, save for
+the voice of Jimmy Grayson, was as still as death. Harley felt the
+effect himself, and the weird, unreal quality that he observed before
+increased. Once, when he went over to make some notes, he noticed that
+the words written a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>half-hour before were scarcely visible, but, when
+he glanced at the opposite end of the theatre, there stood Hobart and
+the three witnesses, gathered about him, in the very heart of a dazzling
+light that showed every changing look on the faces of the four. Harley's
+gaze lingered upon them, and again he tried to find something peculiar,
+something distinctive in at least one of the three witnesses, but, as
+before, he failed; they were to him just ordinary Westerners following
+with rapt attention every word and gesture of Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate went on with his story of the consequences; the crime had
+been committed; the profits had been reaped and enjoyed, but slumbering
+justice, awake at last, was at hand; it was time for the wicked to
+tremble, the price must be repaid, doubly, trebly, fivefold. Now he
+personified the guilty party, the opposition, which he treated as an
+individual; he compared it to a man who had committed a deed of horror,
+but who long had hidden his crime from the world; others might be
+suspected of it, others might be punished for it, but he could never
+forget that he himself was guilty; though he walked before the world
+innocent, the sense of it would always be there, it would not leave him
+night or day; every moment, even, before the full exposure it would be
+inflicting its punishment upon him; it would be useless to seek escape
+or to think of it, because the longer the guilty victim struggled the
+more crushing his punishment would be. The correspondents forgot to
+write, and, like the audience, hung upon every word and gesture of Jimmy
+Grayson, as he made his great denunciatory speech; they felt that he was
+stirred by something unusual, that some great and extraordinary motive
+was impelling him, and they followed eagerly where he led them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>Harley saw the look of awe on the faces of the audience grow and deepen.
+With their overwhelming admiration of Jimmy Grayson, they seemed to have
+conceived, too, a sudden fear of him. His long, accusing finger was
+shaken in their faces, he was not alone denouncing a guilty man, but he
+was seeking out their own hidden sins, and presently he would point at
+them his revealing finger.</p>
+
+<p>Hobart stood with the three witnesses beside the door, still in the
+dazzling light. Harley was sure that not one of the four had moved in
+the last half-hour, and Jimmy Grayson still held them all with his gaze.
+Harley suddenly saw something like a flash of light, a signal glance, as
+it were, pass between him and Hobart, and the next instant the voice of
+the candidate swelled into greater and more accusing volume.</p>
+
+<p>"Now you behold the guilty man!" said Jimmy Grayson. "I have shown him
+to you. He seems to the world full of pride and power, but he knows that
+justice is pursuing him, and that it will overtake him; he trembles, he
+cowers, he flees, but the avenging footsteps are behind him, and the
+sound of them rings in his frightened ears like a death-knell to his
+soul. A wall rises across his way. He can flee no farther; he turns back
+from the wall, raises his terror-stricken eyes, and there before him the
+hand of fate is raised; its finger points at him, and a terrible voice
+proclaims, 'Thou art the guilty man!"</p>
+
+<p>The form of Jimmy Grayson swelled and towered, his hand was raised, the
+long forefinger pointed directly at the four who stood in the dazzling
+light, and the hall resounded with the tremendous echoes of his cry,
+"Thou art the guilty man!"</p>
+
+<p>As if lifted by a common impulse, the great audience rose with an
+indescribable sound and faced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> about, following Jimmy Grayson's long,
+accusing finger.</p>
+
+<p>The man Williams threw his arm before his face, as if to protect
+himself, and, with a terrible cry, "Yes, I did it!" fell in a faint on
+the floor.</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>They were all on the train the next day, and Harley was reading from a
+copy of the Grayville <i>Argus</i> an account of Boyd's release and the
+ovation that the people had given him.</p>
+
+<p>"How did you trace the crime to Williams, Hobart?" asked Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't trace it; it was Jimmy Grayson who brought it out by giving
+him 'the third degree,'" replied Hobart, though there was a quiet tone
+of satisfied pride in his voice. "You know that in New York, when they
+expose a man at Police Headquarters to some such supreme test, they call
+it giving him 'the third degree,' and that's what we did here. It seems
+that Williams was in the saloon when Boyd and his partner quarrelled,
+and he knew they had a lot of gold from the claim in their cabin. His
+object was robbery. When he saw Wofford go on ahead, he followed him
+quickly to the cabin, and killed him with the knife which lay on a
+table. He expected to have time to get the gold before Boyd came, but
+Boyd arrived so soon that he was barely able to slip out. Then Williams,
+cunning and bold enough, came back as if he were a chance passer-by, and
+had been called by Metzger and Thorpe. The other two were as innocent as
+you or I.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not make up my mind which of the three was guilty, and I
+induced Jimmy Grayson to help me. It was right in line with his
+speech&mdash;no harm done even if the test had failed&mdash;and then the man who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+managed the lights at the opera-house, a friend of Boyd's, helped me
+with the stage effects. Jimmy Grayson, of course, knew nothing about
+that. I borrowed the idea. I have read somewhere that Aaron Burr by just
+such a device once convicted a guilty man who was present in court as a
+witness when another was being tried for the crime."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you have saved his life to an innocent man," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"And I have cost a guilty one his." And then, after a moment's pause,
+Hobart added, with a little shiver:</p>
+
+<p>"But I wouldn't go through such an ordeal again at any price. When Jimmy
+Grayson thundered out, 'Thou art the guilty man,' it was all I could do
+to keep from crying, 'Yes, I am, I am!'"</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE DEAD CITY</h3>
+
+<p>As they left the hall, Churchill overtook Harley and tapped him on the
+shoulder. Harley turned and saw an expression of supreme disgust on the
+face of the <i>Monitor's</i> correspondent, but Harley himself only felt
+amusement. He knew that Churchill meant attack.</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw anything more theatrical and ill-timed," said Churchill.
+"Of course, it was all prearranged in some manner. But the idea of a
+Presidential nominee taking such a risk!"</p>
+
+<p>"He has saved an innocent man's life, and I call that no small
+achievement."</p>
+
+<p>"Because the trick was successful; but it was a trick, all the same, and
+it was beneath the dignity of a Presidential nominee."</p>
+
+<p>"There was but little risk of any kind," said Harley, shortly, "and even
+had it been larger, it would have been right to take it, when the stake
+was a man's life. Churchill, you are hunting for faults, you know you
+are, or you would not be so quick to see them."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill made no audible reply, but Harley could see that he was
+unconvinced, and, in fact, he sent his newspaper a lurid despatch about
+it, taking events out of their proper proportion, and hence giving to
+them a wholly unjustifiable conclusion. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> Sylvia Morgan was devotedly
+loyal to her uncle. There were few deeds of his of which she approved
+more warmly than this of saving Boyd's life, and Hobart, the master
+spirit in it, she thanked in a way that made him turn red with pleasure.
+But the discussion of the whole affair was brief, because fast upon its
+heels trod another event which stirred them yet more deeply.</p>
+
+<p>When the special train was at Blue Earth, in Montana, among the high
+mountains, there came to Jimmy Grayson an appeal, compounded of pathos
+and despair, that he could not resist. It was from the citizens of
+Crow's Wing, forty miles deeper into the yet higher and steeper
+mountains, and they recounted, in mournful words, how no candidate ever
+came to see them; all passed them by as either too few or too difficult,
+and they had never yet listened to the spell of oratory; of course, they
+did not expect the nominee of a great party for the Presidency of the
+United States to make the hard trip and speak to them, when even the
+little fellows ignored their existence; nevertheless, they wished to
+inform him in writing that they were alive, and on the map, at least,
+they made as big a dot as either Helena or Butte.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate smiled when he read the letter. The tone of it moved him.
+Moreover, he was not deficient in policy&mdash;no man who rises is&mdash;and while
+Crow's Wing had but few votes, Montana was close, and a single state
+might decide the Union.</p>
+
+<p>"Those people at Crow's Wing do not expect me, but I shall go to them,"
+he said to his train.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's a full day's journey and more, over the roughest and rockiest
+road in America," said Mr. Curtis, the state senator from Wyoming, who
+was still with them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>"I shall go," said Jimmy Grayson, decisively. "There is a break here in
+our schedule, and this trip will fit in very nicely."</p>
+
+<p>The others were against it, but they said nothing more in opposition,
+knowing that it would be of no avail. Obliging, generous, and
+soft-hearted, the candidate, nevertheless, had a temper of steel when
+his mind was made up, and the others had learned not to oppose it. But
+all shunned the journey with him to Crow's Wing except Harley, Mr.
+Plummer, Mr. Herbert Heathcote&mdash;because there is no zeal like that of
+the converted&mdash;and one other.</p>
+
+<p>That "other" was Sylvia, and she insisted upon going, refusing to listen
+to all the good arguments that were brought against it. "I know that I
+am only a woman&mdash;a girl," she said, "but I know, too, that I've lived
+all my life in the mountains, and I understand them. Why, I've been on
+harder journeys than this with daddy before I was twelve years old.
+Haven't I, daddy?" As she had predicted, she forgot his request not to
+call him "daddy."</p>
+
+<p>Thus appealed to, Mr. Plummer was fain to confess the truth, though with
+reluctance. However, he said, rather weakly:</p>
+
+<p>"But you don't know what kind of weather we'll have, Sylvia."</p>
+
+<p>Then she turned upon him in a manner that terrified him.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, daddy, if I couldn't get up a better argument than that I'd quit,"
+she said. "Weather! weather! weather! to an Idaho girl! Suppose it
+should rain, I'm made of neither sugar nor salt, and I won't melt. I've
+been rained on a thousand times. Aunt Anna says I may go if Uncle James
+is willing, and he's willing&mdash;he has to be; besides, he's my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> chaperon.
+If you don't say 'yes,' Uncle James, I shall take the train and go
+straight home."</p>
+
+<p>They were forced to consent, and Harley was glad that she insisted,
+because he liked to know that she was near, and he thought that she
+looked wonderfully well on horseback.</p>
+
+<p>The going of Harley with the candidate was taken as a matter of course
+by everybody. Silent, tactful, and strong, he had grown almost
+imperceptibly into a confidential relationship with the nominee, and Mr.
+Grayson did not realize how much he relied upon the quiet man who could
+not make a speech but who was so ready of resource. As for Mr.
+Heathcote, being an Easterner, he wished to see the West in all its
+aspects.</p>
+
+<p>They started at daybreak, guided by a taciturn mountaineer, Jim Jones,
+called simply Jim for the sake of brevity, and, the hour being so early,
+few were present to see them ride up the hanging slope and into the
+mighty wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>But it was a glorious dawn. The young sun was gilding the sea of crags
+and crests with burnished gold and the air had the sparkle of youth. Mr.
+Heathcote threw back his slightly narrow chest, and, drawing three deep
+breaths of just the same length, he said, "I would not miss this trip
+for a thousand dollars!"</p>
+
+<p>"And I wouldn't for two thousand!" exclaimed Sylvia, joyously.</p>
+
+<p>Harley said nothing, but he, too, looked out upon the morning world with
+a kindling eye. Far below them was a narrow valley, a faint green line
+down the centre showing where the little river ran, with the irrigated
+farms on either side, like beads on a string. Above them towered the
+peaks, white with everlasting snow.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>"A fine day for our ride," said the candidate to Jim.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks like it now, though I never gamble on mountain weather," replied
+the taciturn man.</p>
+
+<p>But the promise held good for a long time, the sun still shining and the
+winds coming fresh and brisk along the crests and ridges. The trail
+wound about the slopes and steadily ascended. Vegetation ceased, and
+before them stretched the bare rocks. Harley knew very well now that
+only the sunshine saved them from grimness and desolation. The
+loneliness became oppressive. Even Sylvia was silent. It was the
+wilderness in reality as well as seeming; nowhere did they see a miner's
+hut or a hunter's cabin, only nature in her most savage form.</p>
+
+<p>The little group of horsemen forgot to talk. The candidate's head was
+bowed and his brow bent. Clearly he was immersed in thought. Mr.
+Heathcote, unused to such arduous journeys, leaned forward in his saddle
+in a state of semi-exhaustion. But Sylvia, although a girl, was
+accustomed to the mountains, and she showed few signs of fatigue. Harley
+said at last to the guide, "A wild country, one of the wildest, I think,
+that I ever saw."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, a wild country, and a bad 'un, too," responded Jim. "See off there
+to the left?"</p>
+
+<p>He pointed to a maze of bare and rocky ridges, and when he saw that
+Harley's gaze was following his long forefinger, he continued:</p>
+
+<p>"I say it's a bad 'un, because over there Red Perkins and his gang of
+horse-thieves, outlaws, and cut-throats used to have their hiding-place.
+It's a tangled-up stretch o' mountain, so wild, so rocky, so full of
+caves that they could have hid there till<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> jedgment-day from all
+Montana. Yes, that's where they used to hang out."</p>
+
+<p>"Used to?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, 'cause I 'ain't heard much uv them fur some time. They came down
+in the valley and tried to stampede them new blooded horses from
+Kentucky on Sifton's ranch, but Sifton and his men was waitin', and when
+the smoke cleared off most uv the gang was wiped out. Red and two or
+three uv his fellers got away, but I 'ain't heard uv 'em since. Guess
+they've scattered."</p>
+
+<p>"Wisest thing they could do," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>The guide made no answer, and they plodded on in silence until about two
+o'clock in the afternoon, when they stopped in a little cove to eat
+luncheon and refresh their horses.</p>
+
+<p>It was the first grateful spot they had seen in hours. A brook fed by
+the snows above formed a pool in the hollow, and then, overflowing it,
+dropped down the mountain-wall. But in this sheltered nook and around
+the life-giving water green grass was growing, and there was a rim of
+goodly trees. The horses, when their riders dismounted, grazed eagerly,
+and the riders themselves lay upon the grass and ate with deep content.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia talked little. She seemed thoughtful, and, when neither of them
+was looking, she glanced now and then at Harley and "King" Plummer. Had
+they noticed they would have seen a shade of sadness on her face. Mr.
+Plummer did not speak, and it was because there was a growing anxiety in
+his mind. He was sorry now that they had let Sylvia come, and he
+silently called himself a weak fool.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we reach Crow's Wing by dark?" asked the candidate of the guide.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>Jim had risen, and, standing at the edge of the cove, was gazing out
+over the rolling sea of mountains. Harley noticed a troubled look on his
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"If things go right we kin," he replied, "but I ain't shore that things
+will go right."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see that brown spot down there in the southwest, just a-top the
+hills? Waal, it's a cloud, an' it's comin' this way. Clouds, you know,
+always hev somethin' in 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"That is to say we shall have rain," said the candidate. "Let it come.
+We have been rained on too often to mind such a little thing&mdash;eh,
+Sylvia? You see, I take you at your word."</p>
+
+<p>The girl nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think it'll be rain," said the guide. "We are so high up here
+that more 'n likely it'll be snow. An' when there's a snow-storm in the
+mountains you can't go climbin' along the side o' cliffs."</p>
+
+<p>The others, too, looked grave now. Perhaps, with the exception of "King"
+Plummer, they had not foreseen such a difficulty, but the guide came to
+their relief with more cheering words&mdash;after all, the cloud might not
+continue to grow, "an' it ain't worth while to holler afore we're hit."</p>
+
+<p>This seemed sound philosophy to the others, and, dismissing their cares,
+they started again, much refreshed by their stop in the little cove. The
+road now grew rougher, the guide leading and the rest following in
+single-file, Sylvia just ahead of Harley. By-and-by their cares
+returned. Harley glanced towards the southwest and saw there the same
+cloud, but now much bigger, blacker, and more threatening. The sunshine
+was gone, and the wrinkled surface of the mountains was gray and sombre.
+The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> air had grown cold, and down among the clefts there was a weird,
+moaning wind. Harley glanced at the guide, and noticed that his face was
+now decidedly anxious. But the correspondent said nothing. Part of his
+strength lay in his ability to wait, and he knew that the guide would
+speak in good time.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't any of you be discouraged because of me," said Sylvia; "I'm not
+afraid of storms&mdash;even snowstorms. Am I not a good mountaineer, daddy?"</p>
+
+<p>The "King" nodded his head. He knew that she was a better mountaineer
+than any in the party except the guide and himself, and he felt less
+alarm for her than was in the mind of Grayson or Harley.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley was thrilled by her courage. Here, amid these wild mountains,
+with the threat of darkness and the storm, she was unafraid and still
+feminine. "This is a woman to be won," was his unuttered thought.</p>
+
+<p>Another hour passed, and the air grew darker and colder. Then Jim
+stopped.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," he said, "there's a snow-storm comin' soon. I didn't expect
+one so early, even on the mountains, but it's comin', anyhow, an' if we
+keep on for Crow's Wing they'll have to dig our bones out o' the meltin'
+drifts next summer. We've got to make for Queen City."</p>
+
+<p>"Queen City!" exclaimed Mr. Heathcote. "I didn't know there was another
+town anywhere near here."</p>
+
+<p>"She's a-standin' all the same," replied the guide, brusquely, "an' I
+wouldn't never hev started on the trip to Crow's Wing if there hadn't
+been such a stoppin'-place betwixt an' between, in case o' trouble with
+the weather. An' let me whisper to you, Queen City's quite a sizable
+place. We'll pass the night<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> there. It's got a fine hotel, the finest
+an' biggest in the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>He looked grimly at Mr. Heathcote, as much as to say, "Ask me as much
+more as you please, but I'll answer you nothing." Then he added,
+glancing at Sylvia:</p>
+
+<p>"It's a wild night for a gal."</p>
+
+<p>"But you said that the biggest and finest hotel in the mountains was
+waiting for me," replied Sylvia, with spirit.</p>
+
+<p>The guide bowed his head admiringly, and said no more.</p>
+
+<p>Something cold and damp touched Harley's cheek. He looked up, and
+another flake of snow, descending softly, settled upon his face. The
+clouds rolled over them, heavy and dark, and shut out all the mountains
+save a little island where they stood. The snow, following the first few
+flakes, fell softly but rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Queen City or moulderin' in the drifts till next summer!" cried
+Jim, and he turned his horse into a side-path. The others followed
+without a word, willing to accept his guidance through the greatest
+peril they had yet faced in an arduous campaign. Despite the danger,
+which he knew to be heavy and pressing, and his anxiety for Sylvia,
+Harley's curiosity was aroused, and he wished to ask more of Queen City,
+but the saturnine face of the guide was not inviting. Nevertheless, he
+risked one question.</p>
+
+<p>"How far is this place, Queen City?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Bout two miles," replied Jim, with what seemed to Harley a derisive
+grin, "an' it's tarnal lucky for us that it's so near."</p>
+
+<p>Harley said no more, but he was satisfied with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> nothing in the guide's
+reply save the fact that the town was only two miles away; any shelter
+would be welcome, because he saw now that a snow-storm on the wild
+mountains was a terrible thing.</p>
+
+<p>The guide led on; Jimmy Grayson, with bent head, followed; Mr.
+Heathcote, shrunk in his saddle, came next; then "King" Plummer; and
+after him Sylvia and Harley, who were as nearly side by side as the
+narrow path would permit.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be far, Miss Morgan," said Harley; the others could not hear.</p>
+
+<p>She felt rather than heard the note of apprehension in his voice, and
+she knew it was for her. A thrill of singular sweetness passed over her.
+It was pleasant for some one, <i>the</i> one, to be afraid for her sake. She
+looked out at the driving snow and the dim peaks, but she had no fear
+for herself. She was glad, too, that she had come.</p>
+
+<p>"I know the way of the mountains," she replied. "The guide will take us
+in safety to this city of his, of which he speaks so highly."</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw her smile through the snow. The others rode on before, heads
+bowed, and did not look back. He and she felt a powerful sense of
+comradeship, and once, when he leaned over to detach her bridle rein
+from the horse's mane, he touched her hand, which was so soft and warm.
+Again the electric thrill passed through them both, and they looked into
+each other's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Now and then the vast veil of snow parted before the wind, as if cleft
+down the centre by a sword-blade, and Harley and Sylvia beheld a grand
+and awful sight. Before them were all the peaks and ridges, rising in
+white cones and pillars against the cloudy sky, and the effect was of
+distance and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>sublimity. From the clefts and ravines came a desolate
+moaning. Harley felt that he was much nearer to the eternal here than he
+could ever be in the plains. Then the rent veil would close again, and
+he saw only his comrades and the rocks twenty feet away.</p>
+
+<p>They turned around the base of a cliff rising hundreds of feet above
+them, and Harley caught the dull-red glare of brick walls, showing
+through the falling snow. He was ready to raise a shout of joy. This he
+knew was Queen City, lying snugly in its wide valley. There was the
+typical, single mountain street, with its row of buildings on either
+side; the big one near-by was certainly the hotel, and the other big one
+farther on was as certainly the opera-house. But nobody was in the
+streets, and the whole place was dark; not a light appeared at a single
+window, although the night had come.</p>
+
+<p>"We're here," Harley said to Sylvia, "but I confess that this does not
+look promising. Certainly there is nobody running to meet us."</p>
+
+<p>She was gazing with curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"It's like no other town that I ever saw," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Harley rode up by the side of the guide.</p>
+
+<p>"The place looks lonesome," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe they've all gone to bed; there ain't anythin' here to keep 'em
+awake," replied the guide, with the old puzzling and derisive smile.</p>
+
+<p>Harley turned coldly away. He did not like to have any one make fun of
+him, and that he saw clearly was the guide's intention. Jimmy Grayson
+was still thinking of things far off, and Mr. Heathcote, chilled and
+shrunk, seemed to have lost the power of speech. "King" Plummer, for
+reasons of his own, was silent too.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>The guide rode slowly towards the large brick building that Harley took
+to be the hotel, and, at that moment, the snow slackened for a little
+while; the last rays of the setting sun struck upon the dun walls and
+gilded them with red tracery; some panes of glass gave back the ruddy
+glare, but mostly the windows were bare and empty, like eyeless sockets.
+Harley looked farther, and all the other buildings&mdash;the opera-house, the
+stores, and the residences&mdash;were the same, desolate and decaying. About
+the place were snow-covered heaps, evidently the refuse of mining
+operations, but they saw no human being.</p>
+
+<p>The effect upon all save the guide was startling. Harley saw the look of
+chilled wonder grow on Jimmy Grayson's face. Mr. Heathcote raised
+himself in his saddle and stared, uncomprehending. Harley had been deep
+in the desert, but never before had he seen such desolation and ruin,
+because here was the body, but all life had gone from it. He felt as one
+alone with ghosts. Sylvia was silent, her confidence gone for the
+moment. The guide laughed dryly.</p>
+
+<p>"You guessed it," he said, looking at Harley. "It's a dead city. Queen
+City has been as dead as Adam these half-dozen years. When the mines
+played out, it died; there was no earthly use for Queen City any longer,
+and by-and-by everybody went away. But I've seen the old town when it
+was alive. Five thousand people here. Money a-flowin', drinks passin'
+over the counter one way and the coin the other, the gamblin'-houses an'
+the theatre chock-full, an' women, any kind you please. But there ain't
+a soul left now."</p>
+
+<p>The snow thinned still more, and the buildings rose before them gaunt
+and grim.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>"We'll stop to-night at the Grand Hotel&mdash;that is, if they ain't too much
+crowded; it'll be nice for the lady," said the guide, who had had his
+little joke and who now wished to serve his employers as best he could;
+"but first we'll take the horses into the dinin'-room; nobody will
+object; I've done it afore."</p>
+
+<p>He rode towards a side-door, but over the main entrance Harley saw in
+tessellated letters the words "Grand Hotel," and he tried to shake off
+the feeling of weirdness that it gave him.</p>
+
+<p>The door to the dining-room, which was almost level with the ground, was
+gone, and with some driving the horses were persuaded to enter. They
+were tethered there, sheltered from the storm, and, when they moved,
+their feet rumbled hollowly on the wooden floor. Sylvia, the candidate,
+and his friends, driven by the same impulse, turned back into the snow
+and re-entered the house by the front door.</p>
+
+<p>They passed into a wide hall, and at the far end they saw the clerk's
+desk. Lying upon it were some fragments of paper fastened to a chain,
+and Harley knew that it was what was left of the hotel register. It
+spoke so vividly of both life and death that the five stopped.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like to register, Mr. Grayson?" asked Harley, wishing to
+relieve the tension.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate laughed mirthlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Not to-night, Harley," he said; "but, gloomy as the place is, we ought
+to be thankful that we have found it. See how the storm is rising."</p>
+
+<p>He glanced at Sylvia, and deep gratitude swelled up in his breast.
+Grewsome as it might look, Queen City was now, indeed, a place of
+refuge. But he had no word of reproach for her, because she had insisted
+upon coming. He knew that a snow-storm had not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> entered into her
+calculations, as it had not entered into his, and, moreover, no one in
+the party had shown more courage or better spirits.</p>
+
+<p>The snow drove in at the unsheltered windows, and a long whine arose as
+the wind whirled around the old house. The guide came in with cheerful
+bustle and stamp of feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't linger here, gentlemen and ladies," he said. "The house is yours.
+Come into the parlor. We've had a piece of luck. Now and then a lone
+tramp or a miner seeks shelter in this town, just as we have done; they
+come mostly to the hotel, and some feller who gathered up wood failed to
+burn it all. I'll have a fire in the parlor in five minutes, and then we
+can ring for hot drinks for the men, a lemonade for the lady, and a warm
+dinner for all. I'll take straight whiskey, an' after that I ain't
+partic'ler whether I get patty-de-foy-graw or hummin'-bird tongues."</p>
+
+<p>His good-humor was infectious, and they were thankful, too, for the
+shelter, desolate though the place was. All the wood had been stripped
+away except the floors, and the brick walls were bare. In the great
+parlor they had nothing to sit on save their saddles, but it was a noble
+apartment, many feet square, built for a time when there was life in
+Queen City.</p>
+
+<p>"I've heard the Governor of Montana speak to more than two hundred
+people in this very room," said Jim, reminiscently. "He was to have
+spoke in the public square, but snow come up, an' Bill Fosdick, who run
+the hotel, and run her wide open, invited 'em all right in here, an'
+they come."</p>
+
+<p>Harley could well believe it, knowing, as he did, the miners and the
+mountains, and, by report, early Montana.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>At one end of the room was an immense grate, and in this Jim heaped the
+wood so generously left by the unknown tramp or miner, igniting it with
+a ready match. The ruddy blaze leaped upward and threw generous shadows
+on the floor. The travellers, sitting close to it, felt the grateful
+warmth and were content.</p>
+
+<p>All the saddle blankets also had been brought in and piled on one of the
+saddles. On these Sylvia sat and spread out her hands to the ruddy
+blaze. To Harley, with the flame of the firelight on her face and the
+glow of the coals throwing patches of red and gold on her hair, she
+seemed some brilliant spirit come to light up the gloomy place. Here all
+was warmth and brightness; outside, the storm moaned through the
+mountains and the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know, I enjoy this," she said, as she looked into the crackling
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>"So Queen City ain't so bad, ma'am?" said the guide, with dry
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"Not bad at all, but very good," she replied, gayly. "Don't you think
+so, Mr. Harley?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly agree with you," replied Harley, devoutly, "but I'm glad
+that Queen City is just where it is."</p>
+
+<p>She laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Daddy has been many a time in the mountains without his Queen
+City&mdash;haven't you, daddy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Often," said "King" Plummer, looking at her with a pleased smile. But
+he wished that she would not call him "daddy," at least before Harley;
+it seemed that she could never remember his request; but she had warned
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"An old hand travellin' in the mountains always purvides for a snowy
+day," said the guide, and he took from his saddle-bags much food and a
+large bottle.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>They drank a little, all except Sylvia, and ate heartily. The last touch
+of cold departed, and the fire still sparkled with good cheer, casting
+its comforting shadows across the stained floor.</p>
+
+<p>"I've brought in the horse-blankets," said the guide, "an' with them
+under us, our overcoats over us, an' the fire afore us, we ought to
+sleep here as snug an' warm as a beaver in its house."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia was accustomed to camping in the mountains, and made no fuss, but
+quietly leaned back against the saddle and the wall, and drew her heavy
+cloak around her. She was soon half asleep, and the flames, moving off
+into the distance, seemed to be dancing about in a queer, light-minded
+fashion.</p>
+
+<p>Harley walked to the window and looked out. The night was black, save
+for the driving snow, and when he glanced back at the room it seemed a
+very haven of delight. But the strangeness of their situation, the weird
+effect of the dead city, with the ghost-like shapes of its houses
+showing through the snow, was upon his nerves, and he did not feel
+sleepy.</p>
+
+<p>Muttering some excuse to the others, he went into the hall. It was dark,
+and a gust of cold air from the open window at the end struck him in the
+face. At the same moment Harley saw what he took to be a light farther
+down the hall, but when he looked again it was gone.</p>
+
+<p>It might be a delusion, but the matter troubled him; if a lone tramp or
+miner were in the building, he wished to know. Any stranger would have a
+right in the hotel, but there was comradeship and welcome in Jimmy
+Grayson's party.</p>
+
+<p>Harley's instinct said that all was not right, and, taking off his
+boots, he crept down the hall and among the cross-halls with noiseless
+feet. He did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> not see the light again, but he heard in another room the
+hum of voices, softened so that they might not reach any one save those
+for whom they were intended. But they reached Harley, crouching just
+behind the edge of the door, and, hearing, he shuddered. A great danger
+threatened the nominee for the Presidency of the United States. Such a
+thing as the present had never before happened in the history of the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>And that same danger, but in a worse form, perhaps, threatened Sylvia.
+It was not Harley's fault that a girl had then a greater place than a
+Presidential nominee in his mind. He shuddered, and then closed his lips
+firmly in resolve.</p>
+
+<p>The door was still on its hinges, and it was still slightly ajar.
+Harley, peeping through the crack, saw the eight occupants of the room
+by the faint light from the window, and because the man who did the
+talking, and who showed himself so evidently the leader, had red hair,
+he knew him instinctively. It was Red Perkins and the remnant of his
+gang, not scattered to the winds of the West, as Jim and everybody else
+thought, but here in Montana, in their old haunts. And Harley, listening
+to their talk, measured the extent of their knowledge, which was far too
+much; they knew who Jimmy Grayson was, they had known of his departure
+from Blue Earth, and they had followed him here; presently they would
+take him away, and the whole world would be thrilled. No such prize had
+ever fallen into the hands of robbers in America, and it would be worth
+a million to them.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was in a chill as he listened, because he heard them speak next
+of Sylvia, and one of them laughed in a way that made the correspondent
+want<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> to spring at his throat. Sylvia and the candidate must be saved.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley, thinking his hardest, could not think how. There were eight
+men well armed in the room before him; the guide and Mr. Plummer,
+probably, had pistols, but he had none, and he was sure that Jimmy
+Grayson and Mr. Heathcote were without them. He paused there a long
+time, undecided, and at last he crept down the hall again and towards
+the great parlor. Then he put on his boots, re-entered the room, and
+spoke in a low voice to his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>The guide's fighting blood was on fire at once. "I've a revolver," he
+said; "we kin barricade the room and hold 'em off. There are two windows
+here, opening out on the snow, but they are so high they can hardly
+reach 'em with their hands. We kin make a good fight of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I've a pistol, too," said Mr. Plummer, "and we must make it a fight to
+the death."</p>
+
+<p>He spoke quietly, but with determination and a full knowledge of all the
+danger that threatened. He glanced at Sylvia, who, coming back from her
+half-dream, had risen to her feet. Then he walked to the door, because
+the "King" was ever alert in the face of danger.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" Sylvia asked of Harley. She knew by their manner that
+something strange and terrifying had happened, and in such a situation
+it was now an involuntary act with her to turn to Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," he said&mdash;the others had followed "King" Plummer to the door
+"you ought to know."</p>
+
+<p>He noticed that, though pale, she was quiet and firm.</p>
+
+<p>"If it is danger, I have faced it before," she said, proudly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>"As you will face it now, like the bravest woman in the West. 'Red'
+Perkins's gang of outlaws are out there, and they mean to take Mr.
+Grayson to hold for ransom, and you&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes looked straight into his, and suddenly they shone with all the
+fulness of love and confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"They will not take me while you are here," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not if we have to die together. Sylvia, I believed that your heart was
+mine, and in this moment of danger I know it."</p>
+
+<p>He spoke truly. In the crisis their souls were bare to each other. He
+seized her hands, and the brilliant color flamed into her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia!" he exclaimed, in a thrilling whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"Hush!" she said. "The others are about to come back."</p>
+
+<p>She gently withdrew her hands from his, and when "King" Plummer turned
+away from the door he saw nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"There's not a shot to be fired," said Jimmy Grayson, "because I've a
+better plan. How long do you think it will be before they come for me,
+Harley?"</p>
+
+<p>"About fifteen minutes, I should say; at least that is what I gathered
+from their talk."</p>
+
+<p>"And they have not examined the building or the town?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; they merely came down the trail behind us and slipped into that
+room, waiting their chance."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good. Jim, you told me a while ago that the Governor of Montana
+once spoke to two hundred people in this room; it was a fortunate remark
+of yours, because I shall speak to as many people to-night in this same
+room. Shut the door there,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> put the saddles before it, and then build
+the fire as high as possible."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate's voice was sharp, decisive, and full of command. The born
+leader of men was asserting himself, and the guide, without pausing to
+reason, hastened to obey. He shut the door, put the saddles before it,
+and heaped upon the fire all the remaining wood except a stump reserved
+by Jimmy Grayson's express command. The fire leaped higher, and the room
+was brilliantly lighted.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson stood by, erect, calm, and grave.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, gentlemen," he said, "you are a crowd come from Crow's Wing to
+meet me here, and to hear what I have to say. I trust that you will like
+it, and indicate your liking by your applause."</p>
+
+<p>The stump was placed in the middle of the floor, and Jimmy Grayson
+stepped upon it. His face at that height was visible through the window
+to any one outside, although the others would be hidden. Just as he took
+his place Harley thought he heard the soft crunch of a footstep on the
+snow beneath the window. He felt a burning curiosity to rise and look
+out, but he restrained it and did not move. The guide was staring at the
+candidate in open-mouthed amazement, but he, too, did not speak. A few
+big white flakes drove in at the open window, but they did not reach the
+men before the fire that blazed so brightly. Harley again thought he
+heard the soft shuffle of footsteps on the snow outside, but then the
+burning wood crackled merrily, and Jimmy Grayson was about to speak.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia stood erect against the wall, her glowing eyes full of
+admiration. Her quick mind had grasped the whole plan.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen of Crow's Wing," said the candidate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> in his full,
+penetrating voice, which the empty old building gave back in many an
+echo, "it is, indeed, a pleasure to me to meet you here. The
+circumstances, the situation, are such as to inspire any one who has
+been so honored. I should like to have seen your little town, the home
+of brave and honest men, nestling as it does among these mighty
+mountains, and far from the rest of the world, but strong and
+self-reliant. I appreciate, too, your kindness and your thought for me.
+Seeing the advance of the storm, and knowing its dangers, you have come
+to meet me in this place, once so full of life. I find something
+singularly appealing and pathetic in this. Once again, if only for a
+brief space, Queen City shall ring with human voices and the human
+tread."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate paused a moment, as if the end of a rounded period had
+come and he were gathering strength for another. Then suddenly arose a
+mighty chorus of applause. It was Harley, "King" Plummer, Heathcote, and
+Jim, and their act was spontaneous, the inspiration of the moment, drawn
+from Jimmy Grayson's own inspiration. The guide beat upon the floor with
+both hands and both feet, and the other three were not less active.
+Moreover, the guide opened his mouth and let forth a yell, rapid,
+cumulative, and so full of volume that it sounded like the whoop of at
+least a half-dozen men. The room resounded with the applause, and it
+thundered down the halls of the great empty building. When it died,
+Harley, listening again intently, heard once more the crunch of feet on
+the snow outside, but now it was a rapid movement as if of surprise. But
+the sound came to him only a moment, because the candidate was speaking
+once more, and he was worth hearing. He only looked away to see Sylvia,
+who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> still stood against the wall with her glowing eyes fixed in
+admiration on her uncle. Once or twice she, too, glanced aside, and her
+gaze was for Harley. But it was a different look that she gave him.
+There was admiration in it, too, and also a love that no woman ever
+gives to a mere uncle. In those moments the color in her cheeks
+deepened.</p>
+
+<p>As an orator Jimmy Grayson was always good, but sometimes he was better
+than at other times, and this evening was one of his best times. The
+audience from Crow's Wing, the consideration they had shown in meeting
+him here in the dead city, and the wildness of the night outside seemed
+to inspire him. He showed the greatest familiarity with the life of the
+mountains and the needs of the miners; he was one of them, he
+sympathized with them, he entered their homes, and if he could he would
+make their lives brighter.</p>
+
+<p>Never had the candidate spoken to a more appreciative audience. With
+foot and hand and voice it thundered its applause; the building echoed
+with it, and all the time the fire burned higher and higher, and the
+merry crackling of the wood was a minor note in the chorus of applause.
+But Jimmy Grayson's own voice was like an organ, every key of which he
+played; it expressed every human emotion; full and swelling, it rose
+above the applause, and Harley, watching his expressive face, saw that
+he felt these emotions. Once he believed that the candidate, carried
+away by his own feelings, had become oblivious of time and place, and
+thought now only of the troubles and needs of the mountain men.</p>
+
+<p>Harley's attention turned once more to the windows. He thought what a
+lucky chance it was that no one standing on the ground outside was high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+enough to look through them into the room. He blessed the unknown
+builder, and then he tried to hear that familiar shuffle on the snow,
+but he did not hear it again.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson spoke on and on, and the applause kept pace, until at last
+the guide slipped quietly from the room. When he returned, a quarter of
+an hour later, the candidate was still speaking, but Jim gave him a
+signal look and he stopped abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"They are gone," said Jim. "They must have been gone a full hour. The
+snow has stopped, and I guess they are at least ten miles from here,
+runnin' for their lives. They knew that if the men of Crow's Wing put
+hands on 'em they'd be hangin' from a limb ten minutes after."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson sank down on the stump, exhausted, and wiped his hot face.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Mr. Harley," whispered the guide to the correspondent, "I've heard
+some great speeches in my time, but to-night's was the greatest."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate spoke the next day at Crow's Wing, and his audience was
+delighted. But Jim was right. The speech was not as great as the one he
+had made at Queen City.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV</h2>
+
+<h3>WORDS BY THE WAY</h3>
+
+<p>Rumors of the adventure in the dead city had spread throughout the
+little mountain town in which Jimmy Grayson made his speech the day
+after the stop in Queen City, and when he began the return journey an
+escort, from which all the bandits in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains
+would have turned aside, was ready for him. It was a somewhat noisy
+band, but orderly and full of enthusiasm, secretly wishing that a second
+attempt would be made, and their devotion to Jimmy Grayson and his cause
+found an answering sympathy in Harley.</p>
+
+<p>They had passed the night in Crow's Wing, and the start was made when
+the first sunlight brought a sudden uplifting of a white world into a
+dazzling burst of blue and yellow and red. But no more snow was falling,
+and those who knew said that the day would continue fair.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia Morgan had not been present at the speech the night before. Even
+she, bred amid hardships and dangers, was forced to admit that her
+nerves were somewhat unstrung, and she rested quietly in a warm room at
+the hotel. Harley knocked once on her door, and received the reply that
+she was all right. Then he turned away and went slowly down the hall,
+thoughtful, and, for the first time in many days, thoroughly
+understanding himself. To the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> world, when the world should hear of it,
+the candidate would always be the central figure in the episode of the
+dead city, but Harley knew that their adventure in the old hotel was
+more momentous to him than it had been to the candidate. His doubts and
+his hesitation were gone; he knew what Sylvia Morgan represented to him,
+and with that knowledge came a certain peace; it would have been a
+greater peace had not the shadow of "King" Plummer been so dark.</p>
+
+<p>When Sylvia reappeared for the return there was nothing to indicate that
+she had ever been tired or nervous. She seemed to Harley the incarnation
+of fresh, young life, and there was a singular softness and gentleness
+in her manner, all the more winning because she had let it appear more
+rarely hitherto. She held out her hand to Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"You see that I have passed through our adventure without harm to my
+nerves," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew that you would do so," replied Harley.</p>
+
+<p>He would have said more, but the armed escort, to a man, was bowing
+respectfully, and making no very great effort to conceal its admiration
+at the sight of a lady, young and beautiful, such an infrequent visitor
+to their lonely hamlet. Nor was this admiration diminished by the fact,
+known to them all, that she had taken the hazardous journey over the
+mountains with Jimmy Grayson. They considered it a special honor and
+dignity conferred upon themselves, and as the candidate introduced them,
+one by one, the bows were repeated but with greater depth. Sylvia Morgan
+knew how to receive them. She was a child of the mountains herself, and
+without any sacrifice of her own dignity she could make them feel that
+they knew her and liked her.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>All Crow's Wing saw them off, and they rode away over the mountains in
+the splendid red and gold of the dawn. Mr. Grayson and "King" Plummer
+were near the head of the troop, and Harley and Sylvia were near the
+rear, where they remained a part of the general group for a long time,
+but at last dropped back behind all the others.</p>
+
+<p>"Won't Mr. Churchill be shocked when he hears of our adventure in the
+dead city?" said Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>"He will think that it is the climax," was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Harley laughed, but in a few moments he became grave. Yet there was an
+expression of much sweetness about his firm mouth.</p>
+
+<p>"Still I am glad that it happened," he said. "I saw a new illustration
+of our candidate's powers, and I learned, too, much more than that."</p>
+
+<p>She glanced at him, and as she read something in his face she looked
+quickly away, and a sudden flush rose to her cheeks. Despite herself,
+her heart began to beat fast and her hand trembled on the bridle rein.</p>
+
+<p>Harley expected her to ask what it was that he had learned, but when he
+saw her averted face he went on:</p>
+
+<p>"I learned then, Sylvia, what I should have known long before, that I
+love you, that you are the one woman in the world for me. And I do not
+believe, Sylvia, that you care only a little for me."</p>
+
+<p>He was bold, masterful, and the ring of confidence was in his voice. His
+hand, for a moment, touched her trembling hand on the bridle rein, and
+she thrilled with the answering touch.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," he said, with grave sweetness, "I mean to win you."</p>
+
+<p>"You must not talk so," she said, and a sudden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> pallor replaced the
+color in her face. "You know that I cannot in honor hear it. I am
+promised, and of my own accord, to another, and to one to whom every
+sacred obligation commands me to keep my promise."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not forget your promise&mdash;Mr. Plummer was in my mind when I was
+speaking&mdash;nor do I urge you to break it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, then, do you speak? Why do you say that you mean to win me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because Mr. Plummer must break this bargain himself. He, of his own
+accord, must give your promise back to you. I mean to make him do so. I
+do not yet know how, but I shall find a way. Oh, I tell you, Sylvia,
+this marriage of his and yours is not right. It's against nature. You do
+not love him; you cannot&mdash;do not protest&mdash;not in a way that a woman
+should love the man whom she is going to marry. You love me instead, and
+I mean to make you keep on loving me, just as I mean to make Mr. Plummer
+give you back your promise."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you not undertaken two large tasks?" she said, smiling faintly.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley, usually so short and terse, had made this long speech with
+fire and heat, as the "still waters" were now running very deep, and he
+went on:</p>
+
+<p>"I have given you fair warning, Sylvia. Neither you nor Mr. Plummer can
+say that I have begun any secret campaign. I have told you that I mean
+to make you marry me."</p>
+
+<p>She thought that she ought to stop him, to tell him that he must never
+speak of such a thing again. Before her rose the figure of the man whom
+she had promised to marry, square, massive, and iron-gray, but, solid as
+the figure was, it quickly faded in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> light of the real and earnest
+young face beside her. Youth spoke to youth, and she did not stop him,
+because what he was saying to her was very pleasant, though it might be
+wrong.</p>
+
+<p>The morning was brilliant and vivid on the mountains. Far away the white
+peaks melted dimly into the blue sky, and below them lay the valleys,
+cup after cup, white with snow. The others rode on ahead, not noticing,
+and Harley was not one to let time slip through his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>"You must not speak in this way to me again," she said, at last,
+although her tone was not sad, only firm, "because it is not right. I
+knew that it was wrong, even while you were saying it, but I could not
+stop you. You know you cannot change what is fixed, and I must marry Mr.
+Plummer."</p>
+
+<p>Harley laughed joyously. Later he did not know why he was so confident
+then, but the air of the mountains and a new fire, too, were sparkling
+in his veins, and at that moment he had no doubts.</p>
+
+<p>"You will not marry Mr. Plummer," he repeated, with energy, "and it is
+not you that will break the promise. It is he that shall give it back to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>For the time she felt his faith, and her face glowed, but her courage
+left her when the "King," who had been ahead with the candidate, dropped
+back towards the rear and joined them.</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer, too, had begun that return journey with feelings of
+exhilaration. Everything in the trip from Crow's Wing appealed to him,
+because it was so thoroughly in consonance with his early life in the
+mountains. The adventure in Queen City had stirred his blood, and around
+him were familiar things. He, too, wished that an organized band of
+bandits would come, because in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> younger days he had helped to hunt
+down some of the worst men in the mountains, and the old fighting blood
+mounted as high as ever in his veins.</p>
+
+<p>He had seen that Sylvia was entirely recovered from the alarms of the
+night at Queen City, and then, because he felt that it was his duty, and
+because there was a keen zest in it, too, he rode on ahead with the
+candidate, to whom he pointed out dim blue peaks that he knew, and to
+whom he laid down the proposition that those mountains were full of
+minerals, and would one day prove a source of illimitable wealth to the
+nation.</p>
+
+<p>The crispness of the morning, the vast expanse of mountain, and the
+feeling of deep, full life made the "King's" blood tingle. His years of
+hardship, danger, and joy&mdash;and he had enjoyed his life greatly&mdash;swept
+before him, and he laughed under his breath; life was still very good.
+After a while the thought of Sylvia came to him, and he smiled again,
+because Sylvia was truly good to look upon. He rode back towards her,
+and then he received a blow&mdash;a blow square in the face, and dealt
+heavily.</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer's was not a mind trained to look upon the more delicate
+shades of life&mdash;he dealt rather with the obvious; but when he saw Harley
+and Sylvia he knew. Mrs. Grayson's warning, which at first he had only
+half accepted, had come true, and it had come quickly. His instant
+impulse was that of the primitive man to raise his fist and strike down
+this foolish, this presumptuous youth who had dared to cross the path of
+him, the King of the Mountains; but he did not raise it, because "King"
+Plummer was a gentleman; instead, he strove to conceal the fact that he
+was breathing hard and deep, and he spoke to them in a tone that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+sought to render careless, but which really had an unnatural sound.
+Sylvia gave him a glance that was half fear, and had the "King" taken
+notice it would have filled him with deep pain, but Harley, who alone of
+the three retained his self-possession, spoke lightly of passing things.
+The feeling of exulting strength was not yet gone from him; in the
+presence of this man of great achievement he was not afraid, and,
+moreover, the desire to protect Sylvia, to turn attention from her, was
+strong within him.</p>
+
+<p>For these reasons Harley carried the whole burden of the talk, and
+carried it well. Neither of the others wished to interrupt him; Sylvia
+being full of these new emotions, half joy and half fear, that agitated
+her, and Mr. Plummer trying to evolve from chaos a way to act.</p>
+
+<p>Although the "King" had suppressed the muscular manifestation, he was
+none the less burned by internal fire. Sylvia was his: it was he who had
+found her in the mountains; it was he who had given her the years of
+care and tenderness, and by every right, including that of promise, she
+belonged to him. Nor was he one to give her up for a fancy. He had seen
+the look of love on her face when she spoke to Harley, but she was only
+a girl&mdash;from the crest of his years the "King" thought that he saw the
+truth, and knew it&mdash;and as soon as this campaign was over, and the
+Eastern youth had disappeared, she would forget him.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Plummer regarded this youth out of the corner of his eye, and while
+he pitied him for his ignorance of life, he was bound to admit that
+Harley was a handsome fellow, tall, well knit, and with an air of
+self-reliance. Evidently there was good stuff in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> him, and he would
+amount to something when he was trained and mature, although the "King"
+concluded that he needed a great deal of training. But he could not fail
+to feel respect for Harley's presence of mind, his calm, and his ease.
+The youth showed no fear of him, no sign of apprehension, and the
+mountaineer gave him credit for it.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia was glad when they stopped in one of the lower glades to rest and
+eat of the food which had been so amply provided for them. But she was
+proud of Harley and the manner in which he had taken upon himself all
+the burden. His conduct went far to justify in her eyes his confident
+prediction, and, secretly approving, she watched the ease with which he
+bore himself among the blunt mountaineers and the handsome manner in
+which he affiliated. She noticed that they seemed to think of Harley as
+one like Jimmy Grayson&mdash;that is, one of themselves&mdash;and they never
+considered him raw or green in any respect.</p>
+
+<p>Her confidence in Harley and the momentary elation returned as they
+stood there in this cup in the mountain-side and looked out upon the
+expanse of peak and plain. She ate, too, with an appetite that the
+mountain air sharpened, and she thrilled with strength and hope.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Plummer, from some motive that she did not understand, kept himself
+in the background during the stop; nor did she know how his big heart
+was filled with wrath and gloom. But as he stood silently at the
+farthest rim of the circle, he resolved to push his fortunes, which was
+in accordance with his nature.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you walk to the edge of the cove with me?" he said to the
+candidate, when he saw that the latter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> had finished his luncheon, and
+Mr. Grayson, without a word, complied with his request.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson must have had some premonition of what was to come,
+because he obeyed his first impulse, and glanced at Harley and Sylvia,
+who were standing together. He was confirmed in his thought when he saw
+the look of gloom and resolve upon the face of his friend.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to speak to you of Sylvia," said "King" Plummer, in tones of
+hurry, as if it cost him an effort. "It's about our marriage. I think I
+ought to hurry it up a little. You see&mdash;well, you can't help seeing,
+that, compared with Sylvia, I'm old. I'm not really old, but I'm old
+enough to be her father, an' youth has a way that's pretty hard to break
+of turnin' to youth."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia's just a girl; she don't seem much more 'n a child to me, an'
+lately she's been travellin' about a heap, an' she's met new people.
+Now, I don't blame her, don't think that, because it's natural, but here
+is this young writin' chap."</p>
+
+<p>"Harley, you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. An' I'm not sayin' anythin' against him, either, though writin'
+has never been much in my line, but he an' Sylvia seem to have taken a
+sort of shine to each other&mdash;I don't know whether it amounts to any more
+than that, though I suppose it could if it was give a chance; but down
+there in Queen City he did more for her than I did, or anybody else, and
+I suppose that tells with a girl. Well, you saw 'em together as we
+walked out here, an' I'm bound to admit that they make a powerful likely
+couple."</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated, as if he were waiting for the candidate to speak, but Mr.
+Grayson was silent. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> glanced once at the strong face of Plummer,
+drawn as if in pain, and then he looked into the valley a thousand feet
+below. Jimmy Grayson did not care to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"I ain't a blind man," continued the "King." "I may not be too smart,
+but still things don't have to be driven into me with a wedge. If Sylvia
+and Harley were left to themselves, they would fall deep in love, I can
+see that; but I tell you, Mr. Grayson, she's mine, she belongs to me,
+because I've earned her, and because she's promised herself to me, too,
+an' I can't give her up. Still, if it's wrong, if I ought to let her
+have her promise back, I'll do it anyhow. An' that's why I've asked you
+to walk out here. I don't like much to speak to another man of a thing
+right next to my heart, but I want to ask you, Mr. Grayson&mdash;you are her
+uncle an' my best friend&mdash;what do you think I ought to do?"</p>
+
+<p>It was hard to embarrass Jimmy Grayson, but he was embarrassed now. He
+would rather any other man in the world had asked him any other
+question. Sylvia was his niece, and her happiness was dear to him.
+Harley, too, had found a place in his heart. And when he glanced at them
+again and saw them still together, it seemed fit and right that they
+should continue so through life. But there was "King" Plummer, an honest
+man, and his claim could not be denied. And his mind could not help
+asking this insidious little question, "If Sylvia is allowed to throw
+over 'King' Plummer, will he not sulk and allow the Mountain States,
+passing from her uncle, to go into the other column?" Jimmy Grayson
+would not have been human if he had not heard this little question
+demanding an answer, but he resolutely resisted it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>"What do you say?" asked Mr. Plummer. "I'd risk much on your advice."</p>
+
+<p>"I was studying your question, because in a case like this a man has to
+think of so many things, and then may miss the right one. But, Mr.
+Plummer, I don't know what to say; I think, however, I'd wait. Sylvia is
+a good girl, and I know you can trust her. But they are beckoning to us;
+they are ready to start."</p>
+
+<p>He was glad of that start, because it saved him from further discussion
+of the problem, and Mr. Plummer went back with him moodily.</p>
+
+<p>Yet the resolve in the "King's" mind had only been strengthened by his
+talk with the candidate. The danger of Sylvia slipping through his
+fingers because of his own want of precaution made her all the more dear
+to him, and he was determined to take that precaution now. So he was
+watchful throughout the remainder of the journey, seeking his
+opportunity, and it came towards the twilight, as they saw the first
+houses of the railroad station rise upon the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson, Hobart, Blaisdell, the state politicians, and, all the
+others came out to meet them, and for a while there was a turmoil of
+voices asking questions and answering them. Presently Sylvia slipped
+from the group, and Mr. Plummer followed her towards the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," he said, "wait for me. I have some thing to say."</p>
+
+<p>She recognized an unusual tone in his voice and she was frightened. She
+felt an almost irresistible impulse to run and to hide herself in some
+dim room of the hotel. But she did not do it; instead, she waited and
+walked by his side.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>"Sylvia," he said, "the perils and hardships of the trip we are just
+finishin' have set me to thinkin' hard."</p>
+
+<p>She trembled again. She felt as if he were going to say something that
+she would not like to hear.</p>
+
+<p>"That trip was full of dangers for you, and, as we go through all this
+Western country, there may be more to come. I want the right, Sylvia, to
+look after you, to look after you more closely than I've ever done
+before, and to do that, Sylvia, I've got to be your husband."</p>
+
+<p>"I have promised."</p>
+
+<p>"I know you have, an' I know you'll keep your promise. But I want you to
+keep it now. Why couldn't we get married, say next week, and make this
+campaign one big weddin' tour. I think it would be grand, Sylvia, an'
+it's right easy to arrange."</p>
+
+<p>He paused, awaiting her answer, but she had suddenly lost all her color,
+and, despite herself, she trembled violently.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no!" she cried, "not now! It would be better to wait. Why break up
+this pleasant&mdash;Oh, I don't mean that! I mean, why not go on as we are
+through the campaign, and afterwards we could talk of&mdash;of&mdash;what you
+propose? Anything else now would be so unusual. I think we'd better
+wait!"</p>
+
+<p>She spoke almost breathlessly under impulse, and then she stopped
+suddenly as if afraid. The color poured back into her face, and she
+waited timidly.</p>
+
+<p>The King of the Mountains, who had never known fear, was gripped by a
+cold chill. He had delivered his master-stroke and it had failed.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll wait, Sylvia," he said, gloomily. "Of course a woman's wish in
+such a matter as this is law, and more than law."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>"Oh, daddy, don't you see how it is?" she cried, moved by his tone. "I'm
+but twenty-two. I don't want to marry just yet. I haven't seen enough of
+this big world. Why can't we wait a little?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be afraid, child; no one shall make you marry when you don't want
+to," he said, soothingly and protectingly, and this r&ocirc;le became him
+superbly. "The subject sha'n't be mentioned to you again while the
+campaign lasts."</p>
+
+<p>"You are the best man in the world, daddy!" she exclaimed. Suddenly she
+rose on tiptoe, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and then ran away.
+"King" Plummer walked gravely back to the lobby of the hotel, where a
+crowd was gathered.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was one of this crowd, and on entering the room he had been met
+at once by Churchill, upon whose face was a look of consternation.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," he asked, "is the report true that Grayson was in danger of
+being kidnapped by bandits on this trip to Crow's Wing?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is true, every word of it."</p>
+
+<p>"My God! what will Europe say?" exclaimed Churchill, aghast.</p>
+
+<p>Harley laughed, but he did not attempt to reason with Churchill. He knew
+that the correspondent of the <i>Monitor</i> was too far gone to be reached
+by argument.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill sent a lurid despatch to the <i>Monitor</i>, describing in detail
+the folly and recklessness of the candidate, and the manner in which he
+neglected the great issues of the campaign for the sake of impulses,
+which always terminated in frivolous or dangerous adventures. And the
+<i>Monitor</i> fully backed up its correspondent, because, when the issue of
+the paper that published the despatch reached them, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> also contained
+an editorial, in which the editor wrote in anguish of heart:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"We have supported Mr. Grayson in this campaign with as much zeal
+and energy as our moral sense would permit. We have given him full
+credit for all the virtues that he may possess, and we have been
+willing at all times for him to profit by our experience and
+advice. But our readers will bear witness that we have never failed
+in courage to denounce the wrong, even if it should be in our own
+house. Our easy, and on the whole superficial, American temperament
+condones too many things. Never was it more noticeable than in the
+vital issues of this Presidential campaign. The yellow journals are
+making a great noise over Mr. Grayson; they shout about his
+oratory, his generosity, and his noble impulses until the really
+serious minority of us can scarcely hear; but the grave, thoughtful
+people, those who are recognized in Europe as the real leaders of
+American opinion, will not be put down. Despite the turmoil of the
+childish, we have never lost our heads. The <i>Monitor</i>, from the
+very first, has perceived the truth, and it has the courage to tell
+it. We contribute this advice willingly and without charge to those
+who are conducting the campaign.</p>
+
+<p>"The youthful and flamboyant qualities must be eradicated from Mr.
+Grayson. Our young republic cannot afford to be discredited in the
+eyes of Europe by the sensational or frivolous actions of one who
+is nominated by a great party for the high office of President.
+This last adventure with brigands in the mountains is really more
+than our patience will bear, and our readers know that our patience
+is great.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> We have suggested, we have advised, and we have even
+threatened by indirection, but thus far it has all been futile.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we mean to speak with the bluntness and decision demanded by
+the circumstances. A committee of men, mature in years and solid in
+judgment, some of whom we can name, must be put in control of the
+campaign. Mr. Grayson must be kept within strict limits; he must
+take advice before delivering his speeches, and he must not be
+permitted to turn aside for irrelevant issues. And since the
+<i>Monitor</i> speaks reluctantly, and in the utmost kindness, we
+suggest that he become a faithful reader of our columns. A word to
+the wise is sufficient."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The day this issue of the <i>Monitor</i> arrived Sylvia said to Churchill:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Churchill, I want to thank you in behalf of my uncle for that
+beautiful editorial in the <i>Monitor</i>. It was put in the very way that
+would appeal to him most."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really think so, Miss Morgan?" said Churchill, blushing with
+borrowed pride.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, but it was so typical, it had so much of a certain personal
+quality in it, that I am sure you must have telegraphed it to the
+<i>Monitor</i> yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"King" Plummer, who stood by and who had very little to say these days,
+smiled sourly.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI</h2>
+
+<h3>BY THE FIRELIGHT</h3>
+
+<p>The special train now entered one of the most mountainous portions of
+Utah, and, as the strenuous nature of the campaign continued, its
+exigencies permitted little time for other things. Personal feelings,
+fears, and hopes had to be buried, or at least hidden for the time, and
+Harley, like all the rest, was absorbed in work. Nevertheless, his
+feeling of confidence, even exhilaration, remained. He believed that he
+would yet discover a way.</p>
+
+<p>He found this part of the campaign pleasant, physically as well as
+mentally. The alternation of huge mountain and fertile valley was
+grateful to the eye, and, however severe the day's journey might be,
+they knew there would be good rest at the end.</p>
+
+<p>It had been nearly a week since the episode of the dead city, when
+Hobart bustled back to Harley and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Harley, we shall have the noble red man to hear us to-night. We stop
+just at the edge of the Indian reservation, and a lot of the braves,
+with their squaws, too, I suppose, will attend. Of course they will be
+duly impressed by Jimmy Grayson's oratory."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia Morgan was present when this news was announced, and Hobart
+suddenly stopped short and glanced at her. She had turned pale, and
+then, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>remembering that old tragedy in her life when she was a little
+child, he ascribed her pallor to her horror at the mention of Indians.
+But Hobart did not know that they were approaching the scene of the
+memorable massacre.</p>
+
+<p>The train now curved southward and entered a fertile valley lying like a
+bowl among the high mountains. They saw here fields that had been golden
+with wheat, ripe fruit yet hung from the trees, and the touch of green
+was still visible, although autumn had come. By the railway track a
+clear mountain stream flowed, sparkling in the thin, pure air, and there
+was more than one full-grown man in the candidate's party who, with
+memories of his youth before him, longed to pull off shoes and socks and
+wade in it with bare feet.</p>
+
+<p>The sight was most refreshing after so much mountain and arid expanse,
+and the tired travellers brightened up visibly.</p>
+
+<p>"One of the states has the motto, 'Here we rest'&mdash;I've forgotten which
+it is&mdash;but it ought to be Utah," said Hobart, "and now's the time."</p>
+
+<p>He was not disappointed. They came before noon to Belleville, the
+metropolis of the valley, the place where the candidate was going to
+speak, one of the prettiest little towns that ever built its nest in the
+Rocky Mountains. They were all enthusiastic over it, with its trim
+houses, its well-paved streets, the clear water flowing beside the
+curbs, and its air of completion. The people, too, had all the Western
+courage and energy, without its roughness and undue expression, and so
+the candidate and his party luxuriated.</p>
+
+<p>"You wouldn't think that this gem of a town was harried more by Indians
+in its infancy than perhaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> any other place in the West, would you?"
+said Hobart to Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Hobart, what a nuisance you are!" replied Harley; "you are always
+prowling around in search of useless facts. Now, I don't want to hear
+anything about bloodshed and massacre, when Belleville is the picture of
+neatness and comfort that it is to-day. Look at that little opera-house
+over there! You couldn't find anything handsomer in a city of fifty
+thousand in the East."</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," said Hobart, with emphasis, "I wouldn't have your lack of
+curiosity for anything in the world," and he wandered away in disgust to
+pour his ancient history into the ears of a more willing listener.</p>
+
+<p>At twilight they ate an admirable dinner, and then Harley, Hobart, who
+had returned from his explorations, Blaisdell, and two or three others,
+after their custom, filled in the interval between supper and the
+speeches with a stroll through the village, Mr. Plummer going along as a
+sort of mentor. The keeper of the hotel informed them that many of the
+Indians already were in town and were "tanking up." Harley found this to
+be true, and the red men failed to arouse in him either respect or
+admiration. If they had ever had any nobility of the wilderness, it was
+gone now, and they seemed to him a sodden, depressed, and repellent
+race. A half-dozen or so, in various stages of drunkenness, through
+whiskey surreptitiously obtained, increased the feeling of aversion.</p>
+
+<p>In the dusk they stumbled over a figure lying squarely across the path,
+and Harley drew back with a word of disgust. An old Indian, dilapidated
+and in the last stages of intoxication, was stretched out on his face. A
+local resident named Walker, who had joined them, laughed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>"That," said he, "is a chief, a great man, or at least he was once. It's
+old Flying Cloud&mdash;poetical name, though he don't look poetical now by a
+long shot. Here, get out of this; you're blocking up the road!"</p>
+
+<p>With true Western directness he administered a kick to the prostrate
+form, but the old chief, buried in a sodden dream, only stirred and
+muttered; then the resident opened up a battery of kicks, and presently
+the Indian rose to his feet and slunk off, muttering, in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>"They're no good at all," said Walker. "Only a lot of sots, whenever
+they get the chance."</p>
+
+<p>But Harley was thinking of the contrast between what he had just seen
+and what he had imagined might be the freedom and nobility of the
+wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>It was a beautiful autumn night, and the candidate spoke in the open, in
+the village square, with the mountains that circled about him as his
+background. Sylvia Morgan was not among the listeners. Usually she
+enjoyed these speeches in the evening, with the crowds, the enthusiasm,
+and the encircling darkness. But to-night she would not come, nor would
+she tell the reason to Harley or any of his friends. She merely said
+that she wished to stay in her room at the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>The audience was quiet and attentive, and Harley noticed here and there
+on the outskirts the dark faces of the Indians. They interested him so
+much that he left the platform presently to watch them. He was wondering
+if they had any conception at all of Jimmy Grayson's words or of a
+Presidential campaign. Nor did he gain any knowledge by his examination.
+They listened gravely, and their faces were without expression.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>The nearest of them all to the stand Harley recognized as the old chief,
+Flying Cloud, whom Walker had kicked off the sidewalk. He seemed to have
+recovered physical command of himself, and stood erect. There was a red
+feather in his felt hat, and a shawl in brilliant stripes was drawn
+across his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate spoke in a specially happy vein that night, and the
+background of the mountains added impressiveness to his words. To
+Harley, again the analyst, and seeking to put himself in the Indian's
+place, there was a rhythm and power in what Jimmy Grayson said, although
+he, as an Indian, might not understand a word. He could interpret it as
+a chant of battle or victory, and such, he had no doubt, was the view of
+Flying Cloud.</p>
+
+<p>The chief, so Harley judged, was still half under the influence of
+drink, but he was paying close attention to the speaker, and the
+correspondent at last saw in his eyes what he took to be the stir of
+some emotion. It was a light, as of memories of his own triumphs, and
+the chief's figure began to sway gently to the music of Jimmy Grayson's
+voice. They had built a bonfire near the speaker's stand, and by its
+flare Harley clearly saw old Flying Cloud smile.</p>
+
+<p>Hobart came up at that moment, and, Harley pointed out to him the
+transformation in the old chief's appearance. Hobart's opinion agreed
+with Harley's.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a battle-song that Flying Cloud is hearing," he said. "It's Jimmy
+Grayson that's stirring him up, though maybe the old fellow doesn't
+understand it that way."</p>
+
+<p>The speeches ended after a while, and the people began to leave.
+Presently only a few were left in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> the square, and among them was
+Harley, who felt no touch of sleepiness. He looked at the quiet town,
+then up at the ridges and peaks, crested with snow and silhouetted
+against the moonlit sky, and thought again of that little girl, alone
+with her dead and in the night among the vast mountains.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment he believed that it was a telepathic feeling, because at
+his elbow was Sylvia Morgan herself, a red-striped shawl over her head
+to protect her from the cold, and "King" Plummer, who had evidently
+brought her from the hotel, not far away.</p>
+
+<p>"Are they all gone?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied Harley; "the Indians and a few more are left."</p>
+
+<p>Harley, in the moonlight, clearly saw her shiver.</p>
+
+<p>"I was restless, and I could not sleep," she said. "I came out for the
+sake of the air. But I'll go back."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Harley, "don't go. Stay with us, please. Now what can that
+mean?"</p>
+
+<p>A wild, barbaric chant arose near the bonfire behind them.</p>
+
+<p>"Come!" exclaimed Harley, keen to see and hear. "I think it's old Flying
+Cloud, and he's ready to turn himself loose. We can't miss this!"</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia was about to turn away, but as "King" Plummer came up on the
+other side of her, and seemed to have a curiosity like Harley's, she
+yielded at last, though with reluctance, and the three walked towards
+the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Harley's surmise was correct, as old Flying Cloud, jumping back and
+forth, was singing some kind of war-song. There was a group about him,
+and in it was Hobart, who Harley guessed had been a moving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> spirit in
+this scene. Jimmy Grayson's fire and eloquence had done the rest.</p>
+
+<p>The flames burned down a little, but they cast a weird light on the old
+chief's face, bringing out like brown carving the high cheek-bones, the
+great, hooked nose, and the seamed cheeks. The thin lips fell away from
+long, yellow teeth, and heightened the effect of cruelty which his whole
+expression gave.</p>
+
+<p>Hobart came over to them, and said: "See how the old fellow is changing!
+We've got him to sing one of his ancient war-songs, and I guess he
+thinks he's beating Jimmy Grayson now!"</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia Morgan shuddered, but she said nothing. She seemed to be held by
+the fascination of the serpent.</p>
+
+<p>The chief continued to make his queer little jumps back and forth, and
+went on with his chant. As he had begun in English for his auditors, so
+he continued, although he was now oblivious of their presence. Harley,
+watching him, knew it, and he knew, too, that the chief's mind was far
+back in the past. His was not the song of the broken derelict, but of
+the barbarous and triumphant warrior, and as he sang he gathered fire
+and strength.</p>
+
+<p>The circle of white faces grew around the old chief. Every loiterer was
+there, and others came back. Not one spoke. All were fascinated by the
+singular and weird scene. The moon, low down on the mountain's crest,
+still shed a pallid, grayish light that mingled with the fitful red
+glare from the glowing coals, the two together casting an unearthly
+tinge. But Harley's eyes never left the chief, as he saw his figure
+continue to expand and grow with ancient memories of prowess, and the
+eyes of Sylvia beside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> him, as she too listened, expressed many and
+strong emotions.</p>
+
+<p>Flying Cloud told of hunting triumphs, of the slaughter of the buffalo,
+of fierce encounters with the mountain-lion, of hand-to-hand combat with
+the grizzly bear, and then he glided into war. Now his voice rose, full
+and prolonged, without any of the tremor or shrillness of age, and his
+eccentric dancing grew more violent. His emotions, too, were shown on
+his face in all their savagery as he told of the foray and the fight.</p>
+
+<p>At first it was Indian against Indian, and never was any mercy
+shown&mdash;always woe to the conquered; then it was the whites. An emigrant
+train was coming over the mountains&mdash;men, women, and children. There was
+danger in their path; a Ute war-band was abroad, but the fools knew it
+not. They travelled on, and at night the children played and laughed by
+the camp-fire, but the shadow of the Utes was always there. Flying Cloud
+led the war-band, but held them back until the time should come. He was
+waiting for a place that he knew. At last they reached it, a deep ca&ntilde;on
+with bushes on either side, and the train entered the defile.</p>
+
+<p>Harley suddenly felt a hand upon his arm. It was the fingers of Sylvia
+grasping him, but unconscious of the act. He looked up and saw her face
+as white as death, and a yard away the eyes of "King" Plummer were
+burning like two coals.</p>
+
+<p>Flying Cloud's figure swayed, and his voice trembled with a curious joy
+at the old memories. He was approaching the great moment of triumph. He
+told how the warriors lay among the bushes, watching the foolish train
+come on, how they looked at each other and rejoiced in advance over an
+easy victory.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> Some would have fired too soon, but Flying Cloud would
+not let them. His was the cunning mind, as well as the bold heart, and
+he omitted nothing. The trap was perfect. The fools never suspected.
+They stopped to make a camp, and still they did not know that a ring of
+death was about them. They built their fires, and again the children
+laughed and played by the coals. It was the last time.</p>
+
+<p>The old chief was now wholly the wilderness slayer, the Indian of an
+earlier time. His glittering eyes at times swept the circle of white
+faces about him, but he did not see them, only that old massacre.</p>
+
+<p>The narrative went on. Flying Cloud told each of his warriors to select
+a victim, and fire true when he gave the word. He chose for himself a
+large man who stood by one of the wagons, a man who had with him a woman
+and a little boy and a little girl, and the little girl had long curls.</p>
+
+<p>A groan burst from Plummer, and Harley saw his great figure gather as if
+for a spring. But Harley, quick as lightning, seized the man in a
+powerful grasp, and cried in his ear: "Not now, Mr. Plummer, not now,
+for God's sake! Wait until the end!"</p>
+
+<p>Harley felt the "King" quiver in his hands, and then cease to struggle.
+Sylvia stood by, still as white as death and absolutely motionless. The
+others, held by the old chief's song, did not see nor hear.</p>
+
+<p>Flying Cloud's eyes were glittering with cruel triumph as he continued
+his chant. The rifles were raised, the white fools yet suspected
+nothing, but laughed and jested with each other as if there would be a
+to-morrow.</p>
+
+<p>Then he gave the word, and all the rifles were fired at once. The ca&ntilde;on
+was filled with smoke and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> whistling of bullets. Most of the men in
+the train were killed at once, and then the warriors sprang among those
+who were left. Flying Cloud had shot the tall man by the wagon, and then
+he sought the woman and the two children. He slew the woman and the
+little boy, and he scalped them both. Then he sprang at the girl, but
+the child of the Evil Spirit slipped among the bushes, and he could not
+find her.</p>
+
+<p>The old chief stopped a moment, and once more his glittering eyes swept
+the circle of white faces, but saw them not. Then that fierce cry burst
+again from Plummer. Suddenly he threw off Harley as if he had been a
+child, and sprang through the ring of white faces into the circle of the
+firelight. The tall, pale girl, still not saying a word, stood by, like
+an avenging goddess.</p>
+
+<p>"Murderer!" cried the "King." "It is not too late to punish you!"</p>
+
+<p>He seized the old chief by the throat, but the white men threw
+themselves upon him and tore him off.</p>
+
+<p>Flying Cloud reeled back, gazed a moment at Plummer, and then drew a
+knife.</p>
+
+<p>"It was when there was war between us, and I will not swing at the end
+of the white man's rope," he said.</p>
+
+<p>So speaking, he plunged the blade into his own heart and fell dead,
+almost at the feet of the woman whose kin he had slain.</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever the red scoundrel was," said Hobart, later, "I shall always
+use the old text for him, and say that nothing in this life became him
+like the leaving of it."</p>
+
+<p>But there were no such feelings in the heart of Sylvia Morgan. When
+"King" Plummer sprang upon Flying Cloud, Harley turned involuntarily to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>
+Sylvia, and he saw the pallor replaced by a sudden flush; then, when the
+chief slew himself with his own knife, the flush passed, and whiter than
+ever she sank down gently. But Harley caught her in his arms before she
+fell, and in a moment or two she revived. It seemed to be her first
+thought that she was held by him, and she struggled a little.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go," she said; "I can stand. I assure you I can. It was just a
+passing weakness."</p>
+
+<p>But Harley wished to make certain that it was not more than that before
+he released her, and the friendly darkness and the interest of the crowd
+centred on Flying Cloud aided him. A minute later Mrs. Grayson and the
+wife of a local political leader, Mrs. Meadows, took her from him and
+carried her to the hotel. Mrs. Grayson, who had heard the chief's chant,
+understood the story, but Mrs. Meadows, who knew nothing of Sylvia's
+relation to it, but who guessed something from the talk of the others,
+was devoured by curiosity. However, she prevailed over it, for the time,
+and was silent as she went with Sylvia back to the hotel, although she
+made a vow which she kept&mdash;that she would find out the full truth in the
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>Harley lingered a little by the firelight and joined Hobart and the
+crowd. The tragedy had cut deep into his thoughts&mdash;and he did not care
+to talk, but the others had plenty to say.</p>
+
+<p>"What a singular coincidence," said Tremaine, stroking his fine, white,
+pointed mustache, of which he was very proud. "I call it very remarkable
+that this savage should have told the story of that old tragedy the very
+night when the only survivor of it was present."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not call it remarkable at all," said Hobart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> "It is not even a
+coincidence in the usual meaning of the word. It came about naturally,
+each chapter in the story being the logical sequence of the chapter that
+preceded it."</p>
+
+<p>"It may all be very clear to a man like you, one who makes a study of
+crime and mysteries," said Tremaine, ironically, as he gave his mustache
+an impatient tug, "but it is far from being so to me. I still call it a
+coincidence."</p>
+
+<p>"That is because you haven't taken time to think about it, Tremaine.
+Your mind is entirely too good to accept such a theory as coincidence.
+In the first place, Mr. Grayson is making a thorough tour of the West,
+all the more thorough because these are supposed to be doubtful states.
+Now what more natural than his coming to Belleville, which is one of the
+most important towns in northern Utah, and, having come, what more
+probable than the presence of the Indians at his speech, because such
+attractions are rare in Belleville, and the Indian would come to see
+what it is that stirs up so much his white friend and brother. Of
+course, the Indian in his degenerate days, would take the chance to get
+drunk, and, being in a whiskey stupor, he naturally supposed that Mr.
+Grayson was chanting a chant of victory, and quite as naturally he
+chanted in return his own chant, and also quite as naturally this chant
+was about the deed that he considered the greatest of his life. So,
+there you are; the chain is complete, the result is natural; any other
+result would have been unnatural."</p>
+
+<p>Tremaine laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"You have worked it out pretty well, Hobart," he said, "but I have my
+own opinion."</p>
+
+<p>"You are entitled to it," rejoined Hobart, briskly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> "but be sure you
+keep it to yourself, and then you won't suffer from the criticisms of
+the intelligent."</p>
+
+<p>Tremaine laughed good-naturedly, and then avowed his concern about that
+beautiful girl, Miss Morgan, who suddenly and under such peculiar
+circumstances had been brought face to face with the slayer of her
+people; he had perceived from the first her noble qualities, and he felt
+for her the deepest sympathy. Tremaine, while a great lover of the
+ladies, had in reality less perception than any of the others in affairs
+of the heart. He was, perhaps, the only one in the group who did not
+know what was going on, and for that reason he talked at length of
+Sylvia, no one being able to stop him. He thought it a pity that Sylvia
+should be wasted on "King" Plummer, who was a good man, a fine old Roman
+soul, but then he had his doubts about Sylvia's love for him&mdash;that is,
+as a husband. Mr. Plummer was too old for her. Tremaine, by a curious
+inconsistency, never looked upon himself as old, and thought it
+perfectly natural that he should carry on a mild flirtation with any
+girl, provided she be handsome, although young enough to be his
+daughter.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was uneasy, and would have left them had not the act called
+attention to himself too pointedly, and he was forced to listen to
+Tremaine's rambling comment, knowing that all the others had him in
+their thoughts as they heard. Fortunately, Tremaine did not require any
+comment from others, preferring an unbroken stream of his own talk, and
+Harley was able to regain his hotel in silence.</p>
+
+<p>They were confronted the next morning by an announcement that sent
+sorrow through the whole group. Mrs. Grayson felt that the events of the
+night before were too much for a young girl, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> unless she were
+removed for a time to quieter scenes and a less arduous life they would
+leave lasting effects. Moreover, the campaign was about to enter upon a
+phase in which women would prove burdensome, hence she and Sylvia were
+going to Salt Lake City for a stay of two weeks, and then they would
+rejoin the party at some point in the Northwest.</p>
+
+<p>It was with no counterfeit grief that they heard this news. The ladies
+had added brightness and variety to a most toilsome campaign, and their
+daily travel would seem very black indeed without them. Even Churchill
+was loud in his regrets, because Churchill had some of the instincts of
+a gentleman, and he never failed in what was due to Mrs. Grayson and
+Sylvia. But he could not keep from making one nasty little stab at
+Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," he said, "do you know that they are going to have a very
+stalwart escort to Salt Lake?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not," replied Harley, in some surprise. "I think they are quite
+able to take care of themselves."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps they are, but 'King' Plummer is going with them, nevertheless.
+At his age it is well for a man to keep watch over a young girl whom he
+expects to marry, or some husky youth may carry her off."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was surprised at the strength of his desire to strike Churchill
+in the face, and he was also surprised at the fact that he resisted it.
+He accounted for it by his theory that Churchill could not help being
+mean at times, and, therefore, was not wholly responsible. So he
+contented himself with saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Churchill, you are a fool now and then, but you never know it."</p>
+
+<p>Then he walked carelessly away before Churchill had made up his mind
+whether to get angry or to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> return a sarcastic reply. Churchill liked to
+use sarcasm, as it made him feel superior.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley was much disturbed by Churchill's statement. Sylvia was going
+away, and her stay of two weeks might lengthen into months or become
+permanent. And Mr. Plummer was going with her. Harley's own absence
+would put him at a great disadvantage, and for a moment he suspected
+that this stop at Salt Lake City was an artful movement on the part of
+the "King," but reflection made him acquit Mr. Plummer, first, because
+the "King" was too honest to do such a thing, and, second, because he
+was not subtle enough to think of it.</p>
+
+<p>While he was planning what he would do to face this unforeseen
+development, a boy from the hotel handed him a note. Harley's heart
+jumped when he saw that it was in the handwriting of Sylvia Morgan, and
+it fluttered still further when she asked to see him in the hotel parlor
+for a few minutes. He was apprehensive, too, because if she had anything
+good to tell him she certainly would not send for him.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia was sitting in the parlor beside a window that looked out upon a
+vast range of snow-covered mountains, rising like the serrated teeth of
+a saw, and, although she heard his footsteps, she did not turn her face
+until Harley stood beside her. Then she said, irrelevantly:</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't that a grand view!"</p>
+
+<p>"You did not send for me to tell me that," said Harley, with a certain
+protecting tenderness in his tone, because what he took to be the
+sadness in her face appealed to his manly qualities.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I did not. I have been thinking over what we said to each other
+when we were coming back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> from Crow's Wing, and I have concluded that it
+was wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"Why was it wrong? I love you, and I had the right to tell you so."</p>
+
+<p>"No, you did not. You would have had were I free, but I am promised to
+another. I was wrong to let you speak; I was wrong to listen to you."</p>
+
+<p>"I will not admit it," said Harley, doggedly, "because Mr. Plummer is
+going to give you up. He will see that he ought not to hold you to this
+promise."</p>
+
+<p>She smiled sadly.</p>
+
+<p>"I must be loyal to him," she said, "and before starting for Salt Lake
+City I want to tell you that you must not again speak to me of this."</p>
+
+<p>"But I shall write to you in Salt Lake."</p>
+
+<p>"You must not write of this. If you do, I will not open another one of
+your letters."</p>
+
+<p>"I promise not to write to you of love, but I make no promise after
+that. You are not going from Salt Lake to Idaho? This is not an excuse
+to leave us for good?"</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes wavered before his. It may be that she had intended to abandon
+the campaign permanently, but, with his straight and masterful glance
+demanding an honest answer, she could not say it.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I will come back," she said, and then, with a sudden burst of
+feeling: "Oh, I like your group; I like all of you. This great journey
+has been something fresh and wonderful to me, and I do not want to leave
+it!"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought not," said Harley, with returning confidence, "and I am glad
+that you sent for me here, because it has given me a chance to tell you
+that, while you mean to keep your promise, I also mean<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> to keep mine.
+Mr. Plummer will yet yield you up. You are mine, not his, you know you
+are!"</p>
+
+<p>He bent suddenly and kissed her lightly on the forehead, and every nerve
+in her tingled at the first touch of the lips of the man whom she loved.
+Yet with the sense of right, of loyalty to another, strong within her,
+she was about to protest, but he was gone, and the first kiss still
+tingled on her forehead. She felt as if he had put there an invisible
+seal, and that now in very truth she belonged to him.</p>
+
+<p>The two ladies under the escort of Mr. Plummer left an hour later for
+Salt Lake City, and everybody was at the station to see them go. Mrs.
+Grayson was quiet as usual, and Sylvia was noticeably subdued, a fact
+which most of them ascribed to the tragedy of Flying Cloud and her
+coming absence of two weeks from a most interesting campaign.</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to cheer up, Miss Sylvia," said Hobart, "because you are not
+half as unlucky as we are. You can spare us much more easily than we can
+spare you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am really sorry that I must go," she said, sincerely.</p>
+
+<p>"But you will come back to us?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have promised to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"That is enough; we know that you will keep a promise, Miss Sylvia."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia at first would not look at Harley. His kiss still burned upon her
+brow, and she yet felt that it was his seal, his claim upon her. And her
+conscience hurt her for it, because there was "King" Plummer, strong,
+protecting, and overflowing with love for her and faith in her. But as
+she was telling them all good-bye she was forced to say it to Harley,
+too, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> his turn, and when he took her hand he pressed it ever so
+little, and said, for her ear only:</p>
+
+<p>"I am still hoping. I refuse to give you up."</p>
+
+<p>She retreated quickly into the Salt Lake car to hide her blush.</p>
+
+<p>When they saw the last smoke of the train melting into the blue sky,
+Harley and Mr. Heathcote walked back to the hotel together. A strong
+friendship had grown up between these two, and each valued the other's
+opinion.</p>
+
+<p>"A fine woman," said Mr. Heathcote, looking towards the silky blue of
+the sky where the smoke had been.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mrs. Grayson has always impressed me as a woman of great dignity
+and strength," said Harley, purposely misunderstanding him.</p>
+
+<p>"That is apparent, but I was not speaking of her. I meant Miss Morgan;
+she seems to me to be of a rare and noble type. The man who gets her,
+whoever he may be, ought to think himself lucky."</p>
+
+<p>Harley noticed that Mr. Heathcote did not take it for granted that
+"King" Plummer would get her, but he said nothing in reply.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SPELLBINDER</h3>
+
+<p>An hour after the smoke of the Salt Lake train was lost in the blue sky,
+the special car bearing the candidate whirled off in another direction,
+deep into the wonderland of the mountains. Now white peaks were on one
+side and mighty chasms on the other; then both chasm and peak were lost
+behind them, and they shot through an irrigated valley, brown with the
+harvest, neat villages snuggling in the centre. But always, whether near
+or far, the mountains were around them, blue on the middle slopes, white
+at the crests, unless those crests were lost in the clouds and mists.</p>
+
+<p>The people in the car were more quiet than usual, the candidate absorbed
+in somewhat sad thoughts, the state politicians respecting his silence,
+and the correspondents planning their despatches. But all missed Mrs.
+Grayson and Miss Morgan, who, whether they talked or not, always
+contributed brightness and a gentler note to their long campaign. "King"
+Plummer, too, with his loud laugh and his large, sincere manner, left a
+vacancy. Every one felt that there was now nothing ahead but
+business&mdash;cold, hard business&mdash;and so it proved.</p>
+
+<p>Every campaign enters upon successive phases, in which the contestants
+advance, through politeness and consideration, first to wary feint and
+parry, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> then to the stern death-grip of the battle which can mean
+nothing but the victory of one and the defeat of the other. They were
+now approaching this last stage, and great piles of Eastern newspapers,
+which reached them in Utah, reflected all the progress of the combat.</p>
+
+<p>It was obvious to all of those skilled readers and interpreters that the
+breach within the party was widening, and that this breach could become
+a chasm before the election. The <i>Monitor</i> and other papers, the chosen
+or self-appointed champions of vested interests, were almost openly in
+revolt; in Harley's mind their course amounted to the same thing; they
+printed in their news columns many things derogatory to Grayson, and
+likely to shatter public faith in his judgment, and in nearly all of
+them appeared signed contributions from members of the wealthy faction
+led by the Honorable Mr. Goodnight, attacking every speech made by the
+candidate, and intimating that he was a greater danger to the country
+than the nominee of the other side.</p>
+
+<p>"The split will have to come," was Harley's muttered comment, "and the
+sooner the better for us."</p>
+
+<p>The journals of the rival party were a singular contrast to those of
+Grayson's side, as they expressed unbounded and sincere confidence. In
+all that had occurred they could not read anything but victory for them,
+and Harley was bound to admit that their exultation was justified.</p>
+
+<p>But amid all these troubles the candidate preserved his remarkable
+amiability of disposition, and Harley witnessed another proof that he
+was a man first and a statesman afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>The train was continually thronged with local politicians and others
+anxious to see Mr. Grayson,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> and at a little station in a plain that
+seemed to have no end they picked up three men, one of whom attracted
+Harley's notice at once. He was young, only twenty four or five, with a
+bright, quick, eager face, and he was not dressed in the usual careless
+Western fashion. His trousers were carefully creased, his white shirt
+was well-laundered, and his tie was neat. But he wore that strange
+combination&mdash;not so strange west of the Mississippi&mdash;a sack-coat and a
+silk-hat at the same time.</p>
+
+<p>The youth was not at all shy, and he early obtained an introduction to
+Mr. Grayson. Harley thus learned that his name was Moore&mdash;Charles Moore,
+or Charlie Moore, as those with him called him. Most men in the West,
+unless of special prominence, when presented to Jimmy Grayson, shook
+hands warmly, exchanged a word or two on any convenient topic, and then
+gave way to others, but this fledgling sought to hold him in long
+converse on the most vital questions of the campaign.</p>
+
+<p>"That was a fine speech of yours that you made at Butte, Mr. Grayson,"
+he said, in the most impulsive manner, "and I endorse every word of it,
+but are you sure that what you said about Canadian reciprocity will help
+our party in the great wheat states, such as Minnesota and the Dakotas?"</p>
+
+<p>The candidate stared at him at first in surprise and some displeasure,
+but in a moment or two his gaze was changed into a kindly smile. He read
+well the youth before him, his amusing confidence, his eagerness, and
+his self-importance, that had not yet received a rude check.</p>
+
+<p>"There is something in what you say, Mr. Moore," replied Jimmy Grayson,
+in that tone absolutely without condescension that made every man his
+friend;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> "but I have considered it, and I think it is better for me to
+stick to my text. Besides, I am right, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes, but that is not the point," exclaimed young Mr. Moore; "one
+may be right, but one might keep silent on a doubtful point that is
+likely to influence many votes. And there are several things in your
+speeches, Mr. Grayson, with which some of us do not agree. I shall have
+occasion to address the public concerning them&mdash;as you know, a number of
+us are to speak with you while you are passing through Utah."</p>
+
+<p>There was a flash in Jimmy Grayson's eye, but Harley could not tell
+whether it expressed anger or amused contempt. It was gone in a moment,
+however, and the candidate again was looking at the fledgling with a
+kindly, smiling, and tolerant gaze. But Churchill thrust his elbow
+against Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the child of the free and bounding West!" he murmured. "What
+innocence, and what a sense of majesty and power!"</p>
+
+<p>Harley did not deign a reply, but he made the acquaintance, by-and-by,
+of the men who had joined the train with Moore. One of these was a
+county judge named Basset, sensible and middle-aged, and he talked
+freely about the fledgling, whom he seemed to have in a measure on his
+mind. He laughed at first when he spoke of the subject, but he soon
+became serious.</p>
+
+<p>"Charlie is a good boy, but what do you think he is? Or, rather, what do
+you think he thinks he is?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," replied Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Charlie thinks he's a spellbinder, the greatest ever. He's dreaming by
+night, and by day, too, that he's to be the West's most wonderful
+orator, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> that he's to hold the thousands in his spell. He's a coming
+Henry Clay and Daniel Webster rolled into one. He's read that story
+about Demosthenes holding the pebble in his mouth to make himself talk
+good, and they do say that he slips away out on the prairie, where
+there's nobody about, and with a stone in his mouth tries to beat the
+old Greek at his own game. I don't vouch for the truth of the story, but
+I believe it."</p>
+
+<p>Harley could not keep from smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's at least an honest ambition," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about that," replied the judge, doubtfully. "Not in
+Charlie's case, because as a spellbinder he isn't worth shucks. He can't
+speak, and he'll never learn to do it. Besides, he's leaving a thing he
+was just made for to chase a rainbow, and it's breaking his old daddy's
+heart."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it that he was made for?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's a born telegraph-operator. He's one of the best ever known in the
+West. They say that at eighteen he was the swiftest in Colorado. Then he
+went down to Denver, and a month ago he gave up a job there that was
+paying him a hundred and fifty a month to start this foolishness. They
+say he might be a great inventor, too, and here he is trying to speak on
+politics when he doesn't know anything about public questions, and he
+doesn't know how to talk, either; I don't know whether to be mad about
+it or just to feel sorry, because Charlie's father is an old friend of
+mine."</p>
+
+<p>Harley shared his feelings. He had seen the round peg in the square hole
+so many times with bad results to both the peg and the hole that every
+fresh instance grieved him. He was also confirmed in the soundness of
+Judge Basset's opinion by his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>observation of young Moore as the journey
+proceeded. The new spellbinder was anxious to speak whenever there was
+an occasion, and often when there was none at all. The discouragement
+and even the open rebukes of his elders could not suppress him. The
+correspondents, comparing notes, decided that they had never before seen
+so strong a rage for speaking. He took the whole field of public affairs
+for his range. He was willing at any time to discuss the tariff,
+internal revenue, finance, and foreign relations, and avowed himself
+master of all. Yet Harley saw that he was in these affairs a perfect
+child, shallow and superficial, and depending wholly upon a few
+catchwords that he had learned from others. Even the former Populists
+turned from him. But their sour faces when he spoke taught him nothing.
+He was still, to himself, the great spellbinder, and he looked forward
+to the day when he, too, a nominee for the Presidency, should charm
+multitudes with his eloquence and logic. He had no hesitation in
+confiding his hopes to Harley, and the correspondent longed to tell him
+how he misjudged himself. Yet he refrained, knowing that it was not his
+duty; and that even if it were, his words would make no impression.</p>
+
+<p>But in other matters than those of public life and oratory Jimmy
+Grayson's people found young Moore likable enough. He was helpful on the
+train; now and then when the telegraph-operators had more material than
+they could handle, he gave them valuable aid; he was a fine comrade,
+taking good luck and bad luck with equal philosophy, and never
+complaining. "If only he wouldn't try to speak!" groaned Hobart, for
+whom he had sent a telegraphic message with skill and despatch.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>But that very afternoon Moore talked to them on the subject of national
+finance, until they fell into a rage and left the car. That evening
+Harley was sitting with the candidate, when an old man, bent of figure
+and gloomy of face, came to them.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon, Mr. Grayson," he said, "for intruding on you, but
+I've come to ask a favor. I'm Henry Moore, of Council Grove, the father
+of Charlie Moore, who was the best telegraph-operator in Denver, and who
+is now the poorest public speaker in Colorado."</p>
+
+<p>The old man smiled, but it was a sad smile, cut off early. Jimmy Grayson
+was full of sympathy at once, and he shook Mr. Moore's hand warmly.</p>
+
+<p>"I know your son," he said; "he is a bright boy."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he's nothing but a boy," said his father, as if seeking an excuse.
+"I suppose all boys must have their foolish spells, but he appears to
+have his mighty hard and long."</p>
+
+<p>The old man sighed, and the look of sympathy on Jimmy Grayson's face
+deepened.</p>
+
+<p>"Charlie is a good boy," continued Mr. Moore, "and if he could have this
+foolish notion knocked out of his head&mdash;there's no other way to get it
+out&mdash;he would be all right; and that's why I've come to you. You know
+you are to speak at Pueblo to-morrow night in a big hall, and one of the
+biggest crowds in the West will be there to hear you. Two or three
+speakers are to follow you, and what do you think that son of mine has
+done? Somehow or other he has got the committee to put him on the
+programme right after you, and he says he is going to demolish what he
+calls your fallacies."</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw the candidate's lips curve a little, as if he were about to
+smile, but the movement was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> quickly checked. Jimmy Grayson would not
+willingly hurt the feelings of any man.</p>
+
+<p>"Your boy has that right," he said to Mr. Moore.</p>
+
+<p>"No, he hasn't!" burst out the old man. "A boy hasn't any right to be so
+light-headed, and I want you, Mr. Grayson, when he has finished his
+speech, to come right back at him and wipe him off the face of the
+earth. It will be an easy thing for so big a man as you to do. Charlie
+doesn't know a thing about public affairs. He'll make lots of
+statements, and every one of 'em will be wrong. Just show him up. Make
+all the people laugh at him. Just sting him with your words till he
+turns red in the face. Roll him in the dust, and tread on him till he
+can't breathe. Then hold him up before all that audience as the biggest
+and wildest fool that ever came on a stage. Nothing else will cure him;
+it will be a favor to him and to me; and I, his father, who loves him
+more than anybody else in the world, ask you to do it."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was tempted to smile, and at the same moment water came into his
+eyes. No one could fail to be moved by the old man's intense
+earnestness, his florid and mixed imagery, and his appealing look.
+Certainly Jimmy Grayson was no exception. He glanced at Harley, and saw
+his expression of sympathy, but the correspondent made no suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>"I appreciate your feelings and your position, Mr. Moore," he said, "but
+this is a hard thing that you ask me to do. I cannot trample upon a boy,
+even metaphorically, in the presence of five thousand people. What will
+they think of me?"</p>
+
+<p>"They'll understand. They'll know why it's done, and they'll like you
+for it. It's the only way, Mr. Grayson. Either you do it or my boy's
+life is ruined."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>Jimmy Grayson walked up and down the room, and his face was troubled. He
+looked again and again at Harley, but the correspondent made no
+suggestion; he had none to make. At last he stopped.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I can save your son, and promise to make the trial, but I will
+not say a word just yet. Now don't ask me any more about it, and never
+mind the thanks. I understand; maybe I shall have a grown son myself,
+some day, to be turned from the wrong path. Good-night. I'll see you
+again at Pueblo. Harley, I wish you would stay awhile longer. I want to
+have further talk with you."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate and Harley were in deep converse for some time, and, when
+they finished, much of the trouble had disappeared from Jimmy Grayson's
+eyes. "I think it can be done," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," repeated Harley, with confidence.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, which was occupied with the run down to Pueblo and
+occasional stops for speeches at way-stations, was uneventful save for
+the growing obsession of Charlie Moore. He was overflowing with pride
+and importance. That night, in the presence of five thousand people, he
+was going to reply to the great Jimmy Grayson, and show to them and to
+him his errors. Mr. Grayson was sound in most things, but there were
+several in which he should be set right, and he, Charlie Moore, was the
+man to do it for him.</p>
+
+<p>The fledgling proudly produced several printed programmes with his name
+next to that of the candidate, and talked to the correspondents of the
+main points that he would make, until they fled into the next car. But
+he followed them there and asked them if they would not like to take in
+advance a synopsis of his speech, in order that they might be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> sure to
+telegraph it to their offices in time. All evaded the issue except
+Harley, who gravely jotted down the synopsis, and, with equal gravity,
+returned his thanks for Mr. Moore's consideration.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew you wouldn't want to miss it," said the youth, "I come on late,
+you know, and, besides, I remembered that the difference in time between
+here and New York is against us."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Moore, the father, was on the train throughout the day, but he did
+not speak to his son. He spent his time in the car in which Jimmy
+Grayson sat, always silent, but always looking, with appeal and pathos,
+at the great leader. His eyes said plainly: "Mr. Grayson, you will not
+fail me, will you? You will save my son? You will beat him, and tread on
+him until he hasn't left a single thought of being a famous orator and
+public leader? Then he will return to the work for which God made him."</p>
+
+<p>Harley would look at the old man awhile, and then return to the next
+car, where the youth was chattering away to those who could not escape
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The speech in Pueblo was to be of the utmost importance, not alone to
+those whose own ears would hear it, but to the whole Union, because the
+candidate would make a plain declaration upon a number of vexed
+questions that had been raised within the last week or two. This had
+been announced in all the press on the authority of Jimmy Grayson
+himself, and the speech in full, not a word missing, would have to be
+telegraphed to all the great newspapers both East and West.</p>
+
+<p>In such important campaigns as that of a Presidential nominee, the two
+great telegraph companies always send operators with the correspondents,
+in order that they may despatch long messages from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> small way-stations,
+where the local men are not used to such heavy work. Now Harley and his
+associates had with them two veterans, Barr and Wymond, from Chicago,
+who never failed them. They were relieved, too, on reaching Pueblo, to
+find that the committee in charge had been most considerate. Some
+forethoughtful man, whom the correspondents blessed, had remembered the
+three hours' difference in time between Pueblo and New York, and against
+New York, and he had run two wires directly into the hall and into a
+private box on the left, where Barr and Wymond could work the
+instruments, so far from the stage that the clicking would not disturb
+Jimmy Grayson or anybody else, but would save much time for the
+correspondents.</p>
+
+<p>The audience gathered early, and it was a splendid Western crowd,
+big-boned and tanned by the Western winds.</p>
+
+<p>"They have cranks out here, but it's a land of strong men, don't you
+forget that," said Harley to Churchill, and Churchill did not attempt a
+sarcastic reply.</p>
+
+<p>They were both sitting at the edge of the stage, and in front of them,
+nearer the footlights, was young Moore, proud and eager, his fingers
+moving nervously. His father, too, had found a seat on the stage, but he
+was in the background, next to the scenery and behind the others; he was
+not visible from the floor of the house. There he sat, staring gloomily
+at his son, and now and then, with a sort of despairing hope, glancing
+at Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>There were some short preliminary speeches and introductions, and then
+came the turn of the candidate. The usual flutter of expectation ran
+over the audience, followed by the usual deep hush, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> just at that
+moment there was an interruption. A boy in the uniform of a telegraph
+company hurried upon the stage.</p>
+
+<p>"You must come at once, sir," he said to Harley. "Mr. Wymond hasn't
+turned up. We don't know what's become of him. And Mr. Barr has took
+sick, sudden and bad. The Pueblo manager says he'll get somebody here as
+quick as he can, but he can't do it under half an hour, anyway!"</p>
+
+<p>The other correspondents stared at each other in dismay, and then at the
+hired stenographer who was to take down the speech in full. But Harley,
+always thoughtful and resourceful, responded to the emergency. He had
+noticed Moore raise his head with an expression of lively interest at
+the news of the disaster, and he stepped forward at once and put his
+hand on the fledgling's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Moore," he exclaimed, in stirring appeal, "this is a crisis for us,
+and you must save us. You have eaten with us, and you have lived with
+us, and you cannot desert us now. We have all heard that you are a great
+operator, the greatest in the West. You must send Mr. Grayson's speech.
+What a triumph it will be for you&mdash;to send his speech and then get upon
+this stage and demolish it afterwards!"</p>
+
+<p>The feeling in Harley's voice was real, and the boy was thrilled by it
+and the situation. Every natural impulse in him responded. It was the
+chivalrous thing for him to do, and an easy one. He could send a speech
+as fast as the fastest man living could deliver it. He rose without a
+word, his heart beating with thoughts of the coming battle, in which he
+felt proudly that he should be a victor, and made his way to the
+telegraphers' box.</p>
+
+<p>Moore had lived in Pueblo, and nearly everybody in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> the audience knew
+him. When they saw him take his seat at one of the instruments, their
+quick Western minds divined what he was going to do, and the roar of
+applause that they had just given to the candidate, who was now on his
+feet, was succeeded by another; but the second was for Charlie Moore,
+the telegraph-operator.</p>
+
+<p>The fledgling had no time to think. He had scarcely settled himself in
+his chair when the deep, full voice of Jimmy Grayson filled the great
+hall, and he was launched upon a speech for which the whole Union was
+waiting. The short-hand man was already deep in his work, and the copy
+began to come. But the boy felt no alarm; he was not even flustered; the
+feel of the key was good, and the atmosphere of that box which enclosed
+the telegraph apparatus was sweet in his nostrils. He called up Denver,
+from which the speech would be repeated to the greater cities, and with
+a sigh of deep satisfaction settled to his task.</p>
+
+<p>They tell yet in Western telegraph circles of Charlie Moore's great
+exploit. The candidate was in grand form that night, and his speech came
+rushing forth in a torrent. The missing Wymond was still missing, and
+the luckless Barr was still ill, but the fledgling sat alone in the box,
+his face bent over the key, oblivious of the world around him, and sent
+it all. Through him ran the fire of battle and great endeavor. He heard
+the call and replied. He never missed a word. He sent them hot across
+the prairie, over the slopes and ridges, and across the brown plains
+into Denver. And there in the general office the manager muttered more
+than once: "That fellow is doing great work! How he saves time!"</p>
+
+<p>The audience liked Jimmy Grayson's speech, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> again and again the
+applause swelled and echoed. Then they noticed how the boy in the
+telegraphers' box&mdash;a boy of their own&mdash;was working. Mysterious voices,
+too, began to spread among them the news how Charlie Moore had saved the
+day&mdash;or, rather, the night&mdash;and now and then in Jimmy Grayson's pauses
+cries of "Good boy, Charlie!" arose.</p>
+
+<p>Harley, while doing his writing, nevertheless kept a keen eye upon all
+the actors in the drama. He saw the light of hope appear more strongly
+upon old man Moore's face, and then turn into a glow as he beheld his
+son doing so well.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate spoke on and on. He had begun at nine o'clock, but that
+was a great and important speech, and no one left the hall. Eleven
+o'clock, and then midnight, and Jimmy Grayson was still speaking. But it
+was not his night alone; it belonged to two men, and the other partner
+was Charlie Moore, who fulfilled his task equally well, and whom the
+audience still observed.</p>
+
+<p>But the boy was thinking only of his duty that he was doing so well. The
+victory was his, as he knew that it would be. He kept even with the
+speech. Hardly had the last word of the sentence left Jimmy Grayson's
+lips before the first of it was on the way to Denver, and in newspaper
+offices two thousand miles away they were putting every paragraph in
+type before it was a half-hour old.</p>
+
+<p>The boy, by-and-by, as the words passed before him on the written page,
+began to notice what a great speech it was. How the sentences cut to the
+heart of things! How luminous and striking was the phraseology! And
+around him he heard, as if in a dream, the liquid notes of that
+wonderful, golden voice. Suddenly, like a stroke of lightning, he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>realized how empty were his own thoughts, how bare and hard his speech,
+and how thin and flat his voice! His heart sank with a plunge, and then
+rose again as his finger touched the familiar key and the answering
+touch thrilled back through his body. He glanced at the audience, and
+saw many faces looking up at him, and on them was a peculiar look. Again
+the thrill ran through him, and, bending his head lower, he sent the
+words faster than ever on their eastern journey.</p>
+
+<p>At last Jimmy Grayson stopped, and then the audience cheered its
+applause for the speech. When the echoes died, some one&mdash;it was Judge
+Basset&mdash;sprang up on a chair and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, we have cheered Mr. Grayson, and he deserves it; but there
+is some one else whom we ought to cheer, too. You have seen Charlie
+Moore, a Pueblo boy, one of our own, there in the box sending the speech
+to the world that was waiting for it. Perhaps you do not know that if he
+had not helped us to-night the world would have had to wait too long."</p>
+
+<p>They dragged young Moore, amid the cheers, upon the stage, and then,
+when the hush came, the candidate said:</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to know him already; but as all the speaking of the evening is
+now over, I wish to introduce to you again Mr. Charlie Moore, the
+greatest telegraph-operator in the West, the genius of the key, a man
+destined to rise to the highest place in his profession."</p>
+
+<p>When the last echo of the last cheer died, there died with it the last
+ambition of Charlie Moore to be a spellbinder, and straight before him,
+broad, smooth, and alluring, lay the road for which his feet were fitted.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>But the words most grateful to Jimmy Grayson were the thanks of the
+fledgling's father. The little drama of the side-box and the
+telegraph-key was known to but five people&mdash;the candidate, Harley, the
+two operators, and happy Mr. Moore. The old gentleman, indeed, said
+something about Mr. Grayson having helped him, but it was taken by the
+others to mean that a mere chance, a lucky combination of circumstances,
+had come to his aid, and they failed to see in it anything of
+prearrangement or even intention. Hence there appeared on the surface
+nothing to be criticised even by Churchill, ever on the lookout for an
+incident that seemed to him incongruous or irrelevant.</p>
+
+<p>Harley made it an excuse for something that he wished very much to do.
+About this time Mrs. Grayson, returning from Salt Lake City, rejoined
+them, but she did not bring Sylvia with her, leaving her in the Mormon
+capital for a further stay with relatives. But Harley wrote a long
+letter to Sylvia, beginning with the story of the spellbinder, and he
+told her that his admiration for the candidate steadily increased,
+because Mr. Grayson was able, at all times, even in the heat of the
+hottest campaign that the Union had ever known, to put the highest
+attributes of the human heart&mdash;mercy, gentleness, help&mdash;before his own
+political good or even that of his party. Mr. Grayson might be beaten,
+but he would make a record that must become a source of pride, not to
+his party alone, but to the whole country. In fact, Mr. Grayson belonged
+to humanity, and the race might lay claim to him as one of its finest
+types.</p>
+
+<p>Then from Mr. Grayson he glided to the other, and, to Harley, greater
+topic&mdash;herself. He told her that nothing had occurred to make him change
+his wishes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> or his hopes; since her absence began his resolve had grown.
+He felt more than ever that the claim of Mr. Plummer upon her, though of
+a high and noble nature, even if he did hold her promise, must yield to
+the love of the husband for the wife. Mr. Plummer would come to see
+this, and he would come to see it in time. He had no desire to interfere
+with the natural affection of the man who had done so much for Sylvia,
+nor did he feel that he was making such interference.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was not sure that he would receive a reply to this letter, but it
+came in due time, nevertheless, and it was Jimmy Grayson himself who
+handed it to him. The handwriting of the address was known, of course,
+to Mr. Grayson, and he could scarcely have failed to notice it, but he
+said nothing, and apparently the fact passed unheeded by him.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia, in the course of her letter, confined herself to impartial
+narrative, and began with the event of the spellbinder, which Harley had
+told to her in detail. Indeed, it seemed to Harley that she devoted a
+very remarkable amount of space to its consideration, especially as she
+agreed with him that Mr. Grayson's action was right; nevertheless, she
+discussed it from all points of the compass, and then she wrote with
+almost equal amplitude of her sight-seeing in Salt Lake City.</p>
+
+<p>Harley knew that Mormons were no novelty to Sylvia, as she had seen many
+of them in Idaho, but she seemed to feel it necessary to describe with
+particularity all the great Mormon buildings, and also to speak fully of
+the manners and customs of the people. All this might have been very
+interesting to him at another time and from another pen, but now he saw
+only the handwriting and wished her to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> devote attention to that little
+codicil in his own letter in which he so earnestly avowed again his love
+and his belief in its ultimate triumph. She made no allusion whatever to
+it, and he felt his heart sink. Nor did she speak of "King" Plummer, and
+he could not gather from the letter whether he was yet in Salt Lake City
+or had gone back to Idaho. She had carefully avoided all the subjects on
+which he hoped she would write, and as he closed the letter and put it
+in his pocket he was still rather blue.</p>
+
+<p>But reflection put him in a different and much more pleasant frame of
+mind. The fact that she had replied was a good omen, and her very
+avoidance of the most delicate of all subjects was proof that she did
+not forbid it to him. Harley was a bold man, and, being ready to push
+his fortune to the utmost in a cause that he believed righteous, he
+resolved to write her another letter in a few days, and to repeat in it
+much that he had said in his first, or to say words to the same effect.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile his countenance assumed a joyous cast, which was noticeable
+because he was habitually of grave demeanor, and his associates,
+observing the change, taxed him with the fact and demanded an
+explanation, Hobart in particular wishing to know. Harley lightly
+ascribed it to the rarefied air, as they were ascending a plateau, and
+the others, though calling it the baldest and poorest of replies, were
+forced to be content.</p>
+
+<p>But one man who noticed Harley, and who said nothing, guessed much
+closer to the cause. It was Mr. Grayson himself, who had seen the
+address on the envelope, and it aroused grave thoughts in him. Nor were
+these thoughts unkind to Sylvia or Harley. It was the custom of the
+candidate to subject <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>himself at intervals to a searching mental
+examination, and now he made James Grayson walk out before him again and
+undergo this minute process.</p>
+
+<p>He was extremely fond of Sylvia, whose grace, intelligence, and loyalty
+appealed to the best in him, and he was anxious to secure her happiness
+and her position in life, on which, in a measure, the former depended.
+For these reasons he had received with pleasure the news that Sylvia was
+going to marry Mr. Plummer. Despite the disparity of ages, the match
+seemed fitting to him; he knew the worth and honor of the "King" to be
+so great that the happiness of any young girl, especially that of one
+who owed so much to him, ought to be safe in his keeping. But now the
+doubts which had begun to form were growing stronger. He saw that nature
+was playing havoc with mere material fitness, and there came to him the
+question of his own duty.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate now knew well enough that Sylvia did not love Mr. Plummer
+as a girl should love the man whom she is going to marry, but that she
+did love Harley. He conceived it, too, to be a true and lasting love
+with both the young man and the young woman, and again came to him that
+question of his own duty, a question not only troublesome, but dangerous
+to him in his present situation. He knew that Sylvia, despite all, would
+marry "King" Plummer unless the unforeseen occurred, and make herself
+unhappy all her life. Should he, then, tell "King" Plummer, or have his
+wife tell him in the more indirect and delicate way women have, that the
+burden of the situation rested upon him, and that he ought to release
+Sylvia? The candidate shrank from such a task; he could not meddle, even
+when it was his own niece whom he wished to save, and there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> was another
+thought, too, in the background which he strove honestly to keep out of
+his mind; it was the old apprehension lest the "King" in his rage,
+particularly when it was the candidate himself who took from him his
+heart's desire, should rebel, or at least sulk and put the Mountain
+States in the opposing column. It was no less true now than in the
+Middle Ages that men disappointed in love some times did desperate
+things, and "King" Plummer was a full-blooded, impulsive man.</p>
+
+<p>Brooding much upon the question, a rare frown came to the face of Jimmy
+Grayson, and stayed there so long that his followers noticed it, and
+wondered much. They decided that it was the revolt within the party, and
+did not disturb him, but his wife, more acute, knew that it was not
+politics, and, sitting down beside him, waited silently until he should
+speak, as she knew he would in time. A full hour passed thus, and
+scarcely any one in the train uttered a word. The candidate gazed
+gloomily out of the window, but he did not see the mountains and the
+ca&ntilde;ons as they shot by. Most of the state politicians slept in their
+seats, and the correspondents either wrote or communed with themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson rose at last, and, saying to his wife, "I should like a word
+with you in private," led the way to the drawing-room. She followed,
+knowing that he wished to speak of the trouble on his mind, and she made
+a shrewd guess as to its nature.</p>
+
+<p>"Anna, it is something that I have been trying to put away from me," he
+said, when they were in the privacy of the drawing-room, "but it won't
+stay away. I suppose I ought to have spoken to you of it some time ago,
+but I could not make up my mind to do it."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>She smiled a little.</p>
+
+<p>"I, too, have been dreading the subject," she said, "if it is what I
+think it is. You are going to speak of Sylvia, Mr. Plummer, and Mr.
+Harley."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Harley has a letter from Sylvia, and he will have more. She
+doesn't want to write to him, but she will. The girl is breaking her
+heart, and I am not sure that you and I are doing what we ought to do."</p>
+
+<p>"And you do not think that Mr. Plummer would make a suitable husband for
+her?"</p>
+
+<p>She regarded him keenly from under lowered eyelids&mdash;the question was
+merely intended to lead to something else.</p>
+
+<p>"That is not the point. Harley is the man she loves, and Harley is the
+man she should marry."</p>
+
+<p>"Should she not decide this question for herself?"</p>
+
+<p>The candidate studied the face of his wife. Her words, if taken simply
+as words, would seem metallic and cold, but there was an expression that
+gave them a wholly different meaning to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Under ordinary circumstances, yes," he said, "but the circumstances in
+which Sylvia finds herself are not ordinary, and I am not sure how far
+we are responsible for them."</p>
+
+<p>"I undertook to act once, and I was sorry that I did so."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate did not speak again for several moments, but Mrs. Grayson
+read his expressive face.</p>
+
+<p>"You have thought of something else," she said, "that is or seems to be
+connected with this affair of Sylvia's."</p>
+
+<p>"I have, and I am afraid it is that which has been holding me back."</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of the two met, and, although they said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> no more upon that
+point, they understood each other perfectly.</p>
+
+<p>"Anna," said the candidate, with decision, "you must write to Mr.
+Plummer. I do not shift this burden from myself to you because of any
+desire to escape it, but because I know you will write the letter so
+much better than I can."</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes met his again, and hers shone with admiration&mdash;he was not less
+brave than she had thought him.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know what will come of it," he said; "perhaps nothing, but in
+any event we ought to write it."</p>
+
+<p>"I will write," she said, firmly.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate said nothing more but he bent down and kissed his wife on
+the forehead.</p>
+
+<p>When Jimmy Grayson returned from the drawing-room, they noticed that the
+frown was gone from his face, and at once there was a new atmosphere in
+the car. The sleepy politicians awoke and made new or old jokes; the
+correspondents ceased writing, and asked Mr. Grayson what he intended to
+put in his next speech. Obviously the current of life began to run full
+and free again, and the incomparable scenery gliding by their
+car-windows no longer passed without comment. But Mrs. Grayson, in the
+drawing-room, taking much thought and care, was writing this letter,
+which she addressed to Mr. Plummer, in Bois&eacute;, where she heard that he
+was going from Salt Lake City:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Plummer</span>,&mdash;I want to tell you how we are getting on,
+because I know how deeply you are interested in the campaign, and
+all of us have enjoyed the way in which you affiliated with our
+little group. We have been so long together now that we have become
+a sort of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>family&mdash;speakers, writers, and well-wishers, with Mr.
+Grayson as the head in virtue of his position as nominee. You have
+had a large place in this family&mdash;what shall I call it?&mdash;a kind of
+elder brother, one who out of the fund of his experience could
+wisely lead the younger and more impulsive."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson stopped here and tapped her finger thoughtfully with the
+staff of her pen. "That paragraph," she mused, "should bring home to him
+the fact that he is old as compared with Sylvia and Mr. Harley, and that
+is the first thing I wish to establish in his mind." Then, dipping her
+pen in the ink again, she wrote:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"This, I think, is one of the reasons that our young people have
+missed you so much. You were always prepared to take your part in
+the entertainment of the day, but your gravity and your years,
+which, without being too many, become you so much, exercised a
+restraining influence upon them, and showed them the line at which
+they should stop. I think that you acquired over them an influence,
+in its way paternal, and it is in such a capacity that they miss
+you most."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The lady's smile deepened, and in her mind was the thought that if he
+did not wince at this bolt he was, indeed, impervious. Then she
+continued:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"My interest in this campaign is not alone political nor personal
+to Mr. Grayson, which also means myself, but I have become much
+interested in those who travel with us&mdash;that is, those who have
+become the members of our new family. There is Mr. Heathcote, who
+was sent West as our enemy, and quickly turned to a friend. There
+is Mr. Tremaine, who is such a gay old beau, and who never realizes
+that he is too old for the young women with whom he wishes to
+flirt."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The lady stopped again, and her smile was deeper than ever. "Now that
+was unintended," she mused, "but it comes in very happily." She resumed:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>"And there is Mr. Hobart, who loves mysteries, especially murder
+mysteries, and who saved the life of that innocent boy. I find him
+a most interesting character, but, after all, he is read with less
+difficulty than Mr. Harley, who, though silent and reserved, seems
+to me to be deeper and more complex. His, I am sure, is a very
+strong nature&mdash;Mr. Grayson, you know, is quite fond of him, and in
+certain things has got into the habit of leaning upon him. Mr.
+Harley seems to me to be fitted by temperament and strength to be
+the shield and support of some one. He could make the girl who
+should become his wife very happy, and I am wondering if he will go
+out of our West without forming such an attachment."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>"That surely," thought the lady, "will bring him to the question which I
+present to his mind, and he will answer it whether he will or not, by
+saying this attachment has been formed, and it is for Sylvia." She
+continued:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Like Mr. Grayson, I am very fond of Mr. Harley, who has proved
+himself a true friend to us, and I should like to see him
+happy&mdash;that is, married to a true woman, who would not alone
+receive strength, but give it, too. In the course of his vocation,
+he has already roamed about the world enough, and it is time now
+for him to settle down. If I had my way I should select for him one
+of our fine Western girls; about twenty-one or two, I think, would
+be the right age for him&mdash;there is a fitness in these things."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>"I wonder if that is blunt?" she mused. "No, he will think it just
+popped out, and that I was unconscious of it. I shall let it stay." Then
+she resumed:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"It ought to be a girl with a temperament that is at once a match
+and foil for his own. She should have a sense of humor, a gift for
+light and ironic speech that can stir him without irritating him,
+because he is perhaps of a cautious disposition, and hence would be
+well matched with one a little bit impulsive, each exercising the
+proper influence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> upon the other. She should be strong, too,
+habituated to physical hardship, as our Western girls are. Such a
+marriage, I think, would be ideal, and I expect you, Mr. Plummer,
+when you rejoin us, to help me make it, should the opportunity
+arise.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Yours sincerely,</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Anna Grayson</span>."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>She folded the sheets, put them in the envelope, and addressed them. It
+was the second time that she had written to Mr. Plummer, but with a very
+different motive, and she had more confidence in the second letter than
+she had ever felt in the first.</p>
+
+<p>"That will cause him pain," she reflected, "but the task cannot be done
+without it."</p>
+
+<p>In her heart she was genuinely sorry for Mr. Plummer, thinking at that
+moment more of his grief than of her husband's risk, but she was
+resolute to mail the letter, nevertheless. She read it a little later to
+Mr. Grayson, and he approved.</p>
+
+<p>"It is likely to bring 'King' Plummer raging down from Idaho, but it
+ought to go," he said.</p>
+
+<p>A half-hour later, this letter, written in a delicate, feminine hand,
+but heavy with fate, was speeding northwestward.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SACRIFICE</h3>
+
+<p>A few days after writing this letter, Mrs. Grayson announced that Sylvia
+would rejoin them on the following afternoon, having shortened her stay
+in Salt Lake City, as her relations were about to depart on a visit to
+California.</p>
+
+<p>"She wants very much to go on with us," said Mrs. Grayson, "and rather
+than send her either to Bois&eacute; or to our home, where she would be alone,
+we are willing for her to continue."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think you would be!" exclaimed Hobart. "Why, Mrs. Grayson,
+much as we esteem you, we would start a violent rebellion if you should
+send Miss Morgan away, a rebellion attended by bloodshed and desperate
+deeds."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson smiled and glanced at Harley, who was silent. But she did
+not fail to see the flash of pleasure under his veiled eyelids.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your pistol in your pocket and your sword in its sheath, Mr.
+Hobart," she said; "I shall not give you occasion to use either."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I declare for peace."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia joined them at the time mentioned by Mrs. Grayson, quiet,
+slightly pale, and disposed, in the opinion of the Graysons, to much
+thought. "The girl has something on her mind which she cannot put off,"
+said Tremaine, and in this case he was right.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>Sylvia, while in Salt Lake City, far from the influences which recently
+had brought to her acute pain and joy alike, considered her position
+with as much personal detachment as she could assume. Away from Harley
+and the magic of his presence and his confident voice, she strengthened
+her resolve to keep her word&mdash;if "King" Plummer claimed her, he should
+yet have her. But this same examination showed her another fact that was
+unalterable. She loved Harley, and, though she might marry another man,
+she would continue to love him. In a way she gloried in the truth and
+her recognition of it. It was a love she intended to hide, but it
+brought her a sad happiness nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p>It was this feeling, spiritual in its nature, that gave to Sylvia a new
+charm when she came back, a touch of sorrow and womanly dignity that all
+noticed at once, and to which they gave tribute. It melted the heart of
+Jimmy Grayson, who knew so well the reason why, and he was glad now that
+his wife had written to "King" Plummer.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia said nothing about Mr. Plummer; if she knew whether he would
+return and when, she kept it to herself, and Mrs. Grayson, who was
+waiting in anxiety for an answer to her letter&mdash;an answer that did not
+come&mdash;was in a state of apprehension, which she hid, however, from all
+except Mr. Grayson. This agitation was increased by an event in her
+husband's career, so unexpected in its nature and so extraordinary that
+it was the sensation of the country, and exercised an unfavorable
+influence upon the campaign. If any one in the United States, whether
+friend or enemy, had been asked if such a thing could occur, he would
+have said that it was impossible.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>In their travels they came presently to Egmont, a snug town, lying in a
+hollow of the land, from which they were going to conduct what Hobart
+called a circular campaign&mdash;that is, it was the centre from which they
+were to make journeys to a ring of smaller places lying in a circle
+about it, returning late at night for sleep and rest.</p>
+
+<p>They were all pleased with Egmont; though less than ten years old, it
+had houses of brick and stone, a trim look, and the smoothness of life
+and comfort that usually come only with age. It was a pleasure to return
+to it every night from the newer and cruder villages in the outer ring,
+and enjoy good beds and fresh sheets.</p>
+
+<p>But the candidate spoke first in Egmont, and the chairman of the
+committee that managed the meeting was the solid man of the town. Harley
+and his comrades required no information on this point; it was visible
+at once in the important manner of the Honorable John Anderson, the cool
+way in which he assumed authority, and his slight air of patronage when
+he came in contact with the correspondents. Harley and his comrades only
+laughed; they had often noticed the same bearing in men much better
+known in the world than the Honorable John Anderson, of Egmont, Montana,
+and they generally set it down as one of the faults of success;
+therefore they could smile.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Anderson was hospitable, insisting that the candidate and his
+family, instead of spending the first night at the hotel, should go with
+him to his house. "I have room and to spare," he said, with a slight
+touch of importance. "My house will be honored if it can shelter
+to-night the next President of the United States."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>"Thank you for the invitation," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely. "I shall be
+glad to join you with my family and Mr. Harley. Mr. Harley has become in
+a sense one of my advisers, almost a lieutenant, I might say."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Anderson was not intending to ask Harley, as the correspondent knew,
+but the candidate had included him so deftly that the important citizen
+must do so, too, and he widened the invitation with courtesy. Harley,
+always in search of new types, always anxious to explore the secrets of
+new lands, accepted as promptly as if the request had been spontaneous.</p>
+
+<p>Although his house was only a few hundred yards away, Mr. Anderson took
+them there in his two-seated, highly polished carriage, drawn by a pair
+of seal-brown trotters. "Good horses," he said, as he cracked his whip
+contentedly over them. "I brought them all the way from Kentucky. Cost
+me a lot, too."</p>
+
+<p>The Anderson house was really fine, built of light stone, standing far
+back on a wide lawn, and Harley could see that the good taste of some
+one had presided at its birth. It had an Eastern air of quiet and
+completion. When Mr. Anderson, glancing at his guests, beheld the look
+of approval on their faces, he was pleased, and said, in an easy,
+off-hand manner:</p>
+
+<p>"Been up only four years; planned it myself, with a little help from
+wife and daughter."</p>
+
+<p>Harley at once surmised that the good effect was due to the taste of the
+wife or daughter, or both, and he was confirmed in the opinion when he
+met Mrs. Anderson, a slight, modest woman, superior to her husband in
+some respects that Harley thought important. The daughter did not appear
+until just before dinner, but when she came into the parlor to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> meet the
+guest the correspondent held his breath for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>Rare and beautiful flowers bloom now and then on the cold plains of the
+great Northwest, and Harley said in his heart that Helen Anderson was
+one of the rarest and most beautiful of them all. It was not alone the
+beauty of face and figure, but it was, even more, the nobility of
+expression and a singular touch of pathos, as if neither youth nor
+beauty had kept from her a great sadness. This almost hidden note of
+sorrow seemed to Harley to make perfect her grace and charm, and he
+felt, stranger though he was, that he was willing to sacrifice himself
+to protect her from some blow unknown to him. Speaking of it afterwards,
+he found that she had the same effect upon the candidate. "I felt that I
+must be her champion," said Mr. Grayson. "Why, I did not know, but I
+wanted to fight for her."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Anderson herself was unconscious of the impression that she
+created, and she strove only to entertain her father's guests, a task in
+which she achieved the full measure of success. Mr. Anderson mentioned,
+casually, how he had sent her to Wellesley, and Harley saw that her
+horizon was wider than that of her parents. But the pathetic, appealing
+look came now and then into her beautiful eyes, and Harley was convinced
+of her unhappiness. Once he saw a sudden glance, as of sympathy and
+understanding, pass between her and Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>It was not long before the secret of Helen Anderson was told to him,
+because it was no secret at all. The whole town was proud of her, and
+everybody in it knew that she was in love with Arthur Lee, the young
+lawyer whose sign hung on the main street of Egmont before an office
+which was yet unvisited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> by clients. It was true love on both sides,
+they said, with sympathy; they had been boy and girl together, and
+during her long stay in the East at school she had never forgotten him.
+But Mr. Anderson would have none of the briefless youth; his prosperity
+had fed his pride&mdash;a lawyer without a case was not a fit match for his
+daughter. "If you were famous, if it were common talk that some day you
+might be governor or United States senator, I might consent, but, sir,
+you have done nothing," he had said, with cruel sarcasm to Lee.</p>
+
+<p>It was a bitter truth, and Lee himself, high and honorable in all his
+nature, saw it. The girl, too, had old-fashioned ideas of duty to
+parents, and when her father bade her think no more of Lee she humbly
+bowed her head. But the town said, and the town knew, that the more she
+sought to put him out of her heart, the more strongly intrenched was he
+there; that while she now tried to think of him not at all, she thought
+of him all the time.</p>
+
+<p>The whole story was brought to Harley; it was not in his nature to pry
+into the sacred mysteries of a young girl's heart, but the tale moved
+him all the more deeply when he saw young Lee, a man with a high, noble
+brow and clear, open eyes, through which his honest soul shone, that all
+might see. But upon his face was the same faint veil of sadness that
+hovered over Helen Anderson's, as if hope were lacking.</p>
+
+<p>Harley met young Lee two or three times, and on each occasion purposely
+prolonged the talk, because the young lawyer without a case aroused his
+interest and sympathy. He soon discovered that Lee had an uncommon mind,
+acute, penetrating, and on fire with noble ideals. But it was a fire
+that smouldered unseen. He had never had a chance; it would come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> to him
+some day, Harley knew, but it might be, it surely would be, too late.
+Harley had seen much of the world, its glory and its shame alike, and he
+was convinced that nothing else in it was worth so much to man as the
+spontaneous love of a pure woman and a happy marriage. He knew from dear
+experience how much Lee was losing&mdash;nay, had lost already&mdash;and his pity
+was deeply stirred. He wished to speak of it to Sylvia, but the thought
+of such words only made his own wound the deeper. The whole town was on
+the side of the lovers, but it was bound and helpless; the father's
+command and Lee's own honor were barriers that could not be passed.</p>
+
+<p>The people about Egmont were so much delighted with Mr. Grayson's speech
+that they demanded a second from him, and, with his usual good-nature,
+he yielded, although Harley knew that he was feeling the strain of such
+a long and severe campaign. The evening of the fifth day after his
+arrival was set for the time, and he was expected to deliver the address
+at a late hour, when he returned from one of the circle of villages.</p>
+
+<p>On the night before the second speech, the candidate and Harley, who
+were now staying at the hotel, after making their excuses to the others,
+slipped out for a walk in the cool and silence of the dark. The rarest
+thing in Jimmy Grayson's life now was privacy, and he longed for it as a
+parched throat longs for water; it was only at such times as this, with
+a late hour and a favoring night, that he could secure it.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly all Egmont was in bed, and they turned from the chief street into
+the residence quarter, where a few lights twinkled amid the lawns and
+gardens. No one had noticed them, and Jimmy Grayson, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> a sigh of
+relief, drew breaths of the crisp, cool air that came across a thousand
+miles of clean prairie.</p>
+
+<p>"What a splendid night!" he said. "What a grand horizon!"</p>
+
+<p>They stood upon a slight elevation, and they looked down the street and
+out upon the prairie, which rippled away, silver in the moonlight, like
+the waves of the sea. A wind, faint, like a happy sigh, was blowing.</p>
+
+<p>"An evening for lovers," said the candidate, and he smiled as his mind
+ran back to some happy evenings in his own life. "Now, why should such a
+moonlight as this ever be spoiled by a political speech?" he continued.</p>
+
+<p>"I was thinking of lovers myself," said Harley, "because here is the
+Anderson house before us. Don't you see its white walls shining through
+the trees?"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor girl!" said the candidate. "It is a terrible thing for a woman to
+be separated from the man she loves. A woman, I think, can really love
+but once. And yet her father's pride is natural; young Lee has not even
+made a start in life."</p>
+
+<p>"All he needs is a chance, which he will get&mdash;when it is too late," said
+Harley.</p>
+
+<p>The house and its grounds, surrounded by a stone wall not more than
+three feet high, occupied an entire square in the outskirts of the
+little city, and the candidate and Harley followed the least frequented
+of the streets&mdash;one running beside the stone wall, which was shaded
+presently by thick and arching boughs of trees that grew within. As they
+entered the shadow they saw a man leap over the low barrier and
+disappear in the Anderson grounds.</p>
+
+<p>"A burglar!" exclaimed Harley. His first thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> was of Helen Anderson
+and her beautiful, appealing face, and without a moment's hesitation he
+sprang over the wall to pursue. Jimmy Grayson looked at him in
+astonishment, and then followed.</p>
+
+<p>Harley stopped for an instant inside the grounds, and saw the dark
+figure just ahead of him, but now walking with such slowness that
+pursuit was easy. Evidently the burglar was making sure of the way
+before he sought to enter the Anderson mansion; but Harley was
+surprised, in a few moments, to notice something familiar in the
+shoulders and bearing of the man whom he followed. His burglar never
+looked back, but entered an open space; and then Harley, his surprise
+increasing, stopped when he saw him approach a little summer-house of
+lattice-work. The hand of the candidate fell at that moment upon his
+arm, and a deep voice said in his ear:</p>
+
+<p>"I think we have gone far enough, don't you, Harley?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do," replied Harley, with conviction.</p>
+
+<p>A woman was coming, a woman with a beautiful, pale face, more lovely and
+sad than ever in the moonlight, and the two men knew at once that Helen
+was about to meet her lover. They would have turned and fled from the
+grounds, because a woman's pure love was sacred, to be hidden from all
+eyes and ears save those of one, but her face was towards them, and had
+they stepped from the shadow of the oak she would have seen the two.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Helen!" said Lee, as he met her and took her hands in his.</p>
+
+<p>"Arthur, for the last time!" she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know it is for the last time," said Arthur, and there was a
+moving sadness in his voice.</p>
+
+<p>Their faces were turned towards the two there in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> the shadow of the
+great oak, although unwitting that others were so near, and neither man
+dared to move. The moonlight, in softened silver, fell upon the faces of
+the lovers, disclosing all the beauty of the woman's and all the
+loftiness of the man's. Harley thought he had never seen a nobler pair.</p>
+
+<p>The man took both the girl's hands in his and held them for a few
+moments. Then he walked back and forth, taking quick little steps. Every
+motion of his figure expressed agony and despair. The girl stood still,
+and her face, clearly shown in the moonlight, was turned towards Harley;
+it, too, expressed agony and despair; but her stillness showed
+resignation, Lee's fierce movements were full of rebellion.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going away, Helen," said Arthur. "I have decided upon it. I shall
+not be here more than a week or two longer. I cannot be in the same
+town, seeing you every day and knowing that you cannot be mine. I could
+not stand it."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it is best," said Helen; "but, Arthur, I love you. I have
+told you that, and I am proud of it. I shall never love any one else. It
+is not possible."</p>
+
+<p>Her beautiful, pale face was still turned towards Harley, and he saw
+again upon it that touch of ineffable sadness and resignation that had
+moved him so deeply. Lee stopped his despairing walk back and forth and
+looked at Helen. Then he uttered a little cry and seized her hands
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"Helen," he said, "I cannot do it! I came here to give you up forever,
+to tell you that I was going away, and I meant to go, but I cannot do
+it. We love each other&mdash;then who has the right to separate us? I thought
+that I could stand this, that I had hardened myself to endure it, but
+when the time comes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> I find that it is too much. My right to you is
+greater than that of father or mother. Come with me; we can go to
+Longford to-night, and in three hours we shall be man and wife."</p>
+
+<p>He still held her hands in his, and his face was flushed and his eyes
+shining with an eager but noble passion.</p>
+
+<p>Harley and the candidate, in the shrubbery, never stirred. They
+listened, but they forgot that they were listening.</p>
+
+<p>The girl lifted her eyes to those of her lover, and there was in them no
+reproach, only a high, sad courage.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not mean what you say now, Arthur," she said. "I have given my
+promise to my father, and you must help me to be strong, for alone I am
+weak, very weak. None can help me but you. You must go, as you said you
+would go, but your face shall always be with me here. Though I may not
+be your wife, I shall be true to you all my life."</p>
+
+<p>"In such moments as these the woman is always stronger than the man,"
+breathed Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>Lee dropped her hands again and walked a step or two away.</p>
+
+<p>"Helen," he said, "forgive me, and forget what I said. I was base when I
+spoke. But I have found it too hard!&mdash;too hard!"</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes still expressed no reproach; there was in them something almost
+divine. She loved him the more because of his weakness, although she
+would not yield to it.</p>
+
+<p>"It is hard, very hard for us both," she whispered, "but it must be
+done. But, Arthur, I love you. I have told you that, and I am not
+ashamed of it. I shall never love any one else. It is not possible."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>"I know it. I know, too, that your heart will always be mine, but, as
+the world sees it, your father is right. I am nothing. I have no right
+to a wife&mdash;above all, to one such as you. I feel that I have a power
+within me, the power to do things which the world would call good, but
+there is no chance. I suppose that the chance will come some day&mdash;when
+it is too late."</p>
+
+<p>Harley started. The words were the echo of his own. "We must go," he
+whispered to the candidate. "No one has a right to listen, even without
+intention, at this, their last meeting." Jimmy Grayson had already
+turned away, and by the faint moonlight sifting through the branches
+Harley saw a mist in his eyes. But their movement made a sound, and the
+lovers looked up.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you hear a noise? What was it?" asked Helen.</p>
+
+<p>"Only a lizard in the grass or a squirrel rattling the bark of a tree,"
+replied Arthur.</p>
+
+<p>They listened a moment, but they heard nothing more, save the faint
+stirring of the wind among the leaves and the grass.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you really going, Arthur?" asked Helen, as if, approving it once,
+she would like now to hear him deny it.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her, his face flushing and his eyes alight, as if at last
+he heard her ask him to stay; but he saw in her gaze only brave resolve.
+She could love him, and yet she had the strength to sacrifice that love
+for what she considered her duty. He drew courage from her, and he
+lifted his head proudly, although his eyes expressed grief alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have only to start," he replied; "you know I have little to
+take. I make just one more public appearance in Egmont. Mr. Grayson
+speaks here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> again to-morrow night, and the committee, by some chance&mdash;a
+chance it must have been&mdash;has put me on the list of speakers."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Arthur, it may be an opportunity for you!"</p>
+
+<p>She was eager, flushed, her eyes flaming and uplifted to his.</p>
+
+<p>"It might be, Helen, at any other time, but this is evil fortune. I am
+of the other party; I must speak against him&mdash;we are fair to both sides
+here; he will have the right of rejoinder, and you know what he is,
+Helen&mdash;the greatest orator in America, perhaps in all the world. No one
+yet has ever been able to defeat him, and what chance have I, with no
+experience, against the most formidable debater in existence? I should
+shirk it, Helen, if the people would not think me a coward."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Arthur, what an ordeal!" She looked up at him with wet, tender
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Harley, at the mention of Jimmy Grayson's name, glanced away from the
+lovers and towards the candidate. He saw him start, and a singular, soft
+expression pass over his face, to be followed by one of doubt.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I shall go, Helen," said Arthur. "It was wrong of me to ask you to
+meet me here, but I could not go away without seeing you alone and
+speaking to you alone, as I do now."</p>
+
+<p>"I was glad to come."</p>
+
+<p>He took her hands again, and for a few moments they stood, gazing into
+each other's eyes, where they saw all the grief of a last parting.
+Harley wished to turn his gaze away, but, somehow, he could not. There
+was silence in the grounds, save that gentle, sighing sound of the wind
+through the leaves and grass, and only the moon looked down.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>Suddenly the youth bent his head, kissed the girl on the lips, and then
+ran swiftly through the shrubbery, as if he could not bear to hesitate
+or look back.</p>
+
+<p>"It was their first kiss," murmured Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not see it," said Jimmy Grayson, turning his eyes away.</p>
+
+<p>"And their last," murmured Harley.</p>
+
+<p>The girl stood like a statue, still deadly pale, but Harley saw that her
+eyes were luminous. It was the man whom she loved who had taken her
+first kiss; nothing could alter that beautiful fact. She listened, as if
+she could hear his last retreating footstep on the grass dying away like
+an echo. Harley and the candidate watched her until her slender figure
+in the white draperies was hid by the house, and then they, too, went
+back to the street.</p>
+
+<p>Neither spoke until they passed the low stone wall, and then the
+candidate said, brusquely:</p>
+
+<p>"Harley, unless this moonlight deceives me, there is moisture on your
+eyelids. What do you mean by such unmanly weakness?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley smiled, but, refraining from the <i>tu quoque</i>, left Jimmy Grayson
+to lead the way, and he noticed that he chose a course that did not take
+them back to the hotel. Moreover, he did not speak again for a long
+time, and Harley walked on by his side, silent, too, but thoughtful and
+keenly observant. He saw that his friend was troubled, and he divined
+the great struggle that was going on in his mind. Whether he could do it
+if he were in the place of the candidate he was unable to say, and he
+was glad that the decision did not lie with himself.</p>
+
+<p>They walked on and on until they left the town and were out upon the
+broad prairie, where the wind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> moaned in a louder key, and the
+candidate's face was still troubled.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," said the candidate, at last, "I cannot get rid of the look in
+that girl's eyes."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wish to do so," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly midnight when he turned and began to walk back towards the
+town. The moonlight, breaking through a cloud, again flooded Jimmy
+Grayson's face, and Harley, who knew him so well, saw that the look of
+trouble had passed. The lips were compressed and firm, and in his eyes
+shone the clear light of decision. Harley's feelings, as he saw, were
+mingled, a strange compound of elation and apprehension. But at the
+hotel he said, gravely, "Good-night," and the candidate replied with
+equal seriousness, "Good-night." Neither referred to what they had seen
+nor to what they expected.</p>
+
+<p>The second speech at Egmont drew an even greater audience than the
+first, as the fame of Jimmy Grayson's powers spread fast, and there
+would be, too, the added spice of combat; members of the other party
+would accept his challenge, replying to his logic if they could, and the
+hall was crowded early with eager people. Harley, sitting at the back of
+the stage, saw the Honorable John Anderson come in, importantly, his
+wife under one arm and his daughter under the other. Helen looked paler
+than ever, but here under the electric lights her sad loveliness made
+the same appeal to Harley. Lee arrived late, and although, as one of the
+speakers, he was forced to sit on the stage, he hid himself behind the
+others. But a single glance passed between the two, and then the girl
+sat silent and pale, hoping against hope for her lover.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate spoke well. His voice was as deep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> and as musical as ever,
+and his sentences rolled as smoothly as before. All his charm and
+magnetism of manner were present; the old spell which he threw over
+everybody&mdash;a spell which was from the heart and the manner as well as
+from the meaning of his words&mdash;was not lacking, but to Harley, keenly
+attentive, there seemed to be a flaw in his logic. The reasoning was not
+as clear and compact as usual. Only a man with a penetrating, analytical
+mind would observe it, but there were openings here and there where his
+armor could be pierced. Blaisdell, one of the correspondents, noticed
+the fact, and he whispered to Harley:</p>
+
+<p>"It's a good thing that Jimmy Grayson has no great speaker against him
+to-night; I never knew him to wander from the point before."</p>
+
+<p>"Where's your great speaker?" asked Harley, with irony.</p>
+
+<p>But the crowded audience was oblivious. It heard only the music of the
+candidate's voice and felt only the spell of his manner; therefore, it
+was with a sort of contempt that it looked upon Lee, the young lawyer
+without a case, who rose to reply. Lee was pale, but there was a fire in
+his eyes, as if he, too, had noticed something, and Harley, observing,
+caught his breath sharply.</p>
+
+<p>The correspondent again looked down at the girl, and he saw a deep flush
+sweep over her face, and then, passing, leave it deadly pale. The next
+moment she averted her eyes as if she would not see the failure of her
+lover, not the less dear to her because he was about to go away forever.
+But though he did not see her face now, Harley, as he looked at the bent
+head, could read her mind. He knew that she was quivering; he knew that
+she, too, had been completely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>under the spell of the candidate's great
+voice and manner, and she feared the painful contrast.</p>
+
+<p>Harley glanced once at Jimmy Grayson, sitting quietly, all expression
+dismissed from his face, and then he looked back at the girl; she should
+receive all his attention now. Presently he saw her raise her head, the
+color returned to her face, and a sudden look of wonder and hope
+appeared in her eyes. Arthur was speaking, not timidly, not like one
+beaten, but in a strong, clear voice, and with a logic that was keen and
+merciless he drove straight at the weak points in the candidate's
+address. Even Harley was surprised at his skill and penetration.</p>
+
+<p>The correspondent watched Helen, and he read every step of her lover's
+progress in her eyes. The wonder and hope there grew, and the hope
+turned to delight. She looked up at her father, as if to tell him how
+much he had misjudged Arthur, and that here, in truth, was the beginning
+of greatness; and the important man, as he felt her eyes upon him, moved
+uneasily in his seat.</p>
+
+<p>The feelings of the audience were mingled, but among them amazement led
+all the rest. The great Jimmy Grayson, the Presidential nominee, the
+unconquerable, the man of world-wide fame, the victor of every campaign,
+was being beaten by a young townsman of their own, not known twenty
+miles from home. Incredible as it seemed, it was true; the fact was
+patent to the dullest in the hall. Harley saw a look of astonishment and
+then dismay overspread the faces of Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia, and he knew
+that of all in the hall they were suffering most acutely.</p>
+
+<p>The keen, cutting voice went on, tearing Jimmy Grayson's argument to
+pieces, clipping off a section<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> here and a section there, and tossing
+the fragments aside. By-and-by the amazement of the people gave way to
+delight. Their home pride was touched. This boy of their own was doing
+what no other had ever been able to do. They began to thunder forth
+applause, and the women waved their handkerchiefs. Hobart leaned over
+and whispered to Harley:</p>
+
+<p>"Old man, what does this mean? Is Jimmy Grayson sick?"</p>
+
+<p>"He was never better than he is to-night."</p>
+
+<p>Hobart gave him an inquiring look.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll ask more about this later," he said.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley already had turned his attention back to Helen, and as he
+watched the growing joy on her face his own heart responded. It was
+relief, elation, that he felt now, and, for the moment, no apprehension.
+He saw the color yet flushing her cheeks, and the eyes alight with life
+and joy. He saw her suddenly clasp her father's arm in both hands, and,
+though he was too far away to hear, he knew well that she was telling
+him what a great man Arthur was going to be. For her all obstacles were
+driven away by this sudden flood of fortune, and Harley again saw the
+important man move uneasily while a look, half fear, half shame, came
+into his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The speech was finished, and young Lee, a man now on a pedestal, sat
+down amid thunders of applause. Jimmy Grayson undertook to respond, but
+for the first time in his life he was weak and halting. He wandered on
+lamely, and at last retired amid faint cheers, to be followed quickly by
+an astonished silence. Then, when the people recovered themselves, they
+poured in a tumult from the hall; but the hero to whom they turned
+admiringly was Arthur Lee, their own youthful townsman, and not the candidate.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>The next day Hobart told Harley that Lee had won everything. Mr.
+Anderson, sharing the pride of Egmont, could resist no longer, and had
+withdrawn his refusal. Arthur and Helen would be married in the winter.</p>
+
+<p>"You see," said Hobart, "young Lee is now a hero."</p>
+
+<p>"But not the greatest hero," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"That is true," said Hobart, and then he added, after a moment's pause,
+"I could never have done it."</p>
+
+<p>But that night, when Jimmy Grayson left the hall, he went at once to the
+hotel with Mrs. Grayson. Luckily there was a side-door, out of which
+they slipped so quietly and quickly that not many people had a chance
+either to pity him or to exult over him, at least in his presence. Yet
+he did not fail to notice more than one sneer on the faces of those who
+belonged to the other party, and his cheeks burned for a moment, as
+James Grayson, the candidate, had his full store of human pride.</p>
+
+<p>In the hall the amazed crowd lingered, and the correspondents, not less
+surprised than the people, gathered in a group to talk it over. Sylvia
+was there, too, and she was almost in tears. To none had the blow been
+harder than to her, and she was so stunned that she could yet scarcely
+credit it. All of the group were sad except Churchill, who felt all the
+glory of an I-told-you-so come to judgment.</p>
+
+<p>"It was bound to happen, sooner or later," he said, when he noticed that
+Sylvia was not listening; "the man is all froth and foam, but who could
+have thought that the bubble would be pricked by an obscure little
+Western attorney? Was ever anything more ignominious?"</p>
+
+<p>Then the ancient beau, Tremaine, spoke from a soul that was stirred to the depths.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>"Churchill," he exclaimed, "I've been travelling about the world forty
+years, but there are times when I think you are the meanest man I ever
+met."</p>
+
+<p>Churchill flushed and clinched his fist, but thought better of it, and
+turned off the matter with an uneasy laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Tremaine," he said, "the older you grow the fonder you become of
+superlatives."</p>
+
+<p>"I admired Jimmy Grayson in his triumphs, and I admire him more than
+ever in his defeat," said Tremaine, still bristling, and fiercely
+twisting his short, gray mustache.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Tremaine, I want to thank you," said Sylvia, who, turning to them,
+had heard Tremaine's warm speech; and she put her hand in his for a
+moment, which was to him ample repayment.</p>
+
+<p>Harley stood by, and was silent because he did not know what to say. To
+state that Mr. Grayson had allowed himself to be beaten for a purpose
+would have an incredible look in print&mdash;it would seem the poorest of
+excuses; nor did he wish to make use of it in the presence of Churchill,
+who would certainly jeer at it and present it in his despatches as a
+ridiculous plea. He had begun to have a certain sensitiveness in regard
+to the candidate, and he did not wish to be forced into a quarrel with
+Churchill.</p>
+
+<p>But Sylvia caught a slight smile, a smile of irony, in the eyes of
+Harley, and the tears in her own dried up at once. She felt
+instinctively, with all the quickness of a woman's intuition, that
+Harley knew something about the speech which she did not know, but she
+meant to know it, and she watched for an opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>They were turning out the lights in the hall and the people began to go
+away, the correspondents<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> closing up the rear. Sylvia fell back with
+Harley, and touched his arm lightly.</p>
+
+<p>"There is something that you are not telling me," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I am willing to tell it to you, because you will believe it."</p>
+
+<p>Tremaine, with ever-ready gallantry, was about to join them, but Sylvia
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you, Mr. Tremaine, but Mr. Harley has promised to see me to the
+hotel."</p>
+
+<p>Her tone was light, but so decisive that Tremaine turned back at once,
+and Hobart, who was ahead, hid a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I want to know what it is," she said, eagerly, to Harley. "That
+was a good speaker, an able man, but I don't believe that he or anybody
+else could beat Uncle James. How did it happen?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley did not answer her at once, because it seemed to him just then
+that the action of Jimmy Grayson was an illustration, and the idea was
+hot in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps there is nothing to tell, after all," she said, and her face
+fell.</p>
+
+<p>"There is something to tell; I hesitated because I was looking for the
+best way to tell it. Mr. Grayson to-night made a sacrifice of himself,
+purposely and willingly."</p>
+
+<p>"A sacrifice of himself! How could he have done such a thing?"</p>
+
+<p>"For the best reason that makes a man do such a thing. For love."</p>
+
+<p>She stared at him a moment, and then broke into a puzzled but ironic
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"You are certainly dreaming a romance. Uncle James and Aunt Anna have
+been happily married<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> for years, and there is nothing now that could
+force him to make such a sacrifice."</p>
+
+<p>Harley smiled, and his smile was rarely tender, because he was thinking
+at that moment of Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>"The sacrifice was not to help his own cause, but the cause of another,
+the cause of the man who beat him&mdash;that is, seemed to beat him. Mr. Lee,
+through his victory to-night, wins the girl whom he loves, and he could
+have won her in no other way. There are people who can do great deeds
+and make great sacrifices for love, even to help the love of two others.
+It will be printed in every paper of the United States in the morning
+that Mr. Grayson was defeated in debate to-night by a young local
+lawyer. His prestige will be greatly impaired."</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes glowed, and her face, too, became rarely tender.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle James was truly great to-night!" she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"At his greatest. I know of no other man who could have done it. After
+all, Sylvia, don't you think love is the greatest and purest of motives,
+and that we should consider it first?"</p>
+
+<p>"John," she said, and it was the first time that she had ever called him
+by his first name, "you must not tempt me to break my sacred word to the
+man to whom I owe all things. Oh, John, don't you see how hard it is for
+me, and won't you help me to bear it, instead of making the burden
+heavier?"</p>
+
+<p>She turned upon him a face of such pathetic appeal that Harley was
+abashed.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," he replied, almost in a whisper, "God knows that I do not wish
+to make you unhappy, nor do I wish to make you do what is wrong. I spoke
+so because I could not help it. Do you think that I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> can love you, and
+know you to be what you are, and then stand idly by and see you passing
+to another? I believe in silence and endurance, but not in such silence
+and endurance as that. It is too much! God never asks it of a man!"</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him. Her eyes were dewy and tender, filled with love, a
+love tinged with sorrow, but he saw the brave resolution shining there,
+and he knew that, despite all, she would keep her word unless "King"
+Plummer himself willingly released her from it. And he loved her all the
+more because she was so true.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," he said, "I was wrong. I should not have spoken to you in such
+a manner. I am a weak coward to make your duty all the harder for you."</p>
+
+<p>They were at the "ladies' entrance" of the hotel, and the others either
+had gone in or had turned aside. They were alone, and she bent a little
+towards him.</p>
+
+<p>"The things that you say may be wrong," she whispered, "but&mdash;oh, John&mdash;I
+love to hear you say them!"</p>
+
+<p>Then she went into the hotel, and Harley wisely did not seek to follow.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX</h2>
+
+<h3>AN IDAHO STORM</h3>
+
+<p>Among the mountains of Idaho, a dark storm-cloud, ribbed with flashes of
+steel-edged lightning, was growing. For thirty years "King" Plummer had
+lived a life after his own mind, and it had been a very free life. In
+four or five states he was a real monarch, and there was nothing at all
+derisive about his nickname. At fifty he was at his mental and physical
+zenith, never before had he felt so strong, both in body and mind, so
+capable of doing great deeds, and with so keen a zest in life. The blood
+flowed in a rich, red tide through his veins, and he breathed the breath
+of morning like a youth.</p>
+
+<p>To this big, strong man, rioting in the very fulness of life, came Mrs.
+Grayson's letter. He was not in Bois&eacute; when it arrived there, but it was
+forwarded to him at a mining-camp in the very highest mountains. He read
+it early one morning sitting on a big rock at the edge of a valley that
+dropped off three thousand feet below, and first there was a shade of
+annoyance on his face, to be followed by a frown, which gave way in its
+turn to an angry red flush.</p>
+
+<p>But while the shade of annoyance was still on his face the "King" asked,
+"What is she driving at?" and then, when it was replaced by the frown,
+he muttered, "Why does she waste so much time on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> Harley and a marriage
+for him?" and then, when the red flush came, he exclaimed, "Damn the
+Eastern kid!" In the mind of "King" Plummer everybody who did not live
+west of the Missouri River was Eastern.</p>
+
+<p>He read the letter over four or five times, and it sank deeper and
+deeper into his soul, and as it sank it burned like fire. All that he
+had feared, but which he had refused to believe when he came away, was
+true. Sylvia did not love him, but she loved that raw youngster Harley.
+And here was Mrs. Grayson, the wife of a man who was under obligations
+to him, whom he could ruin, hinting that he give her up, and she a woman
+whom he had supposed to be endowed with at least ordinary intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>In his wrath, which was mighty, "King" Plummer swore at the whole tribe
+of women as fickle, heartless creatures. Then he rose to his feet,
+clinched his fist, shook it at the opposite mountain across the valley,
+and swore aloud at all creation. And "King" Plummer knew how to swear;
+he was no mealy-mouthed man; his had been a wild and tumultuous youth,
+and though he would never use oaths in the presence of Sylvia, he could
+still, in the seclusion of mountain or desert, let fly an imprecating
+volley that would burn the rocks themselves. It was apparent to some
+miners coming up the slope that their chief was no extinct volcano, and
+they wisely passed in silence on the other side.</p>
+
+<p>For the present there was little grief in the "King's" outpouring; the
+tide of wrath was too full and sparkling to be tinged yet awhile by
+other currents, and just now it flowed most against Mrs. Grayson, who
+had been bold enough to tell him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> what he was least willing to hear. His
+heart, too, was full of unspoken threats, as "King" Plummer was a
+passionate man who had lived a rough life, close to the ground, and full
+of primitive emotions. And the threats he expressed in words were such
+as these: "They shall pay for it!" "I helped put that husband of hers
+where he is, I helped make him, and I can help unmake him; and, by
+thunder, I will do it, too!" In the hour of his wrath he hated Jimmy
+Grayson, and his head was filled with sudden schemes. He would "teach
+the man what it was to play the King of the Mountains for a sucker,"
+and, still raging, he cast from him all the ties of party and
+association.</p>
+
+<p>Within an hour he was on his swiftest horse, riding furiously towards
+Bois&eacute;, his heart full of anger and his head full of plans for revenge.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was he sparing in speech when he reached Bois&eacute;. His words cracked so
+loud that the echo of them travelled several hundred miles and reached
+Mrs. Grayson, who was waiting vainly for a reply to a letter that she
+had written nearly two weeks before. Now, no reply was necessary,
+because this news was what she had feared, but which she had hoped would
+not come.</p>
+
+<p>The report was winged and full of alarms. "King" Plummer, shooting out
+of the mountains like a cannon-ball, had made his appearance in the
+streets of Bois&eacute;, openly denouncing Jimmy Grayson, calling him a
+traitor, and saying that he would beat him if he had to ruin himself to
+do it. What had caused this sudden change nobody knew, but it must be
+something astonishing, and it behooved the candidate to explain himself
+quickly.</p>
+
+<p>The loyal soul of the candidate's wife flashed back an angry reply
+across the five hundred miles of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> mountain and desert. If "King" Plummer
+was not the man she had hoped he was, then they preferred that they
+should fight him rather than have him as a false friend. Yet there was
+in her heart a throb of admiration for him, because he was willing to
+throw everything overboard for the love of a woman.</p>
+
+<p>The defection clothed the whole train in the deepest gloom. Tremaine
+spoke for the group when he said it was all up with Jimmy Grayson, and
+the others did not have the heart even to pretend to a different belief.
+With a Plummer defection on one side and a Goodnight falling away on the
+other, there was no hope left for a party which even with these wings
+faithful had only a desperate fighting chance.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was thoroughly miserable. He could guess&mdash;no, he did not guess,
+he knew the cause of "King" Plummer's bolt, and he knew, too, that if it
+were not for himself it would never have occurred; he had wrecked all
+the future of others, nor in making such a wreck had he secured his own
+happiness, provided even that he was selfish enough to be happy when
+others were ruined.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia, too, was sunk in the depths. She did not have to be told that
+her aunt had written to Mr. Plummer; she guessed that Mr. Plummer had
+received some warning, some message, it did not matter from whom,
+nothing else could cause him to burst forth with such violence, and the
+very nature of the case forbade her from speaking; she could only keep
+silent, knowing that significant talk was going on all around her, and
+pass sleepless nights and troubled days.</p>
+
+<p>The situation brought a thrill of satisfaction and interest to one man
+on the train, and he was Churchill. The cumulative effect of "King"
+Plummer's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> bolt might force Jimmy Grayson off the track, and it was not
+yet too late to put up another candidate. Such a thing had never been
+done, but that was no reason why it could not succeed, and he
+telegraphed Mr. Goodnight that Mr. Grayson was very despondent, and that
+those about him knew he did not have a ghost of a chance.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill guessed close to the cause of the Plummer bolt, but he was not
+sure, and for that and other reasons he at once sought an interview with
+the nominee.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson was courteous, and seemingly not as despondent as Churchill
+had described him. He said that he could not speak of Mr. Plummer's
+defection, because he had no official knowledge of the fact; it was
+merely report, and hence he could not comment on what was not proved.
+Mr. Churchill, he knew, would readily recognize the unfitness of such a
+thing, nor could he tell what he should do in supposititious cases,
+because, even if the latter came true, circumstances might give them
+another appearance.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill skirmished as delicately as he could about the subject of
+Sylvia and the surmise that she was the key to the situation, which, if
+true, would make one of the greatest stories told in a newspaper; but
+here the candidate was impervious. Not only was he impervious, but he
+seemed to be densely ignorant; all the hints of Churchill glided off him
+like arrows from a steel breast-plate, all the most delicate and skilful
+art of the interviewer failed. So far as concerned the subject of
+politics, Sylvia was unknown to Mr. Grayson. Baffled upon this
+interesting point, Churchill retired to write his interview; but as he
+rested his pad upon the car-seat and sharpened his pencil he flung out a
+feeler or two.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>"I say, Hobart," he said to the mystery man, who sat just in front of
+him, "I think there's something at the bottom of this Plummer revolt
+that we haven't probed. Now, isn't it the truth that Miss Morgan has
+thrown him over, and that he is taking his revenge on her uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>Hobart glanced up the car, and noticed that Harley was not within
+hearing. Then he replied, gravely:</p>
+
+<p>"Churchill, I don't believe that Miss Morgan has broken her engagement
+with the 'King'&mdash;she'll marry him yet if he says so&mdash;but I do believe
+that she has some connection with this affair. What it is, I don't know,
+and I'm mighty glad that I don't have to speak of it in my despatches;
+it's too intangible."</p>
+
+<p>But Churchill was not so scrupulous. Without giving any names, he wove
+into his four-thousand-word despatch a very beautiful and touching
+romance, in which Jimmy Grayson figured rather badly&mdash;in fact, somewhat
+as an evil genius&mdash;and the <i>Monitor</i>, dealing in the fine vein of irony
+which it considered its strongest card, wrote scornfully of a campaign
+into which personal issues were obtruding to such an extent that they
+were shattering it. The <i>Monitor</i> still affected to see some good in Mr.
+Grayson, but put the bad in such high relief that the good merely set it
+off, like those little patches that ladies wear on their faces. And the
+mystery of the Plummer bolt, involving a young and beautiful woman, just
+hinted at in the despatches, heightened the effect of the story. "King"
+Plummer himself appeared to the reading public as a martyr, and even to
+many old partisans party rebellion seemed in this case honorable and
+heroic.</p>
+
+<p>For a day or so Harley scarcely spoke to any one,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> and, as far as was
+possible within the limited confines of a train, he avoided Sylvia. He
+did not wish to see her, because he was strengthening himself to carry
+out a great resolution which he meant to take. In this crisis he turned
+to only one person, and that was Mr. Heathcote, who he felt would give
+him advice that was right and true.</p>
+
+<p>When Harley told Mr. Heathcote of his purpose, the committeeman's face
+became grave, but he said, "It is the hard thing for you to do, although
+it is the best thing." An hour later, Harley sent to his editor in New
+York a despatch, asking to be recalled; he said there had arisen
+personal reasons which would make him valueless for the rest of the
+campaign, and he felt that the <i>Gazette</i> would be the gainer if he were
+transferred to another field of activity.</p>
+
+<p>Harley felt a deep pang, and he did not attempt to disguise it from
+himself, when he sent this telegram, but after it was gone his
+conscience came to his relief, although he still avoided the presence of
+Sylvia with great care. But the pang was repeated many times, as he sat
+silent among his companions and calculated how he could leave them that
+night and get a train for New York in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>He was still sitting among them about the twilight hour when the
+conductor handed him a telegraphic despatch, and Harley knew that it was
+from his editor, who had a high appreciation of his merits, both
+personal and professional. The message was brief and pointed. It said:
+"Can't understand your request for a transfer. Your despatches from the
+campaign best work you have ever done; not only have all news, but write
+from the inside; you present the candidate as he is. Have telegraphed
+Mr. Grayson asking if there is any quarrel, and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> reply he makes
+special request that you represent <i>Gazette</i> with him to the end. Stay
+till you are sent for, and don't bother me again."</p>
+
+<p>Harley read it over a second time. Despite himself he smiled, and he
+smiled because he felt a throb of pleasure. "Good old chief," he said,
+and he understood now that a refusal of his request was a hope that he
+had dared not utter to himself. But he knew that he should have taken
+the great risk.</p>
+
+<p>He showed the despatch to Mr. Heathcote, and the committeeman was
+sincerely glad.</p>
+
+<p>"Your editor has done his duty," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson did not allude to the subject, and Harley respected his
+silence, although devoutly grateful for the reply that he had made.</p>
+
+<p>Other telegrams caused by the threatened revolt in the mountains were
+also passing; some of them stopped at the house of Mr. Plummer, in
+Bois&eacute;, and upon the trail of one of these telegrams, a forcible one,
+came a thin-faced and quiet but alert man, Mr. Henry Crayon, who in his
+way was a power in both the financial and political worlds. Mr. Crayon
+was perhaps the most trusted of the lieutenants of the Honorable Clinton
+Goodnight, and the two had held a long conference before his departure
+for the West, agreeing at the end of it that "it was time to make a
+move, and after that move to spring a live issue."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crayon was fairly well informed of the causes that agitated the soul
+of "King" Plummer, and as he shot westward on a Limited Continental
+Express he considered the best way of approach, inclining as always to
+delicate but incisive methods. Long before he reached Bois&eacute; his mind was
+well made up, and he felt content because he anticipated no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>difficulty
+in handling the crude mountaineer, who was unused to the ways of
+diplomacy.</p>
+
+<p>He found the "King" in Bois&eacute;, still hot and sulky. Mr. Plummer had not
+heard anything in person from the Graysons, nor had he sent any message
+to them, and the mountains were full of talk about his bolt, which was
+now spoken of as an accepted fact.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crayon's first meeting with Mr. Plummer came about in quite an
+accidental and easy way&mdash;Mr. Crayon saw to that&mdash;and the Easterner was
+deferential, as became one who had so little experience of the West,
+who, in case he was presumptuous, was likely to be reminded that Idaho
+was nearly twenty times as large as Connecticut and twice as large as
+the state of New York itself. After making himself pleasant by humility
+and requests for advice, Mr. Crayon glided warily into the subject of
+politics. He disclosed to Mr. Plummer how much a powerful faction in the
+party was displeased with Mr. Grayson, and the equally important fact
+that this faction felt the necessity of speedy action of some kind.</p>
+
+<p>They were at that moment in a secluded corner of the reading-room of the
+chief hotel in Bois&eacute;, and Mr. Crayon had ordered a pleasant and powerful
+Western concoction which he and Mr. Plummer sipped as they talked. The
+"King's" face was red, partly with the sun and partly with the anger
+that still burned him. Mr. Crayon's words fell soothingly upon his
+ear&mdash;Mr. Crayon had a quiet, mellow voice&mdash;and his sense of injury at
+the hands of Jimmy Grayson deepened. What right had Jimmy Grayson or
+Jimmy Grayson's wife, which was the same thing, to interfere in his
+private affairs? And it was only a step from one's private life to one's
+public life. Wrong in one, wrong in the other. Mr. Crayon, watching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> him
+keenly though covertly, was pleased with the varying expressions that
+passed over the unbearded portions of the "King's" face. He read there
+anger, jealousy, and revenge, and he said to himself that he would bend
+this man, big and strong as he was, to his will.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crayon now grew bolder. He said that the minority within the party,
+which, for the present, he represented, was resolved to come to an issue
+with Mr. Grayson; the destinies of a great party, and possibly the
+country, could not be put in the hands of a man who had neither the
+proper dignity nor the proper sense of responsibility. Thus far he went,
+and then the wily Mr. Crayon stopped to notice the effect.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to him to be favorable, and Mr. Crayon was an acute man. The
+"King" drank a little of his liquor and nodded his head. Yes, he had
+been fooled in Jimmy Grayson, he had thought that he was as true as
+steel, but there was a flaw in the steel; Jimmy Grayson had done him a
+great injury, and he was not a man who turned one cheek when the other
+was smitten; he smote back with all his might, and his own hand was
+pretty heavy.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crayon smiled&mdash;all things were certainly going well; he had caught
+Mr. Plummer at the right moment, and there was no doubt of the
+impression that he was making. Then he went a little further; he
+suggested that a certain important issue not hitherto discussed in the
+campaign was going to be brought up, even now they were proposing to
+present it in the West, and Mr. Grayson would have to declare himself
+either for or against it&mdash;there was no middle ground. Mr. Crayon again
+stopped and observed the "King" with the same covert but careful
+glance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> The face of Mr. Plummer obviously bore the stamp of approval;
+moreover, he nodded, and, thus encouraged, Mr. Crayon went further and
+further, telling why the issue was so great, and why it must be
+presented to the public without delay.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Plummer asked him to name the issue, and when Mr. Crayon did so,
+without reserve, the "King's" face once more bore the stamp of approval,
+and he nodded his head again.</p>
+
+<p>"If Mr. Grayson accepts the law as we lay it down," said Mr. Crayon,
+with satisfaction, "he places himself in our hands and we control him.
+Our policies prevail, and, if he becomes President of the United States,
+we remain the power that rules him, and that, therefore, rules the
+country. If he resists us, well, that is the end of him!"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crayon had lighted a cigar, and as he said "that is the end of him"
+he flicked off the ash with a quick gesture that had in it the touch of
+finality.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Plummer said nothing, and Mr. Crayon was content; he could do enough
+talking for two.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Goodnight and other of my associates are coming West very soon," he
+continued. "The velvet glove will be taken off, and it is high time."</p>
+
+<p>Then they went forth into the streets of Bois&eacute; and they were seen
+walking together by many people, to which Mr. Crayon was not averse, and
+in an hour three or four local correspondents were sending eastward
+vivid despatches stating that Mr. Crayon, the representative of the
+conservative and dissatisfied minority in the party, was in Bois&eacute; in
+close conference with "King" Plummer, the political ruler of the
+mountains. And the burden of all these despatches was fast-coming evil
+for Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was the candidate long in hearing of it. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> very next day a Bois&eacute;
+newspaper containing a full first-page account of it reached them, and
+was read aloud to the party by Mr. Heathcote. Mr. Grayson made no
+comment as it was being read, but Harley once saw his face darken and
+his lips close tightly together; this was the only sign that he gave,
+and it quickly passed.</p>
+
+<p>But the others were not so chary of words. The train was full of
+indignant comment, and the ears of "King" Plummer in the distance must
+have burned.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not have believed it of him," said Mr. Heathcote. "It is untrue
+to the man's whole nature, even if he is swayed suddenly by some
+powerful emotion."</p>
+
+<p>Hobart glanced at Sylvia, who had withdrawn to the far end of the car,
+where she was apparently gazing at the mountains that fled by, although
+she said not one word and her face was red. Nor did Harley join in the
+talk, but, taking advantage of the slight bustle caused by Mr. Grayson's
+retirement to the drawing-room, he took refuge in a day car to which
+their own coach was attached for the time. That evening, while the
+others were at dinner, he saw Sylvia alone.</p>
+
+<p>"I ought to tell you," she said, "that I have asked to leave the train,
+but my aunt has refused to consent to it. She says she needs me, and as
+I cannot go now to my old home in Bois&eacute;, it is better for me to stay
+with her. I have heard that you asked to be recalled to the East, and I
+honor you for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sorry that my request was refused?" asked Harley.</p>
+
+<p>She did not falter, although the red in her cheeks flushed deeper.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I am not sorry; I am glad," she replied.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> "Why should I tell an
+untruth about what is so great a matter to both of us? But it cannot
+change anything."</p>
+
+<p>Harley felt that this was, indeed, a maid well worth winning, and his
+hope yet to find a way, which had been weakened somewhat lately, grew
+high again. That night wild resolves ran through his mind. He would
+sacrifice his pride, hitherto an unthinkable thing&mdash;he would see "King"
+Plummer and tell him that Sylvia and he loved each other, that neither
+of them could possibly be happy unless they were wedded, then he would
+appeal to the older man's generosity; he would tell him how Sylvia
+loyally meant to keep her word and pay her debt of gratitude with
+herself, then he would ask him to release her from the promise. But he
+gave up the idea as one that required too much; he could never humiliate
+himself so far, and even then it would be a humiliation without result.</p>
+
+<p>If Harley had undertaken to carry out such a wild idea, he would have
+found it difficult, because no one in the party then knew where "King"
+Plummer was; they were hearing of him all over the West, and the Denver,
+Salt Lake, and smaller newspapers were filled with accounts of his
+doings, all colored highly. His bolt, they said, was now an accomplished
+fact; he showed the deepest hostility to the candidate, and he was also
+in constant correspondence with a powerful and dissatisfied wing in the
+East.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson never said a word, he never spoke of Mr. Plummer in any of
+his speeches, and Harley believed there was only sadness in his mind,
+not anger, whenever he thought of the "King."</p>
+
+<p>But there could be no doubt of the effect of all these events upon the
+campaign; to the public Jimmy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> Grayson seemed as one lost in the
+wilderness, and only in the mountains, where the people were far from
+the great centres of information, did they yet cherish a hope of his
+election. Churchill wrote to the <i>Monitor</i> that Jimmy Grayson himself
+had abandoned hope.</p>
+
+<p>Ominous rumblings were coming from the East, too. Goodnight, Crayon, and
+their friends had found a pretext upon which to take drastic action, and
+they were about to take it.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE GREAT PHILIPSBURG CONFERENCE</h3>
+
+<p>If ever you go to Philipsburg, which is in Wyoming, not far from the
+Montana line, you will hear the people proclaim the greatness of the
+town in which they live. You expect this sort of thing in the Far West,
+and you are prepared for it, but you will be surprised at the nature of
+the Philipsburg boast. Its proud inhabitants will not tell you that it
+is bound to be the largest city between the Missouri and the coast, they
+will not assert that since the horizon touches the earth at an equal
+distance on all sides of the town, it is, therefore, the natural centre
+of the world; but they will tell you stories of the Great Philipsburg
+Conference, and some of them will not be far from the truth.</p>
+
+<p>Philipsburg is but a hamlet, fed by an irrigation ditch that leads the
+life-giving waters down from a distant mountain, and it has neither the
+beauty of nature nor that given by the hand of man, but the people will
+point importantly to the square wooden hotel of only two stories, and
+tell you that there occurred the great crisis in the most famous and
+picturesque Presidential campaign ever waged in the United States; they
+will even lead you to the very room in which the big talk occurred, and
+say, in lowered voices, that the furniture is exactly the same, and
+arranged just as it was on that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>momentous night when the history of the
+world might have been changed. In this room the people of Philipsburg
+have a reverential air, and there is cause for it.</p>
+
+<p>The affair did not begin at Philipsburg&mdash;it merely had its climax
+there&mdash;but far away on the dusty plains of eastern Washington, where the
+wheat grows so tall, and it bubbled and seethed as the candidate and his
+party travelled eastward, stopping and speaking many times by the way.
+It was all about the tariff, a dry subject in itself, but, as tall oaks
+from little acorns grow, so a dry subject often can make interesting
+people do interesting things.</p>
+
+<p>At the convention that nominated Mr. Grayson for the Presidency the
+subject of the tariff had been left somewhat vague in the platform, not
+from deliberate purpose, but merely through the drift of events; the
+question had not interested the people greatly in some time; other
+things connected with both the foreign and internal policy of the
+government, particularly the continued occupation of the Philippines and
+a projected new banking system, were more to the fore; but as the
+campaign proceeded certain events caused the tariff also to be brought
+into issue and to receive a large share of public attention.</p>
+
+<p>Now, a clever man&mdash;above all, one as clever as Jimmy Grayson&mdash;could
+avoid giving a decided opinion upon this subject. It is party creed for
+a candidate to stand upon his platform, and, as the platform contained
+no tariff plank, he was not obliged to take any stand upon the tariff.
+Such a course would seem good politics, too, but Harley knew that Mr.
+Grayson favored a reduction of the tariff and a liberal measure of
+reciprocity with neighboring states,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> and he dreaded the time when the
+candidate should declare himself upon the subject; he did not see how he
+could do it without losing many votes, because there was a serious
+difference of view inside his own party. And Harley's dread grew out of
+his intense desire to see Mr. Grayson elected. His hero was not
+perfect&mdash;no man was; there were some important truths which he did not
+yet know, but he was honest, able, and true, and he came nearer to being
+the ideal candidate than any other man whom he had ever seen. Above all,
+he represented the principles which Harley, from the bottom of his soul,
+wished to triumph.</p>
+
+<p>The fight had been begun against great odds, against powerful interests
+consolidated in a battle-line that at first seemed impervious, but by
+tremendous efforts they had made progress; the vast energy and the
+winning personality of Mr. Grayson were a strong weapon, and Harley was
+gradually sensible that the people were rallying around him in
+increasing numbers, and by people he did not merely mean the masses of
+the lowest, those who never raise themselves; Harley was never such a
+demagogue as to think that a man was bad because he had achieved
+something in the world and had prospered; he had too honest and clear a
+mind to put a premium upon incapacity and idleness.</p>
+
+<p>Lately he had begun to have hope&mdash;a feeling that Mr. Grayson might be
+elected despite the "King" Plummer defection was growing upon him, if
+they could only abide by the issues already formed. But at the best it
+would be a fight to the finish, with the chances in favor of the other
+man. Yet his heart was infused with hope until this hateful tariff
+question began to raise its head. Harley knew that a declaration upon it
+would split the party, or at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> least would cut from it a fragment big
+enough to cause defeat. He devoutly hoped that they would steer clear of
+this dangerous rock, but he was not so sure of Jimmy Grayson, who, after
+all, was his own pilot. And his amiability did not alter the fact that
+he had a strong hand.</p>
+
+<p>Harley at first heard the mutterings of the thunder only from afar; it
+was being debated in the East among the great manufacturing cities, but
+as yet the West was untouched by the storm. Mr. Heathcote, the Eastern
+committeeman, called his attention to it after they had passed the
+mountain-range that divides western Washington from eastern Washington.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was looking out of the window at the rippling brown plain, which
+he was told was one of the best wheat countries in the world. "At
+first," said his informant, a pioneer, "we thought it was a desert, and
+we thought so, too, for a long time afterwards; it looked like loose
+sand, and the wind actually blew the soil about as if it were dust. Now,
+and without irrigation, it produces its thirty bushels of wheat per acre
+season after season."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was thinking of this brilliant transformation, when the
+committeeman, who was sitting just behind him, suddenly changed the
+channel of his thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>"I have here a Walla Walla paper that will interest you, Mr. Harley," he
+said. "In fact, it is likely to interest us all. The despatch is
+somewhat meagre, but it will suffice."</p>
+
+<p>He put his finger on the top head-line of the first page, and Harley
+read: "The Tariff an Issue." He took the paper and read the article
+carefully. The debate had occurred before an immense audience in Madison
+Square Garden, in New York City, and according to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> the despatch it had
+excited the greatest interest, a statement that Harley could easily
+believe.</p>
+
+<p>"I was hoping that we would be spared this," he said, as he laid the
+paper down and his face became grave. "Why do they bring it up? It's not
+in the platform and it should not be made an issue, at least not now."</p>
+
+<p>"But it is an issue, after all," replied Mr. Heathcote, "and I am
+surprised that the enemy did not raise the question sooner. They must
+have had some very bad management. They are united on this question, and
+we are not. If we are forced to come into line of battle on it, then we
+are divided and they are not; don't you see their advantage?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it is manifest," replied Harley, gloomily. Then, after a little
+thought, he began to brighten.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not necessary for Jimmy Grayson to declare himself."</p>
+
+<p>"He will, if he is asked to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"But we are away out here in the Western mountains, out of immediate
+touch with the great centres of population. These thinly settled states
+are doubtful, those more populous are not. Here they are not interested
+in the tariff either one way or the other; the subject has scarcely been
+mentioned on our Western tour; why can we not still keep it in the
+dark?"</p>
+
+<p>"But, I tell you, if the issue is presented to Jimmy Grayson, he is sure
+to speak his mind about it."</p>
+
+<p>"It is for us to see that it is not presented. I don't think it will be
+done by any of the local population, and we must exercise a censorship
+over the press. We must try to keep from him all newspapers containing
+accounts of the tariff debates; we must not let him know that the issue
+is before the public off there in the East. There is only a month more
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> the campaign, and, while it is not likely that we can suppress the
+matter entirely, we may keep it down until it is too late to do much
+harm."</p>
+
+<p>"The plan isn't a bad one," said Mr. Heathcote; "but we've got to take
+everybody into the plot. Mr. Grayson alone is to be left in ignorance."</p>
+
+<p>"They are all his devoted personal friends except Churchill, of the
+<i>Monitor</i>, and I can bully him into silence."</p>
+
+<p>Harley's face flushed slightly as he made this assertion with emphasis.
+Mr. Heathcote, who was learning much these days, smiled as he observed
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Harley," he said, "no one could doubt the reality of your wishes
+for Mr. Grayson's success."</p>
+
+<p>All went willingly into the little conspiracy against the extension of
+Mr. Grayson's knowledge, even Churchill, under the whip and spur of
+Harley's will, promising a sullen silence. The case itself presented
+aspects that stirred these men, calling as it did for an alertness of
+mind and delicacy of handling that appealed to their sense of
+responsibility; hence it aroused their interest, which in turn begat a
+desire to succeed.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley, as well as Mr. Heathcote and the others, knew very well that
+it was not the enemy alone who had raised this new and, as they all
+feared, fatal issue; even if they had not read it in the despatches, the
+hand of the minority within their own party was too clearly visible. In
+the newspapers that reached them constant allusions were made to Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates, who were deeply interested
+in the maintenance of the tariff, and who, it was said, would force Mr.
+Grayson to pledge himself to its support; this, it was predicted, they
+could easily do, as it was obvious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> that he could not win without the
+help of this minority.</p>
+
+<p>Harley knew that the Goodnight faction now intended to force the
+issue&mdash;that is, either to subject Mr. Grayson or to ruin him, and he saw
+that the affair would require the most delicate handling; only that and
+the best of fortune could postpone the issue long enough.</p>
+
+<p>They took Sylvia into their confidence, both by necessity and choice,
+but they were rather surprised to find that in this case she did not
+believe in diplomacy.</p>
+
+<p>"If I were Uncle James," she said, with indignant anger, "I would tell
+them to go to&mdash;well, well, where a man would tell them to go to, and I
+would not be polite about it, either."</p>
+
+<p>Harley laughed at her heat, although he liked it, too.</p>
+
+<p>"And then you'd lose the election," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd lose it, if I must, but at least I'd save my independence and
+self-respect in doing so. Is Uncle James the nominee, or is he not? If
+he is the nominee, shouldn't he say what he ought to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps, but it isn't politics; even if he were elected he wouldn't be
+absolutely free; no ruler ever was, whether president or king."</p>
+
+<p>But she clung to her opinion.</p>
+
+<p>It was no easy matter to hide the tariff issue from Jimmy Grayson, who
+was exceedingly watchful of all things about him, despite his great
+labors in the campaign; yet his associates were aided to some extent by
+the rather meagre character of the newspapers which now reached them,
+newspapers published in small towns, and therefore unable to pay for
+long despatches from the East. But even these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> were censored with the
+most jealous care; if they contained anything about the hot tariff
+discussion off there in the Atlantic States, they disappeared before
+they could reach the candidate. All the news was inspected with the most
+rigid care, just as if the real feeling of his subjects was being hidden
+from a kaiser or a czar.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley and his friends soon found that they had laid upon themselves
+a great and onerous task, and to Harley, at least, it was all the
+heavier because he found, at last, that his heart was not wholly in it.
+Despite all their caution, references to the tariff debate would dribble
+in; Jimmy Grayson began to grow suspicious; he would ask about the work
+of the campaign orators in the East, and he seemed surprised that his
+friends, above all the correspondents, should have so little news on the
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to see some of the New York or Chicago newspapers, even
+if they are ten days old," he said. "It seems odd that we have not had
+any for a week now."</p>
+
+<p>"The metropolitan press scarcely reaches these isolated regions," said
+Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"We have been in isolated regions before, and we had the New York and
+Chicago newspapers every day."</p>
+
+<p>Harley did not answer, and presently contrived some excuse for leaving
+Jimmy Grayson, being much troubled in mind, not alone because the
+candidate was growing suspicious, but because of a rising belief that he
+ought to know, that the truth should not be hidden from him. If the
+tariff was to be an issue, then the candidate should declare himself,
+cost what it might. Yet Harley, for the present, followed the course
+that he had set. But he shivered a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> when he looked at the New
+York and Chicago newspapers that were smuggled about the train; the
+tariff question was swelling in importance, and the head-lines over the
+debates were growing bigger.</p>
+
+<p>A stray copy of the <i>Monitor</i> reached them, and it was big with
+prophecy: "At last the gauntlet has been thrown down by the wise, the
+conservative, and the high moral element of the party." It said,
+editorially: "Our impulsive young man will learn that there are older
+and soberer heads, and he must bow his own to them. The <i>Monitor</i> has
+long foreseen this necessary crisis, although the blind multitude would
+not believe us, and we are both glad and proud to say that we have had
+our modest little share in forcing it."</p>
+
+<p>The candidate sent for Harley the next noon, and when the correspondent
+entered the state-room set aside for his use, he saw that Mr. Grayson's
+face was grave. He held a yellow sheet of paper, evidently a telegraph
+form, in his right hand, and was tapping it lightly with the forefinger
+of his left hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," he said, smiling the frank smile that made him so many
+friends; "I've got in the habit of looking upon you as a friend and sort
+of confidential adviser."</p>
+
+<p>"It makes me happy to hear you say so," said Harley, who was gratified.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson looked at the telegram, and his face became grave. Then he
+handed it to Harley, saying, "I have here something that I do not
+altogether understand. Read it."</p>
+
+<p>It was from New York, and it said:</p>
+
+<p>"Your silence on tariff issue admirable. Keep it up. Don't let enemy
+force you into action."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>It was signed with the name of a New York politician well-known as a
+trimmer.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson looked Harley squarely in the eye, and the correspondent's
+face fell.</p>
+
+<p>"Now what does it mean?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley was silent.</p>
+
+<p>"What does it mean?" continued Mr. Grayson, in a perplexed tone. "The
+tariff has not been a real issue in this campaign. Now why does he
+congratulate me on my silence?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley did not speak and Jimmy Grayson's face grew grave.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry that we have not been able to keep fully informed about the
+campaign in the East," he said. "I am bound to assume from this that the
+tariff issue has been raised there, and if a fight is to be made upon it
+I, as the head of the ticket, must do my share."</p>
+
+<p>Then Harley confessed, and in doing so relieved his conscience, in which
+he was wise, both from the moral and prudential points of view, because
+the truth about the situation could not be hidden any longer from the
+acute mind of Jimmy Grayson. He concealed nothing, he showed that he was
+the leader of the conspiracy, and he described their devious attempts,
+with their relative success and failure.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," said the candidate, when the tale was told, "I am more than
+ever convinced that you are my sincere friend. You would not have done
+this if you were not. It was a mistake, but you certainly meant well."</p>
+
+<p>"I did it because I thought I could help."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, but I repeat that it was a mistake. Such an important matter
+could not be kept permanently in the background. It was bound to come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>
+forward, and with all the greater force because it had been restrained
+so long. I don't think any harm has been done, but I'll have to take the
+management of it into my own hands now."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled again with such frankness and sincerity that Harley's feelings
+were not hurt by his words, but he quickly realized the truth of his
+assertion about the increased force of the disclosure because it had
+been kept back so long. Now the avalanche struck them. When Harley left
+the state-room, Churchill came to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," he said, "the <i>Monitor</i> has telegraphed me to get a thousand
+words from Mr. Grayson, if I can, on the tariff issue. My first duty is
+to my paper, and I am bound to obey these instructions."</p>
+
+<p>"It's all right, he knows now; go right in to see him; but I am sure he
+won't talk to you about it; he isn't ready yet."</p>
+
+<p>Three or four more correspondents received instructions of the same
+character, and in addition there was a rain of telegrams for Jimmy
+Grayson himself and for his party associates. It seemed that the issue
+had suddenly culminated in the East, and the candidate would be bound to
+speak. But the telegrams to Mr. Grayson were of a varying nature; many
+of them were opposed to revision, and they were usually signed by men of
+wealth and power, those who furnished the sinews of war, as necessary in
+a political campaign&mdash;and entirely within the confines of honesty,
+too&mdash;as the cannon and the rifles are on the field of battle. Others
+took another view, and it was apparent to everybody that great trouble
+in the party was at hand.</p>
+
+<p>Gloom settled over the train. They were ready at all times to fight the
+enemy, but how to handle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>defection among their own men was a puzzling
+thing, and there was cause for despair. Sylvia, however, was glad that
+Mr. Grayson knew. She said that he would do right, whatever it might be.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been in to see Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Heathcote to Harley, "and I
+suggested that he might continue his silence on the great question. You
+see, he is not bound to speak. If he doesn't want to, nobody can make
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"No, nobody can make him speak, nor can anybody keep him from it if he
+wishes to do so."</p>
+
+<p>While they talked the train was slowing down for a stop at a tiny
+village of a dozen houses, and when there a long telegram was brought to
+Mr. Heathcote. He read it with absorbed attention, and when he looked up
+at Harley his face showed relief.</p>
+
+<p>"This is good! This is good!" he said. "The telegram is dated Chicago,
+and it tells me that a big committee of New York, Philadelphia, and
+Boston men is coming on to see Mr. Grayson. They are good members of our
+own party, all in favor of letting the tariff alone, and I think they
+can bring such pressure to bear that they will save us."</p>
+
+<p>Harley himself felt relief. The committee might achieve something, and,
+at any rate, the responsibility would rest upon more heads.</p>
+
+<p>"When can we expect these men?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"In two days; they are already well on their way."</p>
+
+<p>"Being an Eastern man yourself, it will fall to your lot to be the
+intermediary."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose so," said Mr. Heathcote, and he sighed a little.</p>
+
+<p>True to Mr. Heathcote's prediction, the committee overtook them two days
+later at a way-station, and Harley saw at once that strenuous days were
+ahead,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> because the committee had a full sense of its own largeness and
+importance, a fact evident even to those less acute than Harley; and it
+was led by Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon themselves. It was composed of
+eight men, all middle-aged or more, and every one was set in a way of
+thinking peculiar to the business in which he had spent many years and
+in which he had made much money.</p>
+
+<p>All glittered with the gloss of prosperity. When they left the train
+they put on polished silk-hats, brought forth by ready servants, and
+when they walked through the streets of the little villages they were
+resplendent in long, black frock-coats and light trousers. They were
+not, as Mr. Heathcote had been in his primordial condition, young and
+merely mistaken, but they had passed the time of life when there was
+anything to be learned; in fact, they were quite well aware that they
+knew everything, particularly those subjects pertaining to the growth
+and prosperity of the country.</p>
+
+<p>The leader of the committee was Mr. Clinton Goodnight, who, as has been
+told, was a manufacturer of immense wealth and also a member of the
+Lower House of Congress, thus combining in himself the loftiest
+attributes of law-making and money-making. He was helped, too, by a
+manner of great solemnity and a slow, deep voice that placed emphasis
+upon every alternate word, thus adding impressiveness to everything he
+said. He was assiduously seconded by Mr. Henry Crayon, thin-faced and
+alert as ever, speaking in short, snappy sentences, from which all
+useless adjectives were elided. Mr. Crayon was self-made, and was
+willing that it should be known. He, too, had fathomed the depths of
+knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>They were introduced to Mr. Grayson by Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> Heathcote, who, with useful
+experience of his own not far behind him, was able to show much tact.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to meet you again, Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Goodnight, in a
+large, rotund manner. "I am sorry I did not see more of you when we were
+together in the House. But you were very young then, you know. Who'd
+have thought that you would be so conspicuous now? I dare say you did
+not expect to see us here. We business-men are usually so much engrossed
+with affairs that we do not have time for politics, but there come
+occasions when our help, especially our advice, is needed, and this is
+one of them."</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw a faint smile pass over the face of the candidate, but Jimmy
+Grayson was a man of infinite tact, which, instead of being allied to
+greatness, is a part of greatness itself, and he took no notice of
+anything in Mr. Goodnight's words or manner. On the contrary, he
+welcomed him and his associate with real warmth; he was glad to see the
+great business interests of the country represented in person in the
+campaign; it ought always to be so; if the solid men took more part in
+the elections it would be better for all.</p>
+
+<p>Every member of the committee smiled a satisfied smile and admitted that
+Mr. Grayson's remarks were true. This was progress, as Harley could see.
+The committee may have come with advice and reprobation in its soul, but
+clearly it was placated, for the present.</p>
+
+<p>"We give proof of devotion to cause," said Mr. Crayon, in his sharp,
+snappy way. "Have come all the way from great financial centres to these
+lonely plains. Heavy sacrifice of time. Hope it will be duly appreciated."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>"You can rest easy on that point," said Jimmy Grayson, as the faint
+smile again passed over his face. "Your intentions will be taken at
+their full value."</p>
+
+<p>"We wish to have a long and thorough talk with you a little later on,"
+said Mr. Goodnight. "The subject is one of the greatest importance, and
+the age and experience of the members of this committee fit us to deal
+with it."</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly," said Jimmy Grayson, and Harley thought that his voice was
+a little dryer than usual.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately the members of the committee had their own special car,
+equipped with many luxuries, and it was attached to Jimmy Grayson's
+train. Hence there was no crowding and no displacing of the old
+travellers, but it was clear that there were now two parties following
+the candidate, since the old and the new did not coalesce. The members
+of the committee showed at once that they knew themselves to be the
+mainstay of the country, while the others were merely frivolous and
+unstable politicians.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia, of course, was eager to know what they had said and how they
+bore themselves, and Harley was anxious to gratify her.</p>
+
+<p>"They said they were very great men, and they bore themselves
+accordingly."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle James is a greater man than all of them put together."</p>
+
+<p>"I foresee trouble," said Hobart, joyfully, to Harley a little later. "I
+can feel it in the air around me, I breathe it, I can even see it."</p>
+
+<p>"Hobart," said Harley, pityingly, "you only obey your instincts."</p>
+
+<p>"Wherein I am a wise man," replied Hobart, with satisfaction. "I am out
+here to get news, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> livelier the news the better. Now I think
+that these gentlemen will soon furnish us something worth writing
+about."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid so," said Harley, despondently.</p>
+
+<p>The committee was in no haste to speak. Its members dined luxuriously in
+their private car, and invited to join them those whom they thought
+worthy of the honor&mdash;only a very few besides the ladies. Among these was
+Harley; but it was Jimmy Grayson who took him.</p>
+
+<p>The conversation was exclusively commercial and financial. Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates were well aware that the
+whole science of government pertained to the development of trade, and
+it was the business of a people, as well as of a man, to stick to the
+main point. It was for this reason, too, that Mr. Crayon incidentally
+let it be understood that he did not value a college education. He had
+several university graduates working for him on small salaries, while he
+had never been inside the walls of a university, and that was the
+beginning and end of the matter; there could be no further discussion.</p>
+
+<p>"I understand you are connected with the press," he said to Harley, who
+sat in the next chair. "I should think there was not much in that; but
+still, with careful, diligent man, it might serve as opening into
+financial circles. You must come in contact with men of importance. I
+know a man, originally a writer for press, who has risen to be a bank
+cashier. Worthy fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure that he must be," said Harley, and Mr. Crayon's opinion of
+him rose.</p>
+
+<p>The atmosphere of which Hobart spoke with such emphasis did not permeate
+the special car. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> was no sign of trouble around the bountiful
+dining-table. The committee had its own way and did all the talking,
+leaving Mr. Grayson, Mr. Heathcote, and the others in silence. Hence
+there was no chance of a disagreement, and, as Harley judged, Mr.
+Goodnight and Mr. Crayon were assured that this pleasant state of
+affairs would continue.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crayon, who was pleased with his neighbor, again gave Mr. Harley
+enlightenment. He asked him about the country through which they were
+passing, and was kind enough to consider his information of some weight.
+But he permitted Harley to furnish only the premises; it was reserved
+for himself to draw the conclusions; he predicted with absolute
+certainty the future of this region and the amount of revenue it would
+yield through its threefold interests&mdash;agricultural, pastoral, and
+mineral. He added that only the trained mind could make these accurate
+estimates.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what happened?" asked Hobart, when Harley returned to his own
+car.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing? Maybe so, but it won't remain nothing long. You just wait and
+see."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia, to whom these men were, of course, polite, summed them up very
+accurately in a remark that she made to Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"It is impossible to teach them anything," she said, "because they know
+everything already."</p>
+
+<p>An hour later the candidate spoke at a small station to a large audience
+composed of people typical of the region&mdash;miners, farmers, and cowboys,
+variously attired, but all quiet and peaceful. There was not a sign of
+disorder, there was nothing even remotely resembling the toughs of the
+great Eastern cities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>. This seemed to be a surprise to the members of
+the committee, who sat in a formidable semicircle on the stage behind
+the candidate. But as the surprise wore away a touch of disdain appeared
+in their manner; they seemed to doubt whether the region and its people
+were of any importance.</p>
+
+<p>To Harley the speech of the morning was of particular interest, and he
+watched Jimmy Grayson with the closest attention. He wanted to see
+whether he would venture upon the treacherous ocean of the tariff, and
+he had been unable to draw from his manner any idea of his intention.
+But Jimmy Grayson did not launch his bark upon those stormy waters. He
+handled many issues, and never did he allow any one in the audience to
+doubt his meaning; it was a plain yea or nay, and he drew applause from
+the audience or a disapproving silence, according to its feelings.</p>
+
+<p>But the committee was satisfied, the faces of the members shone with
+pleasure, and Harley, reading their minds, saw how they told themselves
+of the quick effect their presence had upon Jimmy Grayson. It was well
+for men of weight to surround a Presidential candidate; despite himself,
+with strong, grave faces beside him he would put a prudent restraint
+upon his words. The long trip from the East and the temporary sacrifice
+of important interests was proving to be worth the price. When the
+speech was over, they congratulated him upon his caution and wisdom.</p>
+
+<p>But that afternoon they were caught under a deluge of Eastern
+newspapers, and in them all the tariff discussion loomed formidably.
+There was every indication, too, that this big storm-cloud was moving
+westward; already it was hovering over the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> Missouri River Valley,
+because the newspapers of Kansas City and Omaha, like those of Chicago
+and New York, fairly darkened with it.</p>
+
+<p>And the telegrams, too, continued to fall on Jimmy Grayson thick and
+fast. They came in yellow showers; all the correspondents received
+orders to get long interviews with him upon the subject, if possible,
+and the leaders in every part of the country were telegraphing to do
+this and to do that, or not to do either. It was evident that a great
+population wanted to know just how Jimmy Grayson stood on the tariff.</p>
+
+<p>The members of the committee took alarm; Harley saw them bustling in
+uneasily to Jimmy Grayson, and whispering to him much and often.</p>
+
+<p>"It's begun! It's begun! The war is on!" said Hobart, gleefully. "I hear
+the dropping bullets of the skirmishers!"</p>
+
+<p>"Hobart, you'd exult over an earthquake!" exclaimed Harley, wrathfully.</p>
+
+<p>But he knew Hobart's words to be true, and presently he drifted back to
+Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Harley is my intimate personal friend," said the candidate to some
+of the members of the committee who looked askance at the correspondent;
+"and what you say before me you can say before him. He knows what to
+print and what not to print."</p>
+
+<p>"It is this," said Mr. Goodnight, and Mr. Crayon nodded violently in
+affirmation; "all the news shows that this tariff agitation is growing
+fast. But it is only a trick of the enemy to force an expression from
+us. They are united in favor of the tariff and we are not. There is a
+division within our ranks. Many of us, and I may say it is the more
+solid and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>conservative wing of the party, the men who really understand
+the world, know that it is not wise to meddle with the question. Leave
+well enough alone. We are interested in this ourselves, and, as you
+know, we furnish the sinews of war."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped and coughed significantly, and Mr. Crayon also coughed
+significantly. The remaining members of the committee did likewise.
+Jimmy Grayson looked thoughtful.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," he said, "I confess to you that my mind has been upon this
+subject for several days past."</p>
+
+<p>"But you will listen to advice," said Mr. Goodnight, hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly! Certainly!" said Jimmy Grayson. "But you see the time is
+coming when I must decide upon some course in regard to it. I appreciate
+the self-sacrifice of you gentlemen in leaving your business interests
+to come so far, and I shall be glad if we can co-operate. We reach
+Philipsburg to-night; I make a speech there, but it will be over early.
+Suppose we have our talk immediately afterwards."</p>
+
+<p>The committee at once accepted the offer and expressed satisfaction. Mr.
+Grayson showed every sign of tractability, and they began to feel again
+that their valuable time had not been expended in vain.</p>
+
+<p>Harley told Sylvia that the affair was now bound to come to a head very
+soon, but she repeated her confidence in her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>Hobart, however, was gloomy; his joy of the morning seemed to have
+passed quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like it," he remarked to Harley. "Jimmy Grayson seems to have
+followed the lead of these men without once saying: 'I am the nominee
+and it is for me to say.'"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>"And why not? Every dictate of prudence requires that he should. What is
+the use of taking up such a troublesome question at this late day of the
+campaign?"</p>
+
+<p>"But there will be no fight!" This was said very plaintively.</p>
+
+<p>Harley smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"I sincerely hope we will escape one," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson, after the brief talk, retired to his state-room, and for a
+long time did not see anybody. Harley knew that he was thinking deeply,
+and when the time came for the next speech at another way-station, he
+followed close behind and was keenly watchful.</p>
+
+<p>Again the members of the committee arranged themselves on the stage in a
+formidable semicircle behind the speaker, and surveyed the audience with
+an air that bore a tinge of weary disdain. They were in one of the most
+barren parts of the country, a section that could never be developed
+into anything great, and Mr. Crayon looked upon a speech there as a
+sheer waste of time.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate spoke upon many important issues, and then he began to
+skirmish gingerly around the edge of one that hitherto had been
+permitted to slumber quietly. He did not show any wish to make a direct
+attack, just a desire to worry and tease, as it were, a disposition to
+fire a few shots, more for the sake of creating an alarm than to do
+damage.</p>
+
+<p>The committee at once felt apprehension. This was forbidden ground. The
+candidate was growing entirely too frivolous; he should be reminded of
+his duty to the country and to great business interests. Yet they could
+do nothing at the moment; Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>Grayson was speaking, and it was
+impossible to interrupt him.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley, attentive and knowing everything that passed in their minds,
+enjoyed their uneasiness. He saw them quiver and shrink, and then grow
+angry, as Mr. Grayson skirmished closer and closer to the forbidden
+ground, that area sown with traps and pitfalls, in which many a man has
+broken his political limbs, yea, has even lost his political life. He
+watched the massive Mr. Goodnight as he swelled with importance and
+indignation. He knew that the great manufacturer was on pins to get at
+the candidate, to tell him the terrible mistake that he was so near to
+making, and perhaps to lecture him a little on the indiscretions of
+youth and inexperience. But, perforce, he remained silent until Mr.
+Grayson concluded, and then as the crowd was leaving, he approached him.
+The candidate seemed to be in a light and joyous humor, and he lifted
+his hand in a gesture that was a dismissal of care.</p>
+
+<p>"Remember our coming conference to-night, Mr. Goodnight," he said. "We
+will discuss everything then."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled as he spoke, and walked on, but Mr. Goodnight felt himself
+waved aside in a manner that was not pleasing to his sense of dignity;
+he was sixty years old, and he had done great things in the world.</p>
+
+<p>Harley and Hobart saw it all, and light began to appear on Hobart's
+gloomy countenance.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," he said, "I believe that after all my first intuition was
+correct. We may yet have trouble."</p>
+
+<p>Harley was not so sure. It seemed to him that the affair, which was
+really not an affair, merely the bud and promise of one, could be
+adjusted, especially<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> in these shortening days of the campaign. Tact
+would do it, and he was full of hope.</p>
+
+<p>The members of the committee went into their private car and were
+inhospitable the remainder of the day; apparently they wished to be
+alone, and no one was inclined to violate their wish. Harley supposed
+that they were in conference, and he was correct.</p>
+
+<p>They arrived at Philipsburg in a gorgeous twilight that wrapped the
+Western mountains in red and gold, but Harley scarcely noticed either
+the town or the colors over it. He was full of anxiety, as he began to
+share Hobart's view that something was going to happen, although he did
+not take the same cheerful view of trouble.</p>
+
+<p>The speech at Philipsburg was not long. Again Jimmy Grayson skirmished
+around the dangerous question, but, as before, he did not make any
+direct attack upon it. Just when the committee became most alarmed, he
+withdrew his forces, and the speech once more closed with the decisive
+things unsaid.</p>
+
+<p>But as soon as the crowd dispersed, the Great Philipsburg Conference
+began. The large parlor of the hotel had been obtained, and when Jimmy
+Grayson started, he put his hand on Harley's shoulder, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Harley, the press is excluded from this conference, which is secret,
+but I take you with me in your capacity as a private citizen. I have
+made it a requisite with the committee, because you are a friend and I
+may need your help."</p>
+
+<p>Harley gave him a glance of gratitude and appreciation, and the two
+together entered the designated room. It was a large, cheerful
+apartment, with a wood-fire burning on the broad hearth. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>members of
+the committee were already there, and Mr. Goodnight stood importantly,
+back to the fire, with a hand in either pocket, and a coat-tail under
+either arm. Mr. Crayon leaned against the wall and gently stroked his
+arm.</p>
+
+<p>They exchanged the usual commonplaces about the weather and the
+campaign, and, as they spoke, most of the committee looked darkly at
+Harley, but they said nothing. It was quite evident that his presence
+was a matter arranged definitely by Mr. Grayson, and it was politic for
+them to endorse it.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson settled himself easily into an armchair, and looked around
+as if to say he was ready to listen. Harley stood by a window, careless
+in manner, seemingly, but never more watchful in his life, and on fire
+with curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodnight glanced at Mr. Crayon, and Mr. Crayon glanced at Mr.
+Goodnight. There came at once to Harley an amusing thought about putting
+the bell on the tiger. But perhaps these men regarded themselves as
+tigers.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodnight gave a premonitory cough, and taking his hands out of his
+pockets let his coat-tails drop. This also was a signal.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Grayson," he said, "we have admired your campaign&mdash;have admired it
+greatly; we have appreciated the skill with which you have kept away
+from dangerous subjects, and we have been sure that it would continue to
+the end, but I must confess that this confidence of ours was shaken a
+little to-day&mdash;I trust that I am not hurting your feelings."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no, not at all. I also have a statement to make," said Jimmy
+Grayson, ingenuously. "But I shall be glad to hear yours first."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>The big men were somewhat disconcerted, and Mr. Crayon spoke up briskly:</p>
+
+<p>"Great issues at stake. In such emergencies Presidential nominees must
+hear advice."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely. "A Presidential nominee
+ought always to listen to advice."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodnight's face cleared.</p>
+
+<p>"We feel that we are in a position to speak plainly, Mr. Grayson," he
+said. "We are elderly men, used to the handling of large affairs,
+and&mdash;and this cannot be said of all others in our party. We noticed
+to-day how you skirted dangerously upon the tariff question, which we
+think&mdash;in fact, which we know&mdash;should be avoided. It is a dangerous
+thing, and we trust it is only an indiscretion that will not be
+repeated; or, perhaps, it might be a little sop to these people out
+here, who really do not count."</p>
+
+<p>Harley glanced at Jimmy Grayson, who was distinctly in the position of
+one receiving a lecture from his elders, and, therefore, from those who
+knew more than he. But the face of the candidate expressed nothing save
+gravity and attention.</p>
+
+<p>"That is quite true," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad that you recognize our need," said Mr. Goodnight. "I do not
+know how you feel personally upon this great question, but, as I take
+it, politics and one's private opinion are different things."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson raised his head as if he were going to speak, but he let
+it drop without saying anything, and the great manufacturer continued:</p>
+
+<p>"It is often necessary to submerge the lesser in the greater, and never
+was there a more obvious instance of it than this. We, and by 'we' I
+mean the great financial interests of the party, are interested in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>
+tariff, and believe that it is best as it is. We do not know how you
+stand personally, but there is no question how you should stand
+politically. We men of finance may be in a minority within the party in
+the matter of votes, but perhaps we may constitute a majority in other
+and more important respects."</p>
+
+<p>"All wings of the party are entitled to an opinion," said Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"True, but the opinion of one wing may be worth more than the opinion of
+another wing," continued Mr. Goodnight; "and for that reason we who
+stand at the centres from which the affairs of America are conducted are
+here. We see the unwisdom of approaching such a subject, and, above all,
+the destruction that would be caused if you were to speak fully upon it.
+It is a topic that must be eliminated."</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw a quick glitter appear in the eyes of Jimmy Grayson, and then
+it was shut out by the lowered lids.</p>
+
+<p>"But if this is an issue, and if I am to judge from the overwhelming
+testimony of the press it is an issue," said Mr. Grayson, gently, "ought
+I not in duty both to my party and myself declare how I stand upon it? I
+freely confess to you that the matter looks somewhat troublesome, and,
+therefore, I am glad that we can consult with one another."</p>
+
+<p>"Why troublesome?" exclaimed Mr. Crayon, shortly. "Seems to me, Mr.
+Grayson, that your shrewd political eye would see point at once. Above
+all things must avoid split in the party. Campaign will soon close, you
+are here in Far West, nothing can force you to speak, you avoid issue to
+the last; clever politics, seems to me."</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Crayon rubbed his smooth chin, his eye lighting up with a
+satisfied smile. Harley glanced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> again at Jimmy Grayson, and saw a frown
+pass over his face, but it was fleeting, and when he spoke once more his
+voice was unemotional.</p>
+
+<p>"Clever politics is a phrase hard to define," he said. "One does not
+always know just where cleverness lies. I have not said anything
+definite upon this issue, but it doubtless occurs to you gentlemen that
+I may have opinions."</p>
+
+<p>The committee stirred, and Mr. Crayon and Mr. Goodnight looked at each
+other; it was evident to them that they had not taken the candidate in
+hand too soon. Harley felt no abatement of interest.</p>
+
+<p>"That is just the point," said Mr. Goodnight, "and so we have come West.
+We felt that we must act."</p>
+
+<p>Harley expected to see a flame of wrath appear on Jimmy Grayson's face,
+but the candidate was unmoved.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you know what would happen if you were to declare for
+reduction," said Mr. Goodnight. They seemed to take it for granted that
+if he declared at all it would be for reduction.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all," replied Mr. Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"But I do," said Mr. Goodnight, with emphasis. "The wealthy, the
+important wing of the party, would be bound to disown you."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>Harley felt a thrill of anger, but he did not move.</p>
+
+<p>The silent members of the committee, who were sitting, stirred in their
+chairs, and their clothes rustled importantly. They felt that
+equivocation and indirection were thrust aside, and the law was now
+being laid down.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I am to understand that silence on this question is a requisite,"
+said Mr. Grayson, mildly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span>"Undoubtedly," replied Mr. Goodnight, with growing emphasis. "We are
+quite convinced of its necessity, and it is the demand that we make. A
+Presidential candidate must always listen to advice."</p>
+
+<p>"But sometimes it has seemed to me," said Mr. Grayson, musingly, "that
+in a Presidential campaign the public is entitled to certain privileges,
+or, rather, that it has certain rights, and chief among these is to know
+just how its candidate stands on any important issue."</p>
+
+<p>"It would never do! It would never do!" exclaimed Mr. Goodnight,
+hastily, and with some temper. "We cannot allow it!"</p>
+
+<p>Harley glanced again at Jimmy Grayson, but the candidate's lids were
+lowered, and no flash came from his eye.</p>
+
+<p>"I put it forward in a tentative way," he said, in the same mild and
+musing tone. "Of course, I may be mistaken. I have received many
+telegrams from important people asking how I stand, and I notice that
+the press is discussing the same question very actively."</p>
+
+<p>"They can be waved aside," said Mr. Crayon, loftily. "Telegrams can go
+unanswered, and why bother about a foolish press?"</p>
+
+<p>"Still," said Jimmy Grayson, mildly, but tenaciously, "the public has
+certain rights."</p>
+
+<p>"An ignorant mob that can be left in ignorance," said Mr. Crayon,
+briskly.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing must be said! Nothing must be said! Quite resolved upon that!"
+exclaimed Mr. Goodnight, brusquely.</p>
+
+<p>"This resolution is unchangeable, I take it?" asked Jimmy Grayson, in
+tones milder than ever.</p>
+
+<p>"There is not the least possibility of a change,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> replied Mr.
+Goodnight, in a tone of finality. "We have considered the question from
+every side, and nothing is to be said. Of course, if you were to declare
+for a revision, we should have to abandon you at once to overwhelming
+defeat."</p>
+
+<p>"But I should like to say a few words upon the subject," said Jimmy
+Grayson, and there was a slight touch of pleading in his tone, "just as
+a sort of salve to my conscience. You see I am troubled about all these
+requests that I should declare myself, and I have certain ideas about
+what a candidate should do, in which I differ from you, and in which
+probably I am wrong, but I cannot help it. I should like to ease my
+mind, and hence I ask you that I be permitted to say a few words. Just
+one little speech, and I will not handle the subject again, if you
+direct me not to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"We are against it; we are against saying a single word," declared Mr.
+Goodnight.</p>
+
+<p>"Just one little speech," pleaded Jimmy Grayson. "I think the people are
+entitled to it. We stop to-morrow at a small station, a place of not
+more than twenty houses; I should like to say something there, and that
+would serve as a claim later on that I had not avoided the issue. But,
+as I said, I promise you that I will not touch the subject again without
+your permission."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't believe in it! Don't believe in it!" said Mr. Crayon, snappily.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I shall have to insist," said Jimmy Grayson, plaintively.
+"I do not like to say anything that would displease such powerful
+friends, but our people are peculiar, sometimes. I feel that I must
+touch the subject a little when we reach Waterville to-morrow morning."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>He spoke in his most propitiatory tones, but the committee was still
+stirred. Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates demanded
+absolute silence, and they had not found it difficult to overawe the
+candidate. Yet there was a certain mild persistence in his tone which
+told them that they should humor him a little, as one would a spoiled or
+hurt child. They, as men of the world, knew that it was not well to bear
+too hard on the bit.</p>
+
+<p>They conferred a little, leaving Jimmy Grayson alone in his chair, where
+he remained silent and with inexpressive face. Harley still stood by the
+window. He had never spoken, but nothing escaped his attention. More
+than once he was hot with anger, but none of the committeemen ever
+looked at him.</p>
+
+<p>"If you insist, and as you say you will, we yield this little point,"
+said Mr. Goodnight, "but we only do so because Waterville is such a
+small place. Even then we are not sure that it is not an indiscretion,
+to call it by a mild name, and if anything should come of it you would
+have to bear the full responsibility, Mr. Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true," said Jimmy Grayson, cheerfully, "but as you have said,
+Waterville is a small, a very small place; one could hardly find a
+smaller on the map."</p>
+
+<p>"In that event it will doubtless do no harm," said Mr. Goodnight,
+relaxing a little, and Mr. Crayon, stroking his smoothly shaven chin,
+said after him: "No harm; no harm, perhaps, in so small a place!"</p>
+
+<p>Harley had never moved from the window, and again he studied Jimmy
+Grayson's face with the keenest attention. Harley was a fine judge of
+character, but he could read nothing there, save gravity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> As for
+himself, he felt often those hot thrills of anger at the words of these
+men; would nothing stir them from their complacency? He had, too, a
+sense of pain at Jimmy Grayson's lack of resentment. It was true that
+their support was a necessity, but after all they were a minority within
+the party, and one might remind them of the fact. Yet Jimmy Grayson
+probably knew best; he understood politics, and perhaps his course was
+the wiser. But Harley sighed.</p>
+
+<p>After the victory, although it had not been a difficult one to win, the
+members of the committee were disposed to condescend a little. They sent
+to their private car for champagne and other luxuries which the
+candidate and Harley touched but lightly, and they treated even Harley,
+the newspaper-man, with graciousness.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crayon felt the flame of humor sparkling in his veins, and he jested
+lightly on the little speech at Waterville. "Just think of our candidate
+wasting sweetness on desert air," he said, "for Waterville is in desert,
+and, as I am reliably informed, has less than forty inhabitants."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson showed no resentment, but smiled gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course Mr. Harley understands that all this is <i>sub rosa</i>," said Mr.
+Goodnight, looking severely at the correspondent.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Harley knows it, and he is to be trusted entirely," said Jimmy
+Grayson. "Otherwise I should not have brought him with me. I vouch for
+the fact that he will say nothing of this meeting until we give him
+permission."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson presently excused himself, on the plea that he needed sleep,
+a plea which was admitted by everybody, and Harley also withdrew, while
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> members of the committee went to their private car pleased with the
+evening's work. Thus the Great Philipsburg Conference came to an end.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate and Harley walked together to their rooms through a rather
+dim hall, but it was not too dim to hide from Harley a singular
+expression that passed over the face of the candidate. It was gone like
+a flash, but it seemed to Harley to be a compound of anger and
+anticipation. Wisely he kept silent, and Jimmy Grayson, stopping a
+moment at his own door, said, in the grave but otherwise expressionless
+tone that he had used throughout the discussion:</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night, Harley; I don't think we shall forget this evening, shall
+we?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied Harley, and he tried to decipher a meaning in Jimmy
+Grayson's tone, but he could not.</p>
+
+<p>When Harley turned away, he found Hobart, Blaisdell, Churchill, and all
+the other correspondents waiting for him at the end of the hall to get
+the news of the conference.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing, not a line," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>They looked at him incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the truth, I assure you," continued Harley. "I am not sending a
+word to my own paper. I am going straight to my bed."</p>
+
+<p>"If you say so, Harley, I believe you," said Churchill. "Besides, it's
+past one o'clock now, and that's past four o'clock in New York and past
+three in Chicago; all the papers have gone to press, and we couldn't
+send anything if we wanted to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing to tell you," said Harley, "except that Mr. Grayson
+will allude to the tariff in his speech to-morrow, or, rather, this
+morning, at Waterville. He has promised the committee not to do so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>
+again&mdash;they were not very willing to grant him even so little&mdash;but it is
+a sort of sop to Cerberus; later on, if any one twits him with avoiding
+the revision, he can say, and say truthfully, that he has spoken on it."</p>
+
+<p>"I see," said Churchill.</p>
+
+<p>And before they could ask him anything more Harley had entered his own
+room and was going to bed.</p>
+
+<p>The morning dawned badly. The sun shone dimly through a mass of dirty
+brown clouds, and the mountains were hidden in mist. A slow and
+provoking cold rain was falling. It was also a start at the first
+daylight, and, forced to rise too early from their beds, all were in a
+bad humor. Even Sylvia was hid in a heavy cloak, and she did not smile.
+Harley had told her that he could make nothing of the conference the
+night before.</p>
+
+<p>They reached Waterville an hour later, and they found it even smaller
+and bleaker than they expected. Although the usual body of citizens was
+on hand to meet them at the train, the attendance was less than at any
+point hitherto. The shed under which Jimmy Grayson was to speak would
+easily hold them.</p>
+
+<p>But the members of the committee, when they came from their private car,
+showed satisfaction. They had enjoyed a good breakfast, their <i>chef</i>, as
+Harley could testify, was one of the best, and they were not averse to
+hearing the candidate make his record good. Hence they were all
+comfortably arranged on the platform in their usual solid semicircle
+when Mr. Grayson appeared. The candidate himself was a bit later than
+usual, but he gave them a cheerful good-morning when he appeared, and
+then proceeded at once to the matter of the speech.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>The audience, though small, greeted Mr. Grayson with the heartiest
+applause, and he soon had them under his spell. He talked a while on the
+customary issues, and then he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, there is one question which seemed in previous campaigns to
+be of paramount importance, but in this it has been suffered a long time
+to rest. Lately, however, it has been rising into prominence again. In
+the great centres of population to the eastward it has become a question
+first in the minds of the people, and before the campaign closes it is
+bound to become as momentous here."</p>
+
+<p>Harley, in a seat at the corner of the stage, glanced at the committee,
+and he noticed a slight shade of disapproval on all their faces. The
+candidate was a little too strong in his preamble, but they smiled again
+when they noticed his face which wore an expression so gentle and
+innocent.</p>
+
+<p>"It has been but recently that the matter came to my attention,"
+continued the candidate, in an easy, conversational tone, "but in the
+time since then I have been thinking about it a great deal. This
+question I need scarcely tell you is the revision of the tariff, and I
+am going to speak to you about it this morning."</p>
+
+<p>There was a sudden cheer from the audience, and the people seemed to
+draw closer around the speaker's stand. Their faces glowed with
+interest. Sylvia sat up straight and her eyes sparkled. The committee
+looked a warning at Jimmy Grayson, but he did not see it.</p>
+
+<p>"This question has come up late," he said, "and perhaps it could have
+been put aside. I have been told that it would be for the good of our
+party, particularly in this campaign, to do so, and many have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> advised
+me to keep silence, saying that I could consistently and honorably
+follow such a course, as our platform does not declare itself on the
+question; but there are some things that trouble me. This is an issue, I
+feel sure, which must be threshed out sooner or later, and as it is now
+so importantly before the country I think that I, as the standard-bearer
+of our party, should have an opinion upon it."</p>
+
+<p>The audience cheered again, and longer and louder than ever. Sylvia's
+eyes not only sparkled, they flashed. Mr. Goodnight half rose in his
+seat and said something in a loud whisper to the candidate, but Mr.
+Grayson did not hear it and went on with his speech.</p>
+
+<p>"It did not take me long to make up my mind," he continued. "I have
+decided opinions upon the subject, and what they are I shall tell you
+before I leave this stage; but first I want to tell you a story."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Grayson did not tell stories often; he did so only when they were
+thoroughly relevant, and Hobart, Blaisdell, and the other correspondents
+leaned forward with sudden interest. Sylvia's face glowed.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I'll sharpen my lead-pencils," said Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"I would if I were you," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"This story," continued the candidate, in an easy, confidential manner,
+"is about a man who was in a position much like mine. He was the nominee
+of his party for a most important office, and towards the close of his
+campaign a great issue came up again, just as in my case. He did not
+think that he ought to keep silent about it, but when he was thinking
+over what he ought to say a committee of men, representing a minority in
+his party, arrived from the great centres of population, industry, and
+finance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>&mdash;he was then far away in a thinly settled and somewhat
+isolated region."</p>
+
+<p>Again the committee stirred, and they whispered loudly both to one
+another and to Mr. Grayson, but he paid no heed to them and spoke on.
+All the correspondents were writing rapidly, eagerly, and with rapt
+attention, while Sylvia's eyes still sparkled and flashed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the members of this committee and the man met," continued the
+candidate, "and from the first they treated him as one who might have an
+opinion of his own but who must not be allowed to express it. They were
+not bad men, perhaps, but a long course of exclusive attention to their
+own personal interests had, we will say, narrowed them. That personal
+advantage was always dangling before them; they could see nothing else.
+The sun rose and set in its interest, and such an affair as the
+government of a mighty nation like the United States must be regulated
+with sole regard to it. They thought they knew everything in the world
+when they knew only one thing in it. Their ignorance was equalled only
+by their presumption."</p>
+
+<p>The rolling cheer came once more from the audience, but Harley saw that
+the faces of the committee had turned red. They whispered no more, but
+stared angrily and uneasily at Jimmy Grayson, who did not notice them.</p>
+
+<p>"How glad I am that I sharpened all my lead-pencils!" said Hobart, in a
+low tone to Harley.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley never stopped writing.</p>
+
+<p>"They did not even have the tact to treat this candidate with courtesy
+and consideration," continued Mr. Grayson. "They lectured him on his
+comparative youth and his ignorance of the world,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> when it was they who
+were ignorant. They told him, without hesitation, regardless of his own
+opinion and the fact that he was a free man among free men, that he must
+not speak on this issue. They threatened him."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he take the bluff?" shouted a big man in the audience.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait and we shall see," said Jimmy Grayson, sweetly. "They were
+entitled to their opinion, and he would have heard their advice, but
+their manner was intolerable; they undertook to treat him as a child.
+They called him to a conference, and there they laid down the law to him
+as a school-master would order a sulking child to be good."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he take the bluff?" again shouted the big man in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait and we shall see," repeated Jimmy Grayson, as sweetly as ever.
+"Well, this conference came to pass, and it lasted a long time, but only
+the committee talked; they gave the candidate scarcely a chance to say a
+word. They treated him with increasing arrogance. They said that if he
+declared himself upon this great issue they would bolt the party and let
+him go headlong to destruction."</p>
+
+<p>"The traitors!" shouted the big man in the audience. But the members of
+the committee, from some strange cause, seemed to be struck speechless.
+Their jaws fell, but the faces of them all were as red as fire. Sylvia
+leaned forward and clapped her gloved hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Blaisdell," whispered Hobart, "slip away and arrange at the
+telegraph-office; any of us will give you his report. I shall have at
+least five thousand words myself."</p>
+
+<p>Blaisdell slid noiselessly away.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>"The candidate endured it all, but only for the time," thundered Jimmy
+Grayson, and now his voice was swelling with passion, while his eyes
+fairly sparkled with heat and anger&mdash;"but only for the time. He had
+decided opinions upon this subject, as I have upon the question of
+tariff revision, and he intended to utter them as I intend to utter
+mine. They said&mdash;and they said it with intolerable condescension and
+patronage&mdash;that for the sake of his record he might make one little
+speech upon the subject before a few people out in what they called the
+desert, and he accepted the concession. But there was rage in his heart.
+He was willing to be beaten by the biggest majority ever given against a
+Presidential candidate before he would yield to such insolent dictation.
+Moreover, there was the question of his true opinion, which the people
+had a right to know, and he took his resolve. There was that little
+speech, and he remembered the telegraph wire, the thin line that binds
+the farthest little village to the great world, and I say he took his
+resolve."</p>
+
+<p>"He called the bluff!" shouted the big man in the audience, in a perfect
+roar of triumph, and Jimmy Grayson smiled sweetly.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Mr. Goodnight, in all the might of his majesty and importance,
+rose up and stalked from the stage, and the eleven other members of the
+committee, headed by Mr. Crayon, followed him in an angry file,
+accompanied by the derisive shouts of the audience. They quickened their
+pace somewhat when they reached solid ground, but before they were
+within the sheltering confines of their private car, Jimmy Grayson was
+launched upon his great and thrilling tariff speech, in which he
+invested the driest subject in the world with an interest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> that absorbed
+the attention of ninety million people.</p>
+
+<p>All day the wires eastward and westward sang with the burden of the
+great speech made in the tiny hamlet of Waterville, in the Wyoming
+mountains, and the next morning it occupied the front pages of ten
+thousand newspapers. It was absolutely clear and decisive. No one could
+doubt how the candidate stood. He was heart and soul for revision.
+Sylvia threw her arms around his neck, and said, "Uncle James, I was
+never prouder of you than I am at this moment."</p>
+
+<p>When they left Waterville the private car of the committee was still
+attached to their train, but there was no communication between it and
+the other cars. About the middle of the afternoon they reached a
+junction with another railroad line. There the private car was cut off
+and attached to a new engine. Then it sped eastward at the rate of fifty
+miles an hour.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the correspondents were holding a little conference of their
+own.</p>
+
+<p>"They will bolt him sure," said Hobart. "Will it ruin Jimmy Grayson?"</p>
+
+<p>"I believe not," said Harley, who had been thinking much. "Of course
+there will be a split, but such courage, and his way of meeting their
+attack, will appeal to the people; it will bring him thousands of new
+votes."</p>
+
+<p>"Whether it does or does not," said Hobart, "if I had been in his place
+I'd have done as he did."</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a>XXI</h2>
+
+<h3>ALONE WITH NATURE</h3>
+
+<p>When the party returned to the train after Jimmy Grayson's thrilling
+defiance there was an air of relief, even joyousness, about them all. No
+more diplomacy, no more watching for blows in the dark, no more waiting,
+now they knew who their friends were, and they knew equally well their
+enemies. They could strike straight at Goodnight, Crayon, and all the
+others. Only in the heart of nearly every one of them there was still
+mourning for the lost leader, for "King" Plummer, whom a gust of passion
+had led astray.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Hobart, "I thank God that the split has come at last. Even
+if we are beaten out of our boots, I've got that defiance to remember,
+and the picture of Jimmy Grayson refusing either to be browbeaten or
+cajoled, even though the price was the Presidency."</p>
+
+<p>"We know where we stand," said Mr. Heathcote, "and that at least is a
+gain."</p>
+
+<p>As for Sylvia, she was thrilling with pride. Her uncle's high heroism,
+his superb truthfulness appealed to every quality in her woman's soul,
+and with another impulse full as womanly she hated Goodnight, Crayon,
+and their associates with all her heart; she believed them capable of
+any crime, personal as well as political. She felt so intensely upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>
+the subject that she wanted to speak of it to somebody else, but Mr. and
+Mrs. Grayson had withdrawn to the drawing-room, and all the
+correspondents were deep in their work, as it would be necessary to send
+very long despatches to the great cities that day.</p>
+
+<p>Harley wrote five or six thousand words full of fire and zeal. As usual,
+he wrote from the "inside," and his was not a bare record of facts; one
+reading it, though three thousand miles away, was upon the scene
+himself; everything passed before him alive; he saw the heroic figure of
+the candidate thundering forth his denunciation; he knew all that it
+cost, the full penalty, and he shared the stern impulse which such a
+speaker in such a situation must feel; he, too, saw the astonishment on
+the faces of the committee, astonishment followed by fear and rage, and
+he shared also the noble thrill that must come to a man who had lost all
+save honor, but was proud in the losing. Harley was always a good
+writer, but now as he wrote he saw every word burning before him, so
+intense were his feelings, and even across the United States he
+communicated the same thrill to those who read.</p>
+
+<p>His despatch brought from his abrupt editor the one word "Splendid!" and
+it attracted marked attention not only wherever the <i>Gazette</i> went, but
+where also went the numerous journals into which it was copied.
+Everybody who read it said, "What a magnificent figure Jimmy Grayson
+is!" and the impression was deepened and widened by other writers on the
+train who were inferior in powers only to Harley. In this his day of
+great disaster the candidate was to find that there were friends who
+were truly bound to him with "hooks of steel." Nor was he ungrateful.
+The moisture rose in his eyes when he first heard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> of their accounts,
+and in privacy he confided to his wife that he did not know how to thank
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"If I were you I should not say anything," she advised. "They will like
+it better if you don't."</p>
+
+<p>And he did not.</p>
+
+<p>Now the campaign took on a new phase. Even in the beginning it had
+differed from any other ever waged in America, and since the Philipsburg
+conference that difference, already great, increased. It was permeated
+throughout by the personal element, party platforms sank into the
+background, and in the foreground stood the titanic figure of Jimmy
+Grayson fighting single-handed against a host of foes.</p>
+
+<p>His hero appealed more powerfully than ever to Harley; every sympathy
+within him was aroused by this lone figure who stood like Horatius at
+the bridge&mdash;the old simile was always coming to him&mdash;and under its
+influence his despatches took on a vivid coloring and a keen, searching
+quality that thrilled all who read. And many other newspapers gave the
+same lifelike impression.</p>
+
+<p>The figure of the candidate, although he was admittedly a beaten man,
+loomed larger than ever to the whole country, and his enemies, although
+counting already the fruits of victory, began to feel a certain awe of
+him. They showed an anxiety to keep away from him, even in what they
+considered his dying moments, and no speaker dared to meet him on the
+platform, despite the recollections of his defeat at Egmont. The
+opposition often alluded to this "defeat," and sought to make great
+capital of it, but the sensation that it had created at first faded. It
+was surrounded by too many brilliant triumphs; people would say that on
+the day of his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>defeat he was ill, like Napoleon at Leipsic; that he was
+giving daily proofs that he was without a match in the world, and one
+such little incident did not count.</p>
+
+<p>The split in the party was made complete. Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and
+eighteen of their associates, all men of wealth and influence, came out
+in a formal signed statement published first in the <i>Monitor</i>, stating
+their position in calmness and moderation and in measured language. They
+said that they had tried to support Mr. Grayson; they had given him
+every chance; they had always been ready with advice; they had sought to
+instil in him a full sense of his responsibility, and to impart to his
+mind the breadth and solidity so necessary in a Presidential nominee;
+they were strong in party loyalty, and they hesitated long before taking
+such a momentous step; but they knew that in every great crisis brave
+men who would not hesitate at great risk to lead must be found;
+therefore they stepped into the breach. Reluctantly and with much grief
+they announced that they could not support Mr. Grayson. He was a menace
+to the country, and they felt that they must remove this danger; hence
+they would support the other side, and they advised all the solid worth
+of the country, those who cared for the national honor, to do likewise.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Monitor</i> commented editorially in its finest vein upon this tribute
+to conscience. It was glad to know that there were yet brave and honest
+men; it was never worth while to despair of the republic so long as such
+lofty and heroic citizens as Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon were
+vouchsafed to it. The American people were frivolous and superficial,
+but there was a saving remnant, men who might almost compare with the
+great statesmen of Europe, and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> every emergency, every crisis, it was
+they who would make enormous sacrifice of private interest and save the
+state.</p>
+
+<p>Churchill followed the lead, and in a long despatch made a ferocious
+attack upon Jimmy Grayson, the man. Then, with a concealed sense of
+importance, he waited until the paper arrived, and when the two hours
+that he thought necessary to make the impression deep had passed he went
+in to Mr. Grayson and announced with an air of great dignity that he was
+prepared to leave the train; he felt that as a keen and remorseless
+critic his presence would put a severe constraint upon the candidate;
+there was nothing personal in his course, and he did not wish to prevent
+anybody from doing his best; he was aware that he must be regarded with
+the greatest hostility and apprehension, and therefore he would retire,
+seeking his news either by going before or by following.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Mr. Churchill!" exclaimed the candidate, in surprise, "we do not
+dream of letting you go. You have been so long with us that your place
+could not be filled. I cannot consent to such a thing! You must stay
+with us to the end!"</p>
+
+<p>Churchill felt that his shot had missed again, but he said:</p>
+
+<p>"I spoke out of consideration. I thought that my continued presence here
+might have a somewhat disconcerting effect upon you."</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all! Not at all!" replied the candidate, courageously. "It's a
+blow, but we prefer to bear it rather than lose you. Ah, here is my
+niece, Sylvia; perhaps she can persuade you. Sylvia, Mr. Churchill
+speaks of leaving us; he thinks that he ought to do so because he is a
+critic of us. Sylvia, I leave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> him in your hands, and I want you to
+persuade him that it is only his exaggerated sense of honor."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia was not averse to the task. She was wholly feminine, and hence
+there was in her a trace of cajolery which she now used. She told
+Churchill that her uncle and all his friends felt the truth and edge of
+his criticisms, but they felt, too, that although he was in the
+opposition now, they might, nevertheless, profit by them. And there was
+the influence of his personal presence on the train&mdash;his gravity of
+manner and his weighed and measured speech were a useful antidote to the
+flippancy and levity of his associates.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia said these things rather by indirection than by plain words, and
+under the influence of such soothing speech Churchill gradually melted
+and became forgiving; he would stay, but it was partly for the sake of
+Miss Morgan that he stayed, and later in the day he confided to Mr.
+Heathcote that he was surprised at the way Sylvia was coming out; she
+really had strong and attractive qualities; if she were to marry a man
+of refinement and knowledge of the world who would exercise a
+stimulating and also a corrective influence upon her, she might become a
+very fine woman. Mr. Heathcote bowed assent, but looked away from
+Churchill and out of the window. Churchill's opinion of Mr. Heathcote
+also improved.</p>
+
+<p>There was yet one element in the situation that was not clarified. Mr.
+Plummer not only failed to appear upon the scene, but did not
+communicate in any manner with either the Graysons or Sylvia. They heard
+of him as floating about the Northwest and full of hot talk, but no one
+could put his hand upon him, and they were puzzled, because they had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>
+expected decisive, straight-from-the-shoulder action from the "King."</p>
+
+<p>In this week Harley saw Sylvia almost every hour in the day, but never
+once did he speak of the subject that was nearest both their hearts.
+Sometimes he thought that it would have been better had the Graysons
+granted her request to go, because he could see that she was suffering
+from a constant nervous strain, and that her gayety with the group was
+often forced.</p>
+
+<p>They came at last to Grafton, a village in the corner of North Dakota,
+where a sweep of low mountains opens out for a space and forms a wide
+valley. In that hollow lies Grafton, and to Harley it looked warm and
+inviting. The candidate was to speak here, and as Harley ascertained in
+advance that Mr. Grayson did not intend to say anything new, merely
+repeating a speech of the day before, he did not consider it necessary
+to be present; instead, he chose to take a walk through the town and its
+outskirts for the sake of fresh air, exercise, and some solitary musing.</p>
+
+<p>The autumn was far advanced in that Northern latitude, but the chill of
+winter had not yet come. The wide sky of glittering blue hung high, and
+in the thin air the mountain-peaks that stood far away came near; the
+wooden houses of the new town were gilded and softened by the yellow
+sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw the usual audience&mdash;the ranchmen, the sheep-herders, the
+miners, and the railroad-men&mdash;all flocking towards the stand where the
+candidate would speak, and exchanging jocose or admiring comment,
+because this was to them both a holiday and a ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>Only a minute or two sufficed to carry him to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> outskirts of the
+little town, and he would have paid no further attention to the crowd,
+but he thought he saw on its fringe a broad, powerful back that he knew.
+When he undertook to take the second look and make sure the back was
+gone, and Harley went on, telling himself, as one is apt to do, that it
+was only his fancy. The echo of cheering came to his ears, and he knew
+that the candidate, as usual, held the audience in his grasp. Presently
+the echo died, and those that followed it did not come to him, as he had
+left the town behind; although from the low crest of a swell he could
+see the heads of the people surrounding Jimmy Grayson, and by the way
+they bobbed back and forth he knew that the enthusiasm was boiling.</p>
+
+<p>He went down the far side of the swell, passed a clump of bushes, and
+came face to face with Sylvia Morgan. She, too, leaving the speech, had
+been walking, and the color of her face was deepened by the exercise and
+the crisp, bracing air. It had given her, also, an obvious exhilaration,
+probably physical, that Harley had not seen before in a long time, and
+her smile was of pure welcoming joy.</p>
+
+<p>Harley's was an answering smile, but his heart was full of a longing and
+an anger equally fierce. Never had she seemed to him more to be desired
+than on that morning; tall, straight, and young, instinct with the life
+and strength of the great upland reaches upon which she lived, her pure
+soul looking out of her pure eyes, she was a woman to be won by the man
+to whom her love was given, and he rebelled because he did not have the
+right. Temptation was strong within him, and he had excuse.</p>
+
+<p>"Speeches, however good, do not appeal to you to-day?" he said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span>"No, I prefer the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>She pointed to the line of peaks that formed a border of darker blue on
+the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," said Harley, with emphasis, but he meant, at that moment,
+that he was glad to be alone with her.</p>
+
+<p>"Since chance has brought us together," he said, "why should we not
+continue in this way?"</p>
+
+<p>They walked on, and he was very close to her, so close that when a
+wanton wind caught a stray ringlet of her hair it brushed lightly
+against his cheek. Faint and fleeting as was the touch, every nerve
+thrilled. He said fiercely to himself that she was his and should remain
+his.</p>
+
+<p>They came to a little brook, a stream of ice-cold water flowing down
+from the distant mountains, and he helped her across, although a single
+step would have carried her from bank to bank. Then, too, he held her
+hand in his longer than the case warranted, and again he tingled. He
+said nothing, nor did she, but she glanced at him and she was a little
+afraid; his lips were closed in the firm fashion that she knew, and his
+eyes were on the distant mountains. Behind them came a broad shadow, but
+neither looked back.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Grayson was a great man, but C&aelig;sar and his fortunes were now
+completely forgotten by both Harley and Sylvia; each was thinking only
+of the other, and though they were still silent, they wandered on and
+on, Sylvia content that Harley was by her side, and Harley happy to feel
+her so near that her hair blown in the wind had touched his face. Had
+they looked back they would have seen the shadow come a little nearer
+and raise its arm in an angry gesture. The town sank behind the swells,
+and before lay only a brown expanse of country that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> rolled away with
+unbroken monotony. A slight grayish tint, as of a mist, crept into the
+glittering blue of the sky, but Harley and Sylvia did not notice it.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia felt, in a way, as if she were in a state of suspended animation.
+The world had paused for a moment, and for that reason she knew that
+fate was impending; she, too, felt a thrill running through every nerve,
+and she felt the presence, so near her, of the man whom she loved, and
+would always love. He was master to-day, and she knew that she would do
+whatever he should ask her; all her resolves, all the long course of
+strengthening through which she might put herself would melt away in the
+heat of an emotion that was too strong for her; if he said that they
+should slip back to the town, take a train to the next station and get
+married there, forgetful of her promise, "King" Plummer, the campaign,
+her uncle, and everything else, she would go with him. But she
+remembered to pray that he would not say it.</p>
+
+<p>Harley still did not speak. He, too, was struggling with himself, and
+saying, over and over under his breath, that he should remember his
+duty. Sylvia glanced at him covertly from time to time, and, while she
+yet felt a little fear, she admired the firm curve of his chin and the
+clear cut of his face. They came at last to a clump of dwarfed trees,
+sheltered between the swells, and they stopped.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," said Harley, "I felt only joy when I met you, but I am sorry
+now that the chance brought us together this time, because it is a
+greater grief to see you go. I thought once that we might be together
+always, because I know that you are mine, mine in spirit at least, no
+matter to whom the law may give you, but now&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span>He broke off and looked at her with longing.</p>
+
+<p>"It is better that I should leave you and go alone," she said.</p>
+
+<p>She held out her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a good-bye," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"But it shall not be so cold a one!" he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>He put his arms around her, and kissed her full upon the lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, John!" she cried, and when he released her she ran back upon their
+path, her face very red, although she was in no wise angry with him.
+Harley walked on, and he did not raise his head until the shadow that
+followed them stood across his way. Then, when he looked up, he found
+himself gazing into the muzzle of a very large revolver, held by a
+large, brown hand. Behind the hand, and lowering at him, was the
+inflamed and determined face of "King" Plummer.</p>
+
+<p>In this crisis neither of the two wasted words. Each was a man of
+action, and each knew that long speech was vanity of vanities.</p>
+
+<p>Harley was pale; life was sweet, never sweeter than when it seemed to be
+leaving, but he did not flinch.</p>
+
+<p>"You have stolen her from me," said the "King." "I saw what you did
+there; you ought to be willing to pay the price."</p>
+
+<p>"I object to the word 'stolen,'" said Harley, calmly. "The love of
+Sylvia Morgan is not a thing that could be stolen by anybody."</p>
+
+<p>"Words differ, but acts don't. I've been a border man, and I've got to
+do things in the border way."</p>
+
+<p>"One of which is to come armed upon an unarmed man?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley saw the "King" flinch, but the finger did not leave the trigger.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span>"You took from me when I wasn't looking all that I love best, and I'll
+take from you all I can."</p>
+
+<p>The red face of "King" Plummer suddenly turned gray, and Harley saw it,
+but he did not see what caused it. There was the light, swift tread of
+footsteps behind him, a warm breath upon his face, and then Sylvia's
+arms were around his neck and she was upon his breast.</p>
+
+<p>"Shoot if you want to," she said to the "King," "but your bullet will
+strike me first."</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes, for the first time in her life, sparkled defiance at him, and
+their gaze stabbed the "King" to the heart.</p>
+
+<p>Harley strove to put her aside, but she clung to him with strong, young
+arms.</p>
+
+<p>The "King's" face, pale before, now became white. It was, perhaps, the
+first time in his life that all the blood had left it, and it showed the
+power of this new and sudden emotion. "King" Plummer, in a flash, saw
+many things. The finger that lay upon the trigger trembled, and then,
+with a cry of fear, this man who feared no other man threw his pistol to
+the earth.</p>
+
+<p>"My God, Sylvia!" he exclaimed. "What do you think I am?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a murderer!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I am not; but I came very near to being one."'</p>
+
+<p>He looked at the two, in each other's arms as it were, and turned away,
+leaving the pistol upon the ground. "King" Plummer had seen enough for
+one day.</p>
+
+<p>They watched him until the broad back passed over a swell and was lost.
+Then Sylvia, blushing, remembered, and took her arms from Harley's neck.</p>
+
+<p>"You have saved my life," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span>"I do not think that he would have fired."</p>
+
+<p>"You have saved it, anyhow. Now it is yours, and you must take it. He
+cannot claim you after this."</p>
+
+<p>The blush became brilliant.</p>
+
+<p>"He has not given me up. He has not said so."</p>
+
+<p>"But he will give you up. He shall. You are mine now. Come!"</p>
+
+<p>He took her unresisting hand in his, and again they walked side by side,
+so close that the strong wind once more brushed the little ringlet
+against his cheek.</p>
+
+<p>It is a peculiarity of Grafton that the low swells around it, rolling
+away towards the mountains, look just alike everywhere. One has to be a
+resident, and an old-timer at that, to be able to tell one from another.
+Harley and Sylvia, hand-in-hand, had little thought of such things as
+these, nor were they anxious to reach Grafton quickly; yet the time when
+they must be there would come, and Harley at last interrupted a
+pleasanter occupation by exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>"Why, where is Grafton? We should have reached it long ago!"</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia saw only the low swells, rolling away, one after the other; there
+was no glimpse of a house, no smoke on the horizon to tell where the
+village had hid itself so suddenly. Around them were the low ridges, and
+afar the circle of blue mountains. Save for themselves, it seemed a lone
+and desolate world. Sylvia became white; she knew their situation better
+than Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"We have lost the town! We mistook the direction!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"We can easily find it again; it must be there."</p>
+
+<p>He pointed in the direction in which he thought Grafton lay, and
+continued:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>"It will merely make our walk back to town the longer, and that is what
+I like."</p>
+
+<p>But she, who had lived her life on the plains and in the mountains, was
+not so sure. She knew that they had walked far, because not even the
+smoke of Grafton could be seen now. Yet he was with her.</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose we try that direction," she assented.</p>
+
+<p>"And if it isn't right, we will try another; our train stays at Grafton
+all day."</p>
+
+<p>They walked on, saying to each other the little things that mean nothing
+to others, but which lovers love, and Grafton yet lay hidden in its
+place between the swells. The skies, changing now from a bright to a
+steely gray, were unmarred by a single wisp of smoke.</p>
+
+<p>Harley felt at last an uneasiness which increased gradually as they went
+on; the country was provokingly monotonous, one swell was like another,
+and the dips between were just the same; there were patches of brown
+grass eaten down by cattle, but mostly the soil was bare; it seemed to
+Harley, at that moment, a weary and ugly land, but it set off the star
+in the midst of it&mdash;Sylvia&mdash;like a diamond in the dust. He looked up;
+the mountains, before blue and distinct in the clear sky, were now gray
+and vague.</p>
+
+<p>"We must have walked fast and far," he said. "Look how that range of
+mountains has moved away."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia looked, and her face whitened again.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not distance, John," she said. "It is a mist. See, the clouds are
+coming!"</p>
+
+<p>The mountains moved farther away and became shadowy; the steel-gray of
+the skies darkened; up from the southwest rolled ugly brown clouds;
+there was a rush of chill air.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span>Harley understood all, and a shiver passed over him. But his fear was
+for her, not for himself.</p>
+
+<p>"It is going to snow," said Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>"And we are lost in this desert; it was I, too, who brought you here,"
+said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>She looked up into his eyes, and her face was not pale.</p>
+
+<p>"We are together," she said.</p>
+
+<p>He bent his head and kissed her, for the second time that day.</p>
+
+<p>"You are the bravest woman in the world, Sylvia," he said. "Now we live
+or die together, and we are not afraid."</p>
+
+<p>"We are not afraid."</p>
+
+<p>He put his arm around her waist, and she did not resist. Both expected
+to die, and they felt that they belonged to each other for eternity. A
+strange, spiritual exaltation possessed them; the world about them was
+unreal now&mdash;they two were all that was real.</p>
+
+<p>"The snow comes, dearest," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Up from the southwest the ugly brown clouds were still rolling, and the
+sky above them still darkened; the mountains were gone in the mist, the
+chill wind strengthened and shrieked over the plain. Harley kept his arm
+around Sylvia's waist, and drew her more closely to him that he might
+shelter her.</p>
+
+<p>"Let the snow come," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Great white flakes, borne upon the edge of the wind, fell damp upon
+their faces, and suddenly the air was filled with them as they came in
+blinding clouds; the wind ceased to shriek and died, and the brown
+clouds, now fused into one mass that covered all the heavens, opened and
+let down the snow in unbroken volume.</p>
+
+<p>"We must go on, sweetheart," said Harley, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span>rousing himself. "To stand
+here is death. We may find some kind of shelter if we go; there is none
+in this place."</p>
+
+<p>They walked on, their heads bent a little, as the snow was coming
+straight down. They could not see twenty yards before them through the
+white cloud, and Harley was scarcely conscious whether they climbed the
+swells or descended into the dips between.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia covered her head with a small shawl that she wore. Harley wanted
+to take off his coat and wrap it around her, but she would not let him.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not cold," she said; "I think it is the walking that keeps me
+warm."</p>
+
+<p>It was partly that, but it was more the presence of Harley and the state
+of spiritual exaltation in which they remained. Both took it as a matter
+of course that they were to die in a few hours, but they had no fear of
+this death, and it was not even worth while to talk or think of it.
+Harley had spoken merely through habit and instinct of moving on lest
+they die, and it was these same unconscious motives that made them
+struggle, although they took no interest in their own efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"We may come to a clump of trees," said Sylvia, "or to a hollow in a
+rocky hill-side; that happens sometimes in this part of the Dakotas."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe we shall," said Harley, but he thought no more about it.</p>
+
+<p>The wind rose again and swept over the plain with a shriek and a howl.
+Columns and cones of snow were whirled past them and over them; wind and
+snow together made it harder for them to keep their feet.</p>
+
+<p>"If we don't find that hollow soon, we won't need it," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span>"No," she said.</p>
+
+<p>She was very close to him, and when she looked up he could see a smile
+on her face.</p>
+
+<p>"Death is not terrible," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not with you."</p>
+
+<p>The shriek of the wind had now become a moan like the moan of a desolate
+world. They came to two or three dwarfed trees growing close to one an
+other, but they gave no shelter, and, Harley being in dread lest
+branches should be blown off and against Sylvia, they went on.</p>
+
+<p>"What will they think has become of us?" said Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>But the only thought it brought into Harley's mind at that moment was
+the interruption it would cause to the campaign. He was sorry for Jimmy
+Grayson. He felt that the girl's step was growing less steady. Obviously
+she was becoming weaker.</p>
+
+<p>"Lean against me," he said; "I am strong enough for both."</p>
+
+<p>She said nothing, but he felt her shoulder press more heavily against
+him. He drew his hat-brim down that he might keep the whirling flakes
+from his eyes, and staggered blindly forward. His knee struck against
+something hard, and, putting out his hand, he touched stone and earth.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is a hill," he said, without joy, and he uncovered his eyes again
+to seek shelter. He did not find it there, but farther on, in another
+hill, was a rocky alcove that in earlier days had been the den of some
+wild animal. It was carpeted with old dead leaves, and it faced the
+east, while the wind and the snow came from the southwest. It was only a
+hollow, running back three or four feet, and one must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> crouch to enter;
+but except near the door there was no snow in it, and the storm drove by
+in vain.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is our house, Sylvia," exclaimed Harley, with a strong ring in his
+voice, and he drew her in. He raked up the old, musty, dead leaves in a
+heap, and made her sit upon them. He was the man now, the masculine
+animal who ruled, and she obeyed without protest.</p>
+
+<p>"Hark to the storm! How the wind whistles!" he said.</p>
+
+<p>Pyramids and columns of snow whirled by the mouth of their little
+hollow, and they crouched close together. Out upon the plain the shriek
+of the wind was weird and unearthly. Now and then some blast, fiercer
+and more tortuous than the rest, drove a fringe of snow so far into the
+hollow that it fell a wet skim across their faces.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia did not move or speak for a long time, and when Harley looked out
+again the snow was thinner but the wind was still high, and it was
+growing much colder. The blast lashed his face with a whip of ice.</p>
+
+<p>He turned back in alarm, and took Sylvia's hand in his. It was cold, and
+it seemed to him that the blood in it had ceased to run.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia! Sylvia!" he cried in fear, and not knowing what else to say.
+"What is the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"This, I think, is death," she replied, in sleepy content.</p>
+
+<p>It was dark in the hollow, whether the darkness of coming night or the
+darkness of the storm Harley did not know nor care. He could not see her
+face, but he touched it; it, too, was cold.</p>
+
+<p>He felt a pang of agony. When both expected to die he had neither fear
+nor sorrow; now she was about to die alone and leave him!</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span>"Sylvia! Sylvia!" he cried. "It is not death! You cannot go!"</p>
+
+<p>He rubbed her hands violently, and even her cheeks. He called to her
+over and over again, and she awoke from her numbing torpor.</p>
+
+<p>"It was beginning to be like an easy sleep," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"That is what we must fight," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>He brushed up all the leaves at the mouth of the hollow as a sort of
+barrier, and he believed that it gave help. Then he sat down on a small
+ledge of stone and leaned against the wall.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," he said, "I want you to live, and you cannot live if this cold
+creeps into your body again. Sit here."</p>
+
+<p>She hesitated, and in the darkness he did not see her blush.</p>
+
+<p>"Why should you not? It may be our last day."</p>
+
+<p>He drew her down upon his knees, then closer to him, and put his arms
+around her. Presently he could feel her face against his, and it was
+cold no longer. Neither spoke nor moved, but Harley could feel that she
+was warm, and he could hear her soft, regular breathing. After a while
+he stirred a little, and he found that she was asleep. Her hands and
+face were still warm. He did not move again. She spoke once in her
+sleep, and all that she said was his name.</p>
+
+<p>Outside the plain was a vast sheet of snow, over which the cold wind
+moaned, and out of the east the night was coming.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a>XXII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE "KING'S" AWAKENING</h3>
+
+<p>When "King" Plummet left Harley and Sylvia on the plain, he strode
+blindly forward, his heart filled with rage, grief, and self-accusation.
+He said aloud: "William Plummer, you are fifty years old, and you have
+made of yourself the damnedest fool in the whole Northwest!"</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto he had always held the belief that if Harley were away she
+would soon forget him and would be happy as his wife. Now he knew that
+this could never come to pass, and the truth filled him with dismay.</p>
+
+<p>He had ridden across country with no knowledge of Mr. Grayson's presence
+in Grafton until he was very near the place; then, when he heard of it,
+he was overwhelmed with a great desire to see these people and bid them
+defiance. He was a man who fought his enemies, and he would show them
+what he could do. So he rode into Grafton, and slipped quietly into a
+saloon to get a tonic. He was a border man bred in border ways, and
+usually liquor would have had no effect on him, but to-day it was fire
+to a brain already on fire. All his grievances now became great
+wrongs&mdash;he was an injured man whom the world persecuted; Grayson, for
+whom he had done so much in political life, had betrayed him; the girl
+whom he was going to marry had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span>betrayed him, too, and this young
+Eastern slip, Harley, was surely laughing at him.</p>
+
+<p>These thoughts were intolerable to the "King," who had hitherto been
+victorious always, and now his rage centred on Harley; he saw Harley
+everywhere, at every point of the compass wherever he looked, and when
+he came out of the saloon and went down the deserted street he saw
+Harley in reality, strolling along absently, his eyes upon the ground.
+He thought first that the correspondent was on his way to join the crowd
+around the speaker's stand, but he soon perceived that he was going in
+another direction. It was "King" Plummer's first impulse&mdash;there was
+still liquid fire in his veins&mdash;to overtake Harley and demand the only
+kind of satisfaction that such a man as he should have. Then he wished
+to see where Harley was going, because he had a premonition&mdash;false in
+this case, the meeting was by accident&mdash;that he was on his way to
+Sylvia; so he decided to follow as an animal stalks its game. Only the
+most powerful emotion conjoined with other circumstances could have made
+the "King" do such a thing, as his nature was essentially open, and he
+loved open methods. Yet he trailed his enemy with the skill and cunning
+of an Indian.</p>
+
+<p>He saw Harley and Sylvia meet, and all his suspicions were confirmed.
+Again he felt a fierce impulse, and it was to rush upon the guilty pair,
+but he restrained it and still followed. His perceptions were trained to
+other things, but he was in no danger of being seen by them; they were
+too much absorbed in each other, and all the world passed by them
+unnoticed. The "King," though a rough, blunt man, saw this, and it made
+the fire in him burn the hotter.</p>
+
+<p>He saw them stop at last, he saw Harley kiss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> Sylvia, and then he saw
+the girl turn away. He waited until he saw Sylvia pass over the swell,
+and then he took his opportunity. Whether he would have fired if Sylvia
+had not come he could not say to himself afterwards in his cooler
+moments. Remorse upon this point tortured him for some time.</p>
+
+<p>When he turned away he saw nothing. He was agitated by the powerful
+truth that Sylvia preferred death with Harley to life with him, and all
+his views were inward. He still did not know what he would do, but there
+was much of a moving nature to him in the scene that he left. He had
+never before seen such a look on a woman's face as that on Sylvia's when
+she threw herself upon Harley's breast and defied his bullet; it was
+beautiful and wonderfully pathetic, and something like a sob came from
+the burly "King." Harley, too, had borne himself like a man; there was
+no fear in the face of the Eastern youth when he looked into the muzzle
+of the pistol that threatened instant death; "King" Plummer remembered
+more than once in the early days when he had been covered by the
+levelled weapon of an enemy, and he knew how hard it was in such a case
+to control one's nerves and keep steady. He could not help respecting a
+courage fully the equal of his own.</p>
+
+<p>He wandered on in a series of circles that did not take him far, and in
+a half-hour he stopped at the crest of a swell higher than the rest. He
+saw Sylvia and Harley far away&mdash;but he knew them well&mdash;walking side by
+side. "Well, I suppose they have the right!" he said, moodily. The fire
+within him was dying down, but he added; "I'll be damned if I look at
+them making love."</p>
+
+<p>The "King" had the habits bred by long years of necessity and
+precaution, and unless the distracting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> circumstances were very powerful
+he was always a keen observer of weather and locality. Now the fire was
+low, but he was almost at the edge of the town before his blood became
+normal and cool. Then he looked about. A half-mile away he saw a mass of
+heads, sometimes rising and falling, and a faint echo of cheers came to
+him. He knew that the candidate was still speaking, and he smiled rather
+sourly. Then he was conscious that the sunshine was not so brilliant,
+and there was a feeling of chill damp in the wind that came up from the
+southwest.</p>
+
+<p>The "King" glanced up at the sky; it had turned a steely gray, and ugly
+brown clouds were coming up over the rim of the southwestern horizon.
+"There's going to be an early snow," he said, and for the moment the
+matter gave him no further concern. Then Sylvia and Harley suddenly shot
+up and filled his whole horizon. He had seen them far from where he
+stood, and they were going directly away from the town, not towards it!
+And one was a girl and the other a tenderfoot!</p>
+
+<p>Now Harley disappeared from the "King's" horizon as suddenly as he had
+come into it, and the solitary figure of Sylvia filled all its space.
+She was not a woman now, but the desolate little girl whom he had found
+alone in the mountains, vainly trying to bury her massacred dead, and
+whom he had carried away on his saddle-bow. All the long years of
+protection and tenderness that he had given her came back to him; there
+was only the image of the slim little girl with flying curls who ran to
+meet him and who called him "Daddy!"</p>
+
+<p>That little girl was lost out there on the plain, and as sure as the sun
+had gone from the heavens a snow-storm was coming fast on the wings of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> southwestern wind. He knew, and his heart was filled with grief and
+despair; no rage was left there; that fire had burned out completely,
+and it seemed to the "King" that it never could be lighted again. It was
+wonderful now to him that the flame could ever have been so fierce. And
+the boy Harley was lost, too. Mr. Plummer again remembered, and with a
+certain admiration, how brave Harley had been, and he remembered, too,
+that when he first saw him his impulse was to like him greatly.</p>
+
+<p>He ran back towards the swell where he had last beheld them, hoping to
+find them or at least to follow upon their traces before the snow fell
+and hid the trail. He was an old frontiersman, and with a favorable soil
+he might do it. But long before he reached the swell the snow flew, and
+the brown clouds and the whirling flakes together blotted out all the
+plain, save the little circle in which he stood.</p>
+
+<p>He raised his powerful voice and called in tones that carried far,
+"Sylvia! Sylvia!" But no sound came back save the lonely cry of the wind
+and the soft, whirring rush of the snow, like the soft beat of wings.
+The "King" was a brave and sanguine man, physically and mentally
+disposed to hope, but his heart dropped like lead in water. He saw the
+slim little girl, with flying brown hair, dead and cold in the snow.
+Then his courage came back, and with it all his mental coolness. He did
+not seek to rush after them, floundering here and there in the
+semi-darkness and calling vainly, but hurried back to the town.</p>
+
+<p>The people had just returned from the candidate's speech, and were
+crowding into the lobby of the hotel to shake Mr. Grayson's hand and to
+tell him that he would win by a "million majority." The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> candidate was
+enduring this ordeal with his usual good-nature and grace, although the
+crowded room was hot and close, and the odor of steaming boots arose.</p>
+
+<p>Into this packed mass of human beings "King" Plummer burst like a bomb.
+"Help! All of you!" he cried, and his voice cracked like a rifle. "They
+are lost out on the plain in the storm, and they were wandering away
+from the town! Miss Morgan! Sylvia! My child! And the young man,
+Harley!"</p>
+
+<p>There was no mistaking the "King's" meaning. Here was a mountain man,
+one who knew of what he was talking, one who would raise no false alarm.
+Both grief and command were in his voice, and the Dakotans responded
+upon the instant; they knew Sylvia, too&mdash;her fresh, young beauty, coming
+into so small a town, was noticed at once. To the last man they went out
+into the storm to the rescue; and there were many women who were
+willing, too.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate seized Mr. Plummer's arm in a fierce grasp.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to say that Sylvia and Harley are lost in that?" he cried,
+and he pointed into the mass of driving snow.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, they are there," said the "King," "but we will find them."</p>
+
+<p>"We will find them," echoed Jimmy Grayson, and, though they strove to
+make him stay at the hotel, he drew his overcoat about his ears and was
+by his side as "King" Plummer led the way. Hobart, Blaisdell, even old
+Tremaine, and Churchill as well, were there, too.</p>
+
+<p>They knew that Sylvia and Harley were somewhere north of the town, and,
+dividing into groups, five or six to a group, they spread out to a
+great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> distance. They carried whiskey for warmth, and lanterns with
+which to signal to each other, and for guidance in the night that might
+come before they returned. In the twilight of the storm these lanterns
+twinkled dimly.</p>
+
+<p>The "King" himself carried a lantern, and Jimmy Grayson, by his side,
+could read his face. Mr. Plummer had not told him a word, but he could
+guess the story. He had come upon them, there was a violent scene of
+some kind, and now the "King," with death threatening "his little girl,"
+was stricken with remorse. All the candidate's anger against Mr. Plummer
+was gone, melted away suddenly&mdash;and he saw that the "King's" wrath
+against himself was gone the same way. Now he felt only pity for the
+stricken man.</p>
+
+<p>The great line of men moved across the plain towards the north, calling
+to each other now and then and waving the dim lanterns. Jimmy Grayson
+listened for the welcome cry that the lost had been found, but it did
+not come. The "King" did not speak save to give orders&mdash;he had naturally
+assumed command of the relief party, and his position was not disputed.</p>
+
+<p>They advanced far northward, and they noticed with increased alarm the
+thickening of the storm. Whirlwinds of snow beat in their faces. Jimmy
+Grayson once heard the big, burly man by his side say, in a kind of
+sobbing whisper, "Oh, my little girl!" and he felt a catch in his own
+throat.</p>
+
+<p>Then he repeated the "King's" own words, "We will find them."</p>
+
+<p>"And alive!" said the "King," in fierce defiance.</p>
+
+<p>He did not speak again for a long time. He seemed to become unconscious
+of the presence by his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> side of Jimmy Grayson, the man whom in his hot
+wrath he had threatened to betray. At last he turned his head and said,
+as if it were an impulse:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Grayson, they said I was going to knife you, and I meant to do it!
+They tempted me, and I was willing to be tempted by them; but, by God! I
+gave them no promise and I won't. I was your friend, and I'm your friend
+again!"</p>
+
+<p>"A better I never hope to have," said Jimmy Grayson, and in the storm
+the hands of the two men met in a grasp as true as it was strong.</p>
+
+<p>"We will not speak of this again," said Mr. Grayson and they never did.
+A resident of Grafton, Mr. Harrison, came up to them, fighting his way
+through the snow.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Plummer," he said, "there are some rocky hills three or four miles
+north of here, with hollows and sort of half-way caves here and there in
+their sides. It's barely possible that Mr. Harley and Miss Morgan have
+got to one of those places. I think we ought to go there at once,
+because, because&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The man's voice failed.</p>
+
+<p>"Speak out," said the "King," "I can stand it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's just this, though I hate to say it. It's a sure thing that
+they've gone a long distance, an' if they've hit on one of the hollows
+we're likely to find 'em alive if we get there pretty soon, but if they
+ain't in a hollow they'll be&mdash;they'll be&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"They'll be dead when we do find them. Take us to the hills, Mr.
+Harrison."</p>
+
+<p>The man, lantern in hand, strode on, and with him were Mr. Grayson and
+Mr. Plummer. Hobart was at the candidate's elbow. Twilight was at hand
+and the darkness was increasing, although the snow was thinning. Hobart,
+peering out on the plain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> saw only the swells of snow rising and
+falling like a white sea, and overhead the sky of sullen clouds. He
+marked the agony on the faces of the candidate and the "King," and his
+own heart was heavy. There was no thrill over a mystery now; the lost
+were too dear to him.</p>
+
+<p>"It's night," said Mr. Plummer. In his heart was the fear that the two,
+overpowered, had fallen down and slowly frozen to death under the snow,
+but he did not dare to whisper it to others.</p>
+
+<p>It was heavy work going through the drifts and keeping the right way
+over a plain that had the similarity of the sea, but the men did not
+falter. Jimmy Grayson was always looking into the darkness, striving to
+see the darker line or blur that would mark the hills, but he asked no
+questions. The snow ceased, and after a while low, black slopes appeared
+against the dusky horizon.</p>
+
+<p>"The hills!" said the candidate, and the Grafton man nodded. They
+increased their pace until they were almost running. Neither Mr. Grayson
+nor Mr. Plummer knew it, but the Grafton man had little hope; he had
+merely suggested the place as a last chance.</p>
+
+<p>It took them much longer than they thought or hoped to reach the hills,
+but when they came to them they began a rapid search. The "King" and the
+candidate were still together, and the former had taken a lantern from
+one of the men. They had been looking among the hills for about a
+quarter of an hour, and they drew somewhat away from the others. The
+"King" raised his lantern at intervals and threw ribbons of light along
+the white slopes. They came to a hill a little higher than the rest, and
+he raised the lantern again. It was not a white reflection that came,
+but something misty and brown.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span>"Dead leaves!" cried the "King." "It's a cave or a hollow."</p>
+
+<p>He raised the lantern higher, and the light shone directly in at the
+opening; it shone, too, upon Sylvia's face as she lay asleep in Harley's
+arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Babes in the wood!" muttered Hobart, who had come up behind them.</p>
+
+<p>The "King" paused a moment. The picture appealed to him, too, and he saw
+then in Harley only the rescuer of "his little girl." His heart yearned
+over Harley also. Then he uttered a joyous shout, dropped his lantern,
+and seized Sylvia. "Daddy," she said, awakening and putting her arms
+around his neck, "I've come back."</p>
+
+<p>"God bless you, my child, my daughter!" he said.</p>
+
+<p>To Harley it was all a dream; there was something the matter with
+him&mdash;there was a sort of dull, unreal feeling, and these men that he
+knew seemed to be very far away. Nor did he understand why they pulled
+him out so roughly, rubbed snow on his face and ears, and chafed his
+hands violently. Afterwards he remembered hearing dimly some one say,
+"We're just in time; he was freezing to death," and then he wished they
+would be gentler. Fiery stuff was poured down his throat, and he coughed
+and struggled, but they had no mercy. Then they committed the crowning
+outrage&mdash;they took him by the arms, held him up and made him run back
+and forth in the snow. After that the pain came; there were strong
+needle-pricks all through him, and he heard some one say in a foolish
+tone of satisfaction, "He's coming around all right." Then they poured
+more fiery stuff down his throat.</p>
+
+<p>After a while the needle pains ceased, and Harley<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> understood that they
+had saved him from freezing to death. He thought at once of Sylvia;
+there she stood wrapped from chin to heel in a great fur coat, and she
+smiled at him.</p>
+
+<p>It was a slow but happy walk back to Grafton. The "King's" joyful shout
+had been repeated and passed on to all the searchers, and all the
+lanterns had been whirled aloft in rejoicing signal. Messengers were
+already hurrying on to Grafton with the news.</p>
+
+<p>Harley walked by the side of Mr. Grayson, who had given his hand one
+strong clasp and who had said, "Harley, it was like finding a brother."
+Sylvia leaned on Mr. Plummer's arm because the whole of her strength had
+not yet come back. "Daddy," she whispered, "where did you come from?
+We've been waiting for you a long time."</p>
+
+<p>"Something up there must have called me," he replied, reverently,
+pointing to the heavens, in which the new stars twinkled. "Sylvia," he
+continued, "I'm not a fool any more. Forgive your old daddy and you can
+love the boy."</p>
+
+<p>"Not unless you are really, truly, and wholly willing, daddy."</p>
+
+<p>"Really, truly, and wholly, my little girl."</p>
+
+<p>"Now you must tell him so, daddy."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell him so."</p>
+
+<p>They were startled by Sylvia suddenly stopping, throwing her arms around
+Mr. Plummer's neck, and kissing him. But they ascribed it to the
+hysteria natural in a woman under such circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>The world was still unreal to Harley. Now and then the people with whom
+he was walking seemed very far away, merely vague black shadows on the
+white plain of snow; all but Sylvia, who smiled again<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> at him, and who
+he thought had drawn him back to earth.</p>
+
+<p>As they approached the town the "King" gave Sylvia to her uncle and fell
+back a little, until he was by the side of Harley.</p>
+
+<p>"Lad," he said, and he used the word because he felt that Harley was
+very much younger than he, "you've won her and she's yours; I'll give
+her to you. I've played the part of father to her, and it's what I ought
+to keep on playing. I see it now. I guess I keep a daughter and gain a
+son."</p>
+
+<p>Harley looked squarely into his eyes&mdash;the world was real now&mdash;and he saw
+the utmost sincerity there.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Plummer," he said, "you are one of God's noblemen."</p>
+
+<p>The "King's" hand and Harley's met in a strong and true grip, and those
+who noticed thought it was another incident due wholly to the stress of
+the night and the storm.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the town Mrs. Grayson took Sylvia in her arms and the
+others left her. Jimmy Grayson was to speak the next day at Freeport, a
+village a little farther on, but that speech was never delivered, and
+when the Freeport people heard the reason they made no complaint.</p>
+
+<p>It was announced the next morning that Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia would
+leave at once for the candidate's home, as their part of the campaign
+was finished, but Harley found Sylvia alone in the little parlor of the
+hotel. She was sitting by the window looking out at the vast snowy
+plains and the dim blue mountains afar, and apparently she did not hear
+him as he entered, although he closed the door behind him with a slight
+noise. He leaned over her and took one of her hands in both of his.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span>"Sylvia," he said, "won't you come away from the window a moment?"</p>
+
+<p>He did not wait for her answer, but drew her away.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not want any one in the street to see me kiss you," he said, and
+he kissed her.</p>
+
+<p>Her cheeks, already red, grew redder.</p>
+
+<p>"You mustn't do that," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help myself," he said, humbly, and did it again.</p>
+
+<p>"I have the right," he added, "because you are mine now. Last night Mr.
+Plummer, of his own free will and volition, gave you to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Good old daddy!" she murmured.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a>XXIII</h2>
+
+<h3>ELECTION NIGHT</h3>
+
+<p>At last came the great day which was to tell whether their efforts were
+a brilliant success or a dire failure&mdash;there was no middle ground&mdash;and
+the special train took them to the small city in which the candidate
+lived. All the correspondents were yet with him, as on the eventful
+night following the eventful day they must tell the world how Jimmy
+Grayson looked and what he said when the wires brought the news, good or
+bad. A few faithful political friends had been invited also to stay with
+him to the end, and they completed the group which would share the
+hospitality of the candidate, who must smile and be the good host while
+the nation was returning his sentence. Harley thought it a bitter
+ordeal, but it could not be helped.</p>
+
+<p>After his recognition of the great fact that Sylvia and Harley loved
+each other and belonged to each other, "King" Plummer had gone to Idaho
+for a while, but he rejoined them on the homeward journey, and his
+spirits seemed fully recovered. He drifted easily in conversation about
+her into the old paternal relationship with Sylvia which became him so
+well, and he never again alluded to that vain dream of his that he might
+be something else. Moreover, after his temporary alienation he had
+become a more ardent Graysonite than ever, and would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> hear of
+anything except his triumphant election, despite the immense power of
+the forces allied against him.</p>
+
+<p>While they changed cars often in the West, the one that bore them to the
+candidate's town had been their home for several weeks, and even the
+engine was the same; thus the train attendants fell under the spell of
+Jimmy Grayson, and when he walked down their car-steps for the last time
+they came around him in their soiled working clothes and wished him
+success. It was scarcely dawn then, the east was not yet white, but
+Harley could see sincerity written all over their honest faces, and
+Jimmy Grayson, who had listened to ten thousand words of the same kind,
+some true and some false, was much moved.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," said the engineer, "at midnight, when the tale is told, I shall
+be three hundred miles from here, but if you are not the man, then it is
+a tale that I shall not care to hear."</p>
+
+<p>"Friends," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely, "I am glad to have your good
+wishes; the good wish is the father of the good act, and whatever tale
+the coming night has to tell let us endure it without vaunting or
+complaint."</p>
+
+<p>As Mr. Grayson and his friends walked away in the growing dawn, the
+railroad men raised a cheer. A little later Harley heard the puff, puff
+of a locomotive followed by the grinding of wheels, and the train which
+had been their home whirled away into that West where they had seen and
+done so many strange things. Harley tried to follow it awhile with his
+eyes, because this was like a parting with a human being, an old and
+faithful friend; he felt, too, that the most vivid chapter yet in his
+life was closing. Unconsciously he raised his hand and waved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span>good-bye;
+the others, noticing the act, understood and were silent.</p>
+
+<p>All were under the influence of the morning, which was dawning slowly
+and ill. There are fine days in November, yet we cannot depend upon it,
+and now the month was in one of its bad humors. An overcast sun was
+struggling through brown, ominous clouds, and its light was pale and
+cold. A sharp wind whistled against the houses, yet shuttered and silent
+in these early morning hours. The city was still asleep, and did not
+know that the candidate had come home to hear his fate.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this ugly sky an omen of ill?" asked Churchill, who, despite his
+supercilious nature and the fact that he represented an opposition
+newspaper, had come at last under the spell of Jimmy Grayson and was in
+a way one of the band.</p>
+
+<p>"If it is a gray sky for Mr. Grayson, it is a gray sky for the other
+man, too, and I draw no inference from the circumstance," replied
+Harley.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless there was an oppression over the whole group&mdash;perhaps it
+was because they were so near the end; and scarcely another word was
+said as they walked along the silent street, each thinking of the day at
+hand and the night to follow.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate had offered all the hospitality of his house, but none
+would accept, not wishing to intrude upon the first freshness of his
+family reunion; they intended to register at the hotels and come to his
+home later on for the news of the day. So they stopped at a street
+corner, bade him a short farewell, and allowed him to go on alone.</p>
+
+<p>But Harley could not resist the temptation of looking back. They had
+arrived in the town two hours ahead of time, and he knew that the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span>candidate's family were not yet expecting him, but he could see the
+house behind its shield of trees, now swept of foliage, and already
+there were signs of life about it. He saw the candidate's wife run down
+the steps and meet her husband, and then he looked away.</p>
+
+<p>"This is one part of a Presidential campaign that we must not watch," he
+said to the group about him, and without a word they walked to their
+hotel, not glancing back again, although more than one in the group was
+secretly envious of Harley, because of the welcome that they knew
+awaited him a little later.</p>
+
+<p>It was a good hotel that received them, and it was an abounding
+breakfast that awaited them there. Harley sat near a window of the
+dining-room, where he could look out upon the street and see the city
+coming to life, a process that began but slowly, because it is always a
+holiday when the people cast their votes for a President. Yet the city
+awoke at last, men began to appear in the streets, a polling-booth
+opposite the hotel was opened, and the Presidential election had begun.</p>
+
+<p>The dining-room was now filling up, and all around Harley and his
+friends rose the hum of interested talk. People were beginning to
+speculate on the result, and to point out the strangers whom Jimmy
+Grayson had brought among them.</p>
+
+<p>Harley presently went into the lobby and found it crowded. All there
+were touched by a keen, eager interest, and were balancing the chances.
+The correspondent, alert, watchful, saw that the bulk of opinion was
+against Jimmy Grayson. He saw, too, that while there was much local
+pride in the candidate, it was tinctured by envy, and here and there by
+malice. He realized to the full the truth of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span> old adage that a
+prophet is never without honor save in his own country.</p>
+
+<p>In that crowded lobby were men who had been conspicuous in local public
+life when Jimmy Grayson was a mere boy, and they could not understand
+how he had passed them; it was a chance, they said and believed&mdash;mere
+luck, not merit. Others, in a tone of patronage, told stories of the
+days when he was a threadbare and penniless young attorney, and they
+named at least five other men of his age who had been more promising.
+Then they depreciated his gifts, and in the same breath disclaimed all
+intention of doing so, believing, too, that the disclaimer was genuine.
+Yet Harley had no great blame for these men; he understood how bitter it
+was for them to see the hero march by while they stood still, and it was
+not the first instance of the kind that he had noticed.</p>
+
+<p>But the crowd, on the whole, was loyal, and sincerely wished Jimmy
+Grayson success. Yet they could not keep down gloomy forebodings. There
+had been a defection of a minority within the party, led by Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates, who had gone bodily into
+the enemy's camp, a procedure which had made much noise in the American
+world, and none could tell how much it would cost. The story of the
+Philipsburg conference and Jimmy Grayson's great speech at Waterville
+was known to everybody, and now, while the old politicians applauded his
+courage and honesty, they began to fear its effects. Harley felt the
+same thrill of apprehension, the momentary timidity, that even the
+bravest experience when about to go into battle.</p>
+
+<p>Those in the lobby soon knew Harley and his friends, and the nature of
+their business, and many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span> questions which they could not answer were
+asked them. "You have been with Jimmy Grayson all along; will he win?"
+and whether it was Harley or another he was forced to reply that he did
+not know.</p>
+
+<p>Harley now looked at his watch, something he had been eager to do for a
+time that seemed interminable to him; it was yet early, so the watch
+told him, but he looked out next at the heavens and the day was
+unfolding. "I will go now; I refuse to wait any longer," he said to
+himself, and he slipped away from the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>He went rapidly down the street, and the Presidential campaign was not
+in his mind at all; the only thought there was Sylvia! Sylvia! He stood
+presently before the Grayson door and rang the bell. He remembered how
+he had rung that same bell five months ago, never dreaming that his fate
+would answer his ring. And now that same happy fate was answering it
+again, because, when the door swung back, there was Sylvia, her hand
+upon the bolt and the smile of young love that has found its own upon
+her face.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew it was you&mdash;I knew your ring," she said, unconscious of the fact
+that one ring is like another.</p>
+
+<p>"And you came to meet me," said Harley. "It is fitting; you opened it
+first to me and you let my happiness in."</p>
+
+<p>"And you brought mine with you when you came."</p>
+
+<p>They were young and much in love.</p>
+
+<p>Harley stepped inside, and she closed the door.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I shall kiss you," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle James and Aunt Anna are in the next room."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to kiss either Uncle James or Aunt Anna."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span>"They might come."</p>
+
+<p>"I defy them&mdash;yes, I bid defiance even to a Presidential nominee."</p>
+
+<p>He put his arm around her waist and kissed her.</p>
+
+<p>"You know that he hasn't had time to come."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I give him another chance. I defy that terrible man again. Yes, I
+defy him twice, thrice, and more times."</p>
+
+<p>She struggled a little, and her cheeks flamed, but she thought how fine,
+tall, and masterful he was, and how long it was since she had seen
+him&mdash;it had not really been long.</p>
+
+<p>"Sylvia," he said, "this is the next best day."</p>
+
+<p>"The next best day?" wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>"The next best day to the one on which we shall be married. I think I
+shall defy your terrible uncle again."</p>
+
+<p>And she blushed redder than ever. As a matter of fact the "terrible
+uncle," hearing a step in the hall, came to the door of his room and saw
+this defiance issued to him not only once, but twice. Whereupon he
+promptly went back into his own room, shut the door, and said to his
+wife, "Anna, you must not go into the hall for at least ten minutes." He
+remembered some meetings of his own, and Mrs. Grayson, although she had
+not looked into the hall, understood perfectly.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Sylvia, keeping herself well into the background, showed
+Harley into the parlor, and he paid his respects to Mrs. Grayson, who
+was sincerely glad to see him again. She looked upon him now as one of
+the family. "King" Plummer came before long, and by-and-by he and Harley
+went into the town to seek political news. "But I'll be back soon," he
+said to Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span>"And I'll be at the door when you come," she said to him.</p>
+
+<p>They did not spend more than an hour in the town, and when they returned
+the other correspondents were with them. The day had not improved, the
+lowering clouds still stalked across the horizon, and the wind came cold
+and sharp out of the northwest.</p>
+
+<p>"I've had a telegram from New York saying that a great vote is being
+polled," said Hobart, "and I've no doubt it's the case throughout the
+East. Yet Jimmy Grayson is bound to sit at home helpless while all this
+great battle is going on."</p>
+
+<p>"He has done his work already," said Harley; "and now it is the rank and
+file who count."</p>
+
+<p>There was no sign of gloom at the Grayson home. The candidate,
+refreshed, and with his half-dozen young children around him, was
+unfeignedly happy, while Mrs. Grayson, hovering near her husband, who
+had been practically lost to her for, lo! these many months, showed the
+same joy and relief. She received the group with genuine warmth&mdash;her
+husband's friends were hers&mdash;and bade them make the house their home
+until the fight was over. Sylvia greeted them as old comrades, which, in
+fact, they were. A room with tables for writing was already set apart
+for their use.</p>
+
+<p>The children were in holiday attire and thrilled by excitement; they
+could not be suppressed. They were well aware what it was to be
+President of the United States, and they failed to understand how any
+one could vote against their father. "If he is beaten," thought Harley,
+"it is not Mr. Grayson nor Mrs. Grayson who will feel the most
+disappointment, but these little children."</p>
+
+<p>Neither the candidate nor his wife alluded to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> Presidential race,
+seeming to enjoy this short respite after the long strain and before the
+crucial trial yet to come. They talked of the small affairs of the home,
+and she gave the news of their neighbors, as if they would make the most
+of this brief hour; yet it was not wholly natural, there was in it a
+note of suspense, and Harley knew that, despite the joy of reunion, the
+shadow of the coming night was already over them. Jimmy Grayson must
+feel that while he idled about his own home the ballots were falling in
+the boxes off to the East and to the West by the hundred thousand, and
+his own fate was being decided.</p>
+
+<p>Harley and Sylvia, after the greetings and the casual talk, slipped away
+from the others. There was a little glass-covered piazza at the back of
+the house, and there they sat.</p>
+
+<p>"Now you must tell me all that you have been doing since I left you."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing worth the telling. How could anything interesting happen after
+you had gone? But I've been doing some fine thinking."</p>
+
+<p>"Of what?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of you!&mdash;always you! I've had to tear up the first page of many of my
+despatches."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I would address them to Sylvia instead of to the <i>Gazette</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"John, I didn't know that you had imagination."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't imagination; I don't need imagination when I'm near you or
+thinking of you, which is all the time."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are going to marry a Western girl, after all?" irrelevantly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span>"I wouldn't marry any other kind, and there is only one of them that I
+would marry."</p>
+
+<p>They did not speak again for a half-minute, but what they said was
+relevant.</p>
+
+<p>But the best of times must come to an end, even if it is merely to give
+way to another good time, and Harley could not remain long at the
+candidate's house, but strolled with Blaisdell and two or three others
+through the city. He, too, had a sense of helplessness in regard to the
+campaign. Like Jimmy Grayson, he was now condemned to a period of
+inaction, and, strive as he might, he could not aid his friend a
+particle. They went to the local headquarters of the party&mdash;two parlors
+of the largest hotel in the city.</p>
+
+<p>The rooms, which had been thrown together, were packed with men and
+thick with tobacco-smoke, making the air heavy and hot. News there was
+none, but clouds of rumor and gossip. The telegraph said bad weather,
+cold and raw, with gusts of rain, prevailed all over the United States,
+but that an enormous vote was being polled, nevertheless. In all the
+booths in all the great cities long lines of people were waiting, and
+reports of the same character were coming from the country districts.
+But with the secret ballot there was nothing whatever to indicate which
+way this vote was being cast, nor would there be until the polls were
+closed and the official count was begun. It was said that in many of the
+precincts of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia more than half the vote
+was cast already, so eager were both sides for victory. These bulletins,
+more or less vague as they came from time to time, were posted on a
+blackboard, and their vagueness did not keep them from arousing the
+keenest interest.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span>Dexter, the chairman of the state committee, a thin-faced man who talked
+little, shook his head ominously.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like the enormous vote they are polling so early in the big
+cities," he said. "It shows that the band of traitors led by Goodnight,
+Crayon, and their kind are getting in their work."</p>
+
+<p>"But we don't know it to be a fact," said Harley, resolved that the
+cloud should have its silver lining. "For every man in that crowd eager
+to cast a vote against Jimmy Grayson, there may be one eager to cast a
+vote for him."</p>
+
+<p>Dexter shook his head again, and with increased gloom. Harley's argument
+might appeal to his hopes, but not to his judgment.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry that Jimmy Grayson made his attack upon that committee," he
+said. "It spoke well for his courage and honesty, but it was bad
+politics."</p>
+
+<p>"I think that courage and honesty are good politics," said Harley, and
+he left Dexter to his pessimistic thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>The rooms were growing too close, and there was an absence of definite
+news, so he went again into the open air. The character of the day was
+unchanged; it was still dark with ominous clouds trooping across the
+sky, and the wind had grown more bitter.</p>
+
+<p>Harley now found himself under the strain of an extreme anxiety. He did
+not realize until this day how deeply his own feelings were interwoven
+with the fate of the campaign, and how bleak the night would look to him
+and Sylvia if Mr. Grayson were beaten&mdash;and he knew that the odds were
+against him; despite himself, he, a man of calm mind and strong will,
+was a prey to nerves. He began to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> shrink at the thought of the count of
+the votes, and to fear the first real bulletins.</p>
+
+<p>He walked about the streets awhile to steady himself, and then looked at
+his watch. It was past noon there, but later in the East and earlier in
+the West; yet the bulk of the ballots were cast already. In three or
+four hours more the tabulated vote in the states farthest east would
+begin to arrive, and they would listen to the opening chapter of the
+story, a story which he feared to hear.</p>
+
+<p>Absorbed in his thoughts, he had strolled unconsciously towards the
+country. There, at a turn of the road, he met two people in a light
+wagon, and they were the candidate and his wife Mrs. Grayson driving.
+Harley looked up in surprise at their calm, cheerful faces. How could
+they assume such an air with the combat at its height?</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry you and Sylvia were not with us," said Mr. Grayson; "Mrs.
+Grayson has been taking me to see the changes in the country since I
+went campaigning. There are a half-dozen new residences in the suburb
+out yonder, and they've built a new foot-bridge, too, over the river.
+Oh, our city is looking up!"</p>
+
+<p>They drove on cheerfully, and Harley went back to town. All the
+arrangements for the night were made; the two great telegraph companies
+would handle their despatches in equal proportion, and would send
+bulletins of the count, as fast as they came, to the candidate.
+Headquarters would do the same, and there would be no lack of news.</p>
+
+<p>Harley rejoined his comrades at the hotel, but stayed with them only a
+little while, because he, of course, was to dine with Sylvia and the
+Graysons. All the others had been invited, but they did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span> wish to
+overwhelm the candidate on this day of all days, and none except "King"
+Plummer would go.</p>
+
+<p>"Lucky fellow," said Hobart, as Harley walked away.</p>
+
+<p>"But not luckier than he deserves," said Blaisdell.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner Hobart looked at his watch, then shut it, and with a quick
+motion thrust it into his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"The polls have closed in three-fourths of the states," he said, "and
+probably somebody is elected. I wonder who it is?"</p>
+
+<p>Nobody replied, but on their way to Jimmy Grayson's house they passed
+through the party headquarters. The rooms were so crowded that they
+could scarcely move, but they managed to approach the blackboard, and
+they saw written upon it:</p>
+
+<p>"Goodnight, Crayon, and others claim decisive defeat of Grayson. Assert
+that he will not get one-third the vote of the electoral college."</p>
+
+<p>"What nonsense!" exclaimed Hobart, who felt a thrill of anger. "Why,
+they have not begun the count of the vote anywhere!"</p>
+
+<p>They left the rooms and went into the street. The November twilight was
+coming earlier than ever under the shadow of the thickening clouds, and
+already lights were beginning to shine from many windows. Uniformed
+messenger-boys were passing.</p>
+
+<p>"The wires will soon be talking," said Churchill.</p>
+
+<p>The candidate's house was not inferior to any in the number of its
+lights. In the cold, dark twilight it reared a cheerful front, and the
+candidate himself, when he received them, was steady and calm.</p>
+
+<p>"Some of our friends are here already," he said, and he had them shown
+into the large room, where the tables for their use had been placed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span>It was brilliantly illuminated, and a dozen men were sitting about
+speculating on the events of the day and hoping for a happy result.
+Among them was old Senator Curtis, who had come all the way from
+Wyoming, and he was loudly declaring that if Mr. Grayson were not
+elected he would never take any interest in another Presidential
+election. The others made no comment on his declaration.</p>
+
+<p>Harley came in late. At dinner with the Graysons he had been thinking,
+when he looked at Sylvia's lovely face across the table, that it would
+always be just across the table from him now, and the thought was such a
+happy one that it clung to him.</p>
+
+<p>The correspondents disposed themselves about the room, and placed pencil
+and paper on the tables; yet there would be nothing for them to write
+for a long time. They were only to tell the story of how the candidate
+took it, after the story itself was told. Their business was with either
+a p&aelig;an or a dirge.</p>
+
+<p>Harley looked around at the group, all of whom he knew.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you fellows thought that this is our last meeting?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>There was a sudden silence in the room. All seemed to feel the solemnity
+of the moment. Out in the street some happy men, who had helped to empty
+the bowl, were singing a campaign song, and its sound came faintly to
+the group.</p>
+
+<p>"A wager to you boys that none of you can name the state from which the
+first completed return will come. What odds will you give?" said "King"
+Plummer, who was resolutely seeking to be cheerful.</p>
+
+<p>"We won't take your wager because we'd win, sure," said Hobart. "It will
+be a precinct in New<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> York City, up-town. They get through quick there;
+they never fail to be first."</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever the vote there is, I am going to look upon it as an omen,"
+said Mr. Heathcote. "If our majority is reduced it will mean a bad
+start, good ending; if our majority is increased, it will mean that a
+good beginning is half the battle."</p>
+
+<p>Dexter, the chairman of the state campaign committee, entered, his thin
+face still shadowed by gloomy thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>"We've had a few bulletins at headquarters, but nothing definite," he
+said. "All the reports so far are from the East, of course, owing to the
+difference in time, but I'd like mighty well to know what they are doing
+out there on the Slope and in the Rockies."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll know in good time, Charlie; just you wait," said Jimmy Grayson,
+who was the calmest man in the room.</p>
+
+<p>"I've done enough waiting already to last me the rest of my life," said
+Dexter, moodily.</p>
+
+<p>The door was opened softly, and four or five pairs of young eyes peeped
+shyly into the room. The candidate, with assurances that there was
+nothing to be told, gently pushed the youthful figures away and closed
+the door again.</p>
+
+<p>"I would put them to bed," he said, apologetically, "but they can't
+sleep, and it is not any use for them to try; so they are supposed to be
+shepherded in another part of the house by a nurse, but they seem to
+break the bounds now and then."</p>
+
+<p>"I claim the privilege of carrying them the good news when we get it, if
+they are still awake," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>A messenger-boy entered with a despatch, but it contained no
+information, merely an assurance from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span> a devoted New England adherent
+that he believed Jimmy Grayson was elected, as he felt it in his bones.</p>
+
+<p>"Why does a man waste time and money in telegraphing us a thing like
+that?" said Dexter. "It isn't worth anything."</p>
+
+<p>But Harley was not so sure. He believed with Jimmy Grayson that good
+wishes had more than a sentimental value. He went to the window and
+gazed into the street. The number of people singing campaign songs as
+they waited for the news was increasing, and the echoes of much laughter
+and talk floated towards the house. Farther down the street they were
+throwing flash-lights on white canvas in front of a great crowd, but so
+far the bulletins were only humorous quotations or patent-medicine
+advertisements, each to be saluted at the beginning with a cheer and at
+the end with a groan. He turned back to the table just as another boy
+bearing a despatch entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Dexter had constituted himself the clerk of the evening&mdash;that is, he
+was to sit at the centre-table and read the despatches as they came. He
+took the yellow envelope from the boy, tore it open, and paused a
+moment. Then all knew by the change upon his face that the first news
+had come. Dexter turned to Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"You were right," he said, "it is from New York City, up-town. The
+Thirty-first Assembly District in the City of New York gives a majority
+of 824 for Grayson. This is official."</p>
+
+<p>At another table sat a man with a book containing the complete vote of
+all the election districts in every state of the Union at the preceding
+Presidential election. All looked inquiringly at him, and he instantly
+made the comparison.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span>"We carried the Thirty-first Assembly District of the City of New York
+by 1077 four years ago," he said. "Our majority suffers a net loss of
+253."</p>
+
+<p>"Did I not tell you?" exclaimed Heathcote. "A bad start makes a good
+ending."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a happy sign," said Sylvia, with her usual resolute hopefulness.</p>
+
+<p>But, despite themselves, a gloom settled upon all; the first report from
+the battle was ominous&mdash;such a loss continued would throw the election
+heavily in favor of the other man&mdash;and after her remark they were
+silent.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson looked into the room, but they told her there was nothing,
+and, whether she believed them or not, she closed the door again without
+further question.</p>
+
+<p>"Here comes another boy," said Hobart, who was at the window, watching
+the crowd before the transparency.</p>
+
+<p>"Now this is good news, sure," said "King" Plummer.</p>
+
+<p>It was from another assembly district in New York City, and the party
+majority was cut down again, but this time the reduction was only 62
+votes.</p>
+
+<p>"That's better," said Mr. Heathcote.</p>
+
+<p>"It will have to be a great deal better to elect our man," whispered
+Hobart to Harley.</p>
+
+<p>Harley went to the window again, and looked down the street towards the
+transparency, where the opposition voters were cheering wildly at the
+first news so favorable to their side. Despite himself, Harley felt an
+unreasoning anger towards them. "You cheer about nothing," he said to
+himself. "This is only a few thousand votes among millions." Then he was
+ashamed of his feeling, and left the window.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span>"The Hub speaks!" exclaimed Mr. Dexter, as he tore open another
+envelope. Then he announced a vote from one of the wards of Boston.</p>
+
+<p>"And it speaks right," said the man with the book. "Mr. Grayson cuts
+down the majority polled against us there four years ago by 433 votes."</p>
+
+<p>A little cheer was raised in the room, and down the street at the
+transparency there was a cheer, too, but the voices were not the same as
+those that cheered a few moments ago.</p>
+
+<p>"Good old Boston," said Hobart, "and we made that gain right where the
+enemy thought he was strongest!"</p>
+
+<p>The first gain of the evening had a hopeful effect upon all, and they
+spoke cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>But a vote from Providence, a minute later went the other way, and it
+was followed by one of a similar nature from New Haven. The gloom
+returned. Their minds fluctuated with the bulletins.</p>
+
+<p>"It was too good to last," whispered Hobart, downcast.</p>
+
+<p>The children again appeared at the door and wanted to know if their
+father was elected. Sylvia took upon herself the task of assuring them
+that he was not yet elected, but he certainly would be before many
+hours. Then they went away sanguine and satisfied, and trying to keep
+sleepy eyelids from closing. In the street the noise was increasing as
+the crowd received facts, and the cheers were loud and various. But
+those of the enemy predominated, and Harley thrilled more than once with
+silent anger. A half-dozen men passed the house singing a song in
+derision of Jimmy Grayson; some of the words came to them through the
+window, and Sylvia flushed, but Mr. Grayson himself showed no sign that
+he understood.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span>The telegrams now were arriving fast; there were two streams of boys,
+one coming in at the door and the other going out, and Mr. Dexter, at
+the table, settled to his work. For a while the chief sounds in the room
+were the tearing of paper, the rustling of unfolded despatches, and the
+dry voice of the chairman announcing results. These votes were all from
+Eastern cities, where the polls closed early and the ballots could be
+counted quickly. Over the West and the Far West darkness still brooded,
+and the country districts everywhere were silent.</p>
+
+<p>Yet Harley knew that throughout the United States the utmost activity
+prevailed. To him the night was wonderful; in a day of perfect peace
+nearly twenty million votes had been cast, and the most powerful ruler
+in the world had been made by the free choice of the nation, just as
+four years or eight years hence another ruler would be made in his place
+by the same free choice, the old giving way to the new. Now to-night
+they were trying to find out who this ruler was, and no one yet could
+tell.</p>
+
+<p>But the tale would be told in a few hours. Harley knew that over an area
+of three million square miles, as large as the ancient civilized world,
+men were at work counting, down to the last remote mountain hamlet, and
+putting the result on the wires as they counted it. And ninety million
+people waited, ready to abide by the result, whether it was their man or
+the other. To him there was something extraordinary in this organized,
+this peaceful but tremendous activity. To-night all the efforts of the
+world's most energetic nation were bent upon a single point. In each
+state the wires talked from every town and village to a common centre,
+and each state in turn, through its metropolis, talked to the common
+centre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> of them all, and the general result of all they said would be
+known to everybody before morning. It seemed marvellous to him, although
+he understood it perfectly, that a few hours after the boxes were opened
+the votes should be counted and accredited to the proper man.</p>
+
+<p>He resumed his seat at a table, although there was yet but little for
+him to write, and listened to the dry, monotonous voice of Dexter as he
+called the vote. The results were still of a variable nature, gains here
+and losses there, but on the whole the losses were the larger, and the
+atmosphere of the room grew more discouraging. The great state of New
+York, upon which they had relied, was showing every sign that it would
+not justify their faith. The returns from the city of New York, from
+Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, were all bad, and the most resolute hopes
+could not make them otherwise.</p>
+
+<p>"'As goes New York, so goes the Union,'" whispered Hobart, quoting an
+old proverb.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe that rule will be broken at last," replied Harley, hopefully.</p>
+
+<p>But even Sylvia looked gloomy. There was one thought, as these returns
+came, in the minds of them all. It was that the members of the
+Philipsburg Committee had made good their threat; their defection had
+drawn from Grayson thousands of votes in a pivotal state, and if he had
+ever had a chance of election this took it from him. Yet no one uttered
+a word of reproach for Jimmy Grayson, although Harley knew that those
+who called themselves practical politicians were silently upbraiding
+him. He feared that they might consider their early warnings justified,
+and he resented it.</p>
+
+<p>A discordant note, too, was sounded by the South;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> Alabama, a state that
+they considered sure, although by a small majority, would go for the
+other man if the returns continued of the same tone. The only ray of
+light came from New England, whence it had not been expected. The large
+cities there were showing slight increases for Jimmy Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"Who would have thought it?" said Mr. Heathcote.</p>
+
+<p>But it seemed too small to have any effect, and they turned their minds
+to other parts of the country that seemed to be more promising ground.
+The voice of Mr. Dexter, growing hoarse from incessant use and wholly
+without expression, read a bulletin from New York:</p>
+
+<p>"Great crowd in front of the residence of the Honorable Mr. Goodnight,
+on upper Fifth Avenue, and he is speaking to them from the steps. Says
+the election of their man is assured. Derides Mr. Grayson; says no man
+can betray predominant interests and succeed. Crowd hooting the name of
+Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>"The traitor!" exclaimed Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>But Jimmy Grayson said nothing. Harley watched him closely, and he knew
+now that the candidate's expressionless face was but a mask&mdash;it was only
+human that he should feel deep emotion. Harley saw his lips quiver
+faintly now and then, and once or twice his eyes flashed. Down the
+street, in front of the transparency, there was a tremendous noise, the
+people had divided according to their predilections and were singing
+rival campaign songs, but there was no disorder.</p>
+
+<p>Waiters came in bearing refreshments, and during a lull in the bulletins
+they ate and drank. Mrs. Grayson also joined them for a little while.
+She said nothing about the news, and Harley inferred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> from her silence
+on the point that she knew it to be discouraging. But he saw her give
+her husband a glance of pride and devotion that said as plain as print,
+"Even if you are beaten, you are the man who should have been elected."
+She reported that the younger of the children had dropped off to sleep,
+but the others were still eager.</p>
+
+<p>Again some men passing the house raised a cry in derision of Jimmy
+Grayson, and Mrs. Grayson's face flushed. The others did not know what
+to do; they could not go out and rebuke the deriders, as that would only
+make a bad matter worse, but the men soon passed on. Mrs. Grayson stayed
+only a little while in the room, retiring on the plea of domestic
+duties. Jimmy Grayson, too, went out to see his children, he said, but
+Harley thought that man and wife wished to talk over the prospect.</p>
+
+<p>The news, after the lull, began to come faster than ever. The West spoke
+at last, and its first words came through Denver and Salt Lake, but its
+voice was non-committal. There was nothing in it to indicate how
+Colorado and Utah, both doubtful states, would go. But presently, when
+Mr. Dexter broke an envelope and opened a bulletin, he laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys," he said, "here's faith for you: the precinct of Waterville, in
+Wyoming casts every one of her votes for Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>They cheered. Certainly the people who had heard Mr. Grayson's decisive
+speech were loyal to him, and they should have honor despite their
+fewness. But immediately behind it came a bulletin that gave them the
+heaviest blow they had yet received.</p>
+
+<p>"Complete returns from more than three-fourths of the precincts in the
+state," read Mr. Dexter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span> "show beyond doubt that New Jersey has gone at
+least 20,000 against Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>"I never did think much of New Jersey, anyhow," said Hobart, sourly.</p>
+
+<p>They laughed, but there was no mirth in the laugh. Tears rose in
+Sylvia's eyes. Ten minutes later, Alabama had wheeled into line with New
+Jersey it was certainly against Grayson and the news from New York was
+growing worse. Harley, in his heart, knew that there was no hope of the
+state, although he tried to draw encouragement from scattered votes here
+and there. From the Middle West the news was mixed, but its general
+tenor was not favorable. But New England was still behaving well.</p>
+
+<p>"Our vote in Massachusetts surprises me," said Mr. Heathcote; "we shall
+more than cut their majority in half. We shall carry Boston and
+Worcester, and we are even making gains in the country districts."</p>
+
+<p>"Almost complete returns from Michigan and Wisconsin show that the
+former has gone for Grayson by a substantial majority, and the latter
+against him by a majority about the same," read Mr. Dexter.</p>
+
+<p>"Which shows that Michigan is much the finer state of the two," said
+Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"One state at least is secure," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>They heard a tremendous cheer down the street in front of the
+transparency, and Harley went to the window. His heart fell when he saw
+that the cheer, was continued, came from the opposition crowd. It was
+announced definitely on the cloth that New York had gone against
+Grayson; the returns permitted no doubt of it, and there was reason why
+the enemy should rejoice. Presently their own bulletins confirmed the
+bad news, and announced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> that off in another city the bands were
+serenading the other man.</p>
+
+<p>Blow followed blow. Connecticut, despite gains made there, went against
+Grayson by a majority, small it is true, but decisive, and Illinois and
+Indiana speedily followed her bad lead. To Harley all seemed over, and
+he could not take it with resignation. Jimmy Grayson was the better man
+on the better platform, and he should have been elected. It was a crime
+to reject him. An angry mist came over his eyes, and he walked into the
+hall that no one should see it. But Mr. and Mrs. Grayson stood at the
+end of the hall, evidently having just come from the children's room,
+and before he could turn away he heard her say:</p>
+
+<p>"We have lost, but you are still the man of the nation to me."</p>
+
+<p>As he was returning he met Sylvia, and now the tears in her eyes were
+plainly visible.</p>
+
+<p>"John, it can't be true! He isn't beaten, is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, it is not true, Sylvia," he said, telling what he did not believe.
+"We still have a chance."</p>
+
+<p>They returned at once to the room, and Mr. Grayson came in a minute
+later, his face wearing the same marble mask. When two or three forced
+themselves to speak encouraging words, he smiled and said there was yet
+hope. But Harley had none, and he felt sure that Jimmy Grayson, too, was
+without it.</p>
+
+<p>"Good news from Iowa!" suddenly cried Mr. Dexter. "A despatch from Des
+Moines reports heavy gains for Grayson throughout the south and west of
+the state."</p>
+
+<p>Here was a fresh breath of life, and for a moment they felt glad, but
+North Dakota, a state for which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> they had hoped but scarcely expected,
+soon reported against them. The good news could not last.</p>
+
+<p>"Anything more from Massachusetts?" asked Mr. Heathcote.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Dexter was opening a despatch and he gave a gasp when he looked at
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"Massachusetts in doubt!" he exclaimed. "Grayson makes heavy gains in
+the country districts as well as in the cities. Our National Committee
+is claiming Massachusetts!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a burst of cheering in the room. They had never even hoped for
+Massachusetts. From first to last it was conceded to the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, if Massachusetts only had as many votes as New York!" groaned
+Hobart. "This is so good it can't be true!"</p>
+
+<p>But Sylvia smiled through her tears.</p>
+
+<p>Soon there was another cheer. Fresh despatches from Massachusetts
+confirmed the earlier news and made it yet better; then the state was in
+doubt, now it inclined to Jimmy Grayson; the gains came in, steady and
+large.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got it by at least 20,000," exclaimed Mr. Dexter, exultantly.
+"It's a regular upset. Who'd have thought it?"</p>
+
+<p>It was true. It was known in a quarter of an hour that Massachusetts had
+given a majority of 25,000 for Grayson, and behind their big sister came
+New Hampshire and Rhode Island, with small but sure majorities. Jimmy
+Grayson had carried three New England states, when all of them had been
+conceded to the enemy, one of the most surprising changes ever known in
+a Presidential election.</p>
+
+<p>There were repeated cheers in the room. Even Jimmy Grayson was compelled
+to smile in satisfaction.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> But Harley did not have hope. This, in his
+opinion, was merely a pleasant incident&mdash;it could not have much effect
+on the result; Massachusetts had a large vote, but those of New
+Hampshire and Rhode Island were small, and there against them stood the
+gigantic state of New York, towering like a mountain. New York had the
+biggest vote of all, and he did not see how it could be overcome.</p>
+
+<p>Harley now and then wrote a paragraph of his despatch to his newspaper,
+telling of the scene at the candidate's house and how he and his friends
+looked and talked, but it did not take all his time. By-and-by he went
+out on the steps to see the crowd in the streets and to get the fresh
+air. The night was cold and raw, but its touch was soothing. His
+thoughts were with Jimmy Grayson. He yet had little hope, and he was
+thinking of all those gigantic labors wasted; it was a case where a man
+must win or lose every thing. At the transparency the rival crowds were
+cheering or groaning according to the news that came.</p>
+
+<p>Harley turned back and met Mrs. Grayson.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, Mr. Harley," she said, and her eyes were eager, "just how the
+election stands so far. I know that you will tell me the truth; is there
+really as much hope as the others seem to feel?"</p>
+
+<p>Harley looked into her clear, brave eyes, and he replied honestly:</p>
+
+<p>"I think there is some hope, Mrs. Grayson, but not much. Too many big
+states have gone against us, and we cannot offset big states with little
+ones. New York, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Alabama are all in the
+hostile line."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for the truth," she said. "I can stand it, and so can Mr.
+Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>But Harley was not sure. He felt at times that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> this ordeal was too
+great for any man or woman. When he returned to the room they were
+announcing news from the Pacific coast.</p>
+
+<p>"We have Washington," said Mr. Dexter; "and Oregon is against us, but
+California is in doubt."</p>
+
+<p>"But we mean to have California," said Sylvia, and the others smiled.</p>
+
+<p>Good reports came from the Rocky Mountain region, all the states there
+except Utah going for Grayson. It had been thought once by both sides
+that these doubtful states would decide the election, but with the great
+upset in the East and Middle West affairs took on another complexion,
+and they must make new calculations.</p>
+
+<p>"Has anything been heard from Pennsylvania?" asked Mr. Heathcote.</p>
+
+<p>Several laughed, and the laugh was significant.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing at all," replied Mr. Dexter, and there was a suggestion of
+contempt in his tone; "but why should we want to hear anything? It's
+sure for the enemy by at least 100,000, and he may get 200,000.
+Pennsylvania is one state from which I don't want to hear anything at
+all."</p>
+
+<p>They laughed again, but, as nothing yet came from Pennsylvania, Harley's
+curiosity about it began to rise. "Strange that we do not hear
+anything," he said; but Mr. Dexter laughed, and promised to read in an
+extra loud tone the first Pennsylvania bulletin they should get.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly midnight now and the election was still undecided;
+midnight came and the situation was yet unchanged, but a full half-hour
+later Mr. Dexter cleared his throat and said, in a high voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, Mr. Harley! Here's your first Pennsylvania bulletin!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span>He was sarcastic both in voice and look.</p>
+
+<p>"Complete reports from Pittsburg, Alleghany, and their surrounding
+districts show remarkable change. This district gives 20,000 majority
+for Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Dexter, holding the telegram in his hand, sat open-mouthed,
+barely realizing what he had read. But Harley sprang up with exultant
+cry. For once he lost his self-control.</p>
+
+<p>"We are not beaten yet!" he cried.</p>
+
+<p>"We are not beaten yet!" echoed Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>They waited feverishly for more Pennsylvania news, and presently it came
+in a despatch from Philadelphia. Grayson had carried that great city by
+a small majority, and the enemy was frightened about the state. A third
+despatch from Harrisburg, the state capital, confirmed the news; the
+state of Pennsylvania, coming next to New York in the size of its vote,
+was in doubt. It was the most astonishing fact of the election, but
+every return showed that Grayson had developed marvellous strength
+there. The National Committee issued a bulletin claiming it, but the
+other side claimed it, too; it would be at least two hours yet before
+the claim could be decided, and they must suffer in suspense.</p>
+
+<p>Harley and Hobart walked together into the street. Harley's forehead was
+damp.</p>
+
+<p>"This is getting on my nerves," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"If Pennsylvania goes for Grayson, what then?" asked Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"It means that Grayson is elected; an hour ago I could not have dreamed
+of such a thing."</p>
+
+<p>Down the street the crowd was roaring and cheering, and the roars and
+cheers were about equally divided between the two parties.</p>
+
+<p>When they returned to the room the volunteer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> secretary was just
+announcing that Iowa was safely in the Grayson column. It was conceded
+to him by 15,000. Further news from Pennsylvania was indecisive, but it
+continued good.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Grayson was in the room, and Harley looked at her and her husband.
+The faces of both had become grave, and Harley knew why. The
+Presidential chair was not wholly out of sight, after all, and the
+chance was sufficient to bring upon them both a sense of mighty
+responsibilities. There was a great shout down the street.</p>
+
+<p>"They have posted a bulletin," said Hobart, who was at the window. "It
+says that California has gone for Grayson by 10,000, and that all
+indications point to his carrying Ohio."</p>
+
+<p>"I was right, and we do have California," said Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>Again Jimmy Grayson and his wife exchanged that grave look. It seemed
+that each was frightened a little. But Mr. Dexter did not notice it. He
+was reading a telegram from New York saying that consternation over the
+news from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Iowa prevailed in the hostile
+ranks; they no longer claimed the election, they merely asserted that it
+was in doubt; it was admitted that while Goodnight, Crayon, and their
+friends had taken many votes from Jimmy Grayson, he was making up the
+difference, and perhaps more, elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>"If Jimmy Grayson were to come so near and yet miss, it would be more
+than mortal flesh could bear," whispered Hobart.</p>
+
+<p>"It would have to be borne," replied Harley.</p>
+
+<p>It was far past one o'clock in the morning. The room was hot and close.
+The floor was littered with envelopes and telegrams. The two lines of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span>telegraph-boys had trodden two trails in the carpet, and Harley began
+to feel the long strain. All the men had red eyes and black streaks
+under them. Yet they were as keen as ever to hear the last detail. It
+seemed to every one that the fate of Jimmy Grayson was now hanging in
+the balance; a feather would tip it this way or that, and the room sank
+into an unusual silence, the silence of painful suspense.</p>
+
+<p>There was a long wait and then came a telegram rather thicker than the
+others. Somehow all of them felt that this told the story, and the
+fingers of Mr. Dexter trembled as he tore open the envelope. He paused,
+holding it a moment between his fingers, and then, in a quivering voice,
+he read:</p>
+
+<p>"Complete returns from the state of Pennsylvania give it to Grayson by
+18,000, and he is chosen President of the United States by a majority of
+36 in the electoral college. Our enemies concede their defeat. We send
+our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Grayson on his victory, and on the
+great campaign he made. Everybody here recognizes that it was Grayson
+who won for Grayson."</p>
+
+<p>It was signed with the name of the chairman of the National Committee,
+and with a deep "Ah!" the reader let it fall upon the table, where it
+lay. Then there was a half-minute of intense silence in the room. That
+for which they had long fought and for which they had scarcely hoped had
+come at the eleventh hour. Mr. Grayson was the President-elect. They
+could not speak; they were awed.</p>
+
+<p>It was Mrs. Grayson who first broke the silence. She ran to her husband,
+threw her arms around him, and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Jimmy! It is almost too much for us to undertake!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span>But Jimmy Grayson was not afraid. He stood up and Harley saw a glow of
+deep emotion come over his face.</p>
+
+<p>"As God is my judge," he said, "I shall try with my utmost strength to
+fulfil the duties of this high place."</p>
+
+<p>Sylvia, not knowing what else to do, put her hand in Harley's; and he
+held it.</p>
+
+<p>There was a tremendous burst of cheering in front of the house, and a
+band began to play. Above the music swelled a continuous roar for the
+President-elect, "Grayson!" "Grayson!" "Grayson!" They were all for him
+now. There was no need for Harley to wake up the children; the thunders
+of applause already brought them, triumphing in a result of which they
+had never felt any doubt.</p>
+
+<p>"You will have to speak to the people, Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Dexter.
+"It is their right. You are no longer a free man; you belong to the
+nation now."</p>
+
+<p>The President-elect went out on the veranda and spoke to them with a
+certain solemnity and majesty while they listened in respectful silence.
+Meanwhile telegrams of congratulation were pouring into the house from
+all parts of the world, and out in the distant mountains men came down
+to the camps and spoke to each other about the President-to-be.</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>Harley's last despatch was sent, the crowd was gone, the other
+correspondents were on their way to the hotel, and the people were
+turning out the lights, but he yet lingered at the Grayson home. It was
+Jimmy Grayson who asked him to wait a moment, and they stood alone on
+the dark veranda.</p>
+
+<p>"Harley," said Jimmy Grayson, and there was much feeling in his voice,
+"you have been the best<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> friend I ever had, and I am so selfish that I
+do not want to lose you. Stay with me; be my secretary. In these later
+days the office of the President's secretary has grown to be a big one.
+I think that you are the best man in the world for it, and if I am
+re-elected you shall go into the Cabinet. You will be old enough then.
+Remember, Harley, that it is I who ask a favor now, and it is for you to
+grant it."</p>
+
+<p>The hands of the two strong men met in a strong grasp.</p>
+
+<p>"I accept the offer," said Harley.</p>
+
+<p>The President-elect turned away, faded into the darkness of his own
+house, and another figure took his place. A small, warm hand slipped
+into Harley's, and he held it fast.</p>
+
+<p>"What was he saying to you?" asked Sylvia.</p>
+
+<p>"He was asking me to be his secretary."</p>
+
+<p>"And your reply?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hesitated and asked for a bribe."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, John!"</p>
+
+<p>"I said that if, one month from to-day and with the assistance of a
+minister, he would give you to me forever, I would take the place."</p>
+
+<p>"What did he say then?"</p>
+
+<p>"He said the price was high, but I could have it. And we shall all be
+together again for four years more, and perhaps eight."</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes, very close to his, were shining through a mist of happy tears,
+and, standing there at the doorstep, he kissed her in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4>THE END</h4>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Candidate, by Joseph Alexander Altsheler
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@@ -0,0 +1,13902 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Candidate, by Joseph Alexander Altsheler
+
+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 Candidate
+       A Political Romance
+
+Author: Joseph Alexander Altsheler
+
+Release Date: April 22, 2008 [EBook #25132]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CANDIDATE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Taavi Kalju, Martin Pettit and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CANDIDATE
+
+A POLITICAL ROMANCE
+
+BY
+
+JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+
+Copyright, 1905, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
+
+PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+THE CANDIDATE
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE NOMINEE
+
+
+The huge convention-hall still rang with the thunders of applause, and
+most of the delegates were on their feet shouting or waving their hats,
+when Harley slipped from his desk and made his way quietly to the little
+side-door leading from the stage. It was all over now but the noise;
+after a long and desperate fight Grayson, a young lawyer, with little
+more than a local reputation, had been nominated by his party for the
+Presidency of the United States, and Harley, alert, eager, and fond of
+dramatic effects, intended to be the first who should tell him the
+surprising fact.
+
+He paused a moment, with his hand on the door, and, looking out upon the
+hall with its multitude of hot, excited faces, ran quickly over the
+events of the last three or four days. Ten thousand people had sat
+there, hour after hour, waiting for the result, and now the result had
+come. The rival parties had entered their conventions, full of doubt and
+apprehension. There was a singular dearth of great men; the old ones
+were all dead or disabled, and the new ones had not appeared; the nation
+was conscious, too, of a new feeling, and all were bound to recognize
+it; the sense of dependency upon the Old World in certain matters which
+applied to the mental state rather than anything material was almost
+gone; the democracy had grown more democratic and the republic was more
+republican; within the nation itself the West was taking a greater
+prominence, and the East did not begrudge it. It was felt by everybody
+in either party that it would be wiser to nominate a Western man, and,
+the first having done so, the second, as all knew it must, now followed
+the good example.
+
+Moreover, both conventions had nominated "dark horses," but the second
+nominee was the "darker" of the two. James Madison Grayson,
+affectionately called Jimmy Grayson by his neighbors and admirers, was
+quite young, without a gray hair in his head, tall, powerfully built,
+smooth-shaven, and with honest eyes that gazed straight into yours. He
+was known as a brave man, with fine oratorical powers and a winning
+personality, but he had come to the convention merely as a delegate, and
+without any thought of securing the nomination for himself. Not a single
+vote had been instructed for him, but in that lay his opportunity. All
+the conspicuous candidates were weak; good men in themselves, a solid
+political objection could be raised against every one of them, and for a
+while the voting was scattered and desultory. Then Grayson began to
+attract attention; as a delegate he had spoken two or three times,
+always briefly, but with grace and to the point, and the people were
+glad both to see him and to hear him.
+
+At last a far-sighted old man from the same state knew that the moment
+had come when the convention, staggering about in the dark, could be
+led easily along any road that seemed the path of light. He mentioned
+the name of Grayson, putting it forward mildly as a suggestion that he
+would withdraw at the first opposition, but his very mildness warded off
+attack. Received rather lightly at first, the suggestion soon made a
+strong appeal to the delegates. Nothing could be urged against Grayson;
+he was quite young, it was true, but youth was needed to make a great
+campaign--the odds were heavily in favor of the other party. Nor were
+there lacking those who, expecting defeat, said that a young man could
+bear it better than an old one, and a beating now might train him for a
+victory four years hence.
+
+Grayson himself was surprised when he heard the report, nor could he
+ever be convinced that he would be nominated; he regarded the whole
+thing as absurd, a few votes, no more, might be cast for him, but, as
+was fit and decent, he withdrew from the hall. All those whose names
+were before the convention were expected to remain at home or elsewhere
+in the city, and Jimmy Grayson and his wife stayed quietly in their
+rooms at the hotel.
+
+Harley had believed this evening that the nomination of Grayson was at
+hand. It was an intuitive sense, a sort of premonition that the
+battalions were closing in for the final conflict, and he did not doubt
+the result. He had just returned from a war on the other side of the
+world, where he had been present as the correspondent of a great New
+York journal on many battle-fields, and he often noticed this strained,
+breathless feeling that the moment had come, just before the combat was
+joined. Now this convention-hall was none the less a battle-field though
+the weapons were ballots, not bullets, and Harley believed in his
+intuition. At midnight the flood-tide swept in, bearing Grayson on its
+crest, and, when they saw that he was the man, everybody flocked to him,
+making the nomination unanimous by a rising vote.
+
+Harley now stood a moment at the door, listening to the cheers as they
+swelled again, then he stepped out and ran swiftly down the street. A
+fat policeman, taking him for a fleeing pickpocket, shouted to him to
+stop, but he flitted by and was gone.
+
+It was only two or three blocks to the hotel, where Mr. Grayson sat
+quietly in his room, and Harley was running swiftly, but in the minute
+or two that elapsed much passed through his mind. After his long stay
+abroad he had returned with a renewed sense, not alone of the power and
+might of his own country, but also of its goodness; it was here, and
+here alone, that all careers were open to all; nowhere else in the world
+could a relatively obscure young lawyer have been put forward, and
+peacefully, too, for the headship of ninety million people. It was this
+thought that thrilled him, and it was why he wished to be the first who
+should tell the young lawyer of it. He had made the acquaintance of
+Jimmy Grayson the day before; the two had talked for a while about
+public questions, and each had felt that it was the beginning of a
+friendship, so he had no hesitation now in making himself an unannounced
+herald.
+
+He ran into the hotel, darted up the stairway--Jimmy Grayson's rooms
+were on the first floor--and knocked at the door of the nominee. A light
+shone from the transom, and he heard a quick, strong step approaching.
+Then the door was thrown open by Mr. Grayson himself, and Mrs. Grayson,
+who stood in the centre of the room, looked with inquiry at the
+correspondent.
+
+"Why, Mr. Harley, I'm glad to see you," said Mr. Grayson, with a
+welcoming tone in his voice. "Come in, but I warn you that you cannot
+interview me any further I'm not worth it; I've told you all I know."
+
+Harley said nothing, but stepped into the room, closing the door behind
+him. He saw that they yet knew nothing--there had been no messenger, no
+telephone call, and the news was his to tell. He bowed to Mrs. Grayson,
+and then he felt a moment of embarrassment, but his long experience and
+natural poise came quickly to his aid.
+
+"I do want to interview you, Mr. Grayson," he said, quietly; "and it is
+upon a subject to which we did not allude in our former talk."
+
+Mr. Grayson glanced at his wife, and her look, replying to his,
+indicated the same puzzling state. Both knew that the chief
+correspondent of one of the greatest journals in the world would not
+leave a Presidential convention in the hour of birth to secure an
+irrelevant interview.
+
+"If I can serve you, Mr. Harley, I shall be glad to do so," said Jimmy
+Grayson, somewhat dryly; "but I really do not see how I can."
+
+"I am quite sure that you can," said Harley, with emphasis.
+
+He listened a moment, but he did not hear any step in the hall nor the
+jingling of any telephone bell. Both Mr. and Mrs. Grayson waited
+expectantly, curious to see what he had in mind.
+
+"If you were to be nominated for the Presidency, I should like to tell
+the _Gazette_ what your programme would be--that is, what sort of a
+campaign you would conduct," said Harley, deliberately.
+
+Mr. Grayson laughed and glanced again at his wife.
+
+"It is a wise rule for a man in public life never to answer
+hypothetical questions; of that I am sure, Mr. Harley," he said.
+
+"I am sure of it, too," said Harley.
+
+Jimmy Grayson bit his lip. It seemed to him that the correspondent would
+make a jest, and the hour was unfitting.
+
+"I shall answer your question when I am nominated," he said.
+
+"Then you will answer it now," said Harley.
+
+A sudden flush passed over Mr. Grayson's face and left it white. Mrs.
+Grayson trembled and glanced again at her husband, still in a puzzled
+state.
+
+"Your meaning is not clear, Mr. Harley," he said.
+
+"It should be. When I left the convention-hall, two minutes ago, they
+had just made the nomination unanimous. I wished to be the first to tell
+the news, and I have had my wish."
+
+The eyes of the nominee looked straight into those of Harley, but the
+correspondent did not flinch. It was obvious that he was telling the
+truth.
+
+"The notifying committee will be here in a few minutes," he said. "Ah, I
+hear their step on the stair now."
+
+The tread of men walking quickly and the sound of voices raised in
+eagerness came to the room. The powerful figure of Jimmy Grayson
+trembled slightly, then grew rigid.
+
+"I did not dream of it," he said, as if to himself; "nor have I now
+sought to take it from others."
+
+"Nor have you done so," said Harley, boldly; "because it belonged to no
+man."
+
+Mrs. Grayson stepped forward, as if in fear that her husband was about
+to be taken from her, because at that moment the volume of the voices
+and the trampling increased and paused at her door. Then the crowd
+poured into the room and hailed the victor.
+
+Harley slipped to one side, and no one in the committee knew that the
+nominee had been notified already, but the correspondent never ceased to
+watch Jimmy Grayson. He saw how the nature of the man rose to the great
+responsibility that had been put upon him, how he nerved himself for his
+mighty task. He stood among them all, cool, dignified, and ready. Harley
+was proud that this was one of his countrymen, and when his last
+despatch was filed that night he wired to his editor in New York:
+"Please send me on the campaign with Grayson. I think it is going to be
+a great one." And back came the answer: "Stay with him until it is all
+over, election night."
+
+The eyes of Harley, like those of so many of his countrymen, had always
+been turned eastward. To him New York was the ultimate expression of
+America, and beyond the great city lay the influence of Europe, of that
+Old World to which belonged the most of art and literature. The books
+that he read were written chiefly by Europeans, and the remainder by the
+men of New England and New York. He had never put it into so many words,
+even mentally, but he had a definite impression that the great world of
+affairs was composed of central and western Europe and a half-dozen
+Northern coast states of the American Union; beyond this centre of light
+lay a shadow land, growing darker as the distance from the central rays
+increased, inhabited by people, worthy no doubt, but merely forming a
+chorus for those who had the speaking parts.
+
+The course of Harley's life confirmed him in this opinion, which perhaps
+was due more to literature than to anything else. With his eyes fixed
+on New York, the desire to go there followed, and when he succeeded,
+early, and became the correspondent of a great journal, he was soon
+immersed in the affairs of that world which seemed the world of action
+to him; and, being so much occupied thus, he forgot the regions which
+apparently lay in the shadow, including the greater portion of his own
+country.
+
+Hence the two great Presidential conventions, in each of which Western
+influences were paramount, and in each of which a Western man was
+chosen, created upon him a new and surprising impression. He found
+himself in the presence of unexpected forces; he became aware that there
+was another way of looking at things, and this powerful sensation was
+deepened by the personality of Mr. Grayson, in whom he saw intuitively
+that there was something fresh, original, and strong; he seemed less
+hackneyed and more joyous than the types that he found in the old states
+of the Union or the Old World, and, because of this, the interest of
+Harley, whose mind had a singularly keen and inquiring quality, was
+aroused; the regions that apparently lay in the shadow might have enough
+light, after all, and, seeing before him a campaign not less exciting
+than a war, he resolved to stay in it until the last battle was fought.
+
+He took out the telegram from his editor and read it over again with
+keen satisfaction. "Out of one war and into another," he murmured. The
+conventions had been held early; it was now only the first week in June,
+and the election would be in the first week of November; before him lay
+five months of stress and perhaps storm, but he thought of it only with
+pleasure.
+
+Harley always travelled light, carrying only two valises, and an hour
+sufficed for his packing. Then, like the old campaigner that he was, he
+slept soundly, and early the next morning he went again to the hotel at
+which the Graysons were staying. He felt a little hesitation in sending
+up a card so soon, knowing what swarms of people Mr. Grayson had been
+compelled to receive and how badly he must stand in need of rest, but
+there was no help for it.
+
+While he sat in the huge lobby waiting the return of the boy, the hum of
+many voices about him rose almost to a roar, varied by the rustling of
+many newspapers. The place was filled with men, talking over the
+thrilling events of the night before, the nomination and the nominee,
+while every newspaper bore upon its front page a great picture of the
+new candidate.
+
+The boy came back with a message that Mr. Grayson would see him; and
+Harley, a minute later, was knocking at the door, which the candidate
+himself opened. This man, who was his own usher, was the nominee of a
+great party, he might become the President of the United States--of
+ninety million people, of what was in nearly every material sense the
+first power in the world; and yet Harley, when in Europe, seeking
+information from the youngest and least _attache_ of a legation, had
+been compelled to go through an infinite amount of form and flummery.
+The contrast was lasting.
+
+"Come in," said Mr. Grayson, courteously, and Harley at once acted upon
+the invitation. Mrs. Grayson, at the same moment, came from the inner
+room, quiet and self-contained, and Harley bowed with respect.
+
+"I dare say there is nothing you wish to ask me which a lady should not
+hear," said Mr. Grayson, with a slight smile. "Mrs. Grayson is my chief
+political adviser."
+
+"It is no secret," replied Harley, also smiling. "I have merely come to
+tell you that the _Gazette_, my paper, has instructed me to keep watch
+over you from now until election night, and to describe at once and at
+great length for its readers every one of your wicked deeds. So I am
+here to tell you that I wish to go along with you. You are public
+property, you know, and you can't escape."
+
+"I know that," said Jimmy Grayson, heartily; "and I do not seek to
+escape. I am glad the representative of the _Gazette_ is to be you. I do
+not know what course your paper will take, but I am sure that we shall
+be friends."
+
+"The _Gazette_ is independent; its editor is likely to attack you for
+some things and to praise you for others. But I am here to tell the
+news."
+
+"Then we are comrades for a long journey," said Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Thus it was settled simply and easily by the two who were most
+concerned, and Harley throughout the little interview was struck by the
+difference between this man and many other famous men with whom in the
+course of business he had held journalistic dealings. Here was a lack of
+conventionality, and an even stronger note of simplicity and freshness.
+The candidate, with his new honors, still held himself as one of the
+people, it never occurred to him that he might assume a pose and the
+public would accept it; he was democracy personified, and he was such
+because he was unconscious of it. His perfect freedom of manner, which
+Harley had not liked at first, now became more attractive.
+
+"We leave at eleven o'clock for my home," said Mr. Grayson, "and arrive
+there to-morrow morning. I have some preparations to make, but I shall
+begin the campaign a day or two later."
+
+"I intend to go with you to your town," said Harley. "You know the
+compact; I cannot let you out of my sight."
+
+Mrs. Grayson, a grave, quiet woman, spoke for the first time.
+
+"You shall come along, not merely as a sentinel, but as one of our
+little party, if you will, on one condition," she said.
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"On condition that you come to our house and take dinner with us
+to-morrow."
+
+Harley gave her a grateful look. He felt that the candidate's wife
+approved of him, and he liked the approval of those who evidently knew
+how to think. And it would be far pleasanter to travel with Jimmy
+Grayson as a friend than as one suspected.
+
+"I am honored, Mrs. Grayson," he said, "and I shall be happy to come."
+
+Then he left them, and when he passed into the hall he saw that the
+burden of greatness was being thrust already upon the Grayson family, as
+callers of various types and with various requests were seeking their
+rooms. But he hurried back to his own hotel, and as it was some distance
+away he took the street-car. There he was confronted by long rows of
+newspapers which hid the faces of men, and whenever a front page was
+turned towards him the open countenance of Mr. Grayson looked out at him
+with smiling eyes. Everybody was reading the account of the convention,
+and now and then they discussed it; they spoke of the candidate
+familiarly; he was "Jimmy" Grayson to them--rarely did they call him
+Mr. Grayson; but there was no disrespect or disesteem in their use of
+the diminutive "Jimmy." They merely regarded him as one of themselves,
+and their position in the matter differed in no wise from that of Mr.
+Grayson; it was a matter of course with both. To Harley, fresh from
+other lands, it seemed in the first breath singular, and yet in the
+second he liked it; the easy give-and-take promoted the smoothness of
+life, and men might assume false values, but they were not able to keep
+them. His thoughts returned for a moment to the least little _attache_
+whose manner was more important than that of a Presidential nominee.
+
+Harley, with his two valises, was at the station somewhat ahead of time,
+as he wished to see Mr. and Mrs. Grayson arrive, curious to know in what
+sort of state or lack of it they would come.
+
+Mr. Grayson's intention of going at once to his home was not published
+in the press, and there was only the ordinary crowd at the station, some
+coming, some leaving, but all bearing upon their faces the marks of
+haste and impatience. As the people hurried to and fro, the sound of
+many tongues arose. There was nearly every accent of Europe, but the
+American rose over and enveloped all. Many writers from other lands,
+seeking only the bad, had pronounced the Babel coarse, vulgar, and
+sordid; but Harley, seeking the good, saw in it men and women toiling to
+better their condition in the world, and that fact he knew was not bad.
+
+Through the station windows he saw the tall buildings rise floor on
+floor, and there was a clang of car-bells that never ceased. In the
+fresh morning air it was inspiriting, and Harley felt himself a part of
+the crowd. He was no hermit. Life and activity and the spectacle of
+people filled with hope always pleased him.
+
+An ordinary cab arrived, and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, alighting from it,
+bought their tickets at the window, just like anybody else, and then
+sought inconspicuous seats in the corner of the waiting-room, as their
+train would not be ready for five minutes. In the hastening crowd they
+were not noticed at first, but even in the dusk of the corner the
+smoothly shaven face and massive features of Mr. Grayson were soon
+noticed. His picture had been staring at them all from the front page of
+the newspapers, and here was the reality, too like to be overlooked.
+There was a sudden delay in the crowd; the two streams, one flowing
+outward and the other inward, wavered, then stopped and began to stare
+at the candidate, not intrusively, but with a kindly curiosity that it
+considered legitimate. Harley had quietly joined the Graysons, and they
+gave him a sincere welcome. The people unfamiliar with his face began to
+speculate audibly on his identity.
+
+The crowd in the station, reinforced from many side-doors, thickened,
+and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, under the gaze of so many eyes, became uneasy
+and shy. Harley, who had been made a member of their party, found
+himself sharing this awkward feeling, and he was glad to hear the
+announcement that the train was ready.
+
+The three abreast moved towards the gate, and the crowd opened a way
+just wide enough, down which they marched, still under the human battery
+of a thousand eyes. To Harley, although little of this gaze was meant
+for him, the sensation was indescribable. It was something to be an
+object of so much curiosity, but the thrill was more than offset by the
+weight that it put upon one's ease of manner.
+
+He saw many of the people--it was a curious manifestation--reach out and
+touch the candidate's sleeve lightly as he passed. But Mr. Grayson, if
+he knew it, took no notice and marched straight ahead, all expression
+discharged from his face. Harley saw that this was the disguise eminent
+public men must assume upon occasions, and he was willing that they
+should keep the task.
+
+When the great iron gate leading to his train was closed behind him,
+Harley felt a mighty sense of relief. It seemed to him that he had run a
+gantlet not much inferior to that through which the Indians put the
+captive backwoodsmen, and the dark-red walls of the car rose before him
+a fortress of safety.
+
+It was an ordinary Pullman, and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson had not secured the
+drawing-room, but the usual berths like Harley's, and he joined them in
+their seats. He felt now a certain pleasure in the situation. The
+pressure of circumstances was making him, in a sense and for the time
+being, a member of their family. He was glad that the other
+correspondents would wait to join the candidate at his home, as it gave
+him a greater chance to establish those personal relations needful on a
+long campaign that must be made together.
+
+The whistle blew, the train moved, and they passed through miles of
+city, and then through suburbs growing thinner until they melted away
+into the clean, green prairie, and Harley, opening the window, was glad
+to breathe the unvexed air that came across a thousand miles of the
+West. He leaned back in his seat and luxuriously watched the quietly
+rolling country, tender with the breath of spring, as it spun past.
+That mighty West of which he had thought so little seemed to reach out
+with its arms and invite him, and he was glad to go.
+
+Presently he was aware of an unusual movement of people down the aisles
+of the car, accompanied by a certain slowing of the pace when they
+passed the seats in which the Graysons and he sat. They were coming from
+the other cars, too, and now and then the aisle would choke up a little,
+but in a moment the shifting figures would relieve it, and the endless
+procession of faces moved on.
+
+The Graysons, following Harley's example, were gazing out of the window
+at the cheerful country, but the correspondent knew that Mr. Grayson was
+fully conscious of this human stream, and that he himself was the cause
+of it. Yet he lost none of his good temper even when some, venturing
+further, asked if he were not the nominee, adding that it was a pride to
+them to meet him and speak to him. In fact, the change from silence to
+conversation was a relief to Mr. Grayson, varying the monotony of that
+fixed gaze to which he had been subjected so long, and it was now that
+Harley saw him in a most favorable guise. His consciousness of a great
+talent did not interfere with a perfect democracy; it did not cause him
+to assume an air that said to these people, "I am better than you, keep
+your distance," but he gave the impression of ability solely through his
+simplicity of manner and the ease with which he adapted himself to the
+caliber of the person who spoke to him.
+
+Thus the train swung westward hour after hour, and the procession
+through the car never ceased. The manner of the candidate did not
+change; however weary he may have grown, he was always affable, but not
+gushing, and Harley, watching keenly, judged that the impression he made
+was always favorable. He strove, too, to interpret this manner and to
+read the mind behind it. Was Mr. Grayson really great or merely a man of
+ready speech and pleasing address? Harley was willing to admit that the
+latter were qualities in themselves not far from great, but on the main
+contention he reserved his judgment. He was still divided in his
+opinions, sometimes approving the complete democracy of the candidate
+and sometimes condemning. He had been born in the South, in a border
+state, and he grew up there amid many of the forms and formalities of
+the old school, and the associations of youth are not easily lost. Nor
+had a subsequent residence in the East brushed them away. This world of
+the West was still, in many respects, new to him.
+
+He ate luncheon in the dining-car with the Graysons, and he noticed the
+bubbling joy of the black waiter who served them, and who showed two
+rows of white teeth in a perpetual smile. Harley appreciated him so much
+that he doubled his tip, but, as they were still watched by many eyes in
+the dining-car, he felt a certain nervousness in handling his knife and
+fork, as if the penalty of greatness, even by association, were too
+heavy for him. Once his eyes caught those of Mrs. Grayson, and a faint,
+whimsical smile passed over her face, a smile so infectious, despite its
+faintness, that Harley was compelled to reply in like fashion. It told
+him that she understood his constraint, and that she, too, felt it, but
+Harley doubted whether it was in like degree, as he believed that in the
+main women are better fitted than men to endure such ordeals. Mr.
+Grayson himself apparently took no notice.
+
+Harley returned to their car with the Graysons, but in the afternoon he
+detached himself somewhat, and came in touch with the fluctuating crowd
+that passed down the aisle--it was always a part of his duty, as well as
+his inclination, to know the thoughts and feelings of outsiders, because
+it was outsiders who made the world, and it was from them, too, that the
+insiders came.
+
+Harley found here that the chief motive as yet was curiosity; the
+campaign had not entered upon its sharp and positive state, and the
+personality of Mr. Grayson and of his opponent still remained to be
+defined clearly.
+
+The train sped westward through the granary of the world, cutting in an
+almost direct line across the mighty valley of the Mississippi, and they
+were still hundreds of miles away from the Grayson home. In going west
+both parties had gone very far west, and the two candidates not only
+lived beyond the Mississippi, but beyond the Missouri as well.
+
+The prairies were in their tenderest green, and the young grass bent
+lightly before a gentle west wind. In a sky of silky blue little clouds
+floated and trailed off here and there into patches of white like
+drifting snow, and Harley unconsciously fell to watching them and
+wondering where they went.
+
+The sun, a huge red ball, sank in the prairie, twilight fell, the ordeal
+of the dining-car was repeated, and not long afterwards Harley sought
+his bed in the swaying berth. The next morning they were in the home
+town, and there were a band and a reception committee, and Harley
+slipped quietly away to his hotel, being reminded first by the Graysons
+that he was to take dinner with them.
+
+He spent most of the day wandering about the town, gathering hitherto
+unnoticed facts about the early life of Mr. James Grayson, which in the
+afternoon he despatched eastward. Then he prepared for dinner, but here
+he was confronted by a serious problem--should one so far west wear
+evening clothes or not? But he decided at last in the affirmative,
+feeling that it would be the safe course, and, hiding the formality of
+his raiment under a light overcoat, he went forth into the street. Five
+minutes' walk took him to the house of Mr. Grayson, which stood in the
+outskirts, a red brick structure two stories in height, plain and
+comfortable, with a well-shaded lawn about it. It was now quite dark,
+but lights shone from several windows, and Harley, without hesitation,
+rang the bell.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE MAID
+
+
+Harley's ring was not answered at once, and as he stood on the step he
+glanced back at the city, which, in the dark, showed only the formless
+bulk of houses and the cold electric lights here and there. Then he
+heard a light step, and the door was thrown open. He handed his card to
+the maid, merely saying, "Mr. and Mrs. Grayson," and waited to be shown
+into the parlor. But the girl, whose face he could not see, as the hall
+was dimly lighted, held it in her hand, looking first at the name and
+then at him. Harley, feeling a slight impatience, stepped inside and
+said:
+
+"I assure you that I am the real owner of it--that is, of the name on
+the card."
+
+"What proof have you?" she asked, calmly.
+
+Harley had heard recently many phases of the servant-girl question, and
+this development of it amused him. She must be one of those ignorant and
+stubborn foreigners--a Swede or a German.
+
+"Suppose you take the proof for granted and risk it," he said. "Mr. and
+Mrs. Grayson can quickly decide for you, and tell you whether I am
+right."
+
+"They have gone out for a little walk," she said, still standing in the
+way, "and so many strange people are coming here now that I don't know
+whether to show you in or not. Maybe you are a reporter?"
+
+"Well, and what then?"
+
+"Or worse; perhaps you are a photographer."
+
+"If I am, you can see that I have no camera."
+
+"You might have a little one hidden under your overcoat."
+
+"It is night, and cameras are used in the sunshine."
+
+"We have electric lights."
+
+Harley began to feel provoked. There were limits to perverseness, or
+should be.
+
+"I am expected to dinner by Mr. and Mrs. Grayson," he said. "Will you
+kindly cease to keep me waiting and show me in? I shall not steal any of
+the furniture."
+
+The maid was annoyingly calm.
+
+"Mr. and Mrs. Grayson have not yet returned from a little walk which
+they were afraid to undertake until it grew dark," she said. "But I
+think I'll risk it and show you in if you will hold up your hand and
+swear that you haven't a camera hidden under your overcoat."
+
+Harley's sense of humor came to his aid, and he held up his hand.
+
+"I do solemnly swear," he said.
+
+He tried to see the face of this maid, who showed a perversity that was
+unequalled in an experience by no means limited, but she stood in the
+duskiest part of the dim hall, and he failed. He knew merely that she
+was tall and slender, and when she turned to lead the way he heard a
+faint sound like the light tinkle of a suppressed laugh. Harley started,
+and his face flushed with anger. He had encountered often those who
+tried to snub him, and usually he had been able to take care of himself,
+but to be laughed at by a housemaid was a new thing in his experience,
+and he was far from liking it.
+
+She indicated a small parlor with a wave of her hand and said:
+
+"You can go in there and wait. You have promised not to steal the
+furniture, and, as the room contains only a piano, a table, and some
+chairs, all of which are too big to be hidden under your overcoat, I
+think that you will keep your promise."
+
+She sped lightly away, leaving Harley trembling so much with amazement
+and anger that he forgot for at least two minutes to sit down. When he
+took off his overcoat he murmured: "Before Mr. Grayson thinks of ruling
+the United States he should discipline his own household."
+
+The house was quiet; he heard no one stirring anywhere. The light from
+an electric lamp in the street shone into the parlor, and by its rays he
+saw Mr. and Mrs. Grayson coming up the street. Then the maid had told
+the truth about the "little walk," and he was early.
+
+He leaned back in his chair and watched the pair as they approached
+their own house. Evidently they had stolen these few minutes in the dark
+to be alone with each other, and Harley sympathized with them, because
+it would be a long time before the wife could claim again that her
+husband was her own. They entered a side-gate, passed through the lawn,
+and a minute later were welcoming Harley.
+
+"We did not expect to be gone so long," said Mrs. Grayson; "but we see
+that you have found the right place."
+
+"Oh yes," said Harley; "a maid showed me in." Then he added: "I am very
+glad, indeed, to have been invited here, but if you want any more
+privacy I don't think you should have asked me; my kind will soon be
+down upon you like a swarm of locusts."
+
+Mr. Grayson laughed and took a stack of telegraph envelopes six inches
+thick from a table.
+
+"You are right, Mr. Harley," he said. "They will be here to-morrow,
+ready for the start. There are more than twenty applications for space
+on our train, and all of them shall have it. I don't think that the boys
+and I shall quarrel."
+
+Mrs. Grayson excused herself, and presently they were summoned to
+dinner. Stepping out of a dusky hall into a brilliantly lighted room,
+Harley was dazzled for a moment, but he found himself bowing when she
+introduced him to "My niece, Miss Morgan, of Idaho." Then he saw a tall,
+slender girl, with a singularly frank and open countenance, and a hand
+extended to him as familiarly as if she had known him all her life.
+Harley, although he had not expected the offer of the hand, took it and
+gave it one little shake. He felt an unaccountable embarrassment. He saw
+a faint twinkle in the girl's eye, as if she found something amusing in
+his appearance, and he feared that he had made a mistake in coming in
+evening-dress. He flushed a little and felt a slight resentment towards
+Mrs. Grayson, because she had not told him of this niece; but he was
+relieved for the moment by an introduction to the third guest, Mrs.
+Boyle, an elderly lady, also a relative, but more distantly so.
+
+Mrs. Boyle merely bowed, and at once returned Harley to the custody of
+the niece from Idaho, of whom he felt some fear, her singular freedom of
+manner and the faint twinkle that still lurked in her eye putting him on
+edge. Moreover, he was assigned to a seat next to her, and, as obviously
+he was expected to entertain her, his fear increased. This girl was not
+only Western, but Far Western, and, in his opinion, there was none so
+wise who could tell what she would do or say. He repeated to himself the
+word "Idaho," and it sounded remote, rough, and wild.
+
+"Uncle James tells me that you are a correspondent, the representative
+of the New York _Gazette_," she said.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And that you are to go with him on the campaign and write brilliant
+accounts of the things that never happen."
+
+"I am sure that Mr. Grayson was not your authority for such a
+statement," said Harley, with a smile, although he did not wholly relish
+her banter.
+
+"Oh no, Uncle James is a very polite man, and very considerate of the
+feelings of others."
+
+"Then it is a supposition of your own?"
+
+"Oh no, not a supposition at all; the New York newspapers sometimes
+reach us even in Idaho."
+
+Harley did not respond to her banter, thinking it premature, as she had
+never seen him before. He could not forget the reserve and shyness
+natural to him, and he felt a sense of hostility. He glanced at her, and
+saw a cheek ruddier than the cheeks of American women usually are, and a
+chin with an unusually firm curve. Her hair was dark brown, and when the
+electric light flashed upon her it seemed to be streaked with dull gold.
+But the chin held him with an odd sort of fascination, and he strove to
+read her character in it. "Bold and resolute," he decided, "but too
+Western, entirely too Far Western. She needs civilizing." He was rather
+glad that he was going away with Mr. Grayson on the morrow and would not
+see her again.
+
+"I should think," she said; "that the life of a newspaper correspondent
+is extremely interesting. You have all the pleasures and none of the
+responsibilities; you go to war, but you do not fight; you enter great
+political campaigns, but you cannot be defeated; you are always with the
+victor and never with the vanquished; you are not bound by geographical
+limits nor by facts, nor--"
+
+"Excuse me, Miss Morgan," interrupted Harley, with dignity. "In my
+profession, as in all others, there are irresponsible persons, but the
+great majority of its followers are conscientious and industrious. If
+you only knew how--"
+
+"That sounds as if it had been prepared in advance," she exclaimed. "I
+am sure that you have used it many times before."
+
+"You must not mind Sylvia," said Mrs. Grayson, smiling her grave, quiet
+smile. "She seldom means what she says, or says what she means."
+
+"Aunt Anna," exclaimed Miss Morgan, "you are really too hard upon your
+beloved niece. I never before dined with the staff correspondent of a
+great New York newspaper, and I am really seeking information. Now I
+wish to know if in his profession imagination is the most valuable
+quality, as I have heard it said."
+
+"Do you wish to embroil me with the press so early?" asked Mr. Grayson,
+laughing.
+
+"I have heard great tales about them and their daring," she persisted.
+"I am not sure that even now he has not a camera concealed under his
+coat."
+
+"Why, Sylvia, what a strange thing to say!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson.
+
+But Harley started in his seat and flushed a deep red. "Miss Morgan, I
+shall have to ask your pardon," he exclaimed.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Grayson looked at them in surprise.
+
+"Here is something that we do not understand," said Mr. Grayson.
+
+"Why, Uncle James, there is nothing strange about what I have said,"
+continued Miss Morgan, with the most innocent face. "I thought all of
+them carried cameras, else how do we get all the wonderful pictures?"
+
+Harley felt inclined to tell the entire table his experience, but on
+second thought he remained silent, as the girl from Idaho began to pique
+him, and he was not willing that the advantage should remain wholly with
+her, especially when she was from the very Far West. So he affected
+complete indifference, and, when they asked him about his adventures in
+the recent war on the other side of the world, he talked freely about
+them, which he had never done before, because, like most Americans, he
+was a modest man, enduring in silence lectures on the sin of boasting
+from others who boasted as they breathed. Most of the time he spoke
+apparently to Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, but he kept a side-look upon the
+girl from Idaho who had played with him and humiliated him.
+
+She became silent, as if satisfied with the flight of the arrows that
+had gone already from her quiver, and seemed to listen with an air of
+becoming respect; but Harley surprised once or twice the lurking twinkle
+in her eye, and he was not sure that she was wholly subdued. Opposition
+and difficulties always increased his resolve, and he doubled his
+efforts. He spoke lightly of the kingdoms and republics whose fortunes
+he had followed in a casual way and of the men whom the heave of affairs
+had brought to the surface for a space, and always he kept that
+side-look upon her. These relations, surely, would impress, because
+what could she, a child of the Idaho wilds, know of the great world? And
+its very mystery would heighten to her its coloring and effect.
+
+Harley could talk well, all the better because he talked so rarely of
+himself, and even now it was of himself only by indirection, because he
+spoke chiefly of men whom he had known and deeds that he had witnessed.
+Watching the girl closely with that side-look, he did not see the
+twinkle reappear in her eye; instead she sat demure and silent, and he
+judged that he had taken her beyond her depth. At last he stopped, and
+she said, in a subdued tone:
+
+"Did I not tell you, Uncle James, that imagination was the great quality
+the correspondents need?"
+
+Harley flushed, but he could not keep from joining Mr. Grayson in his
+laugh. The candidate, besides laughing, glanced affectionately at the
+girl. It was evident that his niece was a favorite with Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"I shall ask Miss Morgan to tell me about Idaho," said Harley.
+
+"It's quite wild, you know," she said, gravely; "and all the people need
+taming. But it would be a great task."
+
+When they went back to the drawing-room Harley and the girl were behind
+the others, and he lingered a moment beside her.
+
+"Miss Morgan," he said, "I want to ask your pardon again. You know it
+was in the dark, and mine was an honest mistake."
+
+"I will if you will tell me one thing."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Have you really got a camera with you?"
+
+"If I had I should take a picture of you and not of Mr. Grayson."
+
+Harley remained awhile longer, and Miss Morgan's treatment remained
+familiar and somewhat disconcerting, rather like the manner of an elder
+sister to her young brother than of a girl to a man whom she had known
+only two or three hours. When he rose to leave, she again offered him
+her hand with perfect coolness. Harley, in a perfunctory manner,
+expressed his regret that he was not likely to see her again, as he was
+to leave the next day with Mr. Grayson. The provoking twinkle appeared
+again in the corner of her eyes.
+
+"I don't intend that you shall forget me, Mr. Harley," she said,
+"because you _are_ to see me again. When you come to Washington in
+search of news, I shall be there as the second lady of the land--Aunt
+Anna will be first."
+
+"Oh, of course, I forgot that," said Harley, but he was not sure that
+she had Washington in mind, remembering Mrs. Grayson's assertion that
+she did not always mean what she said nor say what she meant.
+
+The night was quite dark, and when he had gone a few yards Harley
+stopped and looked back at the house. He felt a distinct sense of
+relief, because he was gone from the presence of the mountain girl who
+was not of his kind, and whom he did not know how to take; being a man,
+he could not retort upon her in her own fashion, and she was able to
+make him feel cheap.
+
+The drawing-room was still lighted, and he saw the Idaho girl pass in
+front of one of the low windows, her figure completely outlined by the
+luminous veil. It seemed to him to express a singular, flexible
+grace--perhaps the result of mountain life--but he was loath to admit
+it, as she troubled him. Harley, although young, had been in many lands
+and among many people. He had seen many women who were beautiful, and
+some who were brilliant, but it had been easy to forget every one of
+them; they hardly made a ripple in the stream of his work, and often it
+was an effort to recall them. He had expected to dismiss this Idaho girl
+in the same manner, but she would not go, and he was intensely annoyed
+with himself.
+
+He went to the telegraph-office, wrote and filed his despatch, and then,
+lighting a cigar, strolled slowly through the streets. It was not eleven
+o'clock, but it seemed that everybody except himself was in bed and
+asleep. The lights in all the houses were out, and there was no sound
+whatever save that of the wind as it came in from the prairie and
+stirred the new foliage of the trees. "And this is our wicked America,
+for which my foreign friends used to offer me sincere condolences!"
+murmured Harley.
+
+But he returned quickly to his own mental disturbance. He felt as he
+used to feel on the eve of a battle that all knew was coming off, there
+on the other side of the world. He was then with an army which he was
+not at all sure was in the right; but when he sat on a hill-top in the
+night, looking at the flickering lights of the enemy ahead, and knowing
+that the combat would be joined at dawn, he could not resist a feeling
+of comradeship with that army to which, for a time--and in a sense,
+perhaps, alien--he belonged. Those soldiers about him became friends,
+and the enemy out there was an enemy for him, too. It was the same now
+when he was to go on a long journey with Jimmy Grayson, who stood upon a
+platform of which he had many doubts.
+
+He turned back to the hotel, and when he entered the lobby a swarm of
+men fell upon him and demanded the instant delivery of any news which
+he might have and they had not. They were correspondents who had come by
+every train that afternoon--Hobart, Churchill, Blaisdell, Lawson, and
+others, making more than a score--some representing journals that would
+support Grayson, and others journals that would call him names, many and
+bad.
+
+"We hear that you have been to dinner with the candidate," said
+Churchill, the representative of the New York _Monitor_, a sneering
+sheet owned by one foreigner and edited by another, which kept its eye
+on Europe, and considered European opinion final, particularly in regard
+to American affairs; "so you can tell us if it is true that he picks his
+teeth at table with a fork."
+
+"You are a good man for the _Monitor_, Churchill," said Harley, sharply.
+"Your humor is in perfect accord with the high taste displayed, and you
+show the same dignity and consideration in your references to political
+opponents."
+
+"Oh, I see," said Churchill, sneering just as he had been taught to
+sneer by the _Monitor_. "He is the first guest to dine with the
+Presidential nominee, and he is overpowered by the honor."
+
+"You shut up, Churchill!" said Hobart, another of the correspondents.
+"You sha'n't pick a quarrel with Harley, and you sha'n't be a
+mischief-maker here. There are enough of us to see that you don't."
+
+Harley turned his back scornfully upon Churchill, who said nothing more,
+and began to tell his friends of Grayson.
+
+"He is an orator," he said. "We know that by undoubted report, and his
+manner is simple and most agreeable. He has more of the quality called
+personal magnetism than any other man I ever saw."
+
+"What of his ability?" asked Tremaine, the oldest of the correspondents.
+
+Harley thought a little while before replying.
+
+"I can't make up my mind on that point," he said. "I find in him, so far
+as I can see, a certain simplicity, I might almost say an innocence,
+which is remarkable. He is unlike the other public men whom I have met,
+but I don't know whether this innocence indicates superficiality or a
+tact and skill lying so deep that he is able to plan an ambush for the
+best of his enemies."
+
+"Well, we are to be with him five months," said Tremaine, "and it is our
+business to find out."
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE START
+
+
+They were to start at dawn the next day, going back to Chicago, where
+the campaign would be opened, and Harley, ever alert, was dressing while
+it was yet dusk. From a corner of the dining-room, where he snatched a
+quick breakfast, he saw the sun shoot out of the prairie like a great
+red cannon-ball and the world swim up into a sea of rosy light. Then he
+ran for the special train, which was puffing and whistling at the
+station, and the flock of correspondents was at his heels.
+
+Harley saw Mr. and Mrs. Grayson alighting from a cab, and, satisfied
+with the one glance, he entered the car and sought his place. Always,
+like the trained soldier, he located his camp, or rather base, before
+beginning his operations, and he made himself comfortable there with his
+fellows until the train was well clear of the city and the straggling
+suburbs that hung to it like a ragged fringe. Then he decided to go into
+the next coach to see Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, making, as it were, a dinner
+call.
+
+The candidate and his wife had taken the drawing-room, not from any
+desire of his for seclusion or as an artificial aid to greatness, but
+because he saw that it was necessary if he would have any time for
+thought or rest. Harley approached the compartment, expecting to be
+announced by the porter, but a veiled lady in the seat next to it rose
+up before him. She lifted the veil, which was not a disguise, instead
+being intended merely as a protection against the dust that one gathers
+on a railroad journey, and Harley stopped in surprise.
+
+"And so you see, Mr. Correspondent," she said, "that your farewell was
+useless. You behold me again inside of twelve hours. I wanted to tell
+you last night that I was going on this train, as Uncle James has great
+confidence in my political judgment and feels the constant need of my
+advice, but I was afraid you would not believe me. So I have preferred
+to let you see for yourself."
+
+She gave Harley a look which he could not interpret as anything but
+saucy, and his attention was called again by the bold, fine curve of her
+chin, and he was saying to himself: "A wild life in the mountains surely
+develops courage and self-reliance, but at the expense of the more
+delicate and more attractive qualities." Then he said aloud, and
+politely:
+
+"I see no reason, Miss Morgan, why you should have credited me with a
+lack of faith in your word. Have I said anything to induce such a belief
+in your mind?"
+
+"No, you have merely looked it."
+
+"I do not always look as I feel," said Harley, in embarrassment, "and I
+want to tell you, Miss Morgan, that I am very glad you are going with us
+on this Chicago trip."
+
+"You look as if you meant that," she said, gravely; "but if I am to take
+you at your word, you mean nothing of the kind."
+
+"I do mean it; I assure you I do," said Harley, hastily. "But are Mr.
+and Mrs. Grayson ready to receive visitors?"
+
+"That depends. I am not sure that I want Uncle James interviewed so
+early in the day. At least I want to know in advance the subject of the
+interview. You can give me, as it were, the heads of your discourse.
+Come, tell me, and I will render a decision."
+
+She regarded Harley with a grave face, and he was divided between
+vexation and a sort of reluctant admiration of her coolness. She was
+bold and forward, not to say impertinent, but she seemed wholly
+unconscious of it, and, after all, she was from one of the wildest parts
+of Idaho. He kindly excused much of her conduct on the ground of early
+association.
+
+"I do not seek to interview any one," he said; "I merely wish to pay my
+respects to Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, having been their guest, as you know."
+
+"Oh, then you can go in," she said, and, calling to the porter, she told
+him to announce Mr. Harley, of the New York _Gazette_. "Of the New York
+_Gazette_," she said again, with what Harley considered unnecessary
+repetition and emphasis, and he had a new count against her.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Grayson received him with courtesy, even with warmth, and
+Harley saw that he had made new progress in their esteem. He remained
+with them only a few minutes, and he said nothing about the
+objectionable conduct of Miss Morgan, who had set herself as a guard
+upon their door. He deemed it wiser to make no reference to her at all,
+because she was only an insignificant and momentary incident of the
+campaign, not really relevant. Chicago was merely a beginning, and they
+would drop her there. When he returned from the drawing-room, she was
+still sitting near the door, and at his appearance she looked up pertly.
+
+"Did you find him in a good-humor?" she asked.
+
+"I think Mr. Grayson is always in a good-humor, or at least he is able
+to appear so."
+
+"I doubt whether perpetual good-humor, or the appearance of it, is
+desirable. One ought to make a difference in favor of friends; I do not
+care to present an amiable face to my enemies."
+
+She pursed up her lips and looked thoughtful.
+
+"When Uncle James goes to Washington to take the Presidency," she
+continued, "he will need me to protect him from the people who have no
+business with him."
+
+"I hope the last remark is not personal?"
+
+"Oh no," she said; "I recognize the fact that the press must be
+tolerated."
+
+Harley again felt piqued, and, not willing to retire with the sense of
+defeat fresh upon him, he sat down near her and began to talk to her of
+her Western life. He wished to know more about the genesis and progress
+of a girl who seemed to him so strange, but he was not able to confine
+her to certain channels of narrative. She was flippant and vague, full
+of allusions to wild things like Indians or buffaloes or grizzly bears,
+but with no detailed statement, and Harley gathered that her childhood
+had been in complete touch with these primitive facts. Only such early
+associations could account for the absence of so many conventions.
+
+The correspondents who travelled with Harley were mostly men of
+experience, readily adaptable, and the addition of a new member to Mr.
+Grayson's party could not escape their attention. Harley was surprised
+and shocked to find that all of them were well acquainted with Miss
+Morgan inside of six hours, and that they seemed to be much better
+comrades with her than he had been. Hobart, the most frivolous of the
+lot, and the most careless of speech, returning from the Grayson car,
+informed him that she was a "great girl, as fine as silk."
+
+"That's a queer expression to apply to a lady," said Harley. "It smacks
+of the Bowery."
+
+"And what if it does?" replied Hobart, coolly. "I often find the Bowery
+both terse and truthful. And in this case the expression fits Miss
+Morgan. She's the real article--no fuss and frills, just a daughter of
+the West, never pretending that she is what she isn't. I heard her speak
+of you, Harley, and I don't think she likes you, old man. What have you
+been doing?"
+
+"I hope I have been behaving as a gentleman should," replied Harley,
+with some asperity; "and if I have been unlucky enough to incur her
+dislike, I shall endure it as best I can."
+
+He spoke in an indifferent tone, as if his endurance would not be
+severely tested.
+
+"But you are missing a good time," said Hobart. "There are not less than
+a dozen of us at her feet, and the Grayson car is full of jollity. I'm
+going back."
+
+He returned to the car, and Harley was left alone just then, as he
+wished to be, and with an effort he dismissed Miss Morgan from his
+thoughts. Mr. Grayson would speak that night in Chicago, and an audience
+of twenty thousand people was assured; this fact and the other one, that
+it would be his initial address, making the event of the first
+importance.
+
+Harley as a correspondent was able not only to chronicle facts, which is
+no great feat, but also to tell why, to state the connection between
+them, and to re-create the atmosphere in which those facts occurred and
+which made them possible. He was well aware that a fact was dependent
+for its quality--that is, for its degree of good or evil--upon its
+surrounding atmosphere, just as a man is influenced by the air that he
+breathes, and for this reason he wished to send in advance a despatch
+about Mr. Grayson and his personality as created by his birth and
+associations.
+
+He rested his pad on the car-seat and began to write, but Miss Morgan
+intruded herself in the first line. This question of character, created
+by environment, would apply to her as well as to her uncle; but Harley,
+angrily refusing to consider it, tore off the sheet of paper and,
+throwing it on the floor, began again. The second trial was more
+successful, and he soon became absorbed in the effort to describe Mr.
+Grayson and his remarkable personality, which might be either deep and
+complex or of the simplest Western type.
+
+As he wrote Harley became more and more absorbed in his subject, and
+with the absorption came spontaneity. He did not know how well he was
+writing, nor what a vivid picture he was presenting to the vast Eastern
+population to whom Jimmy Grayson was as yet but a name. It was a
+despatch that became famous, reprinted all over the Union, and quoted as
+the first description of the candidate as he really was--that is, of the
+man. And yet Harley, reading it days later, recognized in it something
+that nobody else saw. It was a blend. In every fourth line Sylvia Morgan
+again, and despite his efforts, had obtruded herself. He had borrowed
+something from her to add to Jimmy Grayson, and he felt that he had been
+seeking excuses for her manner.
+
+But this fact did not impinge upon Harley now, when he read the
+despatch preparatory to filing it at Chicago. He merely felt that he had
+made an attempt to solve Jimmy Grayson, and in doing so had fulfilled
+his duty.
+
+As he folded up the article the loud voice of Hobart hailed him from the
+other end of the car, and he beheld that irresponsible man entering with
+the candidate's niece.
+
+"You see what he has been about all this time, Miss Morgan?" said
+Hobart. "He has been at work. Harley, you know, is the only
+conscientious man among us."
+
+"I have remarked already his devotion to duty," she said, sedately; "but
+do you think, Mr. Hobart, we should disturb him now? We do not know that
+he has finished his task."
+
+Harley flushed. He did not wish to be thought a prig or one who made a
+pretence of great industry, and, although Miss Morgan's voice was
+without expression, he believed that irony lay hidden somewhere in it.
+
+"You are mistaken," he said; "my work is over, for the time, at least.
+It was something that had to be done, or I should not have stolen off
+here alone."
+
+Then he went back with them to the Grayson car, where a joyous group had
+gathered. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson were in the drawing-room, with the door
+shut, working upon the candidate's speech at Chicago, Harley surmised,
+and hence there was no restraint. Of this group the girl from Idaho was
+the centre and the sun. She seemed to be on good terms with them all, to
+the great surprise of Harley, who had known her longer than they, and
+who had not been able to get on with her at all, and he sat rather on
+the fringe of the throng, saying but little.
+
+Again she inspired him with hostility; she seemed, as before, too bold,
+too boisterous, too much the mountain maid, although he could not
+analyze any particular incident as wrong in itself. And clearly she had
+won the liking, even the admiration, of his associates, all of whom were
+men of wide experience. Tremaine, the dean of the corps, a ruddy,
+white-haired old fellow, who had written despatches from the
+Russo-Turkish war, which was ancient history to Harley, warmed visibly
+to Miss Morgan. "It is always the way with those old gallants," was
+Harley's silent comment. But he had never before characterized Tremaine
+in such a manner.
+
+He was afraid of her sharp tongue, knowing that a woman in such respects
+is never averse to taking an unfair advantage of a man; but she paid no
+heed to him, talking with the others and passing over him as if he had
+not been present; and, while this was what he wanted in the first place,
+yet, now that he had it, he resented it as something undeserved. But if
+she would not speak to him, he, too, would keep silence, a silence which
+he was convinced had in it a disdainful quality; hence it was not
+without a certain comfort and satisfaction.
+
+But Harley was forced to admit that if she was of the bold and
+boisterous type, she was a favorable specimen within those unfavorable
+limits. While she was familiar, in a measure, with these men, yet she
+was able to keep them at the proper distance, and no one presumed, in
+any respect. She radiated purity and innocence, and it was to ignorance
+only that Harley now charged her faults.
+
+They reached Chicago the next morning, and at noon Hobart knocked at the
+door of Harley's room at the hotel.
+
+"There is some idle time this afternoon," said Hobart, "and Tremaine and
+I have asked Miss Morgan to go driving. She has accepted, but it takes
+four to make a party, and you are the lucky fourth."
+
+He allowed no protestations, and, after all, Harley, who had been under
+much strain for some time, was not averse to an hour or two in the fresh
+air.
+
+"Miss Morgan has never been in Chicago before," said Hobart, "and it is
+our duty to show it to her."
+
+Hobart, who drove, put Miss Morgan upon the seat beside him, and
+Tremaine and Harley, who sat behind, occupied what was to some extent
+the post of disadvantage; but Tremaine, safe in his years, would not
+permit the rear seat to be neglected. He talked constantly, and her
+face, of necessity, was often turned to them, giving Harley opportunity
+to see that it had a most becoming flush.
+
+She had an eager interest in everything--the tall buildings, the
+wind-swept streets, and the glimpses of the wide, green lake. Harley saw
+that Chicago bulked much more largely in her imagination than in his,
+and he began to fear that he had been neglectful; it was the most
+concrete expression of the West, and, as the greatest achievement of a
+new people in city building, it deserved attention for qualities
+peculiarly its own, and there could be no doubt either of Miss Morgan's
+admiration or pleasure. She was seeking neither for the old nor the
+picturesque, which are not always synonymous, but was in full sympathy
+with the fresh, active, and, on the whole, joyous life around her. It
+was sufficient to her to be a part of the human tide, and to feel by
+contact the keenness and zest of the human endeavor. She was not
+troubled by the absence of ruins.
+
+"But the city is flat and unpicturesque," once said Harley.
+
+"All the better," she rejoined. "I have so much of silence and grandeur
+in Idaho that I enjoy the sight of two million people at work on this
+billiard-table that is Chicago. I like my own kind, I like to talk to it
+and have it talk to me. I suppose that the mountains have a voice, but
+the voice is too big for perpetual conversation with a poor little
+mortal like myself. After a while I want to come down to my own level,
+and I find it here."
+
+Harley glanced at her. The flush was still on her face, and there was a
+soft light in her eyes. He could not doubt that she was sincere, and she
+started in his mind thoughts that were not altogether new to him; he
+wondered if excessive reverence for the antique did not indicate a
+detachment from the present, and therefore from life itself, and, as a
+logical sequence, a lack of feeling for one's own kind. He had heard an
+elderly man from Chicago, dragged about by his wife and daughters in
+Rome, exclaim in disgust, "I would not give a single street corner in
+Chicago for all Rome!" The elderly Chicagoan had been drowned in
+derisive laughter, but Harley could understand his point of view, and
+now, as he remembered him, he had for him a fellow-feeling.
+
+Hobart took them through many streets, one much like another, and then
+over a white asphalt drive beside the great lake. The shores were low,
+but to Harley the lake had the calm restlessness and expanse of the sea,
+and the wind had the same keen tang that comes over miles of salt. He
+saw the girl's eyes linger upon the vast sheet of green, and the
+incipient hostility that he felt towards her disappeared for a time.
+Somewhere in her nature, strait though the place might be, there was a
+feeling for fine things, and he felt a kindred glow.
+
+They were rather quiet when they drove back towards the hotel, but she
+spoke at last of her uncle James and his speech that night, which might
+justify the expectations of either his friends or his enemies. There had
+grown up lately in the theatrical world a practice of "trying a new
+piece on the dog"--that is, of presenting it first in some small town
+which was not too particular--but now the political world was moving
+differently in this particular case. The candidate was to make his first
+appearance in one of the greatest of cities, before two million people,
+so to speak, and the ordeal would be so severe that Harley found himself
+apprehensive for Jimmy Grayson's sake. The feeling was shared by his
+niece.
+
+"You don't think he will fail, do you?" she said, in an appealing tone
+to Hobart.
+
+"Fail!" replied that irrepressible optimist. "He can't fail! The bigger
+the crowd the better he will rise to the occasion."
+
+But she did not seem to be wholly convinced by Hobart's cheerfulness,
+which was too general in its nature--that is, inclusive of
+everything--and turned to Harley and Tremaine as if seeking
+confirmation.
+
+"It will be a terrible test," said Harley, frankly, "but I feel sure
+that Mr. Grayson will pass it with glory. He is a born orator, and he
+has courage."
+
+"I thank you for your belief," she said, giving Harley a swift glance of
+gratitude, and unaccountably he felt a pleasing glow at the first
+gracious words she had ever spoken to him.
+
+"I could not bear it if he failed," she continued. "He is my uncle, and
+he is our own Western man. What things would be in the newspapers
+to-morrow!"
+
+"If Mr. Grayson should fail to-night, he would recover himself at his
+second speech; he has your spirit, you know," said the ancient Tremaine.
+
+But she did not seem to relish his elderly gallantry. "How do you know I
+have spirit?" she asked. "I have done nothing to indicate it."
+
+"I inferred it," replied he, bowing, but she only lifted her chin
+incredulously, and Tremaine subsided, his suppression giving Harley some
+quiet enjoyment.
+
+They returned, chiefly in silence, to the hotel. The dusk was coming
+down over the great city, and with it a grayish mist that hid the walls
+of the buildings, although the electric lights in lofty stories twinkled
+through it like signal-fires from hill-tops. Miss Morgan seemed subdued,
+and at the hotel door she said to them in dismissal: "I thank you; you
+have given me much pleasure."
+
+"I rather think that she is wrapped up in Mr. Grayson's success," said
+Hobart, "and, as she intimates, it will come pretty near to breaking her
+heart if he fails."
+
+In the lobby Harley met Churchill, of the _Monitor_, and Churchill, as
+usual, was sneering.
+
+"I imagine that Grayson will make a display of provincialism to-night,"
+he said. "America will have to blush for herself. I have copies of the
+_Monitor_, and all our London cables show the greatest amazement in
+Great Britain and on the Continent that we should put up such an _outre_
+Western character for President, one of the Boys, you know."
+
+"The Grayson of the _Monitor_ is not the Grayson of reality," replied
+Harley, "and the opinion of Europe does not matter, because Europe knows
+nothing about Mr. Grayson."
+
+"Oh, I see! You are falling under the influence," said Churchill,
+nastily.
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Harley.
+
+But Churchill would not answer. He sauntered away still sneering. Harley
+looked after him angrily, but concluded in a few moments that his wrath
+was not worth while--Churchill, trained to look always in the wrong
+direction could never see anything right.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE FIRST SPEECH
+
+
+When Harley started at an early hour for the vast hall in which Mr.
+Grayson was to speak, he realized that there was full cause for the
+trepidation of his feminine kind--perhaps in such moments women tremble
+for their men more than they ever tremble for themselves--and he had
+plenty of sympathy for Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan. The city, astir
+with the coming speech, was free to express in advance its opinion of
+it, both vocally and through its press, which was fairly divided--that
+is, one-half was convinced that it would be an overwhelming triumph, and
+the other half was equally sure that it would be a failure just as
+overwhelming.
+
+Harley had in his pocket a copy of his own paper--the _Gazette_--the
+latest to reach him, and he had read it with the greatest care, but he
+saw that it remained independent; so far, it neither endorsed nor
+attacked Grayson; and, also, he had a telegram from his editor
+instructing him to narrate the events of the evening with the strictest
+impartiality, not only as concerned facts, but, above all, to transmit
+the exact color and atmosphere of the occasion. "I know that this is
+hard to do," he said, but with the deft and useful little compliment
+that a wise employer knows how to put in at the end, he added: "I am
+sure that you can do it." And he knew his man; Harley would certainly
+do it.
+
+Harley, seated in an obscure corner of the stage, but one offering many
+points of vantage for his own view, saw the vast crowd come quickly into
+the hall, among the largest in the world, and he heard the hum of
+voices, in which he thought he could distinguish two notes, one of favor
+and one of attack. Yet the audience was orderly, and on the whole the
+element of curiosity prevailed. The correspondent, quick to read such
+signs, saw that the people had an open mind in regard to Jimmy Grayson;
+it was left to the candidate to make his own impression. Churchill took
+a seat near him and began to annoy him with depreciatory remarks about
+Grayson, not spoken to Harley in particular, but to the wide world.
+Hobart once said that Churchill needed no audience, preferring to talk
+to the air, which could make no reply of its own, but must return an
+echo.
+
+Harley saw Mrs. Grayson and her niece slip quietly into a box, sitting
+well back, where they could be seen but little by the audience; and
+then, knowing that Mr. Grayson had arrived, he went behind the wings,
+where the candidate sat waiting.
+
+Mr. Grayson received him with a calm and pleasant word; if his family
+were in a tremble, he was not; at least he was able to hide any
+apprehension that he might feel, and he remarked, jestingly: "It is
+apparent that I will have an audience, Mr. Harley; they will not ignore
+me."
+
+"No, you are a good puller," rejoined Harley.
+
+There were some dry preliminaries--introductory remarks by the chairman
+and other necessary bores--and then the audience began to call for
+Grayson. The speech would be reported in full by short-hand, for which
+mechanical work the staff correspondent always hires a member of that
+guild, and Harley was free for the present. He resolved to go into the
+box with Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan, but he changed his mind when he
+glanced at their faces. There was pallor in their cheeks, and their
+whole attitude was of strained and intense waiting. For them the crucial
+moment had come, and Harley had too much humanity to disturb them, even
+with well-meant efforts, at such a moment.
+
+The hum in the crowd increased to a roar, a thunderous call for Grayson,
+but there was a pause on the stage, where no figures moved. The chairman
+glanced uneasily towards the wings and shuffled in his seat as if he did
+not know what to do, but his apprehension did not last long.
+
+The candidate appeared, coming forward with a steady step, his face pale
+and apparently inexpressive; but Harley could see that the eyes, usually
+so calm, were lighted up by a fire from within. Suddenly all his fear
+for Grayson sank away; it came upon him with the finality of a lightning
+flash that here was a man who would not fail, and by an unknown impulse
+he looked from the candidate to the box in which Miss Morgan sat. She
+seemed to have read his faith in his eyes, for a look of relief, even
+joy, came over her face.
+
+This intuition of the two was justified, as the candidate did not have
+to conquer his audience. He held it in his spell from the opening
+sentence; the golden and compelling oratory, afterwards so famous, was
+here poured before the greater world for the first time. Harley listened
+to the periods, smooth but powerful, and he could not throw off their
+charm; some things were said of which he was not sure, and others with
+which he positively disagreed, but for the time they all seemed true.
+Jimmy Grayson believed them--there could be no doubt of it; every word
+was tinged with the vivid hue of sincerity--that was why they held the
+audience in a spell that it could not escape; these were convictions,
+not arguments that he was speaking, and the people received them as
+such. Moreover, he was always clear and direct, he had a Greek precision
+of speech, and there was none in the audience who could not follow him.
+
+Harley, no orator himself, had in the course of his profession heard
+much oratory, some good, much bad, and even now he struggled against the
+charm of Grayson's voice and manner, and sought to see what lay behind
+them. Was there back of this golden veil any great originating or
+executive power, or was he, like so many others who speak well, a voice
+and nothing more? An orator might win the Presidency of the United
+States, but his gift would not necessarily qualify him to administer the
+office. It was a tribute to Harley's power of will or detachment that he
+was able at such a time to ask himself such a question.
+
+But he forgot these after-thoughts in the pleasurable sympathy that his
+view of the candidate's wife and niece aroused. Their faces were
+illumined with joy. Feeling his spell so strongly themselves, they knew
+without looking that the audience felt it, too, and the evening could be
+no fuller for them. Here he was, a hero not only for his womenkind, but
+for all whom his womenkind could see, and Harley thought that under the
+influence of this feeling Miss Morgan's features had become very soft
+and feminine. The curve of the jaw was gentle rather than firm, and now
+in her softer moments it seemed to Harley that something might be made
+of this mountain girl, say by the deft hands of an Eastern and older
+woman. Then he blushed at himself for such a condescending thought, and
+turned to his task--that is, the effort to reproduce for readers in New
+York, the next morning, the atmosphere of that evening in a Chicago
+hall, and the exact relation that Mr. Grayson, the people, and the
+events of the hour bore to each other.
+
+Harley was a conscientious man, interested in his work, and when he gave
+the last page of the despatch to a telegraph-boy the speech was nearly
+over. He said emphatically that it was a success, that the audience was
+brought thoroughly under the spell, but whether this spell would endure
+after the candidate was gone he did not undertake to prophesy. The
+coldest and most critical seeker after truth and nothing but the truth
+could have found no fault with what he wrote.
+
+He gave the last page of the despatch to the telegraph-boy, and entered
+the secluded box that held Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan. Two elderly
+Chicago men, who played at politics and who were warm enthusiasts for
+Grayson, were there, and Harley was introduced to them. But he talked to
+them only as long as politeness demanded, and then, with all sincerity,
+he congratulated Mrs. Grayson on her husband's triumph.
+
+"I never had a doubt of it," she replied, her voice tremulous, and
+honestly forgetful in the glory of the moment of all the fears that had
+been assailing her a few hours ago. "I knew what he could do."
+
+Harley turned presently to Miss Morgan, and he spoke in the same vein to
+her, but she asked, with some asperity, "Did you think he could fail?"
+
+"Failure is possible, I suppose, in the case of anybody."
+
+"But you do not know our Western spirit."
+
+"I am learning."
+
+Her gentleness was gone. She resented what she chose to consider an
+attempt at patronage of the West, and Harley again was made the target
+for the arrows of her sarcasm. Yet he did not resent it with his
+original acerbity; custom was dulling the sharp edge of her weapons,
+and, instead of wounding him, they rather provoked and drew him on. He
+was able to reply lightly, to suggest vaguely the crudities of Idaho,
+and to incite her to yet more strenuous battle for her beloved
+mountains.
+
+But both ceased to talk, because the candidate was approaching his
+climax, and the grand swell of his speech had in it a musical quality
+that did not detract from its power to carry conviction. Then he closed,
+and the thunders of applause rose again and again. At last, after bowing
+many times to the gratified audience, he came back to the box, and his
+niece, her eyes shining with delight, sprang up, as if driven by an
+impulse, and, throwing her arms about his neck, kissed him. The act was
+seen by many, and it was applauded, but Harley did not like it; her
+emotion seemed to him too youthful, to smack too little of restraint--in
+short, to be too Western. Despite himself, he frowned, and when she
+turned back towards the box she saw the frown still upon his face. There
+was an instant fiery flash in her eye, and she drew herself up as if in
+haughty defiance, but she said nothing then, nor did she speak later
+when she left with the Graysons, merely giving him a cold good-night
+bow.
+
+Harley lingered a little with the other correspondents, and was among
+the last to leave the building. He was thinking of the Idaho girl, but
+he did not fail to notice what was going on, and he saw a group of
+middle-aged or elderly men, the majority of them portly in figure and
+autocratic in bearing, follow the trail of Jimmy Grayson. Although
+familiar with the faces of only one or two in the group, he knew
+instinctively who they were. It was a gathering of the great, moneyed
+men of the party, eager to see the attitude of Grayson upon affairs that
+concerned them intimately, and prompt to take action in accordance. They
+were the guardians of "vested" interests, interests watched over as few
+things in this world are, and they were resolved to see that they took
+no harm. But the speech of the night had been general in its nature, a
+preliminary as it were, and Harley judged that they would do nothing as
+yet but skirmish upon the outskirts, keeping a wary eye for the main
+battle when it should be joined.
+
+"Did you notice them?" asked white-haired Tremaine in his ear.
+
+"Oh yes," replied Harley, who knew at once what he meant; "I watched
+them leave the hall."
+
+"One gets to know them instinctively," said Tremaine. "I've seen them
+like a herd of bull-dogs--if such animals travelled in herds--on the
+heels of every presidential candidate for the last forty years, and that
+covers ten campaigns. But I suppose they have as much right to look
+after their interests as the farmer or mechanic has to look after his."
+
+"Yet it is worth while to watch them," said Harley, and all in the group
+concurred.
+
+They were to leave in the afternoon for Milwaukee, which gave plenty of
+time for rest, and Harley, who needed it, slept late. But when he rose
+and dressed he went forth at once, after his habit, for the morning
+papers, buying them all in order to weigh as well as he could the
+Chicago opinion of Grayson. The first that he picked up was sensational
+in character, and what he saw on the front page did not please him at
+all. There was plenty of space devoted to Grayson, but almost as much
+was given to an incident of the evening as to Grayson himself. There was
+a huge picture of a beautiful young girl throwing her arms around Jimmy
+Grayson's neck, and kissing him enthusiastically. The two occupied the
+centre of the stage close to the footlights, and twenty thousand people
+were frantically cheering the spectacle. By the side of this picture was
+another, a perfectly correct portrait of Miss Morgan, evidently taken
+from a photograph, and under it were the lines: "Jimmy Grayson's
+Egeria--the Beautiful Young Girl Who Furnishes the Western Fire for His
+Speeches."
+
+And then in two columns of leaded type, under a pyramid of head-lines,
+was told the story of Sylvia Morgan. Flushed with enthusiasm, the
+account said, she had come from Idaho to help her uncle, the candidate.
+Although only eighteen years of age--she was twenty-two--she had
+displayed a most remarkable perception and grasp of politics and of
+great issues. It was she, with her youthful zeal, who inspired Mr.
+Grayson and his friends with courage for a conflict against odds. He
+consulted her daily about his speeches; it was she who always put into
+them some happy thought, some telling phrase that was sure to captivate
+the people. In a pinch she could make a speech herself, and she would
+probably be seen on the stump in the West. And she was as beautiful as
+she was intellectual and eloquent; she would be the most picturesque
+feature of this or any campaign ever waged in America. It continued in
+this vein for two columns, employing all the latest devices of the
+newest and yellowest journalism, of which the process is quite simple,
+provided you have no conscience--that is, you take a grain of fact and
+you build upon it a mountain of fancy, and the mountain will be shaped
+according to the taste of the builder.
+
+Harley would have laughed--these things always seemed to him childish or
+flippant rather than wicked--if it had not been for the photograph. That
+was too real; it was exactly like Sylvia Morgan, and it implied
+connivance between the newspaper and some body else. In Idaho it might
+have one look, but here in Chicago it would have another, and in New
+York it would have still another and yet worse. She ought to see the
+true aspect of these things. To Harley, reared with the old-fashioned
+Southern ideals, from which he never departed, it was all inexpressibly
+distasteful--he did not stop to ask himself why he should be more
+concerned about the picture of Miss Morgan than those of many other
+women whom he saw in the newspapers--and his feeling was not improved by
+the entrance of Churchill and his sneering comment.
+
+"A good picture of her," said Churchill. "These Western girls like such
+things. Of course she sent it to the newspaper office."
+
+"I do not know anything of the kind, nor do you, I think," replied
+Harley, with asperity. "Nor am I aware that the West is any fonder than
+the East of notoriety."
+
+"Have it any way you wish," said Churchill, superciliously. "But I fail
+to see why you should disturb yourself so much over the matter."
+
+His tone was so annoying that Harley felt like striking him, but instead
+ignored him, and Churchill strolled carelessly on, humming a tune, as he
+had seen insolent people on the stage do in such moments.
+
+Harley thrust the newspaper into his pocket, and went into one of the
+ladies' parlors, where he saw Miss Morgan sitting by a window and
+looking out at the hasty life of Chicago. She did not hear his approach
+until he was very near, and then, starting at the sound of his
+footsteps, she looked up, and her cheeks flushed.
+
+"It should be a happy day for you," said Harley, "and I suppose that you
+are enjoying the triumph."
+
+"Why should I not?" she replied. "I have a share in it."
+
+"So you have, and the press has recognized it."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I was just looking at a very good picture of you," said Harley, and he
+spread the paper before her, hoping that she would express surprise and
+distaste. But she showed neither.
+
+"Oh, I've seen that already," she said, quite coolly. "Don't you think
+it a good picture?"
+
+"I have no fault to find with the likeness," replied Harley, with some
+meaning in his tone.
+
+"Then what fault have you to find?"
+
+Harley was embarrassed, and hesitated, seeking for the right words--what
+did it matter to him if she failed to show the reserve that he thought
+part of a gentlewoman's nature.
+
+"You infer more than I meant," he said, at last. "I merely felt surprise
+that they should have obtained a photograph so quickly."
+
+The slightly deepened flush in her cheeks remained and she surveyed him
+with the same cool air of defiance.
+
+"They would have had a picture, anyhow, something made up; was it not
+better, then, to furnish them a real one than to have a burlesque
+published?"
+
+"It's hardly usual," said Harley, more embarrassed than ever. "But
+really, Miss Morgan, I have no right to speak of it in any connection."
+
+"No, but you were intending to do so. It was in your eye when I looked
+up and saw you coming towards me."
+
+Her voice had grown chilly, and her gaze was fixed on Harley. The
+Western girl certainly had dignity and reserve when she wished them, but
+he did not believe that she chose the right moments to display these
+admirable qualities.
+
+"I did not know that I had such a speaking countenance," said Harley.
+"And even if so, you must not forget that you might read it wrong."
+
+"I do not think so," she said, still chilly, and, glancing up at the
+clock, she added: "It is almost twelve, and I promised Aunt Anna to be
+with her a half-hour ago."
+
+At the door she paused, turned back, and a flashing smile illuminated
+her face for a moment.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Harley," she said, "don't you wish some newspaper would print
+your picture?"
+
+Then she was gone, leaving him flushed and irritated. He was angry, both
+at her and himself; at himself because he had expected to rebuke her, to
+show her indirectly and in a delicate way where she was wrong, and he
+had never even got as far as the attack. It was he who had been put upon
+the defence, when he had not expected to be in such a state, and his
+self-satisfaction suffered. But he told himself that she was a crude
+Western girl, and that it was nothing to him if she forced herself into
+the public gaze in a bold and theatrical manner.
+
+A little later all left for Milwaukee, where Mr. Grayson was to make
+another great speech in the evening, and Harley again refrained from
+joining the group that soon gathered around Miss Morgan, and Mrs.
+Grayson, also, who, being in a very happy mood, made a loan of her
+presence as a chaperon, she said, although, being a young woman still,
+it gave her pleasure to hear them speak of her husband's brilliant
+triumph the night before, and to enjoy the atmosphere of success that
+enveloped the car.
+
+The run from Chicago to Milwaukee is short, but Harley, despite his
+pique--he was young and naturally of a cheerful temperament--might have
+joined them before their arrival if his attention had not been attracted
+by another group, that body of portly, middle-aged men, heavy with
+wealth and respectability, who had silently cast a dark shadow upon the
+meeting at Chicago. They were men of power, men whose brief words went
+far, and they held in their hands strings that controlled many and vast
+interests when they pulled them, and their hands were always on the
+strings. They were not like the great, voluble public; they worked, by
+choice and by opportunity, in silence and the dark, and their kind has
+existed in every rich country from Babylonia to the United States of
+America. They were the great financial magnates of Jimmy Grayson's
+party, and nothing that he might do could escape their notice and
+consideration. It was more than likely that in the course of the
+campaign he would feel a great power pressing upon him, and he would not
+be able to say who propelled it.
+
+Harley knew some of these men by name; one, the leader of the party, a
+massive, red-faced man, was the Honorable Clinton Goodnight, a member of
+the Lower House of Congress from New York, but primarily a manufacturer,
+a man of many millions; and the younger and slenderer man, with the
+delicately trimmed and pointed beard, was Henry Crayon, one of the
+shrewdest bankers in Wall Street. These two, at least, he knew by face,
+but no trained observer could doubt that the others were of the same
+kind.
+
+Although silent and as yet casting only a shadow, Harley felt that
+sooner or later these men would cause trouble. He had an intuition that
+the campaign before them was going to be the most famous in the Union,
+dealing with mighty issues and infused with powerful personalities.
+Great changes had occurred in the country in the last few years, its
+centre of gravity was shifting, and the election in November would
+decide many things. He felt as if all the forces were gathering for a
+titanic conflict, and his heart thrilled with the omens and presages. It
+was a pleasurable thrill, too, because he was going to be in the thick
+of it, right beside the general of one of the great armies.
+
+When they reached Milwaukee, Harley and all the correspondents went to
+the same hotel with the Graysons, and they remarked jocularly to the
+nominee that they would watch over him now night and day until the first
+Tuesday in November, and he, being a man of tact and human sympathies,
+without any affectations, was able to be a good fellow with them all,
+merely a first among his equals.
+
+There was a great crowd at the station, ready to welcome the candidate,
+and the sound of shouting and joyous welcome arose; but Harley, anxious
+to reach the hotel, slipped from the throng and sprang into a carriage,
+one of a number evidently waiting for the Grayson party. It was a closed
+vehicle, and he did not notice until he sat down that it was already
+occupied, at least in part, by a lady. Then he sprang up, red-faced and
+apologetic, but the lady laughed--a curious little laugh, ironic, but
+not wholly unpleasant--and put out a detaining hand, detaining by way of
+gesture, because she did not touch him.
+
+"You are very much surprised to find me here, Mr. Harley," said Miss
+Morgan. "You thought, of course, that I would be in the centre of that
+crowd, receiving applause and shaking hands, just as if I were a
+candidate, like my uncle James. You would not believe me if I told you
+that I came here to escape it."
+
+"Why shouldn't I believe it?"
+
+"Because I am going to tell you that your displeasure over the picture
+has made me feel so badly that I am resolved to do better, to be more
+modest, more retiring."
+
+"Miss Morgan, you do me wrong," said Harley, with reddening face. "I
+have had no such thoughts."
+
+"You fib in a good cause, but you cannot deceive me; I read your
+thoughts, but I am very forgiving, and I am resolved that we shall have
+a pleasant ride to the hotel together. Now, entertain me, tell me about
+that war, of which you saw so much."
+
+She was not in jest, and she compelled him to talk. It was far from the
+station to the hotel, and she revealed a knowledge of the world's
+affairs that Harley thought astonishing in one coming from the depths of
+the Idaho mountains. She touched, too, upon the things that interested
+him most, and drew him on until he was talking with a zest and interest
+that permitted no self-consciousness. Resolved that he would not tell
+what he had seen, and by nature reserved, he was, within five minutes,
+under her deft questions, in the middle of a long narrative of events on
+the other side of the world. He saw her listening, her eyes bright, her
+lips slightly parted, and he knew that he held her attention. He was
+aware, too, that he was flattered by the interest that he had been able
+to create in the mind of this Idaho girl whose opinion he had been
+holding so cheaply.
+
+"I envy a man," she said, at last, sighing a little. "You can go where
+you please and do what you please. Even our 'advanced women' have less
+liberty than the man who is not advanced at all. And yet I do not want
+to be a man. That, I suppose, is a paradox."
+
+Harley was about to make a light reply, something in the tone of
+perforced compliment, but a glimpse of her caused him to change his
+mind. She seemed to have a touch of genuine sadness, and, instead, he
+said nothing.
+
+When the carriage reached the ladies' entrance of the hotel they were
+still silent, and as Harley helped her from the carriage her manner was
+unchanged. The little touch of sadness was yet there, and it appealed to
+him. She surprised his look of sympathy, and the color in her cheeks
+increased.
+
+"I am tired," she said. "I just begin to realize how greatly so much
+travelling and so many crowds weigh upon one."
+
+Then, with the first smile of comradeship that she had given him, she
+went into the hotel.
+
+The Graysons, Miss Morgan, Harley, Hobart, and a few others formed a
+family group again at the table, when they dined that evening, and all
+the tensity and anxiety visible the day before was gone. Mr. Grayson's
+success in Chicago had been too complete, too sweeping to leave doubt of
+its continuance; he would be the hero and leader of his party, not a
+weight upon it, and the question now was whether or not the party had
+votes enough; hence there was a certain light and joyous air about them
+which gave to their short stay in the dining-room a finer flavor than
+any that a _chef_ could add.
+
+Churchill, of the _Monitor_, was not one of this party. Churchill did
+not confine his criticisms to his professional activities, but had a
+disposition to carry them into private life, injecting roughness into
+social intercourse, which ought to be smooth and easy. Therefore,
+somewhat to his own surprise, which ought not to have been the case, he
+had not become a member of this family group, and had much to say about
+the "frivolous familiarity" of Jimmy Grayson and "his lack of dignity."
+
+But on this evening Churchill had no desire to sit at table with the
+Graysons, because he felt that something great was going to happen in
+his life. For more than a day, now, he had been on the trail of a mighty
+movement that he believed hidden from all save himself and those behind
+this movement. He, too, had noticed the appearance at Chicago of the
+heavy, rich, elderly men, and he had spoken to one or two of them with
+all the respect and deference that their eminent position in the
+financial world drew from every writer of the _Monitor_. And his
+deference had been rewarded, because that afternoon he received a hint,
+and it came from no less a personage than the Honorable Clinton
+Goodnight himself, a hint that Churchill rightly thought was worth much
+to him.
+
+There was another large hotel in Milwaukee, and it was to this that the
+financiers had gone, having ascertained first that Grayson would not be
+there; nor did they intend to go to the speech that evening. They had
+already, in the address at Chicago, weighed accurately the power of
+Jimmy Grayson with his party, and with wary old eyes, long used to
+watching the world and its people, they had seen that it would be great.
+Hence he was a man to be handled with skill and care, to be led, not
+knowing that he was led, by a bridle invisible to all save those who
+held it--but they, the financiers, would know very well who held it.
+
+It was these men to whom Churchill came, having slipped quietly away
+from his associates, drawn by a hint that he might secure an interview
+of great importance, two columns in length and exclusive. Churchill was
+a true product of the _Monitor_, a worshipper of accomplished facts, a
+supporter of every old convention, believing that anything new or in
+rough attire was bad. Although he would have denied it if accused, he
+nearly always confounded manners with morals, and to him the opinion of
+Europe was final. Hence the _Monitor_ and Churchill were well suited to
+each other. Moreover, Churchill enjoyed the society of the great--that
+is, of those who seemed to him to be the great--and he had an admirable
+flexibility of temperament; while easily able and willing to be very
+nasty to those whom he thought of an inferior grade, he was equally able
+and willing to be extremely deferential to those whose grade he
+considered superior. He was also intolerant in opinion, thinking that
+any one who differed from him on the subjects of the day was necessarily
+a scoundrel, wherein he was again in perfect accord with the _Monitor_.
+
+It was, therefore, with an acute delight, blossoming into exultation,
+that Churchill slipped away from his associates and hastened towards the
+hotel where the financial magnates were staying. These were really great
+men, not the productions of a moment, thrown briefly into the
+lime-light, but solid like the pyramids. Mr. Goodnight must be worth
+forty millions, at the least, and he was a power in many circles.
+Churchill thrilled with delight that such a being should hint to him to
+come and be talked to, and he was more than ever conscious of his own
+superiority to his professional associates.
+
+Churchill was not awed by the hotel clerk, but haughtily asked that his
+card be sent at once to Mr. Goodnight, and he concealed his pride when
+the message came back that he be shown up as soon as possible. He
+received it as the natural tribute to his importance, and he took his
+time as he followed the guiding hall-boy. But at the door of Mr.
+Goodnight his manner changed; it became deferential, as befitted modest
+merit in the presence of true and recognized greatness.
+
+Mr. Goodnight was hospitable; there was no false pride about him; he was
+able in being great to be simple also, and Mr. Crayon and the others
+present shared his attractive manner.
+
+"Ah, Mr. Churchill," he said, as he shook hands heartily with the
+correspondent, "it gives me pleasure, indeed, to welcome you here. We
+noticed your bearing in Chicago, and we were impressed by it. We
+therefore had an additional pleasure when we learned that you were the
+correspondent of the _Monitor_, New York's ablest and most conservative
+journal. The American press grows flippant and unreliable nowadays, Mr.
+Churchill, but the waves of sensationalism wash in vain around the solid
+base of the old _Monitor_. There she stands, as steady as ever, a
+genuine light-house in the darkness."
+
+Mr. Goodnight, being a member of Congress, was able to acquire and to
+exhibit at convenient times a certain poetical fervor which impressed
+several kinds of people. Now his associates rubbed their hands in
+admiration, and Churchill flushed with pleasure. A compliment to the
+_Monitor_ was also a compliment to him, for was he not the very spirit
+and essence of the _Monitor_?
+
+"Before we get to business," continued Mr. Goodnight, in the most
+gratifyingly intimate manner, "suppose we have something just to wet our
+throats and promote conversation. This town, I believe, is famous for
+beer, but it is not impossible to get champagne here; in any event, we
+shall try it."
+
+He rang, the champagne was brought, opened, and drunk, and Churchill
+glowed with his sense of importance. These were men of many millions,
+twice his age, but he was now one with them. Certainly none of his
+associates would have been invited by them to such a conference, and he
+was able to appreciate the fact.
+
+"We want you, Mr. Churchill, to tell us something about Grayson," said
+Mr. Goodnight, in a most kindly tone; "not what all the world knows,
+those superficial facts which the most careless observer may glean, but
+something intimate and personal; we want you to give us an insight into
+his character, from which we may judge what he is likely to do or
+become. You know that he is from the West, the Far West, likely to be
+afflicted with local and provincial views, not to say heresies, and
+great vested interests within his own party feel a little shaky about
+him. We cannot have a revolutionary, or even a parochial, character in
+the presidential chair. Those interests which are the very bulwark of
+the public must be respected. We must watch over him, and in order to
+know how and what to watch, we must have information. We rely upon you
+to furnish us this information."
+
+Churchill was intensely gratified at this tribute to his merit, but he
+was resolved not to show it even to these great men. Instead, he
+carelessly emptied his champagne glass, rubbed his chin thoughtfully,
+and then asked with a certain fulness of implication:
+
+"Upon what precise point do you wish information, Mr. Goodnight? Of
+course, I have not been with Mr. Grayson very long, but I can say
+truthfully that I have observed him closely within that time, and
+perhaps no phase of a rather complicated character has escaped me."
+
+"We feel quite sure of that," said Mr. Crayon, speaking for the first
+time, and using short, choppy sentences. "_Monitor_, as I happen to
+know, is extremely careful in the selection of its men, and this, I am
+journalist enough to understand, is most important errand upon which it
+can now send member of its staff."
+
+Churchill bowed courteously to the deserved compliment, and remained
+silent while Mr. Goodnight resumed the thread of talk.
+
+"What we want to know, Mr. Churchill," he said, "is in regard to the
+elements of stability in his character. Will he respect those mighty
+interests to which I have just alluded? Is he, as a comparatively young
+man, and one wholly ignorant of the great world of finance, likely to
+seek the opinion and advice of his elders? You know that we have the
+best wishes in the world for him. His interests and ours, if he but
+perceives it, run together, and it is our desire to preserve the utmost
+harmony within the party."
+
+Churchill bowed. Their opinion and his agreed in the most wonderful
+manner. It was hard to say, in his present exalted state, whether this
+circumstance confirmed their intelligence or his, but it certainly
+confirmed somebody's.
+
+"I have already taken note of these facts," he said, in the indifferent
+tone of one whose advice is asked often, "and I have observed that Mr.
+Grayson's character is immature, and, for the present at least,
+superficial. But I think he can be led; a man with a will not very
+strong can always be led, if those with stronger wills happen to be
+near, and Mr. Grayson's faults are due to weakness rather than vice."
+
+There was an exchange of significant looks among Mr. Goodnight, Mr.
+Crayon, and their friends, and then an emphatic nodding of heads, all of
+which indicated very clearly to Churchill that they admired his
+acuteness of perception, and were glad to have their own opinion
+confirmed by one who observed so well.
+
+"Wouldn't it be well to lay these facts before the readers of the
+_Monitor_?" suggested Mr. Goodnight, mildly. "We all know what a
+powerful organ the _Monitor_ is, and what influence it has in
+conservative circles. It would be a hint to Mr. Grayson and his friends;
+it would show him the path in which he ought to walk, and it would save
+trouble later on in the campaign."
+
+Churchill's heart thrilled again. This was a greater honor even than he
+had hoped for; he was to sound the mighty trumpet note of the campaign,
+but his pride would not let him show the joy that he felt.
+
+"In giving these views--and I appreciate their great importance--shall I
+quote you and Mr. Crayon?" he asked, easily.
+
+Mr. Goodnight mused a few moments, and twiddled his fingers.
+
+"We want the despatch to appear in the shape that will give it the
+greatest effect, and you are with us in that wish, Mr. Churchill," he
+said, confidingly. "Now this question arises: if our names appear it
+will look as if it were a matter between Mr. Grayson and ourselves
+personally, which is not the case; but if it appears on the authority of
+the _Monitor_ and your own, which is weighty, it will then stand as a
+matter between Mr. Grayson and the people, and that is a fact past
+denying. Now, what do you think of it yourself, Mr. Churchill?"
+
+Since they left it so obviously to his intelligence, Churchill was bound
+to say that they were right, and he would write the warning, merely as
+coming from the great portion of the public that represented the solid
+interests of the country, the quiet, thinking people who never indulged
+in any foolish chase after a will-o'-the-wisp.
+
+Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon made many further suggestions about the
+points of the despatch, but they admitted ingenuously that they were not
+able to write, that they possessed no literary and effective style, that
+it would be for Mr. Churchill to clothe their crude thoughts--that is,
+if he approved of them--in trenchant phrase and brilliant style.
+
+There was such an air of good-fellowship, and Churchill admitted to
+himself so freely that these men might make suggestions worth while,
+that he decided, moreover, as the hour was growing late, to write the
+despatch there and then, and tell to the world through the columns of
+the _Monitor_, not what Jimmy Grayson ought to do, but all the things
+that he ought not to do, and they were many. The most important of these
+related to the tariff and the currency, which, in the view of Mr.
+Goodnight and his friends, should be left absolutely alone.
+
+Paper was produced, and Churchill began to write, often eliciting words
+of admiration from the others at the conciseness and precision with
+which he presented his views. It was cause for wonder, too, that they
+should find themselves agreeing with him so often, and they admired,
+also, the felicity of phrasing with which he continued to present all
+these things as the views of a great public, thus giving the despatch
+the flavor of news rather than opinion. When it was finished--and it
+would fill two full columns of the _Monitor_--the line was quite clearly
+drawn between what Jimmy Grayson could do and what he could not do--and
+Churchill was proud of the conviction that none but himself had drawn
+it. Mr. Grayson, reading this--and he certainly would read it--must know
+that it came from inspired sources, and he would see straight before him
+the path in which it was wise for him to walk. Churchill knew that he
+had rendered a great service, and he felt an honest glow.
+
+"I think I shall file this at once," he said, "as it is growing late,
+and there is an hour's difference between here and New York."
+
+They bade him a most complimentary adieu, suggesting that they would be
+glad to hear from him personally during the campaign, and announcing
+their willingness to serve him if they could; and Churchill left the
+hotel, contented with himself and with them. When he was gone, they
+smiled and expressed to each other their satisfaction. In fifteen
+minutes swift operators were sending Churchill's despatch eastward.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+"KING" PLUMMER
+
+
+Meanwhile the evening was proving of no less interest to Harley than to
+Churchill, although in a quite different way. He had noticed, when they
+parted at the hotel door, the apparent sadness, or, rather, the touch of
+the pathetic in the manner of Miss Morgan, and he observed it again when
+they were all reunited at the hotel table. Heretofore she had been
+light, ironical, and bearing a full share in the talk, but now she
+merely replied when spoken to directly, and her tone had the tinge of
+melancholy. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson looked at her more than once, as if
+they were about to refer to some particular subject, but always they
+refrained; instead, they sought by light talk to divert attention from
+her, and they succeeded in every case but that of Harley.
+
+It was not a long dinner, and as they returned to the ladies' parlor
+they were welcomed by a loud, joyous cry, and out of the dark of the
+room a big man projected himself to greet them. His first words were for
+Miss Morgan, whom he affectionately called "Little Girl," and whom he
+seized by the hands and kissed on the forehead. It was a loud voice, but
+round, full, and mellow, and Harley judged that it came from a big
+nature as well as a big body.
+
+When the man stepped into the light, Harley saw that he was over six
+feet high, and with a width according. His broad face was covered with
+short, iron-gray beard, and his head was thatched with hair equally
+thick and of the same gray shade. In years he might have been fifty, and
+it was Harley's first impression at this moment that the big man was
+Miss Morgan's father--it came to him with a rather queer feeling that it
+had never occurred to him to ask about her parents, whether they were
+living or dead, and what kind of people they were or had been.
+
+The stranger shook hands with Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, and expressed
+vocally the pleasure that his eyes also conveyed. Harley and Hobart were
+the only others present, and, turning to them, Mr. Grayson introduced
+the stranger, Mr. William Plummer--"King Plummer, you know."
+
+Then Harley remembered vaguely, and he began to place Mr. Plummer. He
+recalled allusions in the press to one William Plummer, otherwise "King"
+Plummer, who lived in the far Northwest, and who, having amassed
+millions in ranching and mining, had also become a great power in the
+political world, hence his term "King," which was more fitting in his
+case than in that of many real kings. He had developed remarkable skill
+in politics, and, as the phrase went, held Idaho, his own state, in the
+hollow of his hand, and in a close election could certainly swing
+Montana and Wyoming as he wished, and perhaps Utah and Washington, too.
+
+Harley's interest instantly became keen, and he did not take his eyes
+off "King" Plummer. Clearly he was a man of power; he fairly radiated
+it, not merely physically, but mentally. His gestures, his voice, every
+movement indicated a vast reserve strength. This was one of the great
+men whose development the rough field of the new West had permitted.
+
+Harley was not alone interested in "King" Plummer, but also in the kiss
+that he had put upon the white forehead of Sylvia Morgan and his
+boisterous joy at seeing her. Since he was not her father, it was likely
+that he was her uncle, not by blood, as Jimmy Grayson was, but as the
+husband of an aunt, perhaps. Yes, this must be it, he concluded, and the
+kiss seemed more reasonable.
+
+When "King" Plummer was introduced to Harley and Hobart, he shook hands
+with them most cordially, but as keen a man as Harley could see that he
+regarded them as mere youths, or "kids," as the "King" himself would
+have said. There was nothing depreciatory in this beyond the difference
+between age and great achievement and youth which had not yet had the
+time to fulfil its promise, and Harley, because of it, felt no decrease
+of liking and respect for "King" Plummer.
+
+"The far Northwest is for you solidly, Jimmy," said the big man, with a
+joyous smile. "Idaho is right in line at the head of the procession, and
+Wyoming, Montana, and the others are following close after. They haven't
+many votes, but they have enough to decide this election."
+
+Jimmy Grayson smiled. He had reason to smile. He, too, liked "King"
+Plummer, and, moreover, this was good news that he brought.
+
+"I fancy that you have had something to do with this," he said. "You
+still know how to whisper a sweet word in the ear of the people."
+
+The big man shook himself, laughed again, and looked satisfied.
+
+"Well, I have done a lot of whispering," he admitted, "if you call it
+whispering, though most people, I'll gamble, would say it is like the
+clatter of a mill. And I've done some riding, too, both train and horse.
+The mountains are going to be all right. Don't you forget that, Jimmy."
+
+"And it's lucky for me that 'King' Plummer is my friend," said Mr.
+Grayson, sincerely.
+
+During this talk of politics, Sylvia Morgan was silent, and once, when
+"King" Plummer laid his big hand protectingly on her arm, she shrank
+slightly, but so slightly that no one save Harley noticed, not even the
+"King." The action roused doubts in his mind. Surely a girl would not
+shrink from her uncle in this manner, not from a big, kindly uncle like
+Plummer.
+
+"I wanted to get down to Chicago and hear you at your first speech,"
+went on "King" Plummer, in his big, booming voice, that filled the room,
+"but I couldn't manage it. There was a convention at Boise that needed a
+little attention--one likes to look on at those things, you know"--his
+left eye contracted slightly--"and as soon as that was over I hurried
+down as fast as an express could bring me. But I've read in all the
+papers what a howlin' success it was, an' I'm goin' to hear you give it
+to the other fellows to-night--won't we, Sylvia?"
+
+He turned to the girl for confirmation of what needed no confirmation,
+and her eyes smiled into his with a certain pride. She seemed to Harley
+to admire his bigness, his openness of manner and speech, and his
+wholesome character. After all, he was her uncle; the look that she gave
+him then was that of one who received protection, half paternal and half
+elder-brotherly.
+
+"And now, Jimmy, I guess I've taken up enough of your time," exclaimed
+"King" Plummer, his big, resonant chest-tones echoing in the room, "and
+it's for you to do all the talkin' that's left. But I'll be in a box
+listenin', and just you do your best for the credit of the West and the
+mountains."
+
+Grayson smiled and promised, and "King" Plummer joined them in the
+carriage that bore them to the hall. He took his place with them in such
+a natural and matter-of-fact manner that Harley was confirmed in his
+renewed opinion that he was Sylvia Morgan's uncle, or, at least, her
+next of kin, after Mr. Grayson.
+
+At the hall "King" Plummer, as he had promised, sat in a box with Mrs.
+Grayson and Miss Morgan, and always he led the applause, which in
+reality needed no leading, the triumph at Chicago being repeated in full
+degree. Harley, watching him from his desk, saw that the big man was
+filled with sanguine expectation of triumph, and, with the glow of Jimmy
+Grayson's oratory upon him, could not see any such result as defeat. But
+Miss Morgan was strangely silent, and all her vivacity of manner seemed
+to be gone.
+
+When the speech was nearly over Churchill sauntered in lazily by the
+stage entrance and took a seat near Harley. Harley had not noticed his
+previous absence until then.
+
+"How's the speech to-night?" he asked, languidly; "same old chestnuts, I
+suppose."
+
+"As this is Mr. Grayson's second speech," replied Harley, sharply, "it
+is a little early to call anything that he says 'same old chestnuts.'
+Besides, I don't think that repetition will ever be one of his faults.
+Why haven't you been here?"
+
+"Oh, I've been cruising around a bit on the outside. The Associated
+Press, of course, will take care of the speech, which is mere routine."
+
+He spoke with such an air of supercilious and supreme satisfaction that
+Harley looked at him keenly.
+
+"Pick up anything?" he asked, briefly.
+
+"Oh, a trifle or two; nothing, however, that you would care about."
+
+"Now, I wonder what it is that makes him so content with himself,"
+thought Harley, but he had little time to devote to Churchill, as his
+own despatch was occupying his attention.
+
+Harley could not go back to the hotel with the Grayson party when the
+speech was over, as he had to file his despatch first, but he saw them
+all the next morning at the breakfast-table. "King" Plummer was there,
+too, as expansive as ever, and showing mingled joy and sorrow--joy over
+the second triumph of the candidate, which was repeated at great length
+in the morning papers, and sorrow because he could not continue with
+them on the campaign, which moved to Detroit for the third night.
+
+"I'd be a happy man if I could do it," he said, in his booming tones,
+"happy for more reasons than one. It would be a big holiday to me.
+Wouldn't I enjoy hearing you tear the enemy to pieces night after night,
+Jimmy! and then I'd be with you right along, Sylvia."
+
+He looked at the girl, and his look was full of love and protection. She
+flushed and seemed embarrassed. But there was no hesitation or
+awkwardness about the big man.
+
+"Never you mind, little girl," he said; "when you are Mrs. Plummer--an'
+that ain't far away, I hope--you'll be with me all the time. Besides,
+I'm goin' to join Jimmy Grayson when he comes out West, an' make the
+campaign there with him."
+
+The color in Miss Morgan's face deepened, and she glanced, not at "King"
+Plummer or her uncle, but at Harley, and when her eyes met his the color
+in her cheeks deepened still further. Then she looked down at her plate
+and was silent and embarrassed.
+
+Harley, as he heard these words of the "King," felt a strange thrill of
+disapproval. It was, as he told himself, because of the disparity in
+ages. It was true that a man of this type was the very kind to restrain
+Sylvia Morgan, but twenty and fifty should never wed, man and wife
+should be young together and should grow old together. It was no
+business of his, and there was no obligation upon him to look after the
+happiness of either of these people, but it was an arrangement that he
+did not like, violating as it did his sense of fitness.
+
+"King" Plummer was to leave them an hour later, taking a train for St.
+Paul, and thence for Idaho. He bade them all a hearty good-bye, shaking
+hands warmly with Jimmy Grayson, to whom he wished a career of unbroken
+triumph, repeating these good wishes to Mrs. Grayson, and again kissing
+Sylvia Morgan on the forehead--the proper kiss, Harley thought, for
+fifty to bestow upon twenty, unless twenty should happen to be fifty's
+daughter.
+
+"We won't be separated long, Sylvia, girl," he said, and she flushed a
+deep red and then turned pale. To Harley he said:
+
+"And I'll try to show you the West, young man, when you come out there.
+This is no West; Milwaukee ain't West by a jugful. Just you wait till
+you get beyond the Missouri, then we'll show you the real West, and real
+life at the same time."
+
+There was a certain condescension in the tone of "King" Plummer, but
+Harley did not mind it; so far as the experience of life in the rough
+was concerned, the "King" had a right to condescend.
+
+"I shall hold you to your promise," he said.
+
+Then "King" Plummer, waving good-byes with a wide-armed sweep, large and
+hearty like himself, departed.
+
+"There goes a true man," said Mr. Grayson, and Harley spontaneously
+added confirmation. But Miss Morgan was silent. She waved back in
+response to the King of the Mountains, but her face was still pale, and
+she was silent for some time. Harley now knew that "King" Plummer was
+not her uncle nor her next of kin after Jimmy Grayson in any way, but he
+was unable to tell why this marriage-to-be had been arranged.
+
+But he quickly learned the secret, if secret it was; it was told to him
+on the train by Mrs. Grayson as they rode that afternoon to Detroit.
+
+"If you were ever in Idaho," she said, "you would soon hear the story of
+"King" Plummer and Sylvia. It is a tragedy of our West; that is, it
+began in a great tragedy, one of those tragedies of the plains and the
+mountains so numerous and so like each other that the historians forget
+to tell about them. Sylvia's mother was Mr. Grayson's eldest sister,
+much older than he. She and her husband and children were part of a
+wagon-train that was going up away into the Northwest where the
+railroads did not then reach.
+
+"It was long ago--when Sylvia was a little girl, not more than seven or
+eight--and the train was massacred by Utes just as they reached the
+Idaho line. The Utes were on the war-path--there had been some sort of
+an outbreak--and the train had been warned by the soldiers not to go on,
+but the emigrants were reckless. They laughed at danger, because they
+did not see it before their faces. They pushed on, and they were
+ambushed in a deep canyon.
+
+"There was hardly any fight at all, the attack was so sudden and
+unexpected. Before the people knew what was coming half of them were
+shot down, and then those awful savages were among them with tomahawk
+and knife. Mr. Harley, I've no use for the Indian. It is easy enough to
+get sentimental about him when you are away off in the East, but when
+you are close to him in the West all that feeling goes. I heard Sylvia
+tell about that massacre once, and only once. It was years ago, but I
+can't forget it; and if I can't forget it, do you think that she can?
+Her father was killed at the first fire from the bushes, and then an
+Indian, covered with paint and bears' claws, tomahawked both her mother
+and her little brother before her eyes--yes, and scalped them, too. He
+ran for the girl next, but Sylvia--I think it was just physical
+impulse--dashed away into the scrub, and the Indian turned aside for a
+victim nearer at hand.
+
+"Sylvia lay hid until night came, and there was silence over the
+mountain, the silence of death, Mr. Harley, because when she slipped
+back in the darkness to the emigrant train she found every soul that had
+been in it, besides herself, dead. Think, Mr. Harley, of that little
+girl alone in all those vast mountains, with her dead around her! Do you
+wonder that sometimes she seems hard?"
+
+"No, I don't," replied Harley. Despite himself a mist came to his eyes
+over this pathetic tragedy of long ago.
+
+"Sylvia has never said much about that night she spent there with the
+dead, in the midst of the wrecked and plundered train, but when a number
+of border men, alarmed about the emigrants, pushed on the next day to
+save them if possible, what do you suppose they found her doing?"
+
+"I can't guess."
+
+"She had got a spade somewhere from one of the wagons, and, little as
+she was, she was trying to bury her own dead. She was so busy that she
+didn't see them ride up, and William Plummer, their leader--he was a
+young man then--actually shed tears, so they say. Well, these men
+finished the burial, and Mr. Plummer put Sylvia on his horse before him
+and rode away. He adopted the little thing as his daughter. He said she
+was the bravest creature he had ever seen, and, as he was not likely to
+have any real daughter, she should take a place that ought to be filled.
+
+"Were the Utes who did this massacre punished?"
+
+"No one knows; the soldiers killed a number of them in battle, but
+whether the slain were those who ambushed the train is not decided in
+border history."
+
+"I think I understand the rest of the story of Mr. Plummer and Miss
+Morgan," said Harley.
+
+"Yes, it is not hard to guess. Mr. Grayson and her other relatives
+farther East did not hear of her rescue until long afterwards; they
+supposed her dead--but no one could have cared for her better than Mr.
+Plummer. He kept her first at his mining-hut in the mountains, but after
+two or three years he took her into town to Boise; he put her in the
+care of a woman there and sent her to school. He loved her already like
+a real daughter. She was just the kind to appeal to him, so brave and so
+fond of the wild life. They say that at first she refused to stay in
+Boise. She ran away and tried to go on foot to him away up in the
+mountains, where the mining-camp was. When he heard of it, they say he
+laughed, and I suspect that he swore an oath or two--he lived among
+rough men you know--but if he did, they were swear words of admiration;
+he said it was just like her independence and pluck. But he made her
+stay in Boise."
+
+"He knew what was right and what was due both him and her, because now
+he was becoming a great man in the Northwest. He rose to power in both
+financial and public life, and his daughter must be equal to her
+fortune. But he spoiled her, you can see that, and how could he help
+it?"
+
+"She was fifteen before we heard that she was alive, and then Mr.
+Grayson and her other relatives wanted to take her and care for her, but
+Mr. Plummer refused to give her up, and he was right. He had saved her
+when he found her a little girl alone in all those vast mountains, and
+he was entitled to her. Don't you think so, Mr. Harley?"
+
+"I do," replied Harley, with conviction.
+
+"We yielded to his superior claim, but he sent her more than once to see
+us. We loved her from the first, and we love her yet."
+
+Here Mrs. Grayson paused and hesitated over her words, as if in
+embarrassment.
+
+"But it is not you and Mr. Grayson alone who love her," suggested
+Harley.
+
+"It is not we alone; in Boise everybody loves her, and at the mines and
+on Mr. Plummer's ranches they all love her, too."
+
+"I did not mean just that kind of love."
+
+Mrs. Grayson flushed a little, but she continued:
+
+"You are speaking of Mr. Plummer himself; she was his daughter at first,
+and so long as she was a little girl I suppose that he never dreamed of
+her in any other light. But when she began to grow into a young woman,
+Mr. Harley--and a beautiful one, too, as beautiful as she is good--he
+began to look at her in a different way. When these elderly men, who
+have been so busy that they have not had time to fall in love, do fall
+in love, the fall is sudden and complete. Mr. Plummer was like the
+others. And what else could she do? She was too young to have seen much
+of the world. There was no young man, none of her own age, who had taken
+her heart. Mr. Plummer is a good man, and she owed him everything. Of
+course, she accepted him. I ask you, what else could she do?"
+
+There was a defensive note in her voice when she said: "I ask you, what
+else could she do?" and Harley replied, with due deliberation:
+
+"Perhaps she could do nothing else, but sometimes, Mrs. Grayson, I have
+my doubts whether twenty and fifty can ever go happily together."
+
+"We like Mr. Plummer, and he is a great friend of my husband's."
+
+Harley said nothing, but he, too, liked Mr. Plummer, and he held him in
+the highest respect. It required little effort of the imagination to
+draw a picture of the brave mountaineer riding from the Indian massacre
+with that little girl upon his saddle-bow. And much of his criticism of
+Sylvia Morgan herself was disarmed. She was more a child of the
+mountains even than his first fancy had made her, and it was not a
+wonder that her spirit was often masculine in its strength and boldness.
+It was involuntary, but he thought of her with new warmth and
+admiration. Incited by this feeling, he soon joined her and the group
+that was with her. He had expected to find her sad and comparatively
+silent, but he had never seen her in a more lively mood, full of light
+talk and jest and a gay good-humor that could not have failed to infect
+the most hardened cynic. Certainly he did not escape its influence, nor
+did he seek to do so, but as he watched her he thought there was a
+slight touch of feverishness to her high spirits, as if she had just
+escaped from some great danger.
+
+Before they reached Detroit he talked a while with Mr. Grayson, in the
+private drawing-room of the car--Mrs. Grayson had joined the others--and
+"King" Plummer was the subject of their talk.
+
+"Is he really such a great political power in the Northwest?" asked
+Harley.
+
+"He is. Even greater than popular report makes him. I believe that in a
+presidential election he could decide the vote of five or six of those
+lightly populated states. He has so many interests, so many strings that
+he holds, and he is a man of so much energy and will. You see, I want to
+keep "King" Plummer my friend."
+
+"I surely would, if I were in your place," said Harley, with conviction.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+ON THE ROAD
+
+
+The great success of Grayson as an orator was continued at Detroit. A
+vast audience hung breathless upon his words, and he played upon its
+emotions as he would, now thrilling the people with passion, and then
+stirring them to cheers that rolled like thunder. It became apparent
+that this hitherto obscure man from the Far West was the strongest
+nominee a somewhat disunited party could have named, and Harley, whose
+interest at first had been for the campaign itself rather than its
+result, began to have a feeling that after all Grayson might be
+elected--at least he had a fighting chance, which might be more if it
+were not for the shadow of Goodnight, Crayon, and their kind. Part of
+these men had gone back, among them the large and important Mr.
+Goodnight; but Harley saw the quiet Mr. Crayon still watching from a
+high box at Detroit, and he knew that no act or word of the candidate
+would escape the scrutiny of this powerful faction within the party.
+
+Ample proof of his conclusion, if it were needed, came the next morning
+in a copy of the New York _Monitor_, Churchill's paper, which contained
+on its front page a long, double-leaded despatch, under a Milwaukee date
+line. It was Hobart who brought it in to Mr. Grayson and his little
+party at the breakfast-table.
+
+"Excuse me for interrupting you, Mr. Grayson," he said, flourishing the
+paper as if it were a sort of flag; "but here is something that you are
+bound to see. It's what might be called a word in your ear, or, at
+least, it seems to me to have that sound. I guess that Churchill got a
+beat on us all in Milwaukee."
+
+"I wish you would join us, Mr. Hobart, and read the whole article to us,
+if you will be so kind," said the candidate, calmly.
+
+Nothing could have pleased Hobart better, and he read with emphasis and
+care, resolved that his hearers should not lose a word. Churchill had a
+good style, and he possessed a certain skill in innuendo, therefore he
+was able throughout the article to make his meaning clear. He stated
+that among those surrounding the candidate--he could give names if he
+would, but it was not necessary--there was a certain feeling that Mr.
+Grayson was not quite--at least not yet--as large as the position for
+which he had been nominated. Keen observers had noticed in him a
+predisposition to rashness; he had spoken lightly more than once of
+great vested interests.
+
+"Uncle James, how could you be so lacking in reverence?" exclaimed
+Sylvia Morgan.
+
+Mr. Grayson merely smiled.
+
+"Go on, Mr. Hobart," he said.
+
+"'But some of the ablest minds in the country are closely watching Mr.
+Grayson,'" continued the article, "'and where he needs support or
+restraint he will receive it. There are certain issues not embodied in
+the platform from which he will be steered.'"
+
+"Now, I think that is too much!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson, the indignant
+red rising in her cheeks.
+
+"Their printing it does not make it true, Anna," said the candidate,
+mildly.
+
+"As if you did not know enough to run your own campaign!" exclaimed the
+indignant wife.
+
+But Jimmy Grayson continued to smile. "We must expect this sort of
+thing," he said; "it would be a dull campaign without it. Please go on,
+Mr. Hobart."
+
+A number of eminent citizens, the article continued, would make a
+temporary sacrifice of their great business interests for the sake of
+the campaign and the people, and with their restraining care it was not
+likely that Mr. Grayson could go far wrong, as he seemed to be an
+amiable man, amenable to advice. Thus it continued at much length, and
+Harley, keen and experienced in such matters, knew very well whence
+Churchill had drawn his inspiration.
+
+"The editor, also, makes comment upon this warning," said Hobart, who
+was undeniably enjoying himself.
+
+"I should think that the despatch was enough," said Mrs. Grayson, whose
+indignation was not yet cooled.
+
+"But it isn't, Mrs. Grayson," said Hobart; "at least, the editor of the
+_Monitor_ does not think so. Listen.
+
+"'The campaign in behalf of our party has begun in the West, and we have
+felt the need of thoroughly reliable news from that quarter, free from
+the sensationalism and levity which we are sorry to say so often
+disgrace our American newspapers, and make them compare unfavorably with
+the graver and statelier columns of the English press.'"
+
+"He is an Englishman himself," said Harley--"American opinion through an
+English channel."
+
+Even Jimmy Grayson laughed.
+
+"'At last we have obtained this information,'" continued Hobart,
+reading, "'and we are able to present it to-day to those earnest and
+sincere people, the cultivated minority who really count, and who
+constitute the leaven in the mass of the light and frivolous American
+people. A trusted correspondent of ours, judicious, impartial,
+absolutely devoid of prejudices, has obtained from high sources with
+which common journalistic circles are never in touch----'"
+
+"How the bird befouls its own nest!" said the elderly Tremaine.
+
+"'--information that will throw much light upon a campaign and a
+candidate both obscure hitherto. This we present upon another page, and,
+as our cultivated readers will readily infer, the candidate, Mr.
+Grayson, is not a bad man----'"
+
+"Thanks for that crowning mercy," said Mr. Grayson.
+
+"--but neither is he a great one; in short, he is, at least for the
+present, narrow and provincial; moreover, he is of an impulsive
+temperament that is likely to lead him into untrodden and dangerous
+paths. Our best hope lies in the fact that Mr. Grayson, who has not
+shown himself intractable, may be brought to see this, and will rely
+upon the advice of those who are fitted to lead rather than upon the
+reckless fancies of the Boys who are sure to surround him if he gives
+them a chance. In this emergency we are sure that all the best in the
+state will rally with us. The eyes of Europe are upon us, and we must
+vindicate ourselves.'"
+
+"Uncle James," said Sylvia Morgan, sweetly, "I trust that you will
+remember throughout the campaign that the eye of Europe is upon you, and
+conduct yourself accordingly. I have noticed that in many of your
+speeches you seemed to be unconscious of the fact that Vienna and St.
+Petersburg were watching you. Such behavior will never do."
+
+Mr. Grayson smiled once more. He seemed to be less disturbed than any
+one else at the table, yet he knew that this was in truth a warning
+given by an important wing of the party, and, therefore, he must take
+thought of it. A prominent politician of Michigan was present, the guest
+of Mr. Grayson, and he did not take the threat as calmly as the
+candidate.
+
+"The writer of this despatch is with your party, I suppose," he said to
+Mr. Grayson.
+
+"Oh yes; it is Mr. Churchill. He has been with us since the start."
+
+"I would not let him go a mile farther; a man who writes like that--why,
+it's a positive insult to you!--should not be allowed on your train."
+
+The Michigan man's face flushed red, and in his anger he brought his
+hand down heavily on the table; but Harley did not look at him, his full
+attention being reserved for the candidate. Here was a test of his
+bigness. Would he prove equal to it?
+
+"I am afraid that would be a mistake," said Jimmy Grayson, amiably, to
+the Michigan man, "a mistake in two respects: our Constitution
+guarantees the freedom of the press, and the _Monitor_ and its
+correspondent have a right to write that way, if they wish to do so; and
+if we were to expel Mr. Churchill, it would give them all the greater
+ground for complaint. Now, perhaps I am, after all, a narrow and
+ignorant person who needs restraint."
+
+He spoke the last sentence in such a whimsical tone and with such a
+frank smile that they were all forced to laugh, even the Michigan man.
+But Harley felt relief. The candidate had shown no littleness.
+
+"I was sure that you would return such an answer, Uncle James," said
+Sylvia Morgan, and the look that she gave him was full of faith. "Now, I
+mean to help you by converting Mr. Churchill."
+
+"How will you do that?"
+
+"I shall smile upon him, use my winning ways, and draw him into the
+fold."
+
+There was a slight edge to her voice, and Harley was not sure of her
+meaning; but he and she were together in the parlor an hour later, when
+they met Churchill, and he had a chance to see. Churchill evidently was
+not expecting to find them there, but he assumed an important air,
+knowing that his despatches had been received and read, and feeling,
+therefore, that he was the author of a sensation. He anticipated
+hostility; he believed that Mr. Grayson's relatives and friends would
+assail him with harsh words, and he had spoken already to one or two
+persons of the six months' ordeal that he would have to endure. "But we
+must stand such things when they are incurred in the line of duty," he
+said, "and I have a way which, perhaps, will teach them to be not so
+ready in attacking me." He expected such a foray against him now, and
+his manner became haughty in the presence of Sylvia Morgan and Harley.
+
+"We--that is, all of us--have just been reading your despatch in the
+_Monitor_," she said, in a most winning tone, "and on behalf of Uncle
+James I want to thank you, Mr. Churchill."
+
+Churchill looked surprised but doubtful, and did not abate the stiffness
+of his attitude nor the severity of his gaze.
+
+"We do feel grateful to you," she continued, in the same winning tone.
+"There was never a man more willing than Uncle James to learn, and,
+coming out of the depths of the West, he knows that he needs help. And
+how beautifully you write, Mr. Churchill! It was all put so delicately
+that no one could possibly take offence."
+
+It was impossible to resist her manner, the honey of her words, and
+Churchill, who felt that she was but giving credit where credit was due,
+became less stern.
+
+"Do you really like it, Miss Morgan?" he asked, and he permitted himself
+a smile.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, "and I noticed that the _Monitor_ alone contained
+an article of this character, all about those big men who are watching
+over Uncle James, and will not let him go wrong. That is what you
+correspondents call a beat, isn't it?"
+
+Churchill gave Harley a glance of triumph, but he replied, gravely:
+
+"I believe it is what we call a beat, Miss Morgan."
+
+"And you will continue to help us in the same way, won't you, Mr.
+Churchill?" she continued. "You know who those great men are; Mr.
+Harley, here, I am sure does not, nor does Mr. Blaisdell nor Mr. Hobart;
+you alone, as the _Monitor_ says, can come into touch with such
+important circles, and you will warn us again and again in the columns
+of the _Monitor_ when we are about to get into the wrong path. Oh, it
+would be a great service, and I know that Uncle James would appreciate
+it! You will be with us throughout the campaign, and you will have the
+chance! Now, promise me, Mr. Churchill, that you will do it."
+
+Her manner had become most appealing, and her face was slightly flushed.
+It was not the first time that Harley realized how handsome she was, and
+how winning she could be. It was his first thought, then, what a woman
+this mountain maid would make, and his second that "King" Plummer should
+continue to look upon her as his daughter--she was too young to be his
+wife.
+
+Nor was Churchill proof against her beauty and her blandishments. He
+felt suddenly that for her sake he could overlook some of Mr. Grayson's
+faults, or at least seek to amend them. It was not hard to make a
+promise to a pair of lovely eyes that craved his help.
+
+"Well, Miss Morgan," he said, graciously, "since it is you who ask it, I
+will do my best. You know I am not really hostile to Mr. Grayson. The
+_Monitor_ and I are of his party, and we shall certainly support him as
+long as he will let us."
+
+"You are so kind!" she said. "You have seen so much of the world, Mr.
+Churchill, that you can help us greatly. Uncle James, as I told you, is
+always willing to learn, and he will keep a sharp watch on the
+_Monitor_."
+
+"The _Monitor_, as I need not tell you," said Churchill, "is the chief
+organ in New York of good government, and it is never frivolous or
+inconsequential. I had hoped that what I sent from Milwaukee would have
+its effect, and I am glad to see, Miss Morgan, that it has."
+
+Churchill now permitted himself a smile longer and more complacent, and
+Harley felt a slight touch of pity that any man should be blinded thus
+by conceit. And Sylvia did not spare him; by alternate flattery and
+appeal she drew him further into the toils, and Harley was surprised at
+her skill. She did not seem to him now the girl from Idaho, the child of
+the mountains and of massacre, but a woman of variable moods, and all of
+them attractive, no whit inferior to her Eastern sisters in the
+delicate airs and graces that he was wont to associate with feminine
+perfection.
+
+As for Churchill, he yielded completely to her spell, not without some
+condescension and a memory of his own superiority, but he felt himself
+willing to comply with her request, particularly because it involved no
+sacrifice on his own part. He and the _Monitor_ would certainly keep
+watch over Mr. Grayson, and he would never hesitate to write the words
+of warning when ever he felt that they were needed.
+
+"Why did you treat him that way?" asked Harley, when Churchill had gone.
+
+"What do you mean by 'that way'?" she asked, and her chin took on a
+saucy uplift.
+
+"Well, to be plain, why did you make a fool of him?"
+
+"Was my help needed?"
+
+Harley laughed.
+
+"Don't be too hard on Churchill," he said, "he's the creature of
+circumstance. Besides, you must not forget that he is going to watch
+over Mr. Grayson."
+
+Churchill did not join the general group until shortly before the
+departure for the evening speech, and then he approached with an
+undeniable air of hostility and defence, expecting to be attacked and
+having in readiness the weapons with which he had assured himself that
+he could repel them. Miss Morgan, it is true, had received him well, but
+she, so he had begun to believe, was a girl of perception and
+discrimination, and the fine taste shown by her would not be exhibited
+by others. The candidate, surprising him much, received him cordially,
+though not effusively, and he was made welcome in similar manner by the
+others. There was no allusion whatever to his despatch, but he found
+himself included in the general gossip, just as if he were one of a
+group of good comrades.
+
+Yet Churchill was not wholly pleased. His great stroke seemed to be
+ignored by all except Miss Morgan, when they ought to be stirred deeply
+by it, and he felt a sense of diminished importance. There should be
+confusion among them, or at least trepidation. He closely studied the
+faces of Mr. Grayson and the others to see if they were merely masking
+their fire, but no attack came either then or later.
+
+Thus two or three days passed, and the campaign deepened and popular
+interest increased. Not since the eve of the Civil War had there been
+such complexity and intensity of interests, and never before had the
+personal factor been so strong. Out of the vast turmoil quickly emerged
+James Grayson as the most picturesque figure that ever appeared upon the
+stage of national politics in America. His powerful oratory, his daring,
+and his magnetic personality drew the eyes of all, and Harley saw that
+wherever he might be there the fight would be thickest. The
+correspondent's intuition had been right; he had come from a war on the
+other side of the world to enter another and greater campaign, one in
+which mind counted for more.
+
+The candidate, in his rising greatness, was even a hero to his own
+family; and from none did he draw greater admiration than from his
+niece, Sylvia Morgan. A fierce champion of the West, she always bitterly
+resented the unconscious patronage of the East, which was really the
+natural patronage of age rather than of convinced superiority; and her
+uncle's triumph filled her with delight, because, to her mind, it was
+the triumph of the West that she loved so well. Inspired with this
+feeling, she appealed to Harley about the sixth or seventh day of the
+campaign for his opinion on its result, and the correspondent hesitated
+over his answer. He found that his feeling towards her in this week had
+changed greatly, the elements in her character, which at first seemed to
+him masculine and forward, were now much modified and softened; always
+the picture of that child in the mountains, alone among her dead, rose
+before him, and then followed the picture of the little girl borne away
+on his saddle-bow by the brave borderer. He would think of her now with
+a singular softness, a real pity for those misty days which she herself
+had almost forgotten. Hence he hesitated, because what he deemed to be
+the truth would have in it a sting for her. But her clear eyes instantly
+read his hesitation.
+
+"You need not be afraid to tell me your real opinion, Mr. Harley," she
+said. "If you think the chances are against Uncle James, I should like
+you to say so."
+
+"I do think they are against him now, although they may not be so later
+on," replied he, equivocating with himself a little. "It is an uphill
+fight, and then one can easily deceive one's self; in a nation of eighty
+or ninety millions even a minority can surround a candidate with a
+multitude of people and a storm of enthusiasm."
+
+"But Uncle James is the greatest campaigner ever nominated for the
+Presidency," she said, "and we shall yet win."
+
+Harley said nothing in reply, but he gladly noticed her refusal to be
+discouraged, like other people having an admiration for courage and
+spirit. In fact, it seemed to him that she had a cheerfulness somewhat
+beyond the occasion.
+
+Three days later--they were in Pittsburg then--she received a letter
+addressed in a strong, heavy hand, her name being spelled in large
+letters. Sylvia Morgan was alone in the hotel parlor when it was brought
+to her, and a strange shadow, or rather the shadow of a shadow, came
+over her face as she held it uneasily in her fingers and looked at the
+Idaho postmark in the corner. She knew the handwriting well, and she
+knew that it was a true index to the character of its author--rough,
+strong, and large. That handwriting could not lie, neither could he. She
+continued to hesitate, with the letter in her hand; it was the first
+time that she had ever done so with a letter of his, and she felt that
+she was disloyal. She heard a voice in the other parlor--the wide doors
+between were open; it was the voice of Harley speaking to her uncle, and
+a flush crept into her cheeks. Then she shook herself in a sudden little
+whirl of anger, and abruptly opened the letter with a swift, tearing
+sound. It was a longer letter than he usually wrote, and he said:
+
+
+     "MY DEAREST LITTLE SYLVIA--I have been here just two hours, and, I
+     tell you, the sight of Idaho is good for the eyes, though it would
+     be better if you were here with me, as you soon will be all the
+     time, little one."
+
+
+She paused a moment, looking away, and the shadow of the shadow came
+back to her face. Then she murmured: "He is the best man in the world,"
+and resolutely went on:
+
+
+     "The more I see of the other states the better I like Idaho, and I
+     like next best those that are most like it. Every peak out here
+     nodded a welcome to me as I came in on the train. I've known them
+     all for thirty years. I was a little afraid of them at first, they
+     were so tall and solemn with their white crests, but we are old
+     friends now--I'll have a white crest myself before long, and I'm
+     fairly tall now, though perhaps I'll never be solemn. And I drew a
+     deep breath and a long breath, the first one in days, the moment I
+     crossed the Idaho line. The East sits rather heavy on me [he called
+     Chicago the East], and my eyes get tired with so many people
+     passing before them. Now, I'm not running down the East, which is
+     all right in its own way, but I am glad we have so much mountain
+     and unwatered plain out here, because then the people can never get
+     so thick that they tread on you; not that they mean to do it, but
+     crowds shove just because they can't help it."
+
+
+Sylvia smiled, and for a moment there was a little moisture in her eyes.
+"Good old daddy," she murmured. Somehow, the pet name "daddy" seemed
+just to fit him. Then the resolute little frown came over her face again
+and she went on.
+
+
+     "As I said, Idaho is a good state. I like it when I am here, and I
+     like it all the better when I come back to it. God's people live in
+     these Rocky Mountain states, and that is a reason why I am so
+     red-hot to have your uncle James elected. He is one of God's
+     people, too, and they have never yet had a man of ours sitting in
+     the White House down there at Washington and bossing the job. I
+     think maybe he will teach them a new trick or two in running the
+     old ship of state. But, Sylvia, I am not thinking so much even of
+     him as I am of you. I know that I am a good deal older than you, as
+     people count years, but I can truly say that my heart is young, and
+     I think that I will be a husky chap for a good long time to come.
+     You know I've had you nearly all your life, Sylvia, and we have the
+     advantage of knowing each other. You are on to all my curves--that
+     is, you don't have to get married to me to learn my failings.
+
+     "I guess I haven't the polish that those Eastern fellows put on, or
+     that is put on them, but out here in the mountains I amount to
+     somebody--you must let me brag a little, Sylvia--and if a man
+     doesn't bow pretty low to Mrs. William Plummer, I'll have to get
+     out my old six-shooter--I haven't carried one now for ten
+     years--and shoot all the hair off the top of his head."
+
+
+"He thinks he's joking, but I believe he would do it. Dear old daddy!"
+murmured Sylvia.
+
+
+     "I think you ought to become Mrs. Plummer now, Sylvia, but I guess
+     I'm willing to wait until this campaign is over. For one ought to
+     be willing to wait, if by waiting he can get such a good thing.
+     Still, I hate to think of you away off there in the East, so many
+     thousands of miles away from me, where there are no friendly old
+     mountains to look down on you and watch over you, and I'm glad that
+     my little girl is coming West again soon. I'll try to get down part
+     of the way, say to Nebraska or Kansas, to meet you. I feel safer
+     when I have you close by; then, if any of those young Eastern
+     fellows should try to kidnap you and run away with you, my old
+     six-shooter might have a word to say."
+
+
+The sudden flush rose to her cheeks at this new joke, but she murmured
+nothing. The rest of the letter was about people whom they knew in Boise
+and elsewhere in Idaho, and it closed:
+
+
+     "Don't think I'm growing gushing at my age, Sylvia, but Idaho, fine
+     as she is, isn't near complete without you, and this is why I want
+     you back in it just as soon as you can come.
+                                       Yours, lovingly,
+                                              "WILLIAM PLUMMER."
+
+
+She folded the letter carefully and put it back in the envelope. Then
+she sat for a long time, and her look was one of mingled tenderness and
+sadness. Her mind, too, ran back into the past, and she had a dim vision
+of the little child, who was herself, borne away on his saddle-horn by
+the strong mountaineer, who held her safely in the hollow of his arm.
+And then the years followed, and she always looked to the mountaineer
+for the protection and the love that were never wanting, but it was
+always the protection and love of one older and stronger than herself,
+one who belonged to the generation preceding her own.
+
+Mr. Grayson, Harley, and the others were gone, and she heard no voices
+in the next parlor. She realized with suddenness how strongly and in how
+brief a time this little group, travelling through a vast country, had
+become welded together by the very circumstances of their travel--the
+comradeship of the road--and she sighed. She and Mrs. Grayson were about
+to leave them and return to the Grayson home in the West, because women,
+no matter how nearly related, could not be taken all the way on an
+arduous campaign of six months. She had enjoyed this life, which was
+almost the life of a soldier--the crowds, the enthusiasm, the murmur,
+then the cheers of thousands of voices, the flight on swift trains from
+one city to another, the dash for the station sometimes before daylight,
+and all the freshness and keenness of youth about her. She had
+affiliated, she had become one of the group, and now that she was to
+leave it for a while she had a deep sense of loss.
+
+There was a step beside her, and Mrs. Grayson, the quiet, the tactful,
+and the observant, entered.
+
+"Why, Sylvia," she said, "you are sitting in the dark!"
+
+She touched the button, turned on the electric lights, and noticed the
+letter lying in the girl's hand. Her glance passed swiftly to Sylvia's
+face and as swiftly passed away. She knew instinctively the writer of
+the letter, but she said nothing, waiting for Sylvia herself to speak.
+
+"I have a letter from Mr. Plummer," said Sylvia.
+
+"What does he say?"
+
+"Not much besides his arrival at Boise--just some foolishness of his;
+you know how he loves to jest."
+
+"Yes, I have long known that," said Mrs. Grayson, but she noticed that
+Sylvia made no offer to show the letter. Hitherto the letters of "King"
+Plummer had been read by all the Graysons as a matter of course, just as
+one shares interesting news.
+
+"He is a good man, and he will be a good husband," said Mrs. Grayson.
+She was for the moment ruthless with a purpose, and when she said the
+words, although affecting not to watch, she saw the girl flinch--ever so
+little, but still she flinched.
+
+"The best man in the world," repeated Sylvia Morgan, softly.
+
+"And yet there are other good men," said Mrs. Grayson, quietly. "One
+good man does not exclude the existence of another."
+
+Sylvia looked up at her, but she failed to take her meaning. Her quiet
+aunt sometimes spoke in parables, and waited for events to disclose her
+meaning.
+
+Mrs. Grayson and Miss Morgan were to leave for the West the next
+afternoon, and shortly before their departure Harley came to tell them a
+temporary good-bye. Sylvia and he chanced to be alone for a little
+while, and she genuinely lamented her departure--they had become franker
+friends in these later days.
+
+"I do not see why women cannot go through a political campaign from
+beginning to end," she said; "I'm sure we can help Uncle James, and
+there will be, too, so many interesting things to see. It will be like a
+war without the wounds and death. I don't want to miss any of it."
+
+"I half agree with you," said Harley, smiling, "and I know that it would
+be a great deal nicer for the rest of us if you and Mrs. Grayson could
+go along."
+
+He paused, and he had a sudden bold thought.
+
+"If anything specially interesting happens that the newspapers don't
+tell about, will you let me write you an account of it?" he asked. "I
+should really like to tell you."
+
+She flushed ever so little, but she was of the free-and-open West, and
+Harley always gave her the impression of courteous strength--he would
+take no liberties.
+
+"You can write," she said, briefly, and then she immediately regretted
+her decision. It was the thought of "King" Plummer that made her regret
+it, but she had too much pride to change it now.
+
+Harley was at the train with Mr. Grayson when she and Mrs. Grayson left,
+and Sylvia found that he had seen to everything connected with their
+journey. Without making any noise, and without appearing to work much,
+he accomplished a good deal. She had an impulse once to thank him, but
+she restrained it, and she gave him a good-bye that was neither cool nor
+warm, just sufficiently conventional to leave no inference whatever. But
+when the train was gone and Mr. Grayson and he were riding back in the
+cab to the hotel, the candidate spoke of her.
+
+"She's a good girl, Harley," he said--he and Harley had grown to be such
+friends that he now dropped the "Mr." when he spoke directly to the
+correspondent. "She's real, as true as steel."
+
+He spoke with emphasis, but Harley said nothing.
+
+The group seemed to lose much of its vividness, color, and variety when
+the women departed, but they settled down to work, the most intense and
+exacting that Harley had ever known. All the great qualities of the
+candidate came out; he seemed to be made of iron, and on the stump he
+was without an equal; if any one in the audience was ready with a
+troublesome question, he was equally ready with an apt reply; nor could
+they disturb his good humor; and his smiling irony!--the rash fool who
+sought to deride him always found the laugh turned upon himself.
+
+Throughout the East the party was stirred to mighty enthusiasm, and
+their antagonists, who had thought the election a foregone conclusion,
+were roused from their security. Again the combat deepened and entered
+upon a yet hotter phase. Meanwhile Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their
+powerful faction within the party, kept quiet for the time. Mr. Grayson
+was not yet treading on their toes, but he knew, and his friends knew,
+that they were watching every motion of his with a hundred eyes.
+Churchill's _Monitor_ was constantly coming, laden with suggestion,
+advice, and warning, and Churchill himself alternately wore a look of
+importance and disappointment. No one ever made the slightest reference
+to his wise despatches. He had expected to be insulted, to be
+persecuted, to be a martyr for duty's sake, and, lo! he was treated
+always with courtesy, but his great work was ignored; he felt that they
+must see it, but then they might be too dull to notice its edge and
+weight. He now drew a certain consolation from his silent suffering, and
+strengthened himself anew for the task which he felt required a delicate
+and thoughtful mind.
+
+Harley wrote several times to Sylvia Morgan, both at Boise and at her
+aunt's home--long, careful letters, in which he strove to confine
+himself to the purely narrative form, and to make these epistles
+interesting as documents. He spoke of many odd personal details by the
+way, and even at the distance of two thousand miles he continued to
+touch the campaign with the breath of life, although told at
+second-hand.
+
+The replies came in due time, brief, impersonal, thanking him for his
+trouble, and giving a little news of Mrs. Grayson, "King" Plummer, and
+herself. Harley was surprised to see with what terseness, strength, and
+elegance she expressed herself. "Perhaps there is a force in those
+mountains which unconsciously teaches simplicity and power," he found
+himself thinking. He was surprised, too, one day, when he was packing
+his valise for a hurried start, to see all her letters reposing neatly
+in one corner of the aforesaid valise. "Now, why have I done that?" he
+asked; "why have I saved those letters? They take up valuable space; I
+will destroy them." But when he closed the valise the undamaged letters
+were still neatly reposing in their allotted corner.
+
+Now the campaign in the East came to its end, and their special train
+swung westward into the states supposed to be most doubtful--first
+across the Mississippi, and then across the Missouri. The campaign
+entered upon a new phase amid new conditions--in a new world, in
+fact--and it required no intuition for Harley to feel that strange
+events were approaching.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+HIS GREATEST SPEECH
+
+
+It was the candidate's eighth speech that day, but Harley, who was in
+analytical mood, could see no decrease either in his energy or
+spontaneity of thought and expression. The words still came with the old
+dash and the old power, and the audience always hung upon them, the
+applause invariably rising like the rattle of rifle-fire. They had
+started at daylight, hurrying across the monotonous Western plains, in a
+dusty and uncomfortable car, stopping for a half-hour speech here, then
+racing for another at a second little village, and then a third race and
+a third speech, and so on. Nor was this the first day of such labors; it
+had been so week after week, and always it lasted through the day and
+far into the darkness, sometimes after midnight. But there was no sign
+to tell of it on the face of the candidate, save a slight redness around
+the edge of the eyelids, and a little hoarseness between the speeches
+when he talked to his friends in an ordinary tone.
+
+The village in which Grayson was speaking was a tiny place of twelve or
+fifteen houses, all square, unadorned, and ugly, standing in the centre
+of an illimitable prairie that rolled away on either side exactly like
+the waves of the sea, and with the same monotony. It was a
+weather-beaten gathering. The prairie winds are not good for the
+complexion, and the cheeks of these people were brown, not red. On the
+outskirts of the crowd, still sitting on their ponies, were cowboys, who
+had ridden sixty miles across the Wyoming border to hear Grayson speak.
+They were dressed exactly like the cowboys of the pictures that Harley
+had seen in magazine stories of the Western plains. They wore the
+sombreros and leggings and leather belts, but there was no disorder, no
+cursing, no shouting nor yelling. This was a phase that had passed.
+
+They listened, too, with an eagerness that few Eastern audiences could
+show. This was not to them an entertainment or anything savoring of the
+spectacular; it was the next thing to the word of God. There was a
+reverence in their manner and bearing that appealed to Harley, and he
+read easily in their minds the belief that Jimmy Grayson was the
+greatest man in the world, and that he alone could bring to their
+country the greatness that they wished as much for the country as for
+themselves. Churchill sneered at this tone of the gathering, but Harley
+took another view. These men might be ignorant of the world, but he
+respected their hero-worship, and thought it a good quality in them.
+
+They heard the candidate tell of mighty corporations, of a vague and
+distant place called Wall Street, where fat men, with soft, white
+fingers and pouches under their eyes, sat in red-carpeted offices and
+pulled little but very strong strings that made farmers on the Western
+plains, two thousand miles away, dance like jumping-jacks, just as the
+fat men wished, and just when they wished. These fat men were allied
+with others in Europe, pouchy-eyed and smooth-fingered like themselves,
+and it was their object to own all the money-bags of the world, and
+gather all the profits of the world's labor. Harley, watching these
+people, saw a spark appear in their eyes many times, but it was always
+brightest at the mention of Wall Street. That both speaker and those to
+whom his words were spoken were thoroughly sincere, he did not doubt for
+a moment.
+
+Grayson ceased, the engine blew the starting signal, the candidate and
+the correspondent swung aboard, and off they went. Harley looked back,
+and as long as he could see the station the little crowd on the lone
+prairie was still watching the disappearing train. There was something
+pathetic in the sight of these people following with their eyes until
+the last moment the man whom they considered their particular champion.
+
+It was but an ordinary train of day cars, the red plush of the seats now
+whitened by the prairie dust, and it was used in common by the
+candidate, the flock of correspondents, and a dozen politicians, the
+last chiefly committeemen or their friends, one being the governor of
+the state through which they were then travelling.
+
+Harley sought sleep as early as possible that night, because he would
+need all his strength for the next day, which was to be a
+record-breaker. A tremendous programme had been mapped out for Jimmy
+Grayson, and Harley, although aware of the candidate's great endurance,
+wondered how he would ever stand it. They were to cut the state from
+southeast to northwest, a distance of more than four hundred miles, and
+twenty-four speeches were to be made by the way. Fresh from war, Harley
+did not remember any more arduous journey, and, like an old campaigner,
+he prepared for it as best he could.
+
+It was not yet daylight when they were awakened for the start of the
+great day. A cold wind moaned around the hamlet as they ate their
+breakfast, and then hastened, valise in hand, and still half asleep, to
+the train, which stood steam up and ready to be off. They found several
+men already on board, and Churchill, when he saw them, uttered the brief
+word, "Natives!" They were typical men of the plains, thin, dry, and
+weather-beaten, and the correspondents at first paid but little
+attention to them. It was common enough for some local committeeman to
+take along a number of friends for a half-day or so, in order that they
+might have a chance to gratify their curiosity and show their admiration
+for the candidate.
+
+But the attention of Harley was attracted presently by one of the
+strangers, a smallish man of middle age, with a weak jaw and a look
+curiously compounded of eagerness and depression.
+
+The stranger's eye met Harley's, and, encouraged by his friendly look,
+he crossed the aisle and spoke to the correspondent.
+
+"You are one of them newspaper fellers that travels with Grayson, ain't
+you?" he asked.
+
+Harley admitted the charge.
+
+"And you see him every day?" continued the little man, admiringly.
+
+"Many times a day."
+
+"My! My! Jest to think of your comin' away out here to take down what
+our Jimmy Grayson says, so them fellers in New York can read it! I'll
+bet he makes Wall Street shake. I wish I was like you, mister, and could
+be right alongside Jimmy Grayson every day for weeks and weeks, and
+could hear every word he said while he was poundin' them fellers in Wall
+Street who are ruinin' our country. He is the greatest man in the
+world. Do you reckon I could get to speak to him and jest tech his
+hand?"
+
+"Why, certainly," replied Harley. He was moved by the little man's
+childlike and absolute faith and his reverence for Jimmy Grayson as a
+demigod. It was not without pathos, and Harley at once took him into the
+next car and introduced him to Grayson, who received him with the
+natural cordiality that never deserted him. Plover, the little man said
+was his name--William Plover, of Kalapoosa, Choctaw County. He regarded
+Grayson with awe, and, after the hand-shake, did not speak. Indeed, he
+seemed to wish no more, and made himself still smaller in a corner,
+where he listened attentively to everything that Grayson said.
+
+He also stood in the front row at each stopping-place, his eyes fixed on
+Grayson's face while the latter made his speech. The candidate,
+by-and-by, began to notice him there. It is often a habit with those who
+have to speak much in public to fix the eye on some especially
+interested auditor and talk to him directly. It assists in a sort of
+concentration, and gives the orator a willing target.
+
+Grayson now spoke straight to Plover, and Harley watched how the little
+man's emotions, as shown in his face, reflected in every part the
+orator's address. There was actual fire in his eyes, whenever Grayson
+mentioned that ogre, Wall Street, and tears rose when the speaker
+depicted the bad condition of the Western farmer.
+
+"Wouldn't I like to go on to Washington with Jimmy Grayson when he takes
+charge of the government!" exclaimed Plover to Harley when this speech
+was finished--"not to take a hand myself, but jest to see him make
+things hum! Won't he make them fat fellers in Wall Street squeal! He'll
+have the Robber Barons squirmin' on the griddle pretty quick, an'
+wheat'll go straight to a dollar a bushel, sure! I can see it now!"
+
+His exultation and delight lasted all the morning; but in the afternoon
+the depressed, crushed feeling which Harley had noticed at first in his
+look seemed to get control.
+
+Although his interest in Grayson's speeches and his devout admiration
+did not decrease, Plover's melancholy grew, and Harley by-and-by learned
+the cause of it from another man, somewhat similar in aspect, but larger
+of figure and stronger of face.
+
+"To tell you the truth, mister," said the man, with the easy freedom of
+the West, "Billy Plover--and my cousin he is, twice removed--my name's
+Sandidge--is runnin' away."
+
+"Running away?" exclaimed Harley, in surprise. "Where's he running to,
+and what's he running from?"
+
+"Where he's runnin' to, I don't know--California, or Washington, or
+Oregon, I guess. But I know mighty well what he's runnin' away from;
+it's his wife."
+
+"Ah, a family trouble?" said Harley, whose delicacy would have caused
+him to refrain from asking more. But the garrulous cousin rambled on.
+
+"It's a trouble, and it ain't a trouble," he continued. "It's the
+weather and the crops, or maybe because Billy 'ain't had no weather nor
+no crops, either. You see, he's lived for the last ten years on a
+quarter-section out near Kalapoosa, with his wife, Susan, a good woman
+and a terrible hard worker, but the rain's been mighty light for three
+seasons, and Billy's wheat has failed every time. It's kinder got on
+his temper, and, as they 'ain't got any children to take care of, Billy
+he's been takin' to politics. Got an idea that he can speak, though he
+can't, worth shucks, and thinks he's got a mission to whack Wall Street,
+though I ain't sure but what Wall Street don't deserve it. Susan says he
+ain't got any business in politics, that he ought to leave that to
+better men, an' stay an' wrastle with the ground and the weather. So
+that made them take to spattin'."
+
+"And the upshot?"
+
+"Waal, the upshot was that Billy said he could stand it no longer. So
+last night he raked up half the spare cash, leavin' the rest and the
+farm and stock to Susan, an' he loped out. But first he said he had to
+hear Jimmy Grayson, who is mighty nigh a whole team of prophets to him,
+and, as Jimmy's goin' west, right on his way, he's come along. But
+to-night, at Jimmy's last stoppin'-place, he leaves us and takes a train
+straight to the coast. I'm sorry, because if Susan had time to see him
+and talk it over--you see, she's the man of the two--the whole thing
+would blow over, and they'd be back on the farm, workin' hard, and with
+good times ahead."
+
+Harley was moved by this pathetic little tragedy of the plains, the
+result of loneliness and hard times preying upon the tempers of two
+people. "Poor devil!" he thought. "It's as his cousin says; if Susan
+could only be face to face with him for five minutes, he'd drop his
+foolish idea of running away and go home."
+
+Then of that thought was born unto him a great idea, and he immediately
+hunted up the cousin again.
+
+"Is Kalapoosa a station on the telegraph line?" he asked.
+
+"Oh yes."
+
+"Would a telegram to that point be delivered to the Plover farm?"
+
+"Yes. Why, what's up?"
+
+"Nothing; I just wanted to know. Now, can you tell me what time
+to-night, after our arrival, a man may take a train for the coast from
+Weeping Water, our last stop?"
+
+"We're due at Weepin' Water," replied the cousin, "at eleven to-night,
+but I cal'late it'll be nigher twelve when we strike the town. You see,
+this is a special train, runnin' on any old time, an' it's liable now
+and then to get laid out a half an hour or more. But, anyhow, we ought
+to beat the Denver Express, which is due at twelve-thirty in the
+mornin', an' stops ten minutes at the water-tank. It connects at Denver
+with the 'Frisco Express, an' I guess it's the train that Billy will
+take."
+
+"Does the Denver Express stop at Kalapoosa?"
+
+"Yes. Kalapoosa ain't nothin' but a little bit of a place, but the
+Pawnee branch line comes in there, and the express gets some passengers
+off it. Say, mister, what's up?"
+
+But Harley evaded a direct answer, having now all the information he
+wished. He went back to the next car and wrote this despatch:
+
+
+                                                        "KALAPOOSA.
+     "SUSAN PLOVER,--Take to-day's Denver Express and get off to-night
+     at Weeping Water. You will find me at Grayson's speaking, standing
+     just in front of him. Don't fail to come. Will explain everything
+     to you then.
+                                                   "WILLIAM PLOVER."
+
+
+Harley looked at this message with satisfaction. "I guess I'm a forger,"
+he mused; "but as the essence of wrong lies in the intention, I'm doing
+no harm."
+
+He stopped at the next station, prepaid the message, and, standing by,
+saw with his own eyes the operator send it. Then he returned to the
+train and resumed his work with fresh zest.
+
+And he had plenty to do. He had seen Jimmy Grayson make great displays
+of energy, but his vitality on this terrible day was amazing. On and on
+they went, right into the red eye of the sun. The hot rays poured down,
+and the dust whirled over the plain, entering the car in clouds, where
+it clothed everything--floors, seats, and men alike--until they were a
+uniform whitey-brown. It crept, too, into Harley's throat and stung his
+eyelids, but at each new speech the candidate seemed to rise fresher and
+stronger than ever, and at every good point he made the volleys of
+applause rose like rifle-shots.
+
+Harley, at the close of a speech late in the day, sought his new friend,
+Plover. The little man was crushed down in a seat, looking very gloomy.
+Harley knew that he was thinking of Kalapoosa, the spell of Grayson's
+eloquence being gone for the moment.
+
+"Tired, Mr. Plover?" said Harley, putting a friendly hand on his
+shoulder.
+
+"A little bit," replied Plover.
+
+"But it's a great day," continued Harley. "I tell you, old man, it's one
+to be remembered. There never was such a campaign. The story of this
+ride will be in all the papers of the United States to-morrow."
+
+"Ain't he great! Ain't he great!" exclaimed Plover, brightening into
+enthusiasm. "And don't he hit Wall Street some awful whacks?"
+
+"He certainly is great," replied Harley. "But you wait until we get to
+Weeping Water. That's the last stop, and he'll just turn himself loose
+there. You mustn't miss a word."
+
+"I won't," replied Plover. "I'll have time, because the Denver Express,
+on which I'm going to 'Frisco, don't leave there till twelve-forty. No,
+I won't miss the big speech at Weeping Water."
+
+They reached Weeping Water at last, although it was full midnight, and
+they were far behind time, and together they walked to the speaker's
+stand.
+
+Harley saw Plover in his accustomed place in the front rank, just under
+the light of the torches, where he would meet the speaker's eye, his
+face rapt and worshipful. Then he looked at his watch.
+
+"Twelve-fifteen," he said to himself. "The Denver Express will be here
+in another fifteen minutes, and Susan will fall on the neck of her
+Billy."
+
+Then he stopped to listen to Grayson. Never had Harley seen him more
+earnest, more forcible. He knew that the candidate must be sinking from
+physical weakness--his pale, drawn face showed that--but his spirit
+flamed up for this last speech, and the crowd was wholly under the spell
+of his powerful appeal.
+
+Harley met, presently, the cousin, Sandidge.
+
+"This is Grayson's greatest speech of the day," Harley said, "and how it
+must please Mr. Plover!"
+
+"That's so," replied Sandidge; "but Billy's all broke up over it."
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" asked Harley, in sudden alarm.
+
+"The Denver Express is nearly two hours and a half late--won't be here
+until three, and at Denver it'll miss the 'Frisco Express; won't be
+another for a day. So Billy, who's in a hurry to get to the coast--the
+old Nick's got into him, I reckon--is goin' by the express on the B. P.;
+the train on the branch line that goes out there at two-ten connects
+with it, and so does the accommodation freight at two-forty. It's hard
+on Billy--he hates to miss any of Jimmy Grayson's speeches, but he's
+bound to go."
+
+Harley was touched by real sorrow. He drew his pencil-pad from his
+pocket, hastily wrote a few lines upon it, pushed his way to the stage,
+and thrust what he had written into Mr. Grayson's hands. The speaker,
+stopping to take a drink of water, read this note:
+
+
+     "DEAR MR. GRAYSON,--The Denver Express is two hours and a half
+     late. For God's sake speak until it comes; you will hear it at
+     three, when it pulls into the station. It is a matter of life and
+     death, and while you are speaking don't take your eye off the
+     little man with the whiskers, who has been with us all day, and who
+     always stands in front and looks up at you. I'll explain everything
+     later, but please do it. Again I say it's a matter of life and
+     death.
+                                                     "JOHN HARLEY."
+
+
+Grayson looked in surprise at Harley, but he caught the appealing look
+on the face of the correspondent. He liked Harley, and he knew that he
+could trust him. He knew, moreover, that what Harley had written in the
+note must be true.
+
+Grayson did not hesitate, and, nodding slightly to Harley, turned and
+faced the crowd, like a soldier prepared for his last and desperate
+charge. His eyes sought those of the little man, his target, looking up
+at him. Then he fixed Plover with his gaze and began.
+
+They still tell in the West of Jimmy Grayson's speech at Weeping Water,
+as the veterans tell of Pickett's rush in the flame and the smoke up
+Cemetery Hill. He had gone on the stage a half-dead man. He had already
+been speaking nineteen hours that day. His eyes were red and swollen
+with train dust, prairie dust, and lack of sleep. Every bone in him
+ached. Every word stung his throat as it came, and his tongue was like a
+hot ember in his mouth. Deep lines ran away from his eyes.
+
+But Jimmy Grayson was inspired that night on the black prairie. The
+words leaped in livid flame from his lips. Never was his speech more
+free and bold, and always his burning eyes looked into those of Plover
+and held him.
+
+Closer and closer pressed the crowd. The darkness still rolled up,
+thicker and blacker than ever. Grayson's shoulders sank away, and only
+his face was visible now. The wind rose again, and whistled around the
+little town and shrieked far out on the lonely prairie. But above it
+rose the voice of Grayson, mellow, inspiring, and flowing full and free.
+
+Harley looked and listened, and his admiration grew and grew. "I don't
+agree with all he says," he thought, "but, my God! how well he says it."
+
+Then he cowered in the lee of a little building, that he might shelter
+himself from the bitter wind that was searching him to the marrow.
+
+Time passed. The speaker never faltered. A half-hour, an hour, and his
+voice was still full and mellow, nor had a soul left the crowd. Grayson
+himself seemed to feel a new access of strength from some hidden source,
+and his form expanded as he denounced the Trusts and the Robber Barons,
+and all the other iniquities that he felt it his duty to impale, but he
+never took his eyes from Plover; to him he was now talking with a force
+and directness that he had not equalled before. Time went on, and, as if
+half remembering some resolution, Plover's hand stole towards the
+little old silver watch that he carried in the left-hand pocket of his
+waistcoat. But just at that critical moment Grayson uttered the magical
+name, Wall Street, and Plover's hand fell back to his side with a jerk.
+Then Grayson rose to his best, and tore Wall Street to tatters.
+
+A whistle sounded, a bell rang, and a train began to rumble, but no one
+took note of it save Harley. The two-ten on the branch line to connect
+with the 'Frisco Express on the B. P. was moving out, and he breathed a
+great sigh of relief. "One gone," he said to himself; "now for the
+accommodation freight."
+
+The speech continued, but presently Grayson stopped for a hasty drink of
+water. Harley trembled. He was afraid that Grayson was breaking down,
+and his fears increased when he saw Plover's eyes leave the speaker's
+face and wander towards the station. But just at that moment the
+candidate caught the little man.
+
+"Listen to me!" thundered Grayson, "and let no true citizen here fail to
+heed what I am about to tell him."
+
+Plover could not resist the voice and those words of command. His
+thoughts, wandering towards the railroad station, were seized and
+brought back by the speaker. His eyes were fixed and held by Grayson,
+and he stood there as if chained to the spot.
+
+Time became strangely slow. The accommodation freight must be more than
+ten minutes late, Harley thought. He looked at his watch, and found that
+it was not due to leave for five minutes yet. So he settled himself to
+patient waiting, and listened to Grayson as he passed from one national
+topic to another. He saw, too, that the lines in the speaker's face were
+growing deeper and deeper, and he knew that he must be using his last
+ounces of strength. His soul was stirred with pity. Yet Grayson never
+faltered.
+
+The whistle blew, the bell rang, and again the train rumbled. The
+two-forty accommodation freight on the branch line to connect with the
+'Frisco Express on the B. P. was moving out, and Plover had been held.
+He could not go now, and once more Harley breathed that deep sigh of
+relief. Twenty minutes passed, and he heard far off in the east a faint
+rumble. He knew it was the Denver Express, and, in spite of his
+resolution, he began to grow nervous. Suppose the woman should not come?
+
+The rumble grew to a roar, and the train pulled into the station.
+Grayson was faithful to the last, and still thundered forth the
+invective that delighted the soul of Plover. The train whistled and
+moved off again, and Harley waited in breathless anxiety.
+
+A tall form rose out of the darkness, and a woman, middle-aged and
+honest of face, appeared. The correspondent knew that it must be Susan.
+It could be nobody else. She was looking around as if she sought some
+one. Harley's eye caught Grayson's, and it gave the signal.
+
+"And now, gentlemen," said the candidate, "I am done. I thank you for
+your attention, and I hope you will think well of what I have said."
+
+So saying, he left the stage, and the crowd dispersed. But Harley
+waited, and he saw Plover and his wife meet. He saw, too, the look of
+surprise and then joy on the man's face, and he saw them throw their
+arms around each other's neck and kiss in the dark. They were only a
+poor, prosaic, and middle-aged couple, but he knew they were now happy
+and that all was right between them.
+
+When Grayson went to his room, he fell from exhaustion in a half-faint
+across the bed; but when Harley told him the next afternoon the cause of
+it all, he laughed and said it was well worth the price.
+
+They obtained, about a week later, the New York papers containing an
+account of the record-breaking day. When Harley opened the _Monitor_,
+Churchill's paper, he read these head-lines:
+
+
+                             GRAYSON'S GAB
+
+                HE IS TALKING THE FARMERS OF THE WEST TO
+                                 DEATH
+
+                  TWENTY-FOUR SPEECHES IN TWENTY-FOUR
+                                 HOURS
+
+                HE TALKS FIFTY THOUSAND WORDS IN ONE DAY,
+                           AND SAYS NOTHING
+
+
+But when he looked at the _Gazette_, he saw the following head-lines
+over his own account:
+
+
+                           HIS GREATEST SPEECH
+
+                GRAYSON'S WONDERFUL EXHIBITION OF PLUCK
+                              AND ENDURANCE
+
+                AFTER RIDING FOUR HUNDRED MILES AND MAKING
+                     TWENTY-THREE SPEECHES HE HOLDS
+                       AN AUDIENCE SPELLBOUND FOR
+                           THREE HOURS AT HIS
+                             TWENTY-FOURTH
+
+                SPEAKS FROM MIDNIGHT UNTIL THREE IN THE
+                   MORNING IN THE OPEN AIR AND NOT A
+                    SOUL LEAVES, THOUGH A BLIZZARD
+                              WAS RAGING
+
+
+Harley sighed with satisfaction.
+
+"That managing editor of mine knows his business," he said to himself.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+SYLVIA'S RETURN
+
+
+Harley slept late the next day, and it was the heavy, somewhat nervous
+slumber of utter exhaustion, like that which he had more than once
+experienced in the war on the other side of the world, after days of
+incessant marching. When he awoke, it was afternoon on the special
+train, and as he joined the group he was greeted with a suppressed
+cheer.
+
+"I understand that you stayed the whole thing through last night, or
+rather this morning," said Churchill, in a sneering tone. "There's
+devotion for you, boys!"
+
+"I was amply repaid," replied Harley, calmly. "His last speech was the
+most interesting; in fact, I think it was the greatest speech that I
+ever heard him make."
+
+"I fear that Jimmy Grayson is overdoing it," said the elderly Tremaine,
+soberly. "A Presidential nominee is not exactly master of himself, and I
+doubt whether he should have risked his voice, and perhaps the success
+of his party, speaking in that cold wind until three or four o'clock
+this morning."
+
+"He just loves to hear the sound of his own voice," said Churchill, his
+ugly sneer becoming uglier. "I think it undignified and absurd on the
+part of a man who is in the position that he is in."
+
+Harley was silent, and he was glad now that he had said nothing in his
+despatch about the real reason for Grayson's long speaking. He had had
+at first a little struggle over it with his professional conscience,
+feeling that his duty required him to tell, but a little reflection
+decided him to the contrary. He had managed the affair, it was not a
+spontaneous occurrence, and, therefore, it was the private business of
+himself and Mr. James Grayson. It gave him great relief to be convinced
+thus, as he knew that otherwise the candidate would be severely
+criticised for it both by the opposition press and by a considerable
+number of his own party journals.
+
+But there was one person to whom Harley related the whole story. It was
+told in a letter to Sylvia Morgan, who was then at the home of the
+candidate with Mrs. Grayson. After describing all the details minutely,
+he gave his opinion: he held that it was right for a man, even in
+critical moments weighted with the fate of the many, to halt to do a
+good action which could affect only one or two. A great general at the
+height of a battle, seeing a wounded soldier helpless on the ground,
+might take the time to order relief for him without at all impairing the
+fate of the combat; to do otherwise would be a complete sacrifice of the
+individual for the sake of a mighty machine which would banish all
+humanity from life. He noticed that even Napoleon, in the midst of what
+might be called the most strenuous career the world has known, turned
+aside to do little acts of kindness.
+
+He was glad to find, when her reply came a few days later, that she
+agreed with him at least in the main part of his argument; but she
+called his attention to the fact that it was not Mr. Grayson, but Harley
+himself, who had injected this strange element into the combat when it
+was at its zenith; her uncle James had merely responded to a strong and
+moving appeal, which he would always do, because she knew the softness
+of his heart; yet she was not willing for him to go too far. A general
+might be able to turn aside for a moment at the height of the battle,
+and then he might not. She wished her uncle James to be judicious in his
+generosity, and not make any sacrifice which might prove too costly
+alike to himself and to others.
+
+"She is a compound of romance and strong common-sense," thought Harley,
+musing over the letter. "She wants the romance without paying the price.
+Now I wonder if that is not rather more the characteristic of women than
+of men."
+
+On the day following the receipt of this letter, a look of joy came over
+the face of the candidate and there was a visible exhilaration
+throughout his party. Men, worn, exhausted, and covered with the dust of
+the great plains, began to freshen up themselves as much as they could;
+there was a great brushing of soiled clothing, a hauling out of clean
+collars, a sharpening of razors, and a general inquiry, "How do I look?"
+The whole atmosphere of the train was changed, and it became much
+brighter and livelier. It was the candidate himself who wrought the
+transformation, after reading a letter, with the brief statement, "Mrs.
+Grayson and Sylvia will join us to-morrow."
+
+All had begun to pine for feminine society, as soldiers, long on the
+march, desire the sight of women and the sound of their voices. It is
+true that they saw women often, and many of them--some who were
+beautiful and some who were not--as they sped through the West, but it
+was always a flitting and blurred glimpse. "I haven't got an impression
+of the features of a single one of them," complained the elderly beau,
+Tremaine. Now two women whom they knew well and liked would be with them
+for days, and they rejoiced accordingly.
+
+It was at a little junction station in eastern Colorado, in the clear
+blue-and-silver of a fine morning, that Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia met
+them. Mr. Grayson and his party had been down about fifty miles on a
+branch line for a speech at a town of importance, and they had begun the
+return journey before daylight in order to make the connection. But when
+the gray dawn came through the dusty car-windows, it was odd to see how
+neat and careful all appeared, even under such difficult circumstances.
+
+Harley was surprised to realize the eagerness with which he looked
+forward to the meeting, and put it down to the long lack of feminine
+society. But he wondered if Sylvia had changed, if the nearer approach
+of her marriage with "King" Plummer would make her reserved and with her
+outlook on the future--that is, as one apart.
+
+He had a favorable seat in the car and he was the first to see them. The
+junction was a tiny place of not more than a half-dozen houses standing
+in the midst of a great plain, and it made a perfect silhouette against
+the gorgeous morning sunlight. Harley saw two slender figures outlined
+there in front of the station building, and, despite the distance, he
+knew them. There was to him something typically American and typically
+Western in these two women coming alone into that vast emptiness and
+waiting there in the utmost calmness, knowing that they were as safe as
+if they were in the heart of a great city, and perhaps safer.
+
+He knew, too, which was Sylvia; her manner, her bearing, the poise of
+her figure, had become familiar to him. Slender and upright, she was in
+harmony with the majesty of these great and silent spaces, but she did
+not now seem bold and forward to him; she was clothed in a different
+atmosphere altogether.
+
+There was a warm greeting for Mr. Grayson and the hand of fellowship for
+the others. Harley held Sylvia's fingers in his for a moment--just a
+moment--and said, with some emphasis:
+
+"Our little party has not been the same without you, Miss Morgan."
+
+"I'm glad to hear you say it," she replied, frankly, "and I'm glad to be
+back with all of you. It's a campaign that I enjoy."
+
+"It can be said for it that it is never monotonous."
+
+"That's one reason why I like it."
+
+She laughed a little, making no attempt to conceal her pleasure at this
+renewed touch with fresh, young life, and, because it was so obvious,
+Harley laughed also and shared her pleasure. He noticed, too, the new
+charm that she had in addition to the old, a softening of manner, a
+slight appeal that she made, without detracting in any wise from the
+impression of strength and self-reliance that she gave.
+
+"Where did you leave 'King' Plummer?" he asked, unguardedly.
+
+"In Idaho," she replied, with sudden gravity. "He is well, and I believe
+that he is happy. He is umpiring a great quarrel between the cattlemen
+and the sheepmen, or, rather, he is compelling both to listen to him and
+to agree to a compromise that he has suggested. So he is really enjoying
+himself. You do not know the delight that he takes in the handling of
+large and rather rough affairs."
+
+"I can readily guess it; he seems to have been made for them."
+
+But she said no more of "King" Plummer, quickly turning the talk to the
+campaign, and showing at once that she had followed every phase of it
+with the closest and most anxious attention. Mrs. Grayson had walked on
+a little and was talking to her husband, but she glanced back and saw
+what she had expected. She and her husband turned presently in their
+walk, and she said, looking significantly at Harley and Miss Morgan:
+
+"It is a great pleasure to Sylvia to be with your party again."
+
+There was such a curious inflection to her voice that the candidate
+exclaimed, "Why, what do you mean, Anna?" and she merely replied, "Oh,
+nothing!" which meant everything. The candidate, understanding, looked
+more attentively, and his eyes contracted a little, as if he were not
+wholly pleased at what he saw.
+
+"It's a free world," he said, "but I am glad that 'King' Plummer will be
+with us again in a few days."
+
+But his wife, able to see further than he, merely looked thoughtful and
+did not reply.
+
+Harley's solitary talk with Miss Morgan was brief; it could not be
+anything else under the circumstances; Hobart, with all sail set, bore
+down upon them.
+
+"Come! Come, Harley!" he cried, with the perfect frankness that usually
+distinguished him, "we don't permit any selfish monopolists here. We are
+all cast away on a desert island, so to speak, and there are a lot of us
+men and only two women, one of whom is mortgaged!"
+
+Then he was welcoming Miss Morgan in florid style; and there, too, was
+the ancient beau, Tremaine, displaying all his little arts of elegance
+and despising Hobart's obvious methods; and Blaisdell, and all the
+others, forming a court about her and giving her an attention which
+could not fail to please her and bring a deeper red to her cheeks and a
+brighter flash to her eyes. It seemed to Mrs. Grayson, looking on, that
+the girl had been hungry for something which she had now found, and in
+finding which she was happy, and, despite her sense of loyalty, she felt
+a glow of sympathy.
+
+But the sense of duty in Mrs. Grayson was strong, and while she
+hesitated much and sought for mental excuses to avoid it, she wrote a
+long letter to "King" Plummer that evening in the waiting-room of a
+little wayside hotel. In many things that she said she was beautifully
+vague; but she told him how glad she was that he would join them so
+soon; she spoke of the quarrel between the cattlemen and the sheepmen as
+a closed affair, and complimented him on his skill in bringing it to an
+end so quickly; it was all the better because now he could come to them
+at once, and she boldly said how much Sylvia was missing him. But when
+she sealed and addressed the letter she reflected awhile before dropping
+it in the box on the wall.
+
+"Now, ought I to do this?" she asked herself. "Have I the right to
+hasten or to divert the course of affairs?"
+
+She decided that she had the right, and mailed the letter.
+
+"King" Plummer came a few days later--he said that he "just blew in a
+few days ahead of time"--and received a hearty welcome from everybody,
+which he returned in double measure in his broad, spontaneous way. He
+placed a sounding kiss upon the somewhat flushed brow of Sylvia Morgan,
+and exclaimed, "Well, my little girl, aren't you glad to see me ahead of
+time?" She replied quickly, though not loudly, that she was, and then he
+announced that he would stay with them for a long while. "These are my
+mountains," he said, "and I'll have to show you the way through them."
+
+"King" Plummer, although inclined to be masterful, was admitted at once
+into the full membership of the party, and he entered upon what he
+called his first long vacation. He showed the keenest enjoyment in the
+speeches, the crowds, the enthusiasm, the travelling, and the
+quick-shifting scenes. He was a boy with the boys, but the watchful Mrs.
+Grayson noticed a shade of difference between Sylvia with the "King"
+present and Sylvia with the "King" absent. With him present there was a
+little restraint, a slight effort on her part to watch herself; but with
+him away there was great spontaneity and freedom, especially with the
+younger members like Harley and Hobart, and even Churchill, who
+reluctantly admitted that Miss Morgan was a fine girl, "though rather
+Western, you know."
+
+Mrs. Grayson began to take thought with herself again, and the thought
+was taken with great seriousness. Had she been right in bringing "King"
+Plummer on so soon, although he did not even know that he was brought?
+She resolutely asked herself, too, how much of her action had been due
+to the knowledge that the "King" was a very important man to her
+husband, controlling, as he probably could, the vote of several mountain
+states. This question, which she could not answer, troubled her, and so
+did the conduct of Sylvia, who, usually so frank and straightforward,
+seemed to be suffering from a strange attack of perverseness. For years
+she had obeyed "King" Plummer as her protector and as the one who had
+rightful control, but now she began to give him orders and to criticise
+many things that he did, to the unlimited astonishment of the "King,"
+who had never expected anything of the kind.
+
+"What is the matter with Sylvia? I never knew her to act in such a way
+before," he said to Mrs. Grayson.
+
+"As she is to be your wife, and not a sort of ward, she is merely giving
+you a preliminary training," replied the candidate's wife, dryly.
+
+"King" Plummer looked at her in doubt, but he pondered the question
+deeply and was remarkably meek the next time Sylvia scolded him, whereat
+she showed less pleasure than ever. "King" Plummer was still in a maze
+and did not know what to say. The very next day he found himself deeper
+in the tangle, being scolded by Mrs. Grayson herself.
+
+They were waiting at a small station for some carriages which were to
+take them across the prairie, and, the air being clear and bracing, they
+stood outside, where Miss Morgan, as usual, held an involuntary court. A
+cloud of dust arose, and behind it quickly came a great herd of cattle,
+driven with much shouting and galloping of horses by a half-dozen
+cowboys. The herd was passing to the south a few hundred yards from the
+station, but Sylvia, thoroughly used to such sights, was not interested.
+Not so some of the others who went out to see, and among them was "King"
+Plummer, who began at once to calculate the number of cattle, their
+value, and how far they had come, all of which he did with great
+shrewdness.
+
+The "King's" absorption in this congenial occupation was increased when
+he recognized the leader of the cowboys as an old friend and former
+associate in Idaho and Montana, with whom he could exchange much
+interesting news. Borrowing a horse from one of the men, he rode on with
+them for a mile or two.
+
+Mrs. Grayson had seen "King" Plummer leave the group about Sylvia, and
+she marked it with a disapproving eye. She would have spoken to him
+then, but she had no chance, and she watched him until he borrowed the
+horse and rode on with the cowboys. Then she looked the other way and
+saw two figures walking up and down the station platform. They were
+Sylvia and Harley, engrossed in talk and caring not at all for the
+passage of the herd. The two brown heads were not far apart, and Mrs.
+Grayson was near enough to see that Sylvia's color was beautiful.
+
+The candidate's wife was annoyed, and, like any other good woman, she
+was ready to vent her annoyance on somebody. She walked out a little
+from the station, and presently she met "King" Plummer coming back. He
+dismounted, returned the horse to its owner, and approached her, the
+sparkle of enthusiasm in his eyes lighting up his brown face.
+
+"That was a pleasant surprise, Mrs. Grayson," he exclaimed. "The leader
+of those boys was Bill Ascott, whom I've known twenty years, an' he's
+brought those cattle so cleverly all the way from Montana that they are
+in as good condition now as they were the day they started. And I had a
+fine gallop with them, too."
+
+He had more to say, but he stopped when he noticed her deeply frowning
+face.
+
+"What is wrong, Mrs. Grayson?" he asked, in apprehension.
+
+"Oh, you had a fine gallop, did you!" she said, in a tone of biting
+irony. "I am glad of it. Mr. William Plummer ought to have his gallop,
+under any circumstances!"
+
+He stared at her in increasing amazement.
+
+"I don't know that I'm counted a dull man, but you've got me now, Mrs.
+Grayson."
+
+She pointed to the station platform, where the two brown heads were
+still not far apart.
+
+"Without a word you left the woman that you are going to marry to look
+at a lot of cattle."
+
+"Why, Sylvia is only a child, an' we've been used to each other for
+years. She understands."
+
+"Yes, she will understand, or she isn't a woman," said Mrs. Grayson, and
+if possible the biting irony of her tone increased. "You will see, too,
+Mr. William Plummer, that one man at least did not neglect her for the
+sake of some dusty cattle."
+
+Mr. Plummer stared again at the pair on the platform, and a mingled look
+of pain and apprehension came into his eyes.
+
+"You surely can't mean anything of that kind! Why, little Sylvia has
+promised--"
+
+"All things are possible, Mr. Plummer. My husband is a lawyer, and I
+have heard him quote often a maxim of the law which runs something like
+this, 'He must keep who can.'"
+
+She turned away and would not have another word to say to him then,
+leaving Mr. Plummer in much perplexity and trouble.
+
+Mrs. Grayson herself was in a similar perplexity and trouble throughout
+the day. Her doubts about the letter she had written to "King" Plummer
+increased. Perhaps it would have been wiser to let affairs take their
+own course. The sight of the two brown heads and the two young faces on
+the station platform had made her very thoughtful, and she drew
+comparisons with "King" Plummer; there might be days in autumn which
+resembled those of spring, but it was only a fleeting resemblance,
+because autumn was itself, with its own coloring, its own fruits, and
+its own days, and nothing could turn it into spring. "I will not meddle
+again," she resolved, and then her mind was taken off the matter by an
+incident in her husband's progress. In Nebraska the men left the train
+for a few days, travelling by carriage, and here occurred the event
+which created a great stir in its time.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+JIMMY GRAYSON'S SPELL
+
+
+A night, after a beautiful, brown October day, came on dark and rainy,
+with fierce winds off the Rocky Mountains; and Harley, who was in the
+first carriage with the candidate, could barely see the heads of the
+horses, gently rising and falling as they splashed through the mud.
+Behind him he heard faintly the sound of wheels amid the wind and rain,
+and he knew that the other correspondents and the politicians, who
+always hung on the trail of Jimmy Grayson, shifting according to
+locality, were following their leader in single file.
+
+Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia had remained on the special car, and expected to
+join them on the following day, although Sylvia was quite prepared to
+take the carriage journey across the country and dare all the risks of
+the darkness and possible bad weather. Indeed, with the fine spirit of
+the West and her own natural high courage, she wanted to go, saying that
+she could stand as much as a man, and only Mrs. Grayson's refusal to
+accompany her and the consequent lack of a chaperone compelled her to
+abandon the idea. Now Harley and Mr. Grayson were very glad that she was
+not out in the storm.
+
+Although the hood of the carriage was down and the collar of Harley's
+heavy coat was turned up to his ears, the cold rain, lashed by the
+wind, struck him in the face now and then.
+
+"You don't do anything by halves out here on these Western plains," he
+said.
+
+"No," replied Jimmy Grayson, "we don't deal in disguises; when we're hot
+we're hot, and when we're cold we're cold. Now, after a perfect day,
+we're having the wildest kind of a night. It's our way."
+
+It was then ten o'clock, and they had expected to reach Speedwell at
+midnight, crossing the Platte River on the big wooden bridge; but the
+rain, the darkness, and the singularly sticky quality of the black
+Nebraska mud would certainly delay them until one o'clock in the
+morning, and possibly much later. It was not a cheerful prospect for
+tired and sleepy men.
+
+"Mr. Grayson," said Harley, "without seeking to discredit you, I wish I
+had gone to another war instead of coming out here with you. That would
+have been less wearing."
+
+The candidate laughed.
+
+"But you are seeing the West as few men from New York ever see it," he
+said.
+
+The driver turned, and a little stream of water ran off his hat-brim
+into Harley's face.
+
+"It's the wind that holds us back, Mr. Grayson," he said; "if we leave
+the road and cut across the prairie on the hard ground it will save at
+least an hour."
+
+"By all means, turn out at once," said the candidate, "and the others
+will follow."
+
+"Wise driver; considerate man!" remarked Harley.
+
+There was marked relief the moment the wheels of the carriage struck the
+brown grass. They rolled easily once more, and the off horse, lifting up
+his head, neighed cheerfully.
+
+"It means midnight, and not later, Harley," said the candidate, in a
+reassuring tone.
+
+Harley leaned back in his seat, and trusted all now to the wise and
+considerate driver who had proposed such a plan. The night was just as
+black as a hat, and the wind and rain moaned over the bleak and lonesome
+plains. They were far out in Nebraska, and, although they were near the
+Platte River, it was one of the most thinly inhabited sections of the
+state. They had not seen a light since leaving the last speaking-place
+at sundown. Harley wondered at the courage of the pioneers who crossed
+the great plains amid such a vast loneliness. He and the candidate were
+tired, and soon ceased to talk. The driver confined his attention to his
+business. Harley fell into a doze, from which he was awakened after a
+while by the sudden stoppage of the carriage. The candidate awoke at the
+same time. The rain had decreased, there was a partial moonlight, and
+the driver was turning upon them a shamefaced countenance.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the candidate.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Mr. Grayson," replied the driver, in an
+apologetic tone. "I've gone wrong somehow or other, and I don't know
+just where we're at."
+
+"Lost?" said Harley.
+
+"If you wish to put it that way, I reckon you're right," said the
+driver, with a touch of offence.
+
+"What has become of the other carriages?" asked Harley, looking back for
+them.
+
+"I reckon they didn't see us when we turned out, and they kept on along
+the road."
+
+There was no doubt about the plight into which they had got themselves.
+The plain seemed no less lonely than it was before the white man came.
+
+"What's that line of trees across yonder?" asked the candidate.
+
+"I guess it marks where the Platte runs," replied the driver.
+
+"Then drive to it; if we follow the trees we must reach the bridge, and
+then things will be simple."
+
+The driver became more cheerful, the rain ceased and the moonlight
+increased; but Harley lacked confidence. He had a deep distrust of the
+Platte River. It seemed to him the most ridiculous stream in the United
+States, making a presumptuous claim upon the map, and flowing often in a
+channel a mile wide with only a foot of water. But he feared the marshes
+and quicksands that bordered its shallow course.
+
+They reached the line of gaunt trees, dripping with water and whipped by
+the wind, and Harley's fears were justified. The river was there, but
+they could not approach it, lest they be swallowed up in the sand, and
+they turned back upon the prairie.
+
+"We must find a house," said the candidate; "if it comes to the pinch we
+can pass the night in the carriage, but I don't like to sleep sitting."
+
+They bore away from the river, driving at random, and after an hour saw
+a faint light under the dusky horizon.
+
+"The lone settler!" exclaimed Harley, who began to cherish fond
+anticipations of a bed. "Go straight for it, driver."
+
+The driver was not loath, and even the horses, seeming to have renewed
+hope, changed their sluggish walk to a trot. They had no hesitation in
+seeking shelter at that hour, entire strangers though they were, such an
+act being in perfect accordance with the laws of Western hospitality.
+
+As they approached, a bare wooden house, unprotected by trees, rose out
+of the plain. A wire fence enclosed a half-acre or so about it, and
+apparently there had been a few rather futile attempts to make a lawn.
+
+"Looks cheerless," said Harley.
+
+"But it holds beds," said the candidate.
+
+"You save your voice," said Harley; "I'll call the farmer, and I hope it
+will be a man who can speak English, and not some new Russian or
+Bohemian citizen."
+
+He sprang out of the carriage, glad to relieve himself from his cramped
+and stiff position, and walked towards the little gate in the wire
+fence. There was a sudden rush of light feet, a stream of fierce barks
+and snarls, and Harley sprang back in alarm as two large bull-dogs,
+red-mouthed, flung themselves against the fence.
+
+"I said you had no cause to regret that war," called the candidate from
+the carriage.
+
+The wires were strong, and they held the dogs; but the animals hung to
+the fence, as fierce as wolves; and Harley, lifting up his voice, added
+to the chorus with a "Hi! Hi! Mr. Farmer! Strangers want to stop with
+you!"
+
+The din was tremendous, and presently a window in the second story was
+shoved up, and a man, fully dressed, carrying a long-barrelled rifle in
+his hands, appeared at it. He called to the dogs, which ceased at once
+their barking and snarling, and then he gazed down at the intruders in
+no friendly manner. Harley saw him clearly, a tall, gaunt old man,
+white-haired, but muscular and strong. He held the rifle as if he were
+ready to use it--a most unusual thing in this part of the country, where
+householders seldom kept fire-arms.
+
+"What do you want?" he called, in a sharp, high voice.
+
+"Beds!" cried Harley. "We are lost, and if you don't take us in we'll
+have to sleep on the prairie, which is a trifle damp."
+
+"Waal, I 'low it hez rained a right smart," said the old man, grimly.
+
+Harley noticed at once the man's use of "right smart," an expression
+with which he had been familiar in another part of the country, and it
+encouraged him. He was sure now of hospitality.
+
+"Who are you?" the old man called.
+
+"Mr. Grayson, the nominee for President of the United States, is in the
+carriage, and I am his friend, one of the newspaper correspondents
+travelling with him."
+
+"Wait a minute."
+
+The window was closed, and in a few moments the old man came out at the
+front door. He carried the rifle on his shoulder, but Harley attributed
+the fact to his haste at the mention of Jimmy Grayson's name.
+
+"My name is Simpson--Daniel Simpson," he said, hospitably. "Tell the
+driver to put the horses in the barn."
+
+He waved his hand towards a low building in the rear of his residence,
+and then he invited the candidate and the correspondent to enter. He
+looked curiously, but with reverence, at the candidate.
+
+"You are really Jimmy Grayson," he said. "I'd know you off-hand by your
+picture, which I guess hez been printed in ev'ry newspaper in the United
+States. I 'low it's a powerful honor to me to hev you here."
+
+"And it's a tremendous accommodation to us for you to take us," said
+Jimmy Grayson, with his usual easy grace.
+
+But Harley was looking at Simpson with a gaze no less intent than the
+old man had bent upon Grayson. The accent and inflection of the host
+were of a region far distant from Nebraska, but Harley, who was born
+near that wild country, knew the long, lean, narrow type of face, with
+the high cheek-bones and the watchful black eyes. Moreover, there was
+something directly and personally familiar in the figure before him.
+
+Under any circumstances the manner of the old man would have drawn the
+attention of Harley, whose naturally keen observation was sharpened by
+the training of his profession. The old man seemed abstracted. His
+fingers moved absently on the stock of his rifle, and Harley inferred at
+once that he had something of unusual weight on his mind.
+
+"Me an' the ol' woman hev been settin' late," said Simpson. "When you
+git ol' you don't sleep much. But it'll be a long time, Mr. Grayson,
+before that fits you."
+
+He led the way into a room better furnished than Harley had expected to
+see. A coal fire smouldered on the hearth, and the arrangement of the
+room showed some evidences of refinement and taste. An old woman was
+bent over the fire, but she rose when the men entered, and turned upon
+them a face which Harley knew at once to be that of one who had been
+frightened by something. Her eyes were red, as if she had been weeping.
+Harley looked from host to hostess with curious glance, but he was still
+silent.
+
+"This is Marthy, my wife, gen'lemen," said Simpson. "Marthy, this is Mr.
+Grayson, the greatest man in this here United States, and the other is
+one of the newspaper fellers that travels with him."
+
+Jimmy Grayson bowed with great courtesy, and apologized so gracefully
+for the intrusion that an ordinary person would have been glad to be
+intruded upon in such a manner. The woman said nothing, but stared
+vacantly at her guests. The old man came to her relief.
+
+"Marthy ain't used to visitors, least of all a man like you, Mr.
+Grayson, and it kind o' upsets her," he said. "You see, Marthy an' me
+lives here all by ourselves."
+
+The woman started and looked at him.
+
+"All by ourselves," repeated the man, firmly; "but we'll do the best we
+kin."
+
+"Daniel," suddenly exclaimed the old woman, in high, shrill tones, "why
+don't you put down your gun? Mr. Grayson'll think you're a-goin' to
+shoot him."
+
+The old man laughed, but the ever-watchful Harley saw that the laugh was
+not spontaneous.
+
+"I 'clar' to gracious," he said, "I clean forgot I had old Deadeye. You
+see, Mr. Grayson, when I heerd the dogs barkin', sez I to myself 'it's
+robbers, shore'; and before I h'ists the window up-stairs I reaches old
+Deadeye off the hooks, and then, if it had 'a' been robbers, it wouldn't
+'a' been healthy for 'em."
+
+"I'm sure of that, Mr. Simpson," said Jimmy Grayson; "you don't look
+like a man who would allow himself to be run over."
+
+"An' I wouldn't," said the old man, with sudden, fierce emphasis. But he
+put the rifle on the hooks over the fireplace. Such hooks as these were
+not usual in Nebraska; but Jimmy Grayson was too polite to say anything,
+and Harley was still watching every movement of the old man. The driver
+returned at this moment from the stable, and, reporting that he had fed
+the horses, took his place with the others at the fire.
+
+"I 'low you-uns would like to eat a little," said the old man, laughing
+in the same unnatural way. "Marthy, tote in suthin' from the kitchen as
+quick as you kin."
+
+The old woman raised her startled, frightened eyes, and for a moment her
+glance met Harley's; it seemed to him to be full of entreaty; the whole
+atmosphere of the place was to him tense, strained, and tragic; why, he
+did not know, but he shook himself and decided that it was only the
+result of weariness, the long ride, and the night in the storm.
+Nevertheless, the feeling did not depart because he willed that it
+should go.
+
+"No, we thank you," Jimmy Grayson was saying; "we are not hungry; but we
+should like very much to go to bed."
+
+"It's jest with you," said Simpson. "Marthy, I'll show the gen'lemen to
+their room, and you kin stay here till I come back."
+
+The old woman did not speak, but stood in a crouched attitude looking at
+Grayson and then at Harley and then at the driver; it seemed to the
+correspondent that she did not dare trust her voice, and he saw fear
+still lurking in her eyes.
+
+"Come along, gen'lemen," said Simpson, taking from the table a small
+lamp, that had been lighted at their entrance, and leading the way.
+
+Harley glanced back once at the door, and the woman's eyes met his in a
+look that was like one last despairing appeal. But there was nothing
+tangible, nothing that he could not say was the result of an overwrought
+fancy.
+
+It was a small and bare room, with only a single bed, to which the old
+man took them. "It's the best I've got," he said, apologetically. "Mr.
+Grayson, you an' the newspaper man kin sleep in the bed, an' t'other
+feller, I reckon, kin curl up on the floor."
+
+"It is good enough for anybody," said Jimmy Grayson, gallantly. As a
+matter of fact, both he and Harley had known what it was to fare worse.
+
+"Good-night," the man said, and left them rather hastily, Harley
+thought; but the others took no notice, and were soon in sound slumber,
+the candidate because he had the rare power of going to sleep whenever
+there was a chance, and the driver because he was indifferent and tired.
+
+But Harley lay awake. An hour ago his dream of heaven was a bed, and
+now, the bed attained, sleep would not come near. Out of the stillness,
+after a while, he heard the gentle moving of feet below, and he sat up
+on the bed, all his suspicions confirmed. Something unusual was going on
+in this lone house! And it had been going on even before he and the
+candidate came!
+
+He listened to the moving feet for a few moments. Then the noise ceased,
+but Harley knew that there was no further chance of sleep for him, with
+his nerves on edge, and likely to remain there. He lay back on the edge
+of the bed, trying to accustom his eyes to the darkness, and presently
+he heard a sound, the most chilling that a man can hear. It was the
+sound of a woman, alone and in the dark, between midnight and morning,
+crying gently, but crying deeply, uncontrollably, and from her chest.
+
+Harley's resolve was taken at once. He slipped on his clothes and went
+to the door. His eyes were used now to the dark, and there was a window
+that shed a half-light.
+
+He stopped with his hand on the bolt, because he heard the low, wailing
+note more plainly, and he was sure that it came from another room
+across the narrow hall. He turned the bolt, but the door refused to
+open. There was no key on the inside! They had been locked in, and for a
+purpose!
+
+Harley was fully aroused--on edge with excitement, but able to restrain
+it and to think clearly. There was an old grate in the room, apparently
+used but seldom, and, leaning against the wall beside it, an iron poker.
+Tiptoeing, he obtained the poker and returned to the door. The lock was
+a flimsy affair, and, inserting the point of the poker under the catch,
+he easily pried it off and put it gently on the floor.
+
+Then he stepped out into the dusky hall and listened. The woman was yet
+crying, monotonously, but with such a note of woe that Harley was
+shaken. He had thought in his own room that it was the old woman who
+wept thus; but now in the hall he knew it to be a younger and fresher
+voice.
+
+He saw farther down another door, and he knew that it led to the room
+from which came the sounds of grief. He approached it cautiously, still
+holding the poker in his hands, and noticed that there was no key in the
+lock. The woman, whoever she might be, was locked in, as he and his
+comrades had been; but the empty keyhole gave him an idea. He blew
+through it, making a sort of whistling sound with his puckered lips. The
+crying ceased, all save an occasional low, half-smothered sob, as if the
+woman were making a supreme effort to control her feelings.
+
+Then Harley put his lips to the keyhole again and whispered: "What is
+the matter? It is a friend who asks." There was no reply, only a tense
+silence, even the occasional sobs ceasing. Then, after a few moments of
+waiting, Harley whispered, "Don't be alarmed; I am about to force the
+door."
+
+The door was of flimsy pine, and it gave quickly to the poker's
+leverage. Then, this useful weapon still in hand, Harley stepped into
+the room, where he heard a deep-drawn sigh that expressed mingled
+emotions.
+
+There was a window at the end of the room, and the moonlight shone
+clearly through, clothing with its full radiance a tall, slim girl, who
+had risen from a chair, and who stood trembling before Harley, fully
+dressed, although her long hair hung down her back and her eyes were red
+with weeping.
+
+She was handsome, but not with the broad face of the West. Hers was
+another type, a type that Harley knew well. The cheek-bones were a
+little high, the features delicate, the figure slender, and there was on
+her cheeks a rosy bloom that never grew under the cutting winds of the
+great plains.
+
+Harley knew at once that she was the daughter of the old couple below
+stairs.
+
+"Do not be afraid of me," he said, gently. "I know that you are in great
+trouble, but I will help you. I, too, am from Kentucky. I was born
+there, and I used to live there, though not in the mountains, as you
+did."
+
+The appeal and terror in her eyes changed to momentary surprise. "What
+do you know of me?" she exclaimed.
+
+"Very little of you, but more of your father. Years ago I was at his
+house in the Kentucky mountains. He was a leader in the Simpson-Eversley
+feud. I knew him to-night, but I have said nothing. Now, tell me, what
+is the matter?"
+
+His voice was soothing--that of a strong man who would protect, and the
+girl yielded to its influence. Brokenly she told the story. Many men had
+been killed in the feud, and the few Eversleys who were left had been
+scattered far in the mountains. Then old Daniel Simpson said that he
+would come out on the Great Plains, more than a thousand miles, and they
+had come.
+
+"There was one of the Eversleys--Henry Eversley--he was young and
+handsome. People said he was not bad. He, too, came to Nebraska. He
+found out where we lived; he has been here."
+
+"Ah!" said Harley. He felt that they were coming to the gist of the
+matter.
+
+The girl, with a sudden passionate cry, threw herself upon her knees.
+"He is here now! He is here now!" she cried. "He is in the cellar, bound
+and gagged, and my father is going to kill him! But I love him! He came
+here to-night, and my father caught us together, and struck him down.
+But we meant nothing wrong. I declare before God that we did not! We
+were getting ready to run away together and to be married at Speedwell!"
+
+Harley shuddered. The impending tragedy was more terrible than he had
+feared.
+
+"You can do nothing!" exclaimed the girl. "My father is armed. He will
+have no interference! He cares nothing for what may come after! He
+thinks--"
+
+She could not say it all; but Harley knew well that what she would say
+was, "He thinks that he has been robbed of his honor by a mortal enemy."
+
+"Can you stay quietly in this room until morning?" he asked. "I know it
+is hard to wait under such circumstances, but you must do it for the
+sake of Henry Eversley."
+
+"And will you save him?"
+
+"He shall be saved."
+
+"I will wait," she said.
+
+Harley slipped noiselessly out, and, closing the door behind him, went
+to his room, where he at once awakened the candidate.
+
+Jimmy Grayson listened with intense attention to Harley's story. When
+the tale was over, he and Harley whispered together long and earnestly,
+and Jimmy Grayson frequently nodded his head in assent. Then they awoke
+the driver, a heavy man, but with a keen Western mind that at once
+became alert at the news of danger.
+
+"Yes, I got my bearings now," he said, in reply to a question of
+Harley's. "I asked the old fellow about it when I came up from the
+stable, and Speedwell is straight north from here. I can take one of the
+horses and hit the town before daylight. I know everybody there."
+
+"But how about the dogs?" asked Jimmy Grayson. "Can you get past them?"
+
+"No trouble there at all. After we came, the old fellow locked 'em up in
+a stall in the stable and left 'em there. I guess he didn't want to look
+to us as if he was too suspicious."
+
+"Then go, and God go with you!" said Jimmy Grayson, with deep feeling.
+
+The driver left at once, not by the stairway, near the foot of which the
+old man might be watching, but by a much simpler road. He raised the
+window of the room and swung out, sustained by Jimmy Grayson's powerful
+arms until his feet were within a yard of the ground. Then he dropped,
+ran lightly across the lawn, sprang over the wire fence, and soon
+disappeared in the grove where the girl had said that the horses were
+waiting. Jimmy Grayson closed the window with a deep sigh of relief.
+
+"He will do his part," he said; "now for ours."
+
+He did not seek to sleep again, and Harley could not think of it. One
+task occupied him a little while--the replacing of the lock on the
+door--but after that the hours passed heavily and in silence. The flush
+of dawn appeared in the east at last, and then they heard a faint step
+in the hall outside and the gentle turning of a key in a lock. Jimmy
+Grayson and Harley looked at each other and smiled grimly, but they said
+nothing. A half-hour later there was a loud knock on their door, and old
+Daniel Simpson bade them rise and get ready for breakfast.
+
+"It is chiefly in your hands now," said Harley, in a low tone to Jimmy
+Grayson.
+
+"We'll be down in a few minutes, and we have had a good night's sleep,
+for which we thank you," he called to the old man.
+
+"You're welcome to it," replied Simpson. "You'll find water and towels
+on the porch down-stairs, and then you can come straight in to
+breakfast."
+
+They heard his step passing down the hall to the stairway, where it died
+away, and then they dressed deliberately. On the porch they found the
+water and towels as Simpson had said, and bathed and rubbed their faces.
+A golden sun was just rising from the prairie, and beads of water from
+the night's rain sparkled on the trees and grass. The wind came out of
+the southwest, fresh and glorious.
+
+They entered the dining-room, where the breakfast smoked on the table,
+and the old man and his wife were waiting. Harley could not see that
+they had changed in appearance in the morning glow. Simpson was still
+rugged and grim, while the woman yet cowered and now and then raised
+terrified and appealing eyes.
+
+"Whar's your driver?" asked Simpson.
+
+"He has gone down to the stable to feed and care for his horses,"
+replied the candidate, easily. "He's a very careful man, always looks
+after his horses before he looks after himself. He told us not to wait
+for him, as he'll be along directly."
+
+"Then be seated," said the old man, hospitably. "We've got corn-bread
+and ham-and-eggs and coffee, an' I guess you kin make out."
+
+"I should think so," said Jimmy Grayson. "Why, if I had not been as
+hungry as a wolf already, it would make me hungry just to look at it."
+
+The three sat down at the table, while Mrs. Simpson served them, going
+back and forth to the little kitchen adjoining for fresh supplies of hot
+food. Mr. Grayson did most of the talking, and it was addressed in an
+easy, confidential manner to old Daniel Simpson. The candidate's gift of
+conversational talk was equal to his gift of platform oratory, but never
+before had Harley known him to be so interesting and so attractive. He
+fairly radiated with the quality called personal magnetism, and soon the
+old man ate mechanically, while his attention was riveted on Jimmy
+Grayson. But by-and-by he seemed to remember something.
+
+"That driver of yourn is tarnal slow," he said; "he ought to be comin'
+in to breakfast."
+
+"You have diagnosed his chief fault," said Jimmy Grayson, with an easy
+laugh. "He is slow, extremely slow, but he will be along directly, and
+he doesn't mind cold victuals."
+
+Then he turned back to the easy flow of anecdote, chiefly about his
+political campaign, and Harley saw that the interest of the old man was
+centred upon him. The woman, without a word, brought in hot biscuits
+from the kitchen, but she did not lose her frightened look, glancing
+from one to another of the three with furtive, lowered eyes. But Jimmy
+Grayson, the golden-mouthed, talked gracefully, and the note of his
+discourse that morning was the sweetness and kindness of life; he saw
+only the sunny side of things; people were good and true, and peace was
+better than strife. His smiling, benevolent face and the mellow flow of
+his words enforced the lesson.
+
+The old man's face softened a little, and even Harley, though a prey to
+anxieties, felt the influence of Jimmy Grayson's spell. The little
+dining-room where they sat was at the rear of the house. Harley saw the
+golden sunshine of a perfect October day, and the wind that sang across
+the plain had the soft strain of a girl's voice. He felt that it was
+good to live that morning, and his spirits rose as he saw the old man
+fall further and further under the spell of Jimmy Grayson's eloquence.
+
+But Simpson raised himself presently and glanced at the door.
+
+"That driver of yourn is tarnal slow," he repeated. "Seems to me he'll
+never finish feedin' an' curryin' them horses!"
+
+"He is slow, extremely slow," laughed Jimmy Grayson. "If he were not so
+we should not have got lost last night, and we should not be here now,
+Mr. Simpson, trespassing on your hospitality. Perhaps the man does not
+want any breakfast; it's not the first time since he's been with us that
+he's gone without it."
+
+Then he launched again into the stream of a very pretty story that he
+had been telling, and the wavering attention of the old man returned.
+Harley gave all assistance. Despite his anxiety and his listening for
+sounds without, he kept his eyes fixed upon Jimmy Grayson's face as if
+he would not miss a word.
+
+The breakfast went on to an unusual length. The candidate and Harley
+called again and again for hot biscuits and more coffee, and always the
+old woman served them silently, almost furtively.
+
+The story was finished, and just as it came to its end Simpson said,
+with a grim inflection:
+
+"It 'pears to me, Mr. Grayson, all you said about that driver of yourn
+is true. He hasn't come from the stable yet."
+
+There was the sound of a step in the hall, and the candidate said,
+quickly:
+
+"He's coming now; he'll be in presently, as soon as he washes his hands
+and face on the porch. No, sit down, Mr. Simpson; he needs no
+directions. We were speaking of the sacrifices that people make for one
+another, and it reminds me of a very pretty story that I must tell you."
+
+The old man sank into his chair, but his look wandered to the door. It
+seemed to Harley that light sounds came from the other part of the
+house, and the old man, too, seemed for a moment to be listening, but
+Jimmy Grayson at once began his story, and Simpson's attention came
+back.
+
+"This is a story of the mountains of eastern Kentucky," began the
+candidate, "and it is a love story--a very pretty one, I think."
+
+Simpson moved in his chair, and a sudden wondering look appeared in his
+eyes at the words "eastern Kentucky." The old woman, too, slightly
+raised her bent form and gazed eagerly at the candidate. But Jimmy
+Grayson took no notice, and continued.
+
+"This," he said, "is the love story of two people who were young then,
+but who are old now. Yet I am sure there is much affection and
+tenderness in their hearts, and often they must think fondly of those
+old days. The youth lived on the side of a mountain, and the girl lived
+on the side of another mountain not far away. He was tall, strong, and
+brave; she, too, was tall, as slender as one of the mountain saplings,
+with glorious brown hair and eyes, and a voice as musical as a mountain
+echo. Well, they met and they loved, loved truly and deeply. It might
+seem that the way was easy now for them to marry and go to a house of
+their own, but it was not. There was a bar."
+
+"A feud!" breathed the old man. The old woman put her hands to her eyes.
+
+"Yes, a feud; they seem strange things to us here, but to those distant
+people in the mountains they seem the most natural thing in the world.
+The youth and the girl belonged to families that were at war with each
+other, and marriage between them would have been considered by all their
+relatives a mortal sin."
+
+The old man's eyes were fastened upon Jimmy Grayson's, but his look for
+the moment was distant, as if it were held by old memories. The woman
+was crying softly. Again the soft shuffle of feet in the other part of
+the house came to Harley's ears, but the old couple did not hear; the
+driver was forgotten; for all Simpson and his wife remembered, he might
+still be finishing his morning toilet on the porch.
+
+"They were compelled to meet in secret," continued Jimmy Grayson, "but
+the girl was frightened for him because she loved him. She told him that
+he must go away, that if her father and brothers heard of their meetings
+they would kill him; it was impossible for them to marry, but she loved
+him, she would never deny that. He listened to her gently and tenderly;
+he was a brave youth, as I have said, and he would not go away. He said
+that God had made them for each other, and she should be his wife; he
+would not go away; he was not afraid."
+
+"No, I was not afraid," breathed the old man, softly. The old woman had
+straightened herself up until she stood erect. There was a delicate
+flush on her face, and her eyes were luminous.
+
+"This youth was a hero, a gallant and chivalrous gentleman," continued
+Jimmy Grayson; "he loved the girl, and she loved him; there was no real
+reason in the world why they should not marry, and he was resolved that
+there should be none."
+
+The candidate's head was bent forward over his plate. His face was
+slightly flushed, and his burning eyes held Simpson's. Harley saw that
+he thrilled with his own story and the crisis for which it was told.
+Elsewhere in the building the faint noises went on, but Harley alone
+heard.
+
+"The youth did what I would have done and what you would have done, Mr.
+Simpson," continued Jimmy Grayson. "He did what nature and sense
+dictated. He overbore all resistance on the part of the girl, who in her
+heart was willing to be overborne. One dark night he stole her from her
+father's house and carried her away on his horse."
+
+"How well I remember it!" exclaimed the old man, with eyes a-gleam. "I
+had Marthy on the horse behind me, and my rifle on the pommel of the
+saddle before me."
+
+The old woman cried softly, but it seemed to Harley that the note of her
+weeping was not grief.
+
+"He stole her away," continued Jimmy Grayson, "and before morning they
+were married. Then he took her to a house of his own, and he sent word
+that if any man came to do them harm he would meet a rifle bullet. They
+knew that he was the best shot in the mountains, and that he was without
+fear, so they did not come. And that youth and that girl are still
+living, though both are old now, but neither has ever for a moment
+regretted that night."
+
+"You speak the truth," exclaimed the old man, striking his fist upon the
+table, while his eyes flashed with exultant fire. "We've never been
+sorry for a moment for what we did, hev we Marthy?"
+
+Harley had risen to his feet, and a signal look passed between him and
+the candidate.
+
+"And then," said Jimmy Grayson, "why do you deny to Henry Eversley the
+right to do what you did, and what you still glory in after all these
+years? Mr. Simpson, shake hands with your new son-in-law. He and his
+bride are waiting in the doorway."
+
+The old man sprang to his feet. His daughter and a youth, a handsome
+couple, stood at the entrance. Behind them were three or four men, one
+the driver, and another in clerical garb, evidently a minister.
+
+"They were married in your front parlor while we sat at breakfast," said
+Jimmy Grayson. "Mr. Simpson, your son-in-law is still offering you his
+hand."
+
+The bewildered look left the old man's eyes, and he took the
+outstretched hand in a hearty grasp.
+
+"Henry," he said, "you've won."
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE "KING'S" REQUEST
+
+
+An hour later the candidate, Harley, and the driver were on the way to
+the town at which they had intended to pass the preceding night. With
+ample instructions and a brilliant morning sunlight there was no further
+trouble about the direction, and they pursued their way in peace.
+
+The air was crisp and blowy, and the earth, new-washed by the rain, took
+on some of the tints of spring green, despite the lateness of the
+season. Harley, relaxed from the tension of the night before, leaned
+back in his seat and enjoyed the tonic breeze. No one of the three had
+much to say; all were in meditation, and the quiet and loneliness of the
+morning seemed to promote musing. They drove some miles across the
+rolling prairie without seeing a single house, but at last the driver
+pointed to a flickering patch of gold on the western horizon.
+
+"That," said he, "is the weather-vane on the cupola of the new
+court-house, and in another hour we'll be in town. I guess your people
+will be glad to see you, Mr. Grayson."
+
+"And I shall be glad to see them," said the candidate. A few minutes
+later he turned to the correspondent.
+
+"Harley," he asked, "will you send anything to your paper about last
+night?"
+
+"I have to do so," replied Harley, with a slight note of apology in his
+tone--this had not been his personal doing. "For a presidential
+candidate to get lost on the prairie in the dark and the storm, and then
+spend the night in a house in which only his presence of mind and
+eloquence prevent a murder, that is news--news of the first importance
+and the deepest interest. I am bound not only to send a despatch about
+it, but the despatch must be very long and full. And I suppose, too,
+that I shall have to tell it to the other fellows when we reach the
+town."
+
+The candidate sighed.
+
+"I know you are right," he said, "but I wish you did not have to do it.
+The story puts me in a sensational light. It seems as if I were turning
+aside from the great issues of a campaign for personal adventure."
+
+"It was forced upon you."
+
+"So it was, but that fact does not take from it the sensational look."
+
+Harley was silent. He knew that Mr. Grayson's point was well made, but
+he knew also that he must send the despatch.
+
+The candidate made no further reference to the subject, and five minutes
+later they saw horsemen rise out of the plain and gallop towards them.
+As Harley had said, a presidential nominee was not lost in the dark and
+the storm every night, and this little Western town was mightily
+perturbed when Mr. Grayson failed to arrive. The others had come in
+safely, but already all the morning newspapers of the country had
+published the fact that the candidate was lost, swallowed up somewhere
+on the dark prairie. And Mr. Grayson's instinct was correct, too,
+because mingled with the wonder and speculation was much criticism. It
+was boldly said in certain supercilious circles that he had probably
+turned aside on an impulse to look after some minor matter, perhaps
+something that was purely personal that had nothing to do with the
+campaign. Churchill, late the night before, had sent to the _Monitor_ a
+despatch written in his most censorious manner, in that vein of
+reluctant condemnation that so well suited his sense of superiority. He
+was loath to admit that the candidate was proving inadequate to his high
+position, but the circumstances indicated it, and the proof was becoming
+cumulative. He also sent a telegram to the Honorable Mr. Goodnight, in
+New York, and the burden of it was the need of a restraining force, a
+force near at hand, and able to meet every evil with instant cure.
+
+But the Western horsemen who met Jimmy Grayson--they clung to their
+affectionate "Jimmy"--were swayed by no such emotions. They repeated a
+shout of welcome, and wanted to know how and where he had passed the
+night, to all of which questions the candidate, with easy humor,
+returned ready and truthful replies, although he did not say anything
+for the present about the adventure of the old man and of the young one
+who was now the old one's son-in-law.
+
+The driver took them straight towards a large and attractive hotel, and
+it seemed to Harley that half the population of the town was out to see
+the triumphant entry of the candidate. With all the attention of the
+crowd centred upon one man, Harley was able to slip quietly through the
+dense ranks and enter the hotel, where he fell at once into the hands of
+Sylvia Morgan. She came forward to meet him, impulsively holding out
+her hands, the light of welcome sparkling in her eyes.
+
+"We did not know what had become of you," she exclaimed. "We feared that
+you had got lost in the quicksands of the river." And then, with a
+sudden flush, she added, somewhat lamely, "We are all so glad that Uncle
+James has got back safely."
+
+Harley had read undeniable relief and welcome in her eyes, and it gave
+him a peculiar thrill, a thrill at first of absolute and unthinking joy,
+followed at once by a little catch. Before him rose the square and
+massive vision of "King" Plummer, and he had an undefined sense of doing
+wrong.
+
+"We've brought him back safely," he said, after slight hesitation. "We
+spent the night very comfortably in a farm-house on the prairie."
+
+She noticed his hesitation, and her eyes became eager.
+
+"I do believe that you have had an adventure," she exclaimed. "I know
+that you have; I know by your look. You must tell it to me at once."
+
+"We have had an adventure," admitted Harley, "and there is no reason why
+I shouldn't tell you of it, as in a few hours a long account of it
+written by me will be going eastward."
+
+"I am waiting."
+
+Harley began at once with his narrative, and they became absorbed in it,
+he in the telling and she in the hearing. While he talked and she
+listened "King" Plummer approached. Now the "King" in these later few
+days had begun to study the ways of women, in so far as his limited
+experience enabled him to do so, a task to which he had never turned his
+attention before in his life. But the words of Mrs. Grayson rankled;
+they kept him unhappy, they disturbed his self-satisfaction, and made
+him apprehensive for the future. He had been in the crowd that welcomed
+Jimmy Grayson, he had shaken the candidate's hand effusively, and now,
+when he entered the hotel, he found Sylvia Morgan welcoming John Harley.
+
+"King" Plummer did not like what he saw; it gave him his second shock,
+and he paused to examine the two with a yellow eye, and a mind reluctant
+to admit certain facts, among them the most obvious one, that they were
+a handsome couple, and of an age. And this was a fact that did not give
+the "King" pleasure. He did not dislike Harley; instead, he appreciated
+his good qualities, but just then he regarded him with an unfriendly
+glance; that reality of youth annoyed him. There was a glass on the
+other side of the room, and the "King" looked at his own reflection. He
+saw a large, powerful head and broad, strong features, the whole
+expressing a man at the height of his powers, at the very flood-tide of
+his strength. But it was not young. The hair was iron-gray, and there
+were many deep lines in the face--not unhandsome lines, yet they were
+lines.
+
+"With all his shameless youth," were the "King's" unuttered thoughts, "I
+could beat him at anything, except, perhaps, scribbling. I could live
+and prosper where he would starve to death." And surging upon the "King"
+came the memories of his long, triumphant, and joyous struggle with wild
+nature. Then he approached the couple, and greeted Harley with the
+good-nature that was really a part of him. Sylvia, with shining eyes,
+told at second hand, though not with diminished effect, the story of the
+night, and "King" Plummer was loud in his applause. He did not care
+what criticism the supercilious might make, the act was to him
+spontaneous and natural.
+
+"But I don't see why you should have been with Jimmy Grayson then," he
+said, frankly, to Harley. "You are an Easterner, new to these parts, and
+it isn't right that just you should be along when the interestin' things
+happen."
+
+Harley could not help laughing at the naive remark, but he liked "King"
+Plummer all the better for it. The "King," however, gave him no more
+chance to talk alone that day with Sylvia. Mr. Plummer showed the
+greatest regard for Miss Morgan's health and comfort, and did not try to
+hide his solicitude; he was continually about her, arranging little
+conveniences for the journey, and introducing Idaho topics, familiar to
+them, but to which Harley was necessarily a stranger. The "King," with
+his wide sense of Western hospitality, would not have done this at
+another time, but in view of the close relationship between himself and
+Sylvia he regarded it as pardonable.
+
+The watchful Mrs. Grayson saw it all, and at first she regarded the
+"King" with an approving eye, but by-and-by the approval changed to a
+frown. There was something forced in his manner; it was just the least
+bit unconvincing. It was clear to her that he was overdoing it, and in
+her opinion that was as bad as not doing it at all. Nor did she like the
+spectacle of a middle-aged man of affairs trying to play the gallant;
+there was another manner, one just as good, that would become him more.
+She was impelled to admonish him again, but she restrained herself,
+reflecting that she had not improved matters by her first warning, and
+she might make them worse by her second. Nevertheless, she summoned the
+nominee of a great party to the American Presidency to a conference, and
+he came with more alacrity than he would have obeyed the call of a
+conference of governors.
+
+"Sylvia is doing what it is natural for her to do," she said, abruptly.
+
+"Then, my dear, why find fault with me because of it?" replied the
+mystified candidate.
+
+"I don't find fault with you; I merely want your advice, although I know
+that you can have none to give."
+
+The candidate wisely kept silent, and waited for the speaker of the
+house to proceed.
+
+"Sylvia is your niece, and Mr. Plummer is your most powerful political
+supporter in the West," she said. "If she jilts him because of any fancy
+or impulse--well, you know such things can make men, especially elderly
+men, do very strange deeds. I speak of it because I am sure it must have
+been in your thoughts."
+
+The candidate stirred uneasily.
+
+"It is a thing that I do not like to take into consideration," he said.
+
+"Nor do I, but it forces itself upon us."
+
+"It is right that Harley should pay her attention. They are members of
+this party, and they are of an age likely to make them congenial."
+
+"That is where the danger lies. It may not amount at present to anything
+more than a fancy, but a fancy can make a very good beginning."
+
+They talked on at length and with much earnestness, but they could come
+to no other conclusion than to use that last refuge, silence and
+waiting.
+
+Meanwhile Sylvia was enjoying herself. She was young and vigorous, and
+she had a keen zest in life. She was surrounded by men, some young,
+too, who had seen much of the world, and they interested her; neither
+would she have been human, nor of her sex, if their attentions had not
+pleased her; and there, too, was the great campaign throwing its glow
+over everything. She was gracious even to the "King," whom she had been
+treating rather worse than he deserved for several days. She seemed to
+appreciate his increased gallantry, and it was "dear old daddy" very
+often now, whether in the comparative privacy of the Grayson family
+circle or in the larger group of the young correspondents and
+politicians. The "King" was delighted with the change, and his own
+manner became easy and happy. He looked once or twice at the lady whom
+he considered his mentor, Mrs. Grayson, and expected to see approval and
+satisfaction on her face, too, but she was stern and impenetrable, and
+the "King" said to himself that after all she was not so startlingly
+acute.
+
+Sylvia was telling some anecdote of the West to her new friends, and, as
+the incident was rather remarkable, she thought it necessary to have
+confirmation.
+
+"It happened before I was born, but you were there then, and you know
+all about it, don't you, daddy?"
+
+"King" Plummer quickly nodded confirmation and smiled at the memory. The
+event had interested him greatly, and he was glad to vouch for its
+truth. He was pleased all the more when he saw the others looking at him
+with the respect and deference due to--his thoughts halted suddenly in
+their course and turned into another channel. Then he found himself
+frowning. He did not like the conjunction of "dear old daddy" and of a
+thing that had happened many years ago.
+
+The "King" quietly slipped away from the party, and he noticed with
+intense gloom that his departure did not seem to make as much difference
+as it should. For a whole afternoon he was silent, and many corrugations
+formed temporarily in his brow, indicating resolved thought. Nor were
+appearances wrong, because the "King" was laboriously dragging himself
+up to the edge of a mighty resolution. He was physically as brave a man
+as ever walked; in early and rougher days he had borne a ready
+Winchester, but this emergency was something new in his experience, and
+naturally he hesitated at the venture. However, just after supper, when
+Sylvia was alone in the drawing-room of the car, he approached her. She
+looked up at him and smiled, but the "King's" face was set with the
+power of his resolve.
+
+"Come in, daddy," she said.
+
+The "King" did not smile, nor did he sit down.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "I have a favor to ask of you."
+
+"Why certainly, daddy, anything in reason, and I know you would not ask
+anything out of it."
+
+"Sylvia, I want you to promise me never to call me daddy again, either
+in private, as here between ourselves, or before others."
+
+She looked up at him, her eyes wide with astonishment.
+
+"Why," she exclaimed, "I've called you that ever since you found me a
+little, little girl alone in the mountains."
+
+"I know it, but it's time to stop. I'm no blood kin to you at all. And
+I'm not so ancient. The history of the West didn't begin with me."
+
+The wonder in her eyes deepened, and the "King" felt apprehensive,
+though he stood to his guns. But when she laughed, a joyous,
+spontaneous laugh, he felt hurt.
+
+"I'll make you the promise readily enough," she said, "but I can't keep
+it; I really can't. I'll try awful hard, but I'm so used to daddy that
+it will be sure to pop out just when I'm expecting it least."
+
+The "King" looked at her moodily, not sure whether she was laughing at
+him or at her own perplexity.
+
+"Then you just try," he said, at last, yielding to a mood of compromise,
+and stalked abruptly out of the drawing-room.
+
+Sylvia, watching him, saw how stiffly and squarely he held his
+shoulders, and what long and abrupt strides he took, and her mood of
+merriment was suddenly succeeded by one of sadness mingled just a little
+with apprehension. She spoke twice under her breath, and the two brief
+sentences varied by only a single word. The first was "Dear old daddy!"
+and the second was "Poor old daddy!"
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE HARRYING OF HERBERT
+
+
+An unexpected addition and honor was now approaching, and it was Hobart
+who told them of it.
+
+"Our little party is about to receive a touch of real distinction and
+dignity--something that it needs very much," he said, laying the
+newspaper that he had been reading upon the dusty car seat and glancing
+at Harley. They had returned to their special train.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Harley, though his tone betrayed no great
+interest.
+
+"I quote from the columns of our staid contemporary, the New York
+_Monitor_, Churchill's sheet, the representative of solid, quiet, and
+cultured worth," said Hobart, pompously. "'It has been felt for some
+time by thoughtful leaders of our party in the East that Jimmy Grayson
+and the "shirt-sleeves" Western politicians who now surround him are
+showing too much familiarity with the people. A certain reserve, a
+certain dignity of manner which, while holding the crowd at a distance
+also inspires it with a proper respect, is desirable on the part of the
+official head of a great party, a presidential nominee. The personal
+democracy of Mr. Grayson is having a disconcerting effect upon important
+financial circles, and also is inspiring unfavorable comments in the
+English press, extracts from which we print upon another page.'"
+
+"What on earth has the opinion of the English press to do with our
+presidential race?" asked Harley.
+
+"You may search me," replied Hobart. "I merely quote from the columns of
+the _Monitor_. But in order to save time, I tell you that all this
+preamble leads to the departure for the West of the Honorable Herbert
+Henry Heathcote, who, after his graduation at Harvard, took a course at
+Oxford, lived much abroad, and who now, by grace of his father's worth
+and millions, is the national committeeman from his state. For some days
+Herbert has been speeding in our direction, and to-morrow he will join
+us at Red Cloud. It is more than intimated that he will take charge of
+the tour of Jimmy Grayson, and put it upon the proper plane of dignity
+and reserve."
+
+Harley said no more, but, borrowing the paper, read the account
+carefully, and then put it down with a sigh, foreseeing trouble. Herbert
+Heathcote's father had been a great man in his time, self-created, a
+famous merchant, an able party worker, in thorough touch with American
+life, and he had served for many years as the honored chairman of the
+national committee, although in a moment of weakness he had sent his son
+abroad to be educated. Now he was dead, but remembered well, and as a
+presidential campaign costs much money--legitimate money--and his son
+was a prodigal giver, the leaders could not refuse to the younger
+Heathcote the place of national committeeman from his state.
+
+"What do you think of it?" asked Harley, at last.
+
+"I refuse to think," replied Hobart. "I shall merely wait and see."
+
+But the Honorable William Plummer expressed his scorn in words befitting
+his open character.
+
+The paper was passed on until it reached Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia. Mrs.
+Grayson, with her usual reserve, said nothing. Sylvia was openly
+indignant.
+
+"I shall snub this man," she said, "unless he is of the kind that thinks
+it cannot be snubbed."
+
+"I fear that it is his kind," said Harley.
+
+"It looks like it," she said.
+
+At noon the next day, when they were at Red Cloud, Herbert Henry
+Heathcote arrived on the train from the East, and the arrival of him was
+witnessed by Harley, Hobart, Mr. Plummer, and several others, who had
+gone to the station for that purpose and none other.
+
+Mr. Heathcote, as he alighted from the train, was obviously a person of
+importance, his apparel, even had his manner been hidden, disclosing the
+fact to the most casual observer. A felt hat, narrow-brimmed and
+beautifully creased in the crown, sat gracefully upon his head. His
+light overcoat was baggy enough in the back to hold another man, as Mr.
+Heathcote was not large, and white spats were the final touch of an
+outfit that made the less sophisticated of the spectators gasp. "King"
+Plummer swore half audibly.
+
+"I wish my luggage to be carried up to the hotel," said Mr. Heathcote,
+importantly, to the station agent.
+
+"He calls it 'luggage,' and this in Colorado!" groaned Hobart.
+
+"Your what?" exclaimed the station agent, a large man in his
+shirt-sleeves, with a pen thrust behind his ear.
+
+"My luggage; my trunk," replied Mr. Heathcote.
+
+"Then you had better carry it yourself; I've nothing to do with it,"
+said the agent, with Western brusqueness, as he turned away.
+
+Harley, always ready to seize an opportunity, and resolved to mitigate
+things, stepped forward.
+
+"I beg your pardon, but this is Mr. Heathcote, is it not?" he asked,
+courteously.
+
+The committeeman put a glass in his eye and regarded him quite coolly.
+Harley, despite his habitual self-control, shuddered. He did not mind
+the supercilious gaze, but he knew the effect of the monocle upon the
+crowd.
+
+"Yes, I am Mr. Heathcote," said the committeeman, "and you ah--I--don't
+believe--ah--"
+
+"I haven't been introduced," said Harley, with a smile, "but I can
+introduce myself; it's all right here in the West. I merely wanted to
+tell you that you had better get them at the hotel to send the porter
+down for your trunk. There are no carriages, but it's only a short walk
+to the hotel. It's the large white building on the hill in front of
+you."
+
+"Thank you--ah--Mr. Hardy."
+
+"Harley," corrected the correspondent, quietly.
+
+"I was about to say--ah--that the press can make itself useful at
+times."
+
+Harley flushed slightly.
+
+"Yes, even under the most adverse circumstances," he said.
+
+But Mr. Heathcote was already on the way to the hotel, his white spats
+gleaming in the sunshine. It was evident that he intended to keep the
+press in its proper place.
+
+"You made a mistake when you volunteered your help, Harley," said
+Hobart. "A man like that should be received with a club. But you just
+wait until the West gets through with him. Your revenge will be brought
+to you on a silver plate."
+
+"I'm not thinking of myself," replied Harley, gravely. "It's the effect
+of this on Jimmy Grayson's campaign that's bothering me. Colorado is
+doubtful, and so are Utah and Wyoming and Idaho; can we go through them
+with a man like Heathcote, presumably in charge of our party?"
+
+Proof that Harley's fears were justified was forthcoming at once. The
+crowd at the station, drawn by various causes, had been usually large,
+and Mr. Heathcote was received with a gasp of amazement. But nothing was
+said until the white spats of the committeeman disappeared in the hotel.
+Then the people crowded around the correspondents, with whom a six
+hours' stop was sufficient to make them familiar. "Who is he?" they
+asked. "Is he a plutocrat?" "It's a Wall Street shark, sure." "Does
+Jimmy Grayson mean to hobnob with a man like that?" "Then we can't trust
+him either. He's going to be a monopolist, too, and his claiming to be
+champion of the people is all a bluff."
+
+Harley explained with care that Mr. Heathcote was important. To run a
+great presidential campaign required much money--special trains must be
+paid for, halls had to be hired for speakers, there was a vast amount of
+printing to be done, and many other expenses that must be met. Their
+party was poor, as everybody knew, most of the wealth being on the other
+side; and, when a man like Heathcote was willing to contribute his
+thousands, there was nothing to do but to take him. But they need not be
+alarmed; he could not corrupt Jimmy Grayson; the candidate was too
+stanch, too true, too much of a real man to be turned from the right
+path by any sinister Eastern influence.
+
+But the people were not mollified; they resented Mr. Heathcote's manner
+as well as his dress. Why had he not stopped at the station a few
+minutes, and shaken hands with those who would have been glad to meet
+him for the sake of fellowship in the party? Harley heard again the word
+"Plutocrat," and, deeming it wise to say nothing more for the present,
+walked back to the hotel. On the long porch sat a row of men in
+rocking-chairs--correspondents, town officials, and politicians,
+following in the wake of Jimmy Grayson. A state senator, a big,
+white-bearded man named Curtis, who had been travelling with them for
+three days, jerked his finger over his shoulder, pointing to the
+interior of the hotel, and said, mysteriously, to Harley:
+
+"Where did you get it?"
+
+"New York," replied Harley, sadly.
+
+"Can't you lose it?"
+
+"I don't know," replied Harley, hopefully, "but we can try."
+
+Hobart, who was in the next chair, put his right foot across his left
+knee and nursed it judicially.
+
+"It is eating its dinner now," he said. "It said: 'Landlord, I want a
+table alone. I do not wish to be disturbed.' And just think, Harley,
+this is Colorado! Landlord, otherwise Bill Jeffreys, was so taken aback
+that he said, 'All right.' But the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote is
+being watched. There are three cowboys, at this very moment, peeping in
+at his window."
+
+There was a dead silence for at least a minute, broken at last by
+Barton.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "you do not yet know the full, the awful truth; I
+accidentally heard Heathcote telling Jeffreys about it."
+
+"Why, what can be worse?" asked Harley, and he was in earnest.
+
+"Mr. Heathcote's man--his valet, do you understand--arrives to-night. He
+is to have a place in the car, and to travel with us, in order that he
+may wait on his master."
+
+"King" Plummer uttered an oath.
+
+"The West can stand a good many things, but it won't stand that," he
+exclaimed. "A national committeeman of our party travelling with his
+valet on the train with Jimmy Grayson! It'll cost us at least six
+states. We ain't women!"
+
+There succeeded a gloomy silence that lasted until Heathcote himself
+appeared upon the porch, fresh, dapper, and patronizing.
+
+"I hope you enjoyed your dinner, Mr. Heathcote," said Harley, ever ready
+to be a peacemaker.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Hardy--ah, Harley; it did very well for the
+frontier--one does not expect much here, you know."
+
+Harley glanced uneasily at the men in the chairs, but Mr. Heathcote went
+on, condescendingly:
+
+"I am now going for an interview with Mr. Grayson in his room. We shall
+be there at least an hour, and we wish to be quite alone, as I have many
+things of importance to say."
+
+No one spoke, but twenty pairs of eyes followed the committeeman as he
+disappeared in the hotel on his way to Jimmy Grayson's room. Then
+Alvord, the town judge, a man of gigantic stature, rose to his feet and
+said, in a mimicking, feminine voice:
+
+"Gentlemen, I am going to the bar, and I shall be there at least an
+hour; I wish to be quite alone, as I shall have many important things to
+drink."
+
+There was a burst of laughter that relieved the constraint somewhat, and
+then, obedient to an invitation from the judge, they filed solemnly in
+to the bar.
+
+The candidate was to speak in the afternoon, and as he would raise some
+new issues, sure to be of interest to the whole country, Harley,
+following his familiar custom, went in search of Mr. Grayson for
+preliminary information. The hour set aside by Mr. Heathcote had passed
+long since, and Harley thought that he would be out of the way.
+
+Jimmy Grayson's room was on the second floor, and Harley walked slowly
+up the steps, but at the head of the stairway he was met by Mr.
+Heathcote himself.
+
+"Good-afternoon," said Harley, cheerfully. "I hope that you had a
+pleasant talk with Mr. Grayson. I'm going in to see him now myself; a
+presidential nominee can't get much rest."
+
+Mr. Heathcote drew himself up importantly.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, "but you cannot--ah--see Mr. Grayson.
+There has been a feeling with us in the East--we are in a position there
+to judge, being in thorough touch with the great world--that it was not
+advisable for Mr. Grayson to speak to or to come in direct contact with
+the press. This familiar talk with the newspapers rather impairs the
+confidence of our great magnates and prejudices us in the eyes of
+Europe. It is better--ah--that his remarks should be transmitted through
+a third person, who can give to the press what is fitting and reserve
+the remainder."
+
+Harley gazed at Heathcote in amazement, but there was nothing in his
+manner to indicate that he was not in earnest.
+
+"And you are the third person, I suppose?" said Harley.
+
+"I have so constituted myself," replied Mr. Heathcote, and his tone was
+aggravatingly quiet and assured. "As one conversant with great affairs,
+I am the most fit."
+
+"Has Mr. Grayson agreed to this?" asked Harley.
+
+"My dear man, I cannot permit you to cross-examine me. But, really, I
+wish to be on good terms with the press, which is quite a useful
+institution within its limits. Now, you seem to be rather more sedate
+than the others, and I wish you would have the goodness to explain to
+them how I have taken affairs in hand."
+
+Harley flushed at his patronizing tone, and for a moment he was tempted
+to thrust him out of his way and proceed with his errand to Jimmy
+Grayson's room, but he reflected that it was better to let the
+committeeman make the rope for his own hanging, and he turned away with
+a quiet, "Very well, I shall forego the interview."
+
+But as he went back down the stairs he could not help asking himself the
+question, "Does Jimmy Grayson know? Could he have consented to such an
+arrangement?" and at once came the answer--"Impossible."
+
+He returned to the porch, where all the chairs were filled, although the
+talk was slow. He noticed, with pleasure, that Churchill was absent. The
+descending sun had just touched the crests of the distant mountains, and
+they swam in a tremulous golden glow. The sunset radiance over nature in
+her mighty aspects affected all on the porch, used as they were to it,
+and that was why they were silent. But they turned inquiring eyes upon
+Harley when he joined them.
+
+"What has become of Heathcote?" asked Barton.
+
+"He is engaged upon an important task just now," replied Harley.
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"He is editing Jimmy Grayson's speech."
+
+Twenty chairs came down with a crash, and twenty pairs of eyes stared in
+indignant astonishment.
+
+"King" Plummer's effort to hold himself in his chair seemed to be a
+strain.
+
+"He may not be doing that particular thing at this particular moment,"
+continued Harley, "but he told me very distinctly that he was here for
+that purpose, and he has also just told me that I could not see Jimmy
+Grayson, that he intended henceforth to act as an intermediary between
+the candidate and the press."
+
+"And you stood it?" exclaimed Hobart.
+
+"For the present, yes," replied Harley, evenly; "and I did so because I
+thought I saw a better way out of the trouble than an immediate quarrel
+with Heathcote--a better way, above all, for Jimmy Grayson and the
+party."
+
+The Western men said nothing, though they looked their deep disgust, and
+presently they quitted the porch, leaving it, rocking-chairs and all, to
+the correspondents.
+
+"Boys," said Harley, earnestly, "I've a request to make of you. Let me
+take the lead in this affair; I've a plan that I think will work."
+
+"Well, you are in a measure the chief of our corps," said Warrener, one
+of the Chicago men. "I don't know why you are, but all of us have got
+to looking on you in that way."
+
+"I, for one, promise to be good and obey," said Hobart, "but I won't
+deny that it will be a hard job. Perhaps I could stand the man, if it
+were not for his accent--it sounds to me as if his voice were coming out
+of the top of his head, instead of his chest, where a good, honest voice
+ought to have its home."
+
+"Now you listen," said Harley, "and I will my tale unfold."
+
+Then they put their heads together and talked long and earnestly.
+
+The shaggy mountains were in deep shadow, and the sunset was creeping
+into the west when Jimmy Grayson came out on the porch where the
+correspondents yet sat. Harley at once noticed a significant change in
+his appearance; he looked troubled. Before, if he was troubled, he
+always hid it and turned a calm eye to every issue; but this evening
+there was something new and extraordinary about Jimmy Grayson; he was
+ashamed and apologetic obviously so, and Harley felt a thrill of pity
+that a man so intensely proud under all his democracy, or perhaps
+because of it, should be forced into a position in which he must be,
+seemingly at least, untrue to himself.
+
+The candidate hesitated and glanced at the correspondents, his comrades
+of many a long day, as if he expected them to ask him questions, but no
+one spoke. The sinking sun dropped behind the mountains, and the
+following shadow also lay across Jimmy Grayson's face. He was the
+nominee of a great party for President of the United States, but there
+was a heart in him, and these young men, who had gone with him through
+good times and bad times, through weary days and weary nights, were to
+him like the staff that has followed a general over many battle-fields.
+He glanced again at the correspondents, but, as they continued to stare
+resolutely at the dark mountains, he turned and walked abruptly into the
+hotel.
+
+"Boys," exclaimed Barton, "it's tough!"
+
+"Yes, damned tough," said Hobart.
+
+"King" Plummer, who was with them, maintained a stony silence.
+
+An hour later the valet of the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote, a
+smooth, trim young Englishman, arrived in Red Cloud, and never before in
+his vassal life had he been a person of so much importance. The news had
+been spread in Red Cloud that a rare specimen was coming, a kind
+hitherto unknown in those regions. When John--that was his
+name--alighted from the train in the dusk of a vast, desolate Western
+night, a crowd of tanned, tall men was packed closely about him,
+watching every movement that he made. Harley saw him glance fearfully at
+the dark throng, but no one said a word. As he moved towards the hotel,
+a valise in either hand, the way opened before him, but the crowd,
+arranging itself in a solid mass behind him, followed, still silent,
+until he reached the shelter of the building and the protecting wing of
+his master. Then it dispersed in an orderly manner, but the only subject
+of conversation in Red Cloud was the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote
+and his "man," especially the "man."
+
+At the appointed hour the candidate spoke from a stage in the public
+square, and it would not be fair to say that his address fell flat; but
+for the first time in the long campaign Harley noticed a certain
+coldness on the part of the audience, a sense of aloofness, as if Jimmy
+Grayson were not one of them, but a stranger in the town whom they must
+treat decently, although they might not approve of him or his ways. And
+Harley did not have to seek the cause, for there at a corner of the
+stage sat a dominating presence, the Honorable Herbert Henry Heathcote,
+his neck encircled by a very high collar, his trousers turned up at the
+bottom, and his white spats gleaming through the darkness. More eyes
+were upon him than upon the candidate, but Mr. Heathcote was not
+daunted. His own gaze, as it swept the audience, was at times
+disapproving and at other times condescending.
+
+About the middle of the speech the night, as usual, grew chilly, and Mr.
+Heathcote's "man," stepping upon the stage, assisted him on with a light
+overcoat. A gasp went up from the crowd, and the candidate, stopping,
+looked back and saw the cause. Again that shadow came over his face, but
+in a moment he recovered himself and went on as if there had been no
+interruption. When the speech was finished Mr. Heathcote stood a moment
+by the table at which Harley was still writing, and said:
+
+"I think you and your associates should leave out of your report that
+part about our foreign relations. However well received in the West, I
+doubt whether it would have a very good effect in the East."
+
+"But he said it," exclaimed Harley, looking up in surprise.
+
+"Quite true, but there should be a certain reserve on the part of the
+press. These expressions have about them a trace of rawness, perhaps
+inseparable from a man like our nominee, who is the product of Western
+conditions. I trust that I shall be able to correct this unfortunate
+tendency."
+
+Harley was burning with anger, but the long practice of self-control
+enabled him to hide it. He did not reply, but resumed his work. Mr.
+Heathcote spoke to him again, but Harley, his head bent over his pad,
+went on with his writing. Nor did any of the other correspondents speak.
+The committeeman, astonished and indignant, left the stage, and,
+followed by his "man," returned to the hotel between two silent files of
+spectators.
+
+"Experience number one," was the only comment of the correspondents, and
+it came from Barton.
+
+When Harley went into the hotel he saw Jimmy Grayson leaning against the
+clerk's desk as if he were waiting for something. He glanced at Harley,
+and there was a tinge of reproach in his look. Harley's resolution
+faltered, but it was only for a moment, and then, taking his key from
+the clerk, he went in silence to his room. He understood the position of
+Jimmy Grayson, he knew how much the party was indebted to Mr. Heathcote
+for payment of the campaign's necessary expenses, but he was determined
+to carry out his plan, which he believed would succeed.
+
+But there was one man in Jimmy Grayson's group to whom the appearance of
+Mr. Heathcote was welcome, and this was Churchill, who was sure that he
+recognized in him a kindred spirit. He sent a long despatch to the
+_Monitor_, telling of the very beneficial effect the committeeman's
+presence already exercised upon the campaign, particularly the new tone
+of dignity that he had given to it. He also cultivated Mr. Heathcote,
+and was willing to furnish him deferential advice.
+
+As the special train was to leave early the next morning for the
+northern part of the state, they ate breakfast in a dim dawn, with only
+the rim of the sun showing over the eastern mountains. Mr. Heathcote
+came in late and found every chair occupied. No one moved or took any
+notice. Jimmy Grayson looked embarrassed, and said in a propitiatory
+tone to the proprietor, who stood near the window:
+
+"Can't you fix a place for Mr. Heathcote?"
+
+"Oh, I guess I kin bring in a little table from the kitchen," replied
+Bill Jeffreys, negligently, "but he'll have to hustle; that train goes
+in less than ten minutes."
+
+The table was brought in, and Mr. Heathcote ate more quickly than ever
+before in his life, although he found time for caustic criticism of the
+hotel accommodations in Red Cloud. Just as he put down his half-emptied
+coffee-cup the train blew a warning whistle.
+
+"That engineer is at least three minutes ahead of time," said Barton.
+
+"He's a lively fellow," said Hobart. "I was up early, and he told me he
+wasn't going to wait a single minute, even if he did have a Presidential
+nominee aboard."
+
+The eyes of Barton and Hobart met, and Barton understood.
+
+"We'd better run for it," said Barton, and they hurried to the train,
+Mr. Heathcote borne on in the press. As they settled into their seats
+Barton pointed out of the window, and cried: "Look! Look! The 'man' is
+about to get left!"
+
+John, a valise in one hand and a hat-box in the other, was rushing for
+the train, which had already begun to move. But the conductor reached
+down the steps, grasped him by the collar, and dragged him, baggage and
+all, aboard. John appeared humbly before his master, who was silent,
+however, merely waving him to a seat. Mr. Heathcote was apparently
+indignant about something. By-and-by he stated that his valet had been
+forced to leave Red Cloud without anything to eat. Nobody had looked
+after the man, and he could not understand such neglect. He would like
+to have a porter bring him something. Old Senator Curtis, who was with
+them, spoke up from a full heart:
+
+"He'll have to go hungry. There's no dining-car on this train, and he
+can't get a bite, even for a bagful of money, till we get to Willow
+Grange at two o'clock this afternoon."
+
+The senator was not excessively polite, and Mr. Heathcote opened his
+mouth as if to speak, but, changing his mind, closed it. He glanced at
+Jimmy Grayson, who looked troubled, although he, also, maintained
+silence. Neither would any one else speak; but every one was taking
+notice. Harley in his heart felt sorry for the poor valet, who seemed to
+be an inoffensive fellow, suited to his humble trade; but a political
+campaign in the Rocky Mountain West was no place for him; he must take
+what circumstances dealt out to him.
+
+The committeeman presently recovered his sense of his own worth and
+dignity, and spoke in a large manner of the plans that he would take to
+raise the tone of the campaign. The candidate still looked troubled and
+made no comment. The local public men, the correspondents, and all on
+the little train were silent, staring out of the windows, apparently
+engrossed in the scenery, which was now becoming grand and beautiful.
+Ridge rose above ridge, and afar the peaks, clad in eternal snow, looked
+down like heaven's silent sentinels.
+
+Mr. Heathcote was very courteous to Mrs. Grayson, but at first he
+scarcely noticed Sylvia, although a little later he expressed admiration
+for her beauty, not doubting, however, that he would find her the
+possessor of an uncultivated mind.
+
+Towards the noon hour a tragic discovery was made. After the candidate's
+last speech in the evening the train would leave immediately for Utah,
+and all continuing on the way must sleep aboard. Room had been found in
+some manner for Mr. Heathcote, but every other berth, upper and lower,
+had been assigned long ago, and there was nothing left for his man. But
+Mr. Heathcote, resolved not to be trampled upon, went in a state of high
+indignation to the conductor.
+
+"I must have a place for my man. I cannot travel without an attendant."
+
+"Jimmy Grayson does," replied the conductor, a rude Democrat of the
+West; "and your fellow can't have any, because there ain't any to be
+had; besides, it's 'cordin' to train rules that dogs an' all such-like
+should travel in the baggage-car."
+
+Mr. Heathcote refused to speak again to such a man, and complained to
+the candidate. But Jimmy Grayson could do nothing.
+
+"This train on which we now are is paid for jointly by the committeemen
+of Colorado, Utah, and Idaho," he said, "and I have nothing to do with
+the arrangements. I should not like to attempt interference."
+
+Mr. Heathcote looked at old Senator Curtis, who seemed to be in charge,
+but, apprehending a blow to his dignity, he refrained from pressing the
+point, and the lackey slept that night as well as he could on a seat in
+the smoking-car.
+
+The next few days, which were passed chiefly in Utah, were full of color
+and events. Life became very strenuous for the Honorable Herbert Henry
+Heathcote. He learned how to take his meals on the wing, as it were, to
+run for trains, to snatch two hours' sleep anywhere between midnight and
+morning, and to be jostled by rude crowds that failed to recognize his
+superiority. The full-backed light overcoat, during its brief existence
+the focus of so much attention, was lost in a dinner rush and never
+reappeared. But, above all, Mr. Heathcote had upon his hands the care of
+the helpless, miserable lackey, and never did a sick baby require more
+attention. John was lost amid his strange and terrible surroundings. At
+mountain towns crowds of boys, and sometimes men, would surround him and
+jeer at his peculiar appearance, and his master would be compelled to
+come forcibly to his rescue. He never learned how to run for the car,
+with his arms full of baggage, and once, boarding a wrong train, he was
+run off on a branch line a full fifty miles. He was rescued only after
+infinite telegraphing and two days' time, when he reappeared,
+crestfallen and terrified.
+
+And there was trouble--plenty of it--aboard the train. There was never a
+berth for the lackey, who was relegated permanently to the smoking-car.
+Mr. Heathcote himself sometimes had to fight, bribe, and intrigue for
+one--and often he failed to get breakfast or dinner through false
+information or the carelessness of somebody. He made full acquaintance
+with the pangs of hunger, and many a time, when every nerve in him
+called for sleep, there was no place to lay his weary head.
+
+Now the iron entered the soul of the Honorable Herbert, and he became a
+soured and disappointed man, but he stuck gravely to his chosen task.
+Harley, despite his dislike, could not keep from admiring his tenacity.
+Nobody, except the candidate, paid the slightest attention to him; even
+Sylvia and Mrs. Grayson ignored him; if he made suggestions, nobody said
+anything to the contrary, but they were never adopted, and Mr. Heathcote
+noticed, too, that the others seemed to be enduring the life easily,
+while it was altogether too full for him. If there was any angle, he
+seemed somehow to knock against it; and if there was any pitfall, it was
+he who fell into it. But he gave no sign of returning to the East, and
+his misfortunes continued. From time to time they got copies of the
+Western papers containing full reports of Jimmy Grayson's canvass, and
+none of them, except the _Monitor_, ever spoke flatteringly of the
+Honorable Herbert or his efforts to put the campaign on a higher plane.
+
+Churchill spoke once to the group of correspondents and politicians
+about the lack of deference paid to the committeeman, but he was invited
+so feelingly to attend to his own business that he never again risked
+it. However, he said in his despatches to the _Monitor_ that even Mr.
+Heathcote's efforts could not keep the campaign on a dignified level.
+
+At last, on one dreadful day, they lost the lackey again, and this time
+there was no hope of recovery. He had been seen, his hands full of
+baggage, running for the wrong train, and when they heard from him he
+was far down in Colorado, stranded, and there was no possible chance for
+him to overtake the "special." Accordingly, his master, acting under
+expert advice, telegraphed him money and a ticket and ordered him back
+to New York. When the news was taken to the candidate Harley saw an
+obvious look of relief on his face. That valet had been a terrible
+weight upon the campaign, and none knew it better than Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Mr. Heathcote now became morose and silent. Much of his lofty and
+patronizing air disappeared, although the desire to instruct would crop
+out at times. Usually he was watchful and suspicious, but the struggle
+for bread and a place to sleep necessarily consumed a large portion of
+his energies. As time dragged on his manner became that of one hunted,
+but doggedly enduring, nevertheless. The candidate always spoke to him
+courteously, whenever he had a chance, but then there was little time
+for conversation, as the campaign was now hot and fast. Mr. Heathcote
+was, in fact, a man alone in the world, and outlawed too. The weight
+upon him grew heavier and heavier as his path became thornier and
+thornier; the angles, the corners, and the pitfalls seemed to multiply,
+and always he was the victim. Jimmy Grayson looked now and then as if he
+would like to interfere, but there was no way for him to interfere, nor
+any one with whom he could interfere.
+
+Mr. Heathcote still clung bravely to some portions of his glorious
+wardrobe. The white spats he yet sported, in the face of a belligerent
+Western democracy, and he paid the full price. Harley acknowledged this
+merit in him, and once or twice, when the committeeman, amid the
+comments of the ribald crowd, turned a pathetic look upon him, he was
+moved to pity and a desire to help; but the last feeling he resolutely
+crushed, and held on his way.
+
+The campaign swung farther westward and northward, and into a primitive
+wilderness, where the audiences were composed solely of miners and
+cowboys. Old Senator Curtis and several other of the Colorado men were
+still with them, and one night they spoke at a mining hamlet on the
+slope of a mountain that shot ten thousand feet above them. The
+candidate was in great form, and made one of his best speeches, amid
+roars of applause. The audience was so well pleased that it would not
+disperse when he finished, and wished vociferously to know if there were
+not another spellbinder on the stage. Then the spirit of mischief
+entered the soul of Hobart.
+
+The Honorable Herbert sat at the corner of the stage, the white spats
+still gleaming defiance, his whole appearance, despite recent
+modifications, showing that he was a strange bird in a strange land.
+Hobart constituted himself chairman for the moment, and, pointing to Mr.
+Heathcote, said:
+
+"Gentlemen, one of the ablest and most famous of our national
+committeemen is upon the stage, and he will be glad to address you."
+
+The audience cheered, half in expectation and half in derision, but the
+Honorable Herbert, who had never made a speech in his life, rose to the
+cry. His figure straightened up, there was a new light in his eye, and
+Harley, startled, did not know Mr. Heathcote. As he advanced to the edge
+of the stage the shouts of derision overcame those of expectation.
+Harley heard the words "Dude!" "Tenderfoot!" mingled with the cries, but
+the Honorable Herbert gave no sign that he heard. He reached the edge of
+the stage, waved his hand, and then there was silence.
+
+"Friends," he said--"I call you such, though you have not received me in
+a friendly manner--"
+
+The crowd breathed hard, and some one uttered a threat, but another man
+commanded silence. "Give him a chance!" he said.
+
+"You have not received me in a friendly manner," resumed the Honorable
+Herbert, "but I am your friend, and I am resolved that you shall be
+mine. I cannot make a speech to you, but I will tell you a story which
+perhaps will serve as well."
+
+"Go on with the story," said the men, doubtfully. On the stage there was
+a general waking-up. Correspondents and politicians alike recognized the
+Honorable Herbert's new manner, and they bent forward with interest.
+
+"My story," said Mr. Heathcote, "is of a man who had a fond and perhaps
+too generous father. This father had suffered great hardships, and he
+wished to save his son from them. What more natural? But perhaps, in his
+tenderness, he did the son a wrong. So this son grew up, not seeing the
+rough side of life, and finding all things easy. He lived in a part of
+the country that is old and rich, where what is called necessity you
+call luxury. He knew nothing of the world except that portion of it to
+which he was used. What more natural? Is not that human nature
+everywhere? He saw himself petted and admired, and in the course of time
+he felt himself a person of importance. Is not that natural, too?"
+
+He paused and looked over the audience, which was silent and attentive,
+held by the interest of something unusual and the deep, almost painful,
+earnestness of Mr. Heathcote's manner.
+
+"What's he coming to?" whispered Hobart.
+
+"I don't know; wait and see," replied Harley.
+
+"Thus the man grew up to know only a little world," the Honorable
+Herbert went on, "and he did not know how little it was. He was like a
+prisoner in a gorgeous room, who sees, without, snow and storm that
+cannot touch him, but who is a prisoner nevertheless. Those whom he met
+and with whom he lived his daily life were like him, and they thought
+they were the heart of this world. Everything about them was golden;
+they saw that people wished to hear of them, to read of them, to know
+all that they did, and their view of their importance grew every day.
+What more natural? Was not that human nature?"
+
+"I think I see which way he is going," whispered Hobart.
+
+Harley nodded. The audience was still and intent, hanging on the words
+of the speaker.
+
+"This youth," continued Mr. Heathcote, "was sent by-and-by to Europe to
+have his education finished, and there all the ideas formed by his life
+in this country were confirmed in him. He saw a society, organized
+centuries ago, in which every man found a definite place for life
+assigned to him, in accordance with what fortune had done for him at
+birth. There he received deference and homage, even more than before,
+and the great, changing world, with its mighty tides and storms that
+flowed about his little group, leaving it untouched, was yet unknown to
+him.
+
+"He came back to his own country, and the strong father who had
+sheltered him died. He was filled with an ambition to be a political
+power, as his father had been, and the dead hand brought him the place.
+Then he came into the West to join in a great political campaign, but it
+was his first real excursion into the real world, and his ignorance was
+heavy upon him."
+
+A deep "Ah!" ran through the crowd, and Harley noticed a sudden look of
+respect upon the brown faces. They were beginning to see where the
+thread of the story would lead. Then Harley glanced at old Senator
+Curtis, whose lips moved tremulously for a moment. "King" Plummer was
+regarding the committeeman with astonished interest.
+
+"This man, I repeat," continued Mr. Heathcote, "came West with his
+ignorance, I might almost say with his sins heavy upon him, but it was
+not his fault; it was the fault, rather, of circumstances. He seemed a
+strange, a grotesque figure to these people of the West, but they should
+not have forgotten that they also seemed strange to him. It has been
+said that it takes many kinds of people to make a world, and they cannot
+all be alike. One point of view may differ from another point of view,
+and both may be right. If this man did anything wrong--and he admits
+that he did--he did it in ignorance. There were some with him who knew
+both points of view who might have helped him, but who did not; instead,
+they made life hard; they put countless difficulties in his way; they
+made him feel very wretched, very mean, and very little. He saw the
+other point of view at last, but he was not permitted to show that he
+saw it; he was put in such a position that his pride would not let him."
+
+The crowd suddenly burst into cheers. The keen Western men understood,
+and the mountain-slope gave back the echo, "Hurrah for Heathcote!" The
+Honorable Herbert's figure swelled and his eyes flashed. Grateful water
+was falling at last on the parched desert sands.
+
+"But, friends," he continued, "this man, though his lesson has been
+rough, comes to you with no resentment. He has broken the bars of his
+prison; he is in the real world at last, and he comes to you asking to
+be one of you, to give and take with the crowd. Will you have him?"
+
+"Yes!" a chorus of a thousand voices roared against the side of the
+mountain and came back in a thunderous echo.
+
+Old Senator Curtis sprang to his feet, seized Mr. Heathcote by the hand,
+and shouted:
+
+"Gentlemen, I, too, need to apologize, and also I want to introduce to
+you a real man, Mr. Herbert Henry Heathcote."
+
+"Put me down for an apology, too," said "King" Plummer, in his big,
+booming tones.
+
+Jimmy Grayson, on the outskirts of the crowd, returning to learn what
+the noise was about, saw and heard all, and murmured to a friend:
+
+"There is now a new member of our group, and all is well again."
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+CHURCHILL STRIKES
+
+
+The conversion and adoption of Mr. Heathcote, as Hobart called it, was a
+pleasant incident in several senses, bringing much quiet gratification
+to them all, and particularly and obviously to the candidate. A hostile
+element, one intended by others to be hostile and interfering, had
+become friendly, which, of itself, was a great gain. Moreover, the
+smoothness of social intercourse was increased, and there, too, was a
+new type, adding to the variety and interest of the group.
+
+The only one not pleased was Churchill, who had expected much from Mr.
+Heathcote, and who now, as he considered it, saw the committeeman turn
+traitor. It was not a matter that he could handle fully in his
+despatches to the _Monitor_, being too intangible to allow of bald
+assertion, and he was reduced to indirect statement. This not satisfying
+him at all, he wrote a long letter to Mr. Goodnight, both for the sake
+of the cause and for the sake of his own feelings, which had been much
+lacerated. Its production cost him a great deal of thought and labor;
+but he had his reward, as its perusal after completion proved to him
+that it was a masterpiece.
+
+Churchill showed quite clearly to Mr. Goodnight the steady decay of the
+candidate's character and the lower levels to which his campaign was
+falling. In the security of a private letter it was not necessary for
+him to spare words, and Churchill spoke his mind forcibly about the
+manner in which Jimmy Grayson was pandering to the "common people," the
+"ignorant mob," the "million-footed." Churchill himself, although not
+old, had taken long ago the measure of these foolish common people, and
+he despised them, his contempt giving him a very pleasant conviction of
+his own superiority.
+
+He also poured a few vials of wrath upon the head of Mr. Heathcote, whom
+he characterized as a coward, not able to stand up against petty
+persecution, and from the committeeman he passed on to others of Mr.
+Grayson's immediate following, taking "King" Plummer next. Mr. Plummer,
+in his opinion, was an excellent type of democracy run to riot. He was
+one of the "boys" in every sense. He was wofully wanting in personal
+dignity, speaking to everybody in the most familiar manner, and
+encouraging the same form of address towards himself; he failed utterly
+to recognize the superiority of some other men, and he was grossly
+ignorant, knowing nothing whatever of Europe and the vast work that had
+been done there for civilization and order. Moreover, he could not be
+induced, even by the well-informed, to take any interest in the Old
+World, and once had had the rudeness to say to Churchill himself, "What
+in the devil is Europe to us?"
+
+Churchill thus subjected the views of "King" Plummer to the process of
+elaboration because they had made a vivid impression upon him. He and
+the "King" had never been able to get on together, the mountaineer
+treating him with rough indifference, and Churchill returning it with a
+hauteur which he considered very effective. To Churchill men of "King"
+Plummer's type seemed the greatest danger the country could have. Their
+lack of respect for diplomacy, their want of form and ceremony, their
+brutal habit of calling things by their names, were in his opinion
+revolutionary. He did not see how dealings with foreign nations, which
+always loomed very large to him, could be conducted by such men. Always
+in his mind was the question, What would they say in London and Vienna
+and Berlin? and the _Monitor_, which he served faithfully, confirmed him
+through its tone in this mental state. Still drawing his inspiration
+from the _Monitor_, he regarded a sneer as invariably the best weapon;
+if you were opposed to anything, the proper way to attack it was by
+sneering at it; then, not having used argument, you never put yourself
+in a position to have your arguments refuted.
+
+From "King" Plummer, Churchill passed to some of his associates--like
+the _Monitor_, he never hesitated to befoul his own nest--and he told
+Mr. Goodnight how the candidate was using them, how they had wholly
+fallen under the spell of his undeniable charm of manner, and how they
+wrote to please him rather than to tell the truth.
+
+As he sealed his long letter, Churchill felt the conscious glow of
+right-doing and stern self-sacrifice. He had written thus for the good
+of the party and the good of the country, and he was strengthened, too,
+by the feeling that he could not possibly be wrong. The _Monitor_
+cultivated the sense of omniscience, which it communicated in turn to
+all the members of its staff.
+
+He passed Sylvia Morgan on his way from the hotel reading-room to the
+lobby to mail his letter, and when he met her he quickly turned down
+the address on the envelope, in order that she might not see it. It was
+done by impulse, and Churchill, for the first time, had a feeling of
+guilt that made him angry.
+
+"That must be a love letter, Mr. Churchill," said Sylvia, teasing him
+with the easy freedom of the West. "Do you write her twenty-four pages,
+or only twenty?"
+
+"I have no love except my work, Miss Morgan," replied Churchill,
+assuming his most grandiose air.
+
+"Is that a permanent affection, or a passing fancy?"
+
+Her face expressed the most eager interest, as if she could not possibly
+be happy until she had Churchill's answer. The words were frivolous, but
+her manner was most deferential, and Churchill concluded that she was
+expressing respect in as far as what he considered her shallow nature
+could do so.
+
+"It is, I hope, a permanent passion, Miss Morgan," he replied, gravely.
+"There is a pleasure in doing one's duty, particularly under
+disagreeable circumstances, which I am happy to say I have felt more
+than once, and custom usually strengthens one who walks in the right
+path."
+
+Still in this mood of contemplation, he regarded her, and he thought he
+saw a slight look of awe appear in her eyes. His opinion of her rose at
+once. While not able to show merit of the highest degree, she could
+perceive it in others, and this differentiated her from the rest of the
+group. Churchill allowed himself to see that she had a fine face and a
+slender, beautiful figure, and he felt it a pity that she should be
+thrown away on a crude, rough old mountaineer like Plummer.
+
+"I often think, Miss Morgan," he said, "that if you had lived in the
+East awhile you could have been quite a match for any woman whom I have
+ever known."
+
+"Thank you," she replied, humbly. "Oh, if I could only have lived in the
+East just a little while!"
+
+"But I assure you, Miss Morgan, I have met some very remarkable women."
+
+"I do not doubt it, and they have had an equal good-fortune."
+
+Churchill looked suspiciously at her, but there was the same touch of
+deference in her manner, and he still honored her with his conversation.
+He permitted himself to discourse a little upon the affairs which he had
+embodied--"embodied" he felt was the word--in his letter, and she, with
+all a woman's intuition, and much of masculine reasoning power, guessed
+what the letter contained, although she did not know to whom it was
+going. Nor did she feel it wrong to be very attentive, as Churchill
+talked, because he was doing it of his own free will, and she had the
+fate of her uncle deeply at heart.
+
+Churchill spoke of the campaign, venturing upon polite criticisms of
+certain features that seemed objectionable to him, and, listening to
+him, she confirmed her opinion that he was the personal representative
+with Mr. Grayson of the chief elements within the party that could cause
+trouble. And she felt sure, too, that the letter he held in his hand
+would add fuel to the fire already burning. She happened also to be
+present several days later when a messenger-boy handed him a telegram,
+and, when he opened it, he made an involuntary motion to hide it, just
+as he had done with the letter. She pretended not to see, and walked
+away, but she knew as well as if he had told her that the telegram was
+the reply to the letter.
+
+Mr. Goodnight himself sent the despatch, and he thanked Churchill warmly
+for the very important information told so luminously in his letter. The
+solid and respectable portion of the party had hoped much from the
+presence of Mr. Heathcote, but as he had yielded to the influence of
+another, instead of exerting his own, it would be necessary to take
+additional action later. Meanwhile he requested Mr. Churchill to keep
+him accurately and promptly informed of everything, and Churchill at
+once telegraphed: "Despatch received. Will be glad to comply with your
+request."
+
+Then he congratulated himself, and felt good, his complacent demeanor
+forming a contrast to that of several others in the party. The latter
+were "King" Plummer, Sylvia Morgan, and John Harley, all of whom were
+unhappy.
+
+Harley was troubled by his conscience, and he could not do anything to
+keep it from sticking those little pins into him. Sylvia Morgan, despite
+herself, drew him on, not the less because his first feeling towards her
+had been one of hostility. She had a piquant touch, a manner full of
+unconscious allurement--the radiation of a pure soul, though it
+was--that he had never seen in any other woman, and the harder he fought
+against it, the more surely it conquered him. He took from his valise a
+copy of that old Chicago newspaper, with her picture on the front page,
+and wondered how he could have intimated that she was the cause of its
+being there. As he knew her better, he knew that she could not have done
+it, and he knew, too, that she would have scornfully resented any
+insinuation of having done so by refusing to deny it.
+
+The "King" was unhappy, too, in his way, and that was very bad indeed
+for him. He had tried an effusive gallantry, and it did not seem to
+succeed any better than obedience to his own impulses--on the whole,
+rather worse; and now, not knowing what else to do, he sulked. It was
+not any sly sulking, but genuine, open sulking in his large, Western
+way, thus leaving it apparent to all that the great "King" Plummer was
+sad. And that meant much to the party, because in a sense it was now
+personally conducted by him. In his joyous mood, which was his usual
+mood until the present, he had a large and pervasive personality that
+was a wonderful help to travel and social intercourse. They missed his
+timely, if now and then a trifle rough, jests, his vast knowledge of the
+mountains, which had some good story of every town to which they came,
+and his infinite zest and humor, which also communicated more zest and
+humor to every one with him. It was a grievous day for them all when
+"King" Plummer began to mourn. More than one guessed the cause, but
+wisely they refrained from any attempt to remove it. They could do
+nothing but endure the gloom in silence, until the clouds passed, as
+they hoped they would pass.
+
+The candidate, too, was troubled, and sought the privacy of the special
+car's drawing-room more than usual. Sylvia Morgan had given him a hint
+that attacks upon him from a certain source were likely to be renewed,
+and, moreover, would increase in virulence. He soon found that she was
+right, as the copies of the _Monitor_ that they now obtained were
+frankly cynical and unbelieving. All of its despatches from the West,
+Churchill's as well as others, were depreciatory. The candidate was
+invariably made to appear in a bad light--which is an easy matter to
+do, in any case, without sacrifice of the truth--that is, verbally, only
+the spirit being changed--and the editor reinforced them with strong
+criticisms, in which quotations from English writers and a French phrase
+now and then were freely employed. The whole burden of it was, "We
+support this candidate; but, oh, how hard it is for us to do it, how
+badly we feel about it, and how much easier it would be for us to
+support any other man!" It also printed many contributions from readers,
+in all of which the contributors spoke of themselves as belonging by
+nature and cultivation to the select few, "the saving remnant," who
+really knew what was good for the country. Here much latitude of
+expression was allowed, as the paper was not directly responsible for
+what these gentlemen said. They wrote of the way in which the dignity of
+a great party had been destroyed by the uncouth and talkative Westerner
+who had been lucky enough to secure the nomination. They felt that they
+had been shamed in the face of the world, and more than once asked the
+burning and painful question, "What will Europe say?" They asked, also,
+if it were yet too late to amend the error, and they threw forth the
+suggestion that the intelligent and cultured minority within the party
+might refrain from voting, when election day came, or, in a pinch, might
+vote for the other man.
+
+These communications were signed, sometimes, with Latin names, and
+sometimes with names in modern English, but always they indicated a
+certain sense of superiority and of detachment from the crowd on the
+part of the signers.
+
+The annoyance of the candidate increased as he read copies of the
+_Monitor_, which were sent to him in numbers. He knew that the paper was
+the chief spokesman of an influential minority within the party, and
+the divergence between the majority and the minority was already
+manifest. It was evident, too, that it was bound to become greater, and
+that was why the candidate was troubled. He wished to become President;
+it was his great desire, and he did not seek to conceal it; he
+considered it a legitimate, a noble ambition, one that any American had
+a right to have, and he was in the first flush of his great powers, when
+such a position would appeal most to a strong man. Now, even when the
+fight, with a united party, was desperate at best, he foresaw a
+defection, and hot wrath rose up in his veins against Goodnight, the
+_Monitor_, and all their following.
+
+But the worst of the whole position to a man of Grayson's open and
+direct temperament was the necessity to keep silent, even to dissemble,
+or, at least, to do that which seemed to him very near to dissembling.
+Although he was under so fierce a fire, he would not allow any one to
+find fault with Churchill for his despatches; and this was not always
+easy to do, because many of the local politicians, who were on the train
+from time to time, would grow hot at sight of the criticisms, and want
+to attack the writer. But Jimmy Grayson always interfered, and reminded
+them that it was the right of the press to speak so if it wished.
+Churchill still wondered, why he was not a martyr, and wasted his
+regrets. Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia maintained an eloquent silence.
+
+Meanwhile, an event destined to give Churchill and the _Monitor_ a yet
+greater shock was approaching.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+THE THIRD DEGREE
+
+
+The candidate and his company were due one night at Grayville, a brisk
+Colorado town, dwelling snugly in the shadow of high mountains and
+hopeful of a brilliant future, based upon the mines within its limits
+and the great pastoral country beyond, as any of its inhabitants, asked
+or unasked, would readily have told you. Hence there was joy in the
+train, from Jimmy Grayson down, because the next day was to be Sunday, a
+period of rest, no speeches to be made, nothing to write, but just rest,
+sleeping, eating, idling, bathing, talking--whatever one chose to do.
+Only those who have been on arduous campaigns can appreciate the luxury
+of such a day now and then, cutting like a sweep of green grass across
+the long and dusty road.
+
+There was also quite a little group of women on the train, the wives of
+several Colorado political leaders having joined Sylvia and Mrs. Grayson
+for a while, and they, too, looked forward to a day of rest and the
+restoration of their toilets.
+
+"They tell me that Grayville has one of the best hotels in the
+mountains," said Barton to Harley, his brother correspondent. "That you
+can get a dinner in a dozen courses, if you want it, and every course
+good; that it has real porcelain-lined bath-tubs, and beds sure to cure
+the worst case of insomnia on earth. Do you think this improbable, this
+extravagant but most fascinating tale can be true, Harley?"
+
+"I live in hope," replied Harley.
+
+"Jimmy Grayson has been here before," interrupted Hobart, "and he says
+it's true, every word of it; if Jimmy Grayson vouches for a thing, that
+settles it; and here is a copy of the Grayville _Argus_; it has to be a
+pretty good town that can publish as smart a daily as this."
+
+He handed a neat sheet to Barton, who laughed.
+
+"There speaks the great detective," he said. "You know, Harley, how
+Hobart is always arguing from the effect back to the cause."
+
+Hobart, in fact, was not a political writer, but a "murder mystery" man,
+and the best of his kind in New York, but the regular staff
+correspondent of his paper, the _Leader_, being ill, he had been sent in
+his place. He was a Harvard graduate and a gentleman with a taste for
+poetry, but he had a peculiar mind, upon which a murder mystery acted as
+an irritant--he could not rest until he had solved it--and his paper
+always put him on the great cases, such as those in which a vast
+metropolis like New York abounds. Now he was restless and discontented;
+the tour seemed to him the mere reporting of speeches and obvious
+incidents that everybody saw; there was nothing to unravel, nothing that
+called for the keen edge of a fine intellect.
+
+"Grayville, with all its advantages as a place of rest, is sure to be
+like the other mountain towns," he said, somewhat sourly--"the same
+houses, the same streets, the same people, I might almost say the same
+mountains. There will be nothing unusual, nothing out of the way."
+
+Harley had taken the paper from Barton's hands and was reading it.
+
+"At any rate, if Grayville is not unusual, it is to have an unusual
+time," he interrupted.
+
+"How so?"
+
+"It is to hear Jimmy Grayson speak Monday, and it is going to hang a man
+Tuesday. See, the two events get equal advance space, two columns each,
+on the front page."
+
+He handed the paper to Hobart, who looked at it a little while and then
+dropped it with an air of increasing discontent.
+
+"That may mean something to the natives," he said; "it may be an
+indication to them that their place is becoming important--a metropolis
+in which things happen--but it is nothing to me. This hanging case is
+stale and commonplace; it is perfectly clear; a young fellow named Boyd
+is to be hanged for killing his partner, another miner; no doubt about
+his guilt, plenty of witnesses against him, his own denial weak and
+halting--in fact, half a confession; jury out only five minutes; whole
+thing as bald and flat as this plain through which we are running."
+
+He tapped with his finger on the dusty car-window, and his expression
+was so gloomy that the others could not restrain a laugh.
+
+"Cheer up, old man," said Barton. "Four more hours and we are in
+Grayville; just think of that wonderful hotel, with its more wonderful
+beds and its yet more wonderful kitchen."
+
+The hotel was all that they either expected or hoped, and the dawn
+brought a beautiful Sunday, disclosing a pretty little frontier city
+with its green, irrigated valley on one side and the brown mountains,
+like a protecting wall, on the other. Harley slept late, and after
+breakfast came out upon the veranda to enjoy the luxury of a
+rocking-chair, with the soft October air around him and the majesty of
+the mountains before him. He hoped to find Sylvia there, but neither she
+nor any of the ladies was present. Instead, there was a persistent,
+inquiring spirit abroad which would not let him rest, and this spirit
+belonged to Hobart, the "mystery" man.
+
+Harley had not been enjoying the swinging ease of the rocking-chair five
+minutes before Hobart, the light of interest in his eyes, pounced upon
+him.
+
+"Harley, old fellow," he exclaimed, "this is the first place we've
+struck in which Jimmy Grayson is not the overwhelming attraction."
+
+"The hanging, I suppose," said Harley, carelessly.
+
+"Of course. What else could there be? It occurred to me last night, when
+I was reading the paper, that I might scare up a feature or two in the
+case, and I was out of my bed early this morning to try. It was a
+forlorn hope, I'll admit, but anything was better than nothing, and I've
+had my reward. I've had my reward, old fellow!"
+
+He chuckled outright in his glee. Harley smiled. Hobart always
+interested and amused him. The instinctive way in which he unfailingly
+rose to a "case" showed his natural genius for that sort of thing.
+
+"I haven't seen Boyd yet," continued Hobart, excitedly, "but I've found
+out this much already--there are people in Grayville who believe Boyd
+innocent. It is true that he and Wofford--the murdered man--had been
+quarrelling in Grayville, and Boyd was taken at the shanty with the
+blood-stained knife in his hand; but that doesn't settle it."
+
+Harley could not restrain an incredulous laugh. "It seems to me those
+two circumstances, omitting the other proof, are pretty convincing," he
+said.
+
+Hobart flushed. "You just wait until I finish," he said, somewhat
+defiantly. "Now Boyd, as I have learned, was a good-hearted, generous
+young fellow. The quarrel amounted to very little, and probably had been
+patched up before they reached their shack."
+
+"That is a view which the jury evidently could not take."
+
+"Juries are often wooden-headed."
+
+"Of course--in the eyes of superior people."
+
+"Now don't you try to be satirical--it's not your specialty. I mean to
+finish the tale. If you read the paper, you will recall that the shanty
+where the murder occurred was only a short distance from the
+mountain-road, and there were three witnesses--Bill Metzger, a dissolute
+cowboy who was passing, and who, attracted by Wofford's death-cry, ran
+to the cabin and found Boyd, blood-stained knife in hand, bending over
+the murdered man; Ed Thorpe, a tramp miner, who heard the same cry and
+who came up two or three minutes later; and, finally, Tim Williams, a
+town idler, who was on the mountain-side, hunting. The other two heard
+him fire his gun a few hundred yards away, and called to him. When he
+arrived, Boyd was still dazed and muttering to himself, as if
+overpowered by the horror of his crime."
+
+"If that isn't conclusive, then nothing is," said Harley, decisively.
+
+"It is not conclusive; there was no real motive for Boyd to do such a
+thing."
+
+"To whom did the knife belong?"
+
+"It was a long bread-knife that the two used at the cabin."
+
+"There you are! Proof on proof!"
+
+"Now, you keep silent, Harley, and come with me, like a good fellow, and
+see Boyd in the jail. If you don't, I swear I'll pester the life out of
+you for a week."
+
+Harley rose reluctantly, as he knew that Hobart would keep his word. He
+believed it the idlest of errands, but the jail was only a short
+distance from them, and the business would not take long. On the way
+Hobart talked to him about the three witnesses. Metzger, the cowboy, on
+the day of the murder, had been riding in from a ranch farther down the
+valley; the other two had been about the town until a short time before
+the departure of Boyd and Wofford for their cabin.
+
+They reached the jail, a conspicuous stone building in the centre of the
+town, and were shown into the condemned man's cell. The jailer announced
+them with the statement:
+
+"Tim, here's two newspaper fellers from the East wants to see you."
+
+The prisoner was lying on a pallet in the corner of his cell, and he
+raised himself on his elbow when Harley and Hobart entered.
+
+"You are writers for the papers?" he said.
+
+"Yes, clean from New York; they are with Jimmy Grayson," the jailer
+answered for them.
+
+"I don't know as I've got anythin' to say to you," continued the
+prisoner. "I 'ain't got no picture to give you, an' if I had one I
+wouldn't give it. I don't want my hangin' to be all wrote up in the
+papers, with pictures an' things, too, jest to please the people in the
+East. If I've got to die, I'd rather do it quiet and peaceful, among the
+boys I know. I ain't no free circus."
+
+"We did not come to write you up; it was for another purpose," Harley
+hastened to say.
+
+He was surprised at the youth of the prisoner, who obviously was not
+over twenty-one, a mere boy, with good features and a look half defiant,
+half appealing.
+
+"Well, what did you come for, then?" asked the boy.
+
+Harley was unable to answer this question, and he looked at Hobart as if
+to indicate the one who would reply. The "mystery" man did not seek to
+evade his responsibility in the least, and promptly said:
+
+"Mr. Boyd, I think you will acquit us of any intention to intrude upon
+you. It was the best of motives that brought us to you. I have always
+had an interest in cases of this sort, and when I heard of yours in the
+train, coming here, I received an impression then which has been
+strengthened on my arrival in Grayville. I believe you are innocent."
+
+The boy looked up. A sudden flash of gratitude, almost of hope, appeared
+in his eyes.
+
+"I am!" he cried. "God knows I didn't kill Bill Wofford. He wuz my
+partner and we wuz like brothers. We did quarrel that mornin'--I don't
+deny it--and we both had been liquorin'; but I'd never hev struck him a
+blow of any kind, least of all a foul one."
+
+"Was it not true that you were found with the bloody knife in your hand,
+standing over his yet warm body?" asked Hobart.
+
+"It's so, but it was somebody else that used the knife. Bill went on
+ahead, and when I come into the place I saw him on the floor an' the
+knife in 'im. I was struck all a-heap, but I did what anybody else would
+'a' done--I pulled the knife out. And then the fellers come in on me. I
+was rushed into a trial right away. Of course, I couldn't tell a
+straight tale; the horror of it was still in my brain, and the effect
+o' the liquor, too. I got all mixed up--but before God, gen'lemen, I
+didn't do it."
+
+His tone was strong with sincerity, and his expression was rather that
+of grief than remorse. Harley, who had had a long experience with all
+kinds of men in all kinds of situations, did not believe that he was
+either bad or guilty. Hobart spoke his thoughts aloud.
+
+"I don't think you did it," he said.
+
+"Everybody believes I did," said Boyd, with pathetic resignation, "and I
+am to be hanged for it. So what does it matter now?"
+
+"I am going to look for the guilty man," said Hobart, decidedly.
+
+Boyd shook his head and lay back on his pallet. The others, with a few
+words of hope, withdrew, and, when they were outside, Harley said:
+
+"Hobart, were you not wrong to sow the seed of hope in that man's mind
+when there is no hope?"
+
+"There is hope," replied Hobart; "I have a plan. Don't ask me anything
+about it--it's vague yet--but I may work it."
+
+Harley glanced at him, and, seeing that he was intense and eager, with
+his mind concentrated upon this single problem, resolved to leave him to
+his own course; so he spent part of the day, a wonderful autumn Sunday,
+in a rocking-chair on the piazza of the hotel, and another part walking
+with Sylvia. He told her of the murder case and Hobart's action, and her
+prompt sympathy was aroused.
+
+"Suppose he should really be innocent?" she said. "It would be an awful
+thing to hang an innocent man."
+
+"So it would. He certainly does not look like a bad fellow, but you
+know that those who are not bad are sometimes guilty. In any event I
+fail to see what Hobart can do."
+
+After the walk, which was all too brief, he returned to his
+rocking-chair on the piazza, but Grayville, being a small place, he knew
+everything that was going on within it, by means of a sort of mental
+telepathy that the born correspondent acquires. He knew, for instance,
+that Hobart was all the time with one or the other of the three
+witnesses--Metzger, Thorpe, or Williams--for the moment the most
+important persons in Grayville by reason of their conspicuous connection
+with the great case.
+
+When Hobart returned, the edge of the sun was behind the highest
+mountains; but he took no notice of Harley, walking past him without a
+word and burying himself somewhere in the interior of the hotel. Harley
+learned subsequently that he went directly to Jimmy Grayson's room, and
+remained there at least half an hour, in close conference with the
+candidate himself.
+
+The next day was a break in the great campaign. Owing to train
+connections, which are not trifles in the Far West, it was necessary, in
+order to complete the schedule, to spend an idle day at some place, and
+Grayville had been selected as the most comfortable and therefore the
+most suitable. And so the luxurious rest of the group was continued for
+twenty-four hours for all--save Hobart.
+
+Harley had never before seen the "mystery" man so eager and so full of
+suppressed excitement. He frequently passed his comrades, but he rarely
+spoke to them, or even noticed them; his mind was concentrated now upon
+a great affair in which they would be of no avail. Harley learned,
+however, that he was still much in the company of the three witnesses,
+although he asked him no questions. Late in the afternoon he saw him
+alone and walking rapidly towards the hotel. It seemed to Harley that
+Hobart's head was borne somewhat high and in a manner exultantly, as if
+he were overcoming obstacles, and he was about to ask him again in
+regard to his progress, but Hobart once more sped by without a word and
+went into the hotel. Harley learned later that he held a secret
+conference with Jimmy Grayson.
+
+In the evening everybody went to the opera-house to hear the candidate,
+but on the way Hobart said, casually, to Harley: "Old man, I don't think
+I'll sit in front to-night. I wish you would let me have your notes
+afterwards." "Of course," replied Harley, as he passed down the aisle
+and found his chair at the correspondents' table on the stage.
+
+There Harley watched the fine Western audience come into the theatre and
+find seats, with some noise but no disorder, a noise merely of men
+calling each other by name, and commenting in advance on what Jimmy
+Grayson would say. The other correspondents entered one by one--all
+except Hobart, and took their seats on the stage. Sylvia and Mrs.
+Grayson were with some ladies in a box. Harley looked for Hobart, and
+two or three times he saw him near the main entrance of the building.
+Once he was talking with a brown and longish-haired youth, and Harley,
+by casual inquiry, learned that it was Metzger, the cowboy. A man not
+greatly different in appearance, to whom Hobart spoke occasionally, was
+Thorpe, the tramp miner, and yet another, a tall fellow with a bulging
+underlip, Harley learned, was Williams, the third witness.
+
+Evidently the witnesses would attend Jimmy Grayson's meeting, which was
+natural, however, as every body in Grayville was sure to come, and
+Harley also surmised that Hobart had taken upon himself the task of
+instructing them as to the methods, the manner, and the greatness of the
+candidate. He had done such a thing himself, upon occasion, the Western
+interest in Jimmy Grayson being so great that often appeals were made to
+the correspondents for information about him more detailed than the
+newspapers gave.
+
+Harley studied the faces of the three witnesses as attentively as the
+distance and the light would admit, but they remained near the door,
+evidently intending to stand there, back to the wall, a plan sometimes
+adopted by those who may wish to slip out quietly before a speech is
+finished. Harley, the trained observer, saw that Hobart, without their
+knowledge, was shepherding them as the shepherd gently makes his sheep
+converge upon a common spot.
+
+The correspondent could draw no inference from the faces of the three
+men, which were all of usual Western types, without anything special to
+distinguish them, and his attention turned to the audience. He had
+received an intimation that Jimmy Grayson intended to deliver that
+evening a speech of unusual edge and weight. He would indict the other
+party in the most direct and forcible manner, pointing out that its sins
+were moral as well as political, but that a day of reckoning would come,
+when those who profited by such evil courses must pay the forfeit; it
+was a part of the law of nature, which was also the law of retribution.
+
+The candidate was a little late, and the opera-house was filled to the
+last seat, with many people standing in the aisles and about the doors.
+Harley, glancing again at the rows and rows of faces, saw the three
+witnesses almost together, and just to the right of the main entrance,
+where they leaned against the wall, facing the stage. Hobart fluttered
+about them, holding them in occasional talk, and Harley was just about
+to look again, and with increasing attention, but at that instant the
+great audience, with a common impulse and a kind of rushing sound, like
+the slide of an avalanche, rose to its feet. The candidate, coming from
+the wings, had just appeared upon the stage, and the welcome was
+spontaneous and overwhelming. Jimmy Grayson was always a serious man,
+but Harley noticed that evening, when he first appeared before the
+footlights, that his face looked tense and eager, as if he felt that a
+great task which he must assume lay just before him.
+
+He wasted no time, but went at once to the heart of his subject, the
+crime of a great party, the wicked ways by which it had attained its
+wicked ends, and from the opening sentence he had his big audience with
+him, heart and soul.
+
+The indictment was terrible: in a masterly way he summed up the charges
+and the proof, as a general marshals his forces for battle, and the
+crowd, so clear were his words and so strong his statements, could see
+them all marching in unison, like the battalions and brigades, towards
+the common point, the exposed centre of the enemy. The faces of Sylvia
+and Mrs. Grayson, in the box, glowed with pride.
+
+Again and again, at the pauses between sentences, the cheers of the
+audience rose and echoed, and then Harley would glance once more towards
+the door; there, always, he saw Hobart with the three witnesses,
+gathered under his wing, as it were, all looking raptly and intently at
+Jimmy Grayson.
+
+The candidate, by-and-by, seemed to concentrate his attention upon the
+four men at the door, and spoke directly to them. Harley saw one of the
+group move as if about to leave, but the hand of Hobart fell upon his
+arm and he stayed. Harley, too, was conscious presently of an unusual
+effect having the quality of weirdness. The lights seemed to go down in
+the whole opera-house, except near the door. Jimmy Grayson and the
+correspondents were in a semi-darkness, but Hobart and his three new
+friends beside the door stood in a light that was almost dazzling
+through contrast. The three witnesses now seemed to be fixed in that
+spot, and their eyes never wandered from Jimmy Grayson's face.
+
+Familiar as he was with the candidate's oratorical powers, Harley was
+surprised at his strength of invective that evening. He had proved the
+guilt, the overwhelming guilt, of the opposition party, and he was
+describing the punishment, a punishment sure to come, although many
+might deem it impossible:
+
+"But there would be a day of judgment; justice might sleep for a while,
+but she must awake at last, and, the longer vengeance was delayed, the
+more terrible it became. Then woe to the guilty."
+
+The audience was deeply impressed by the eloquence of Jimmy Grayson,
+coinciding so well with their own views. Harley saw a look of awe appear
+upon the faces of many--Sylvia's face was pale--and the house, save for
+the voice of Jimmy Grayson, was as still as death. Harley felt the
+effect himself, and the weird, unreal quality that he observed before
+increased. Once, when he went over to make some notes, he noticed that
+the words written a half-hour before were scarcely visible, but, when
+he glanced at the opposite end of the theatre, there stood Hobart and
+the three witnesses, gathered about him, in the very heart of a dazzling
+light that showed every changing look on the faces of the four. Harley's
+gaze lingered upon them, and again he tried to find something peculiar,
+something distinctive in at least one of the three witnesses, but, as
+before, he failed; they were to him just ordinary Westerners following
+with rapt attention every word and gesture of Jimmy Grayson.
+
+The candidate went on with his story of the consequences; the crime had
+been committed; the profits had been reaped and enjoyed, but slumbering
+justice, awake at last, was at hand; it was time for the wicked to
+tremble, the price must be repaid, doubly, trebly, fivefold. Now he
+personified the guilty party, the opposition, which he treated as an
+individual; he compared it to a man who had committed a deed of horror,
+but who long had hidden his crime from the world; others might be
+suspected of it, others might be punished for it, but he could never
+forget that he himself was guilty; though he walked before the world
+innocent, the sense of it would always be there, it would not leave him
+night or day; every moment, even, before the full exposure it would be
+inflicting its punishment upon him; it would be useless to seek escape
+or to think of it, because the longer the guilty victim struggled the
+more crushing his punishment would be. The correspondents forgot to
+write, and, like the audience, hung upon every word and gesture of Jimmy
+Grayson, as he made his great denunciatory speech; they felt that he was
+stirred by something unusual, that some great and extraordinary motive
+was impelling him, and they followed eagerly where he led them.
+
+Harley saw the look of awe on the faces of the audience grow and deepen.
+With their overwhelming admiration of Jimmy Grayson, they seemed to have
+conceived, too, a sudden fear of him. His long, accusing finger was
+shaken in their faces, he was not alone denouncing a guilty man, but he
+was seeking out their own hidden sins, and presently he would point at
+them his revealing finger.
+
+Hobart stood with the three witnesses beside the door, still in the
+dazzling light. Harley was sure that not one of the four had moved in
+the last half-hour, and Jimmy Grayson still held them all with his gaze.
+Harley suddenly saw something like a flash of light, a signal glance, as
+it were, pass between him and Hobart, and the next instant the voice of
+the candidate swelled into greater and more accusing volume.
+
+"Now you behold the guilty man!" said Jimmy Grayson. "I have shown him
+to you. He seems to the world full of pride and power, but he knows that
+justice is pursuing him, and that it will overtake him; he trembles, he
+cowers, he flees, but the avenging footsteps are behind him, and the
+sound of them rings in his frightened ears like a death-knell to his
+soul. A wall rises across his way. He can flee no farther; he turns back
+from the wall, raises his terror-stricken eyes, and there before him the
+hand of fate is raised; its finger points at him, and a terrible voice
+proclaims, 'Thou art the guilty man!"
+
+The form of Jimmy Grayson swelled and towered, his hand was raised, the
+long forefinger pointed directly at the four who stood in the dazzling
+light, and the hall resounded with the tremendous echoes of his cry,
+"Thou art the guilty man!"
+
+As if lifted by a common impulse, the great audience rose with an
+indescribable sound and faced about, following Jimmy Grayson's long,
+accusing finger.
+
+The man Williams threw his arm before his face, as if to protect
+himself, and, with a terrible cry, "Yes, I did it!" fell in a faint on
+the floor.
+
+
+They were all on the train the next day, and Harley was reading from a
+copy of the Grayville _Argus_ an account of Boyd's release and the
+ovation that the people had given him.
+
+"How did you trace the crime to Williams, Hobart?" asked Harley.
+
+"I didn't trace it; it was Jimmy Grayson who brought it out by giving
+him 'the third degree,'" replied Hobart, though there was a quiet tone
+of satisfied pride in his voice. "You know that in New York, when they
+expose a man at Police Headquarters to some such supreme test, they call
+it giving him 'the third degree,' and that's what we did here. It seems
+that Williams was in the saloon when Boyd and his partner quarrelled,
+and he knew they had a lot of gold from the claim in their cabin. His
+object was robbery. When he saw Wofford go on ahead, he followed him
+quickly to the cabin, and killed him with the knife which lay on a
+table. He expected to have time to get the gold before Boyd came, but
+Boyd arrived so soon that he was barely able to slip out. Then Williams,
+cunning and bold enough, came back as if he were a chance passer-by, and
+had been called by Metzger and Thorpe. The other two were as innocent as
+you or I.
+
+"I could not make up my mind which of the three was guilty, and I
+induced Jimmy Grayson to help me. It was right in line with his
+speech--no harm done even if the test had failed--and then the man who
+managed the lights at the opera-house, a friend of Boyd's, helped me
+with the stage effects. Jimmy Grayson, of course, knew nothing about
+that. I borrowed the idea. I have read somewhere that Aaron Burr by just
+such a device once convicted a guilty man who was present in court as a
+witness when another was being tried for the crime."
+
+"Well, you have saved his life to an innocent man," said Harley.
+
+"And I have cost a guilty one his." And then, after a moment's pause,
+Hobart added, with a little shiver:
+
+"But I wouldn't go through such an ordeal again at any price. When Jimmy
+Grayson thundered out, 'Thou art the guilty man,' it was all I could do
+to keep from crying, 'Yes, I am, I am!'"
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+THE DEAD CITY
+
+
+As they left the hall, Churchill overtook Harley and tapped him on the
+shoulder. Harley turned and saw an expression of supreme disgust on the
+face of the _Monitor's_ correspondent, but Harley himself only felt
+amusement. He knew that Churchill meant attack.
+
+"I never saw anything more theatrical and ill-timed," said Churchill.
+"Of course, it was all prearranged in some manner. But the idea of a
+Presidential nominee taking such a risk!"
+
+"He has saved an innocent man's life, and I call that no small
+achievement."
+
+"Because the trick was successful; but it was a trick, all the same, and
+it was beneath the dignity of a Presidential nominee."
+
+"There was but little risk of any kind," said Harley, shortly, "and even
+had it been larger, it would have been right to take it, when the stake
+was a man's life. Churchill, you are hunting for faults, you know you
+are, or you would not be so quick to see them."
+
+Churchill made no audible reply, but Harley could see that he was
+unconvinced, and, in fact, he sent his newspaper a lurid despatch about
+it, taking events out of their proper proportion, and hence giving to
+them a wholly unjustifiable conclusion. But Sylvia Morgan was devotedly
+loyal to her uncle. There were few deeds of his of which she approved
+more warmly than this of saving Boyd's life, and Hobart, the master
+spirit in it, she thanked in a way that made him turn red with pleasure.
+But the discussion of the whole affair was brief, because fast upon its
+heels trod another event which stirred them yet more deeply.
+
+When the special train was at Blue Earth, in Montana, among the high
+mountains, there came to Jimmy Grayson an appeal, compounded of pathos
+and despair, that he could not resist. It was from the citizens of
+Crow's Wing, forty miles deeper into the yet higher and steeper
+mountains, and they recounted, in mournful words, how no candidate ever
+came to see them; all passed them by as either too few or too difficult,
+and they had never yet listened to the spell of oratory; of course, they
+did not expect the nominee of a great party for the Presidency of the
+United States to make the hard trip and speak to them, when even the
+little fellows ignored their existence; nevertheless, they wished to
+inform him in writing that they were alive, and on the map, at least,
+they made as big a dot as either Helena or Butte.
+
+The candidate smiled when he read the letter. The tone of it moved him.
+Moreover, he was not deficient in policy--no man who rises is--and while
+Crow's Wing had but few votes, Montana was close, and a single state
+might decide the Union.
+
+"Those people at Crow's Wing do not expect me, but I shall go to them,"
+he said to his train.
+
+"Why, it's a full day's journey and more, over the roughest and rockiest
+road in America," said Mr. Curtis, the state senator from Wyoming, who
+was still with them.
+
+"I shall go," said Jimmy Grayson, decisively. "There is a break here in
+our schedule, and this trip will fit in very nicely."
+
+The others were against it, but they said nothing more in opposition,
+knowing that it would be of no avail. Obliging, generous, and
+soft-hearted, the candidate, nevertheless, had a temper of steel when
+his mind was made up, and the others had learned not to oppose it. But
+all shunned the journey with him to Crow's Wing except Harley, Mr.
+Plummer, Mr. Herbert Heathcote--because there is no zeal like that of
+the converted--and one other.
+
+That "other" was Sylvia, and she insisted upon going, refusing to listen
+to all the good arguments that were brought against it. "I know that I
+am only a woman--a girl," she said, "but I know, too, that I've lived
+all my life in the mountains, and I understand them. Why, I've been on
+harder journeys than this with daddy before I was twelve years old.
+Haven't I, daddy?" As she had predicted, she forgot his request not to
+call him "daddy."
+
+Thus appealed to, Mr. Plummer was fain to confess the truth, though with
+reluctance. However, he said, rather weakly:
+
+"But you don't know what kind of weather we'll have, Sylvia."
+
+Then she turned upon him in a manner that terrified him.
+
+"Now, daddy, if I couldn't get up a better argument than that I'd quit,"
+she said. "Weather! weather! weather! to an Idaho girl! Suppose it
+should rain, I'm made of neither sugar nor salt, and I won't melt. I've
+been rained on a thousand times. Aunt Anna says I may go if Uncle James
+is willing, and he's willing--he has to be; besides, he's my chaperon.
+If you don't say 'yes,' Uncle James, I shall take the train and go
+straight home."
+
+They were forced to consent, and Harley was glad that she insisted,
+because he liked to know that she was near, and he thought that she
+looked wonderfully well on horseback.
+
+The going of Harley with the candidate was taken as a matter of course
+by everybody. Silent, tactful, and strong, he had grown almost
+imperceptibly into a confidential relationship with the nominee, and Mr.
+Grayson did not realize how much he relied upon the quiet man who could
+not make a speech but who was so ready of resource. As for Mr.
+Heathcote, being an Easterner, he wished to see the West in all its
+aspects.
+
+They started at daybreak, guided by a taciturn mountaineer, Jim Jones,
+called simply Jim for the sake of brevity, and, the hour being so early,
+few were present to see them ride up the hanging slope and into the
+mighty wilderness.
+
+But it was a glorious dawn. The young sun was gilding the sea of crags
+and crests with burnished gold and the air had the sparkle of youth. Mr.
+Heathcote threw back his slightly narrow chest, and, drawing three deep
+breaths of just the same length, he said, "I would not miss this trip
+for a thousand dollars!"
+
+"And I wouldn't for two thousand!" exclaimed Sylvia, joyously.
+
+Harley said nothing, but he, too, looked out upon the morning world with
+a kindling eye. Far below them was a narrow valley, a faint green line
+down the centre showing where the little river ran, with the irrigated
+farms on either side, like beads on a string. Above them towered the
+peaks, white with everlasting snow.
+
+"A fine day for our ride," said the candidate to Jim.
+
+"Looks like it now, though I never gamble on mountain weather," replied
+the taciturn man.
+
+But the promise held good for a long time, the sun still shining and the
+winds coming fresh and brisk along the crests and ridges. The trail
+wound about the slopes and steadily ascended. Vegetation ceased, and
+before them stretched the bare rocks. Harley knew very well now that
+only the sunshine saved them from grimness and desolation. The
+loneliness became oppressive. Even Sylvia was silent. It was the
+wilderness in reality as well as seeming; nowhere did they see a miner's
+hut or a hunter's cabin, only nature in her most savage form.
+
+The little group of horsemen forgot to talk. The candidate's head was
+bowed and his brow bent. Clearly he was immersed in thought. Mr.
+Heathcote, unused to such arduous journeys, leaned forward in his saddle
+in a state of semi-exhaustion. But Sylvia, although a girl, was
+accustomed to the mountains, and she showed few signs of fatigue. Harley
+said at last to the guide, "A wild country, one of the wildest, I think,
+that I ever saw."
+
+"Yes, a wild country, and a bad 'un, too," responded Jim. "See off there
+to the left?"
+
+He pointed to a maze of bare and rocky ridges, and when he saw that
+Harley's gaze was following his long forefinger, he continued:
+
+"I say it's a bad 'un, because over there Red Perkins and his gang of
+horse-thieves, outlaws, and cut-throats used to have their hiding-place.
+It's a tangled-up stretch o' mountain, so wild, so rocky, so full of
+caves that they could have hid there till jedgment-day from all
+Montana. Yes, that's where they used to hang out."
+
+"Used to?"
+
+"Yes, 'cause I 'ain't heard much uv them fur some time. They came down
+in the valley and tried to stampede them new blooded horses from
+Kentucky on Sifton's ranch, but Sifton and his men was waitin', and when
+the smoke cleared off most uv the gang was wiped out. Red and two or
+three uv his fellers got away, but I 'ain't heard uv 'em since. Guess
+they've scattered."
+
+"Wisest thing they could do," said Harley.
+
+The guide made no answer, and they plodded on in silence until about two
+o'clock in the afternoon, when they stopped in a little cove to eat
+luncheon and refresh their horses.
+
+It was the first grateful spot they had seen in hours. A brook fed by
+the snows above formed a pool in the hollow, and then, overflowing it,
+dropped down the mountain-wall. But in this sheltered nook and around
+the life-giving water green grass was growing, and there was a rim of
+goodly trees. The horses, when their riders dismounted, grazed eagerly,
+and the riders themselves lay upon the grass and ate with deep content.
+
+Sylvia talked little. She seemed thoughtful, and, when neither of them
+was looking, she glanced now and then at Harley and "King" Plummer. Had
+they noticed they would have seen a shade of sadness on her face. Mr.
+Plummer did not speak, and it was because there was a growing anxiety in
+his mind. He was sorry now that they had let Sylvia come, and he
+silently called himself a weak fool.
+
+"Shall we reach Crow's Wing by dark?" asked the candidate of the guide.
+
+Jim had risen, and, standing at the edge of the cove, was gazing out
+over the rolling sea of mountains. Harley noticed a troubled look on his
+face.
+
+"If things go right we kin," he replied, "but I ain't shore that things
+will go right."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Do you see that brown spot down there in the southwest, just a-top the
+hills? Waal, it's a cloud, an' it's comin' this way. Clouds, you know,
+always hev somethin' in 'em."
+
+"That is to say we shall have rain," said the candidate. "Let it come.
+We have been rained on too often to mind such a little thing--eh,
+Sylvia? You see, I take you at your word."
+
+The girl nodded.
+
+"I don't think it'll be rain," said the guide. "We are so high up here
+that more 'n likely it'll be snow. An' when there's a snow-storm in the
+mountains you can't go climbin' along the side o' cliffs."
+
+The others, too, looked grave now. Perhaps, with the exception of "King"
+Plummer, they had not foreseen such a difficulty, but the guide came to
+their relief with more cheering words--after all, the cloud might not
+continue to grow, "an' it ain't worth while to holler afore we're hit."
+
+This seemed sound philosophy to the others, and, dismissing their cares,
+they started again, much refreshed by their stop in the little cove. The
+road now grew rougher, the guide leading and the rest following in
+single-file, Sylvia just ahead of Harley. By-and-by their cares
+returned. Harley glanced towards the southwest and saw there the same
+cloud, but now much bigger, blacker, and more threatening. The sunshine
+was gone, and the wrinkled surface of the mountains was gray and sombre.
+The air had grown cold, and down among the clefts there was a weird,
+moaning wind. Harley glanced at the guide, and noticed that his face was
+now decidedly anxious. But the correspondent said nothing. Part of his
+strength lay in his ability to wait, and he knew that the guide would
+speak in good time.
+
+"Don't any of you be discouraged because of me," said Sylvia; "I'm not
+afraid of storms--even snowstorms. Am I not a good mountaineer, daddy?"
+
+The "King" nodded his head. He knew that she was a better mountaineer
+than any in the party except the guide and himself, and he felt less
+alarm for her than was in the mind of Grayson or Harley.
+
+But Harley was thrilled by her courage. Here, amid these wild mountains,
+with the threat of darkness and the storm, she was unafraid and still
+feminine. "This is a woman to be won," was his unuttered thought.
+
+Another hour passed, and the air grew darker and colder. Then Jim
+stopped.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "there's a snow-storm comin' soon. I didn't expect
+one so early, even on the mountains, but it's comin', anyhow, an' if we
+keep on for Crow's Wing they'll have to dig our bones out o' the meltin'
+drifts next summer. We've got to make for Queen City."
+
+"Queen City!" exclaimed Mr. Heathcote. "I didn't know there was another
+town anywhere near here."
+
+"She's a-standin' all the same," replied the guide, brusquely, "an' I
+wouldn't never hev started on the trip to Crow's Wing if there hadn't
+been such a stoppin'-place betwixt an' between, in case o' trouble with
+the weather. An' let me whisper to you, Queen City's quite a sizable
+place. We'll pass the night there. It's got a fine hotel, the finest
+an' biggest in the mountains."
+
+He looked grimly at Mr. Heathcote, as much as to say, "Ask me as much
+more as you please, but I'll answer you nothing." Then he added,
+glancing at Sylvia:
+
+"It's a wild night for a gal."
+
+"But you said that the biggest and finest hotel in the mountains was
+waiting for me," replied Sylvia, with spirit.
+
+The guide bowed his head admiringly, and said no more.
+
+Something cold and damp touched Harley's cheek. He looked up, and
+another flake of snow, descending softly, settled upon his face. The
+clouds rolled over them, heavy and dark, and shut out all the mountains
+save a little island where they stood. The snow, following the first few
+flakes, fell softly but rapidly.
+
+"It's Queen City or moulderin' in the drifts till next summer!" cried
+Jim, and he turned his horse into a side-path. The others followed
+without a word, willing to accept his guidance through the greatest
+peril they had yet faced in an arduous campaign. Despite the danger,
+which he knew to be heavy and pressing, and his anxiety for Sylvia,
+Harley's curiosity was aroused, and he wished to ask more of Queen City,
+but the saturnine face of the guide was not inviting. Nevertheless, he
+risked one question.
+
+"How far is this place, Queen City?" he asked.
+
+"Bout two miles," replied Jim, with what seemed to Harley a derisive
+grin, "an' it's tarnal lucky for us that it's so near."
+
+Harley said no more, but he was satisfied with nothing in the guide's
+reply save the fact that the town was only two miles away; any shelter
+would be welcome, because he saw now that a snow-storm on the wild
+mountains was a terrible thing.
+
+The guide led on; Jimmy Grayson, with bent head, followed; Mr.
+Heathcote, shrunk in his saddle, came next; then "King" Plummer; and
+after him Sylvia and Harley, who were as nearly side by side as the
+narrow path would permit.
+
+"It won't be far, Miss Morgan," said Harley; the others could not hear.
+
+She felt rather than heard the note of apprehension in his voice, and
+she knew it was for her. A thrill of singular sweetness passed over her.
+It was pleasant for some one, _the_ one, to be afraid for her sake. She
+looked out at the driving snow and the dim peaks, but she had no fear
+for herself. She was glad, too, that she had come.
+
+"I know the way of the mountains," she replied. "The guide will take us
+in safety to this city of his, of which he speaks so highly."
+
+Harley saw her smile through the snow. The others rode on before, heads
+bowed, and did not look back. He and she felt a powerful sense of
+comradeship, and once, when he leaned over to detach her bridle rein
+from the horse's mane, he touched her hand, which was so soft and warm.
+Again the electric thrill passed through them both, and they looked into
+each other's eyes.
+
+Now and then the vast veil of snow parted before the wind, as if cleft
+down the centre by a sword-blade, and Harley and Sylvia beheld a grand
+and awful sight. Before them were all the peaks and ridges, rising in
+white cones and pillars against the cloudy sky, and the effect was of
+distance and sublimity. From the clefts and ravines came a desolate
+moaning. Harley felt that he was much nearer to the eternal here than he
+could ever be in the plains. Then the rent veil would close again, and
+he saw only his comrades and the rocks twenty feet away.
+
+They turned around the base of a cliff rising hundreds of feet above
+them, and Harley caught the dull-red glare of brick walls, showing
+through the falling snow. He was ready to raise a shout of joy. This he
+knew was Queen City, lying snugly in its wide valley. There was the
+typical, single mountain street, with its row of buildings on either
+side; the big one near-by was certainly the hotel, and the other big one
+farther on was as certainly the opera-house. But nobody was in the
+streets, and the whole place was dark; not a light appeared at a single
+window, although the night had come.
+
+"We're here," Harley said to Sylvia, "but I confess that this does not
+look promising. Certainly there is nobody running to meet us."
+
+She was gazing with curiosity.
+
+"It's like no other town that I ever saw," she said.
+
+Harley rode up by the side of the guide.
+
+"The place looks lonesome," he said.
+
+"Maybe they've all gone to bed; there ain't anythin' here to keep 'em
+awake," replied the guide, with the old puzzling and derisive smile.
+
+Harley turned coldly away. He did not like to have any one make fun of
+him, and that he saw clearly was the guide's intention. Jimmy Grayson
+was still thinking of things far off, and Mr. Heathcote, chilled and
+shrunk, seemed to have lost the power of speech. "King" Plummer, for
+reasons of his own, was silent too.
+
+The guide rode slowly towards the large brick building that Harley took
+to be the hotel, and, at that moment, the snow slackened for a little
+while; the last rays of the setting sun struck upon the dun walls and
+gilded them with red tracery; some panes of glass gave back the ruddy
+glare, but mostly the windows were bare and empty, like eyeless sockets.
+Harley looked farther, and all the other buildings--the opera-house, the
+stores, and the residences--were the same, desolate and decaying. About
+the place were snow-covered heaps, evidently the refuse of mining
+operations, but they saw no human being.
+
+The effect upon all save the guide was startling. Harley saw the look of
+chilled wonder grow on Jimmy Grayson's face. Mr. Heathcote raised
+himself in his saddle and stared, uncomprehending. Harley had been deep
+in the desert, but never before had he seen such desolation and ruin,
+because here was the body, but all life had gone from it. He felt as one
+alone with ghosts. Sylvia was silent, her confidence gone for the
+moment. The guide laughed dryly.
+
+"You guessed it," he said, looking at Harley. "It's a dead city. Queen
+City has been as dead as Adam these half-dozen years. When the mines
+played out, it died; there was no earthly use for Queen City any longer,
+and by-and-by everybody went away. But I've seen the old town when it
+was alive. Five thousand people here. Money a-flowin', drinks passin'
+over the counter one way and the coin the other, the gamblin'-houses an'
+the theatre chock-full, an' women, any kind you please. But there ain't
+a soul left now."
+
+The snow thinned still more, and the buildings rose before them gaunt
+and grim.
+
+"We'll stop to-night at the Grand Hotel--that is, if they ain't too much
+crowded; it'll be nice for the lady," said the guide, who had had his
+little joke and who now wished to serve his employers as best he could;
+"but first we'll take the horses into the dinin'-room; nobody will
+object; I've done it afore."
+
+He rode towards a side-door, but over the main entrance Harley saw in
+tessellated letters the words "Grand Hotel," and he tried to shake off
+the feeling of weirdness that it gave him.
+
+The door to the dining-room, which was almost level with the ground, was
+gone, and with some driving the horses were persuaded to enter. They
+were tethered there, sheltered from the storm, and, when they moved,
+their feet rumbled hollowly on the wooden floor. Sylvia, the candidate,
+and his friends, driven by the same impulse, turned back into the snow
+and re-entered the house by the front door.
+
+They passed into a wide hall, and at the far end they saw the clerk's
+desk. Lying upon it were some fragments of paper fastened to a chain,
+and Harley knew that it was what was left of the hotel register. It
+spoke so vividly of both life and death that the five stopped.
+
+"Would you like to register, Mr. Grayson?" asked Harley, wishing to
+relieve the tension.
+
+The candidate laughed mirthlessly.
+
+"Not to-night, Harley," he said; "but, gloomy as the place is, we ought
+to be thankful that we have found it. See how the storm is rising."
+
+He glanced at Sylvia, and deep gratitude swelled up in his breast.
+Grewsome as it might look, Queen City was now, indeed, a place of
+refuge. But he had no word of reproach for her, because she had insisted
+upon coming. He knew that a snow-storm had not entered into her
+calculations, as it had not entered into his, and, moreover, no one in
+the party had shown more courage or better spirits.
+
+The snow drove in at the unsheltered windows, and a long whine arose as
+the wind whirled around the old house. The guide came in with cheerful
+bustle and stamp of feet.
+
+"Don't linger here, gentlemen and ladies," he said. "The house is yours.
+Come into the parlor. We've had a piece of luck. Now and then a lone
+tramp or a miner seeks shelter in this town, just as we have done; they
+come mostly to the hotel, and some feller who gathered up wood failed to
+burn it all. I'll have a fire in the parlor in five minutes, and then we
+can ring for hot drinks for the men, a lemonade for the lady, and a warm
+dinner for all. I'll take straight whiskey, an' after that I ain't
+partic'ler whether I get patty-de-foy-graw or hummin'-bird tongues."
+
+His good-humor was infectious, and they were thankful, too, for the
+shelter, desolate though the place was. All the wood had been stripped
+away except the floors, and the brick walls were bare. In the great
+parlor they had nothing to sit on save their saddles, but it was a noble
+apartment, many feet square, built for a time when there was life in
+Queen City.
+
+"I've heard the Governor of Montana speak to more than two hundred
+people in this very room," said Jim, reminiscently. "He was to have
+spoke in the public square, but snow come up, an' Bill Fosdick, who run
+the hotel, and run her wide open, invited 'em all right in here, an'
+they come."
+
+Harley could well believe it, knowing, as he did, the miners and the
+mountains, and, by report, early Montana.
+
+At one end of the room was an immense grate, and in this Jim heaped the
+wood so generously left by the unknown tramp or miner, igniting it with
+a ready match. The ruddy blaze leaped upward and threw generous shadows
+on the floor. The travellers, sitting close to it, felt the grateful
+warmth and were content.
+
+All the saddle blankets also had been brought in and piled on one of the
+saddles. On these Sylvia sat and spread out her hands to the ruddy
+blaze. To Harley, with the flame of the firelight on her face and the
+glow of the coals throwing patches of red and gold on her hair, she
+seemed some brilliant spirit come to light up the gloomy place. Here all
+was warmth and brightness; outside, the storm moaned through the
+mountains and the darkness.
+
+"Do you know, I enjoy this," she said, as she looked into the crackling
+fire.
+
+"So Queen City ain't so bad, ma'am?" said the guide, with dry
+satisfaction.
+
+"Not bad at all, but very good," she replied, gayly. "Don't you think
+so, Mr. Harley?"
+
+"I certainly agree with you," replied Harley, devoutly, "but I'm glad
+that Queen City is just where it is."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Daddy has been many a time in the mountains without his Queen
+City--haven't you, daddy?"
+
+"Often," said "King" Plummer, looking at her with a pleased smile. But
+he wished that she would not call him "daddy," at least before Harley;
+it seemed that she could never remember his request; but she had warned
+him.
+
+"An old hand travellin' in the mountains always purvides for a snowy
+day," said the guide, and he took from his saddle-bags much food and a
+large bottle.
+
+They drank a little, all except Sylvia, and ate heartily. The last touch
+of cold departed, and the fire still sparkled with good cheer, casting
+its comforting shadows across the stained floor.
+
+"I've brought in the horse-blankets," said the guide, "an' with them
+under us, our overcoats over us, an' the fire afore us, we ought to
+sleep here as snug an' warm as a beaver in its house."
+
+Sylvia was accustomed to camping in the mountains, and made no fuss, but
+quietly leaned back against the saddle and the wall, and drew her heavy
+cloak around her. She was soon half asleep, and the flames, moving off
+into the distance, seemed to be dancing about in a queer, light-minded
+fashion.
+
+Harley walked to the window and looked out. The night was black, save
+for the driving snow, and when he glanced back at the room it seemed a
+very haven of delight. But the strangeness of their situation, the weird
+effect of the dead city, with the ghost-like shapes of its houses
+showing through the snow, was upon his nerves, and he did not feel
+sleepy.
+
+Muttering some excuse to the others, he went into the hall. It was dark,
+and a gust of cold air from the open window at the end struck him in the
+face. At the same moment Harley saw what he took to be a light farther
+down the hall, but when he looked again it was gone.
+
+It might be a delusion, but the matter troubled him; if a lone tramp or
+miner were in the building, he wished to know. Any stranger would have a
+right in the hotel, but there was comradeship and welcome in Jimmy
+Grayson's party.
+
+Harley's instinct said that all was not right, and, taking off his
+boots, he crept down the hall and among the cross-halls with noiseless
+feet. He did not see the light again, but he heard in another room the
+hum of voices, softened so that they might not reach any one save those
+for whom they were intended. But they reached Harley, crouching just
+behind the edge of the door, and, hearing, he shuddered. A great danger
+threatened the nominee for the Presidency of the United States. Such a
+thing as the present had never before happened in the history of the
+country.
+
+And that same danger, but in a worse form, perhaps, threatened Sylvia.
+It was not Harley's fault that a girl had then a greater place than a
+Presidential nominee in his mind. He shuddered, and then closed his lips
+firmly in resolve.
+
+The door was still on its hinges, and it was still slightly ajar.
+Harley, peeping through the crack, saw the eight occupants of the room
+by the faint light from the window, and because the man who did the
+talking, and who showed himself so evidently the leader, had red hair,
+he knew him instinctively. It was Red Perkins and the remnant of his
+gang, not scattered to the winds of the West, as Jim and everybody else
+thought, but here in Montana, in their old haunts. And Harley, listening
+to their talk, measured the extent of their knowledge, which was far too
+much; they knew who Jimmy Grayson was, they had known of his departure
+from Blue Earth, and they had followed him here; presently they would
+take him away, and the whole world would be thrilled. No such prize had
+ever fallen into the hands of robbers in America, and it would be worth
+a million to them.
+
+Harley was in a chill as he listened, because he heard them speak next
+of Sylvia, and one of them laughed in a way that made the correspondent
+want to spring at his throat. Sylvia and the candidate must be saved.
+
+But Harley, thinking his hardest, could not think how. There were eight
+men well armed in the room before him; the guide and Mr. Plummer,
+probably, had pistols, but he had none, and he was sure that Jimmy
+Grayson and Mr. Heathcote were without them. He paused there a long
+time, undecided, and at last he crept down the hall again and towards
+the great parlor. Then he put on his boots, re-entered the room, and
+spoke in a low voice to his comrades.
+
+The guide's fighting blood was on fire at once. "I've a revolver," he
+said; "we kin barricade the room and hold 'em off. There are two windows
+here, opening out on the snow, but they are so high they can hardly
+reach 'em with their hands. We kin make a good fight of it."
+
+"I've a pistol, too," said Mr. Plummer, "and we must make it a fight to
+the death."
+
+He spoke quietly, but with determination and a full knowledge of all the
+danger that threatened. He glanced at Sylvia, who, coming back from her
+half-dream, had risen to her feet. Then he walked to the door, because
+the "King" was ever alert in the face of danger.
+
+"What is it?" Sylvia asked of Harley. She knew by their manner that
+something strange and terrifying had happened, and in such a situation
+it was now an involuntary act with her to turn to Harley.
+
+"Sylvia," he said--the others had followed "King" Plummer to the door
+"you ought to know."
+
+He noticed that, though pale, she was quiet and firm.
+
+"If it is danger, I have faced it before," she said, proudly.
+
+"As you will face it now, like the bravest woman in the West. 'Red'
+Perkins's gang of outlaws are out there, and they mean to take Mr.
+Grayson to hold for ransom, and you--"
+
+Her eyes looked straight into his, and suddenly they shone with all the
+fulness of love and confidence.
+
+"They will not take me while you are here," she said.
+
+"Not if we have to die together. Sylvia, I believed that your heart was
+mine, and in this moment of danger I know it."
+
+He spoke truly. In the crisis their souls were bare to each other. He
+seized her hands, and the brilliant color flamed into her cheeks.
+
+"Sylvia!" he exclaimed, in a thrilling whisper.
+
+"Hush!" she said. "The others are about to come back."
+
+She gently withdrew her hands from his, and when "King" Plummer turned
+away from the door he saw nothing.
+
+"There's not a shot to be fired," said Jimmy Grayson, "because I've a
+better plan. How long do you think it will be before they come for me,
+Harley?"
+
+"About fifteen minutes, I should say; at least that is what I gathered
+from their talk."
+
+"And they have not examined the building or the town?"
+
+"No; they merely came down the trail behind us and slipped into that
+room, waiting their chance."
+
+"Very good. Jim, you told me a while ago that the Governor of Montana
+once spoke to two hundred people in this room; it was a fortunate remark
+of yours, because I shall speak to as many people to-night in this same
+room. Shut the door there, put the saddles before it, and then build
+the fire as high as possible."
+
+The candidate's voice was sharp, decisive, and full of command. The born
+leader of men was asserting himself, and the guide, without pausing to
+reason, hastened to obey. He shut the door, put the saddles before it,
+and heaped upon the fire all the remaining wood except a stump reserved
+by Jimmy Grayson's express command. The fire leaped higher, and the room
+was brilliantly lighted.
+
+Jimmy Grayson stood by, erect, calm, and grave.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," he said, "you are a crowd come from Crow's Wing to
+meet me here, and to hear what I have to say. I trust that you will like
+it, and indicate your liking by your applause."
+
+The stump was placed in the middle of the floor, and Jimmy Grayson
+stepped upon it. His face at that height was visible through the window
+to any one outside, although the others would be hidden. Just as he took
+his place Harley thought he heard the soft crunch of a footstep on the
+snow beneath the window. He felt a burning curiosity to rise and look
+out, but he restrained it and did not move. The guide was staring at the
+candidate in open-mouthed amazement, but he, too, did not speak. A few
+big white flakes drove in at the open window, but they did not reach the
+men before the fire that blazed so brightly. Harley again thought he
+heard the soft shuffle of footsteps on the snow outside, but then the
+burning wood crackled merrily, and Jimmy Grayson was about to speak.
+
+Sylvia stood erect against the wall, her glowing eyes full of
+admiration. Her quick mind had grasped the whole plan.
+
+"Gentlemen of Crow's Wing," said the candidate, in his full,
+penetrating voice, which the empty old building gave back in many an
+echo, "it is, indeed, a pleasure to me to meet you here. The
+circumstances, the situation, are such as to inspire any one who has
+been so honored. I should like to have seen your little town, the home
+of brave and honest men, nestling as it does among these mighty
+mountains, and far from the rest of the world, but strong and
+self-reliant. I appreciate, too, your kindness and your thought for me.
+Seeing the advance of the storm, and knowing its dangers, you have come
+to meet me in this place, once so full of life. I find something
+singularly appealing and pathetic in this. Once again, if only for a
+brief space, Queen City shall ring with human voices and the human
+tread."
+
+The candidate paused a moment, as if the end of a rounded period had
+come and he were gathering strength for another. Then suddenly arose a
+mighty chorus of applause. It was Harley, "King" Plummer, Heathcote, and
+Jim, and their act was spontaneous, the inspiration of the moment, drawn
+from Jimmy Grayson's own inspiration. The guide beat upon the floor with
+both hands and both feet, and the other three were not less active.
+Moreover, the guide opened his mouth and let forth a yell, rapid,
+cumulative, and so full of volume that it sounded like the whoop of at
+least a half-dozen men. The room resounded with the applause, and it
+thundered down the halls of the great empty building. When it died,
+Harley, listening again intently, heard once more the crunch of feet on
+the snow outside, but now it was a rapid movement as if of surprise. But
+the sound came to him only a moment, because the candidate was speaking
+once more, and he was worth hearing. He only looked away to see Sylvia,
+who still stood against the wall with her glowing eyes fixed in
+admiration on her uncle. Once or twice she, too, glanced aside, and her
+gaze was for Harley. But it was a different look that she gave him.
+There was admiration in it, too, and also a love that no woman ever
+gives to a mere uncle. In those moments the color in her cheeks
+deepened.
+
+As an orator Jimmy Grayson was always good, but sometimes he was better
+than at other times, and this evening was one of his best times. The
+audience from Crow's Wing, the consideration they had shown in meeting
+him here in the dead city, and the wildness of the night outside seemed
+to inspire him. He showed the greatest familiarity with the life of the
+mountains and the needs of the miners; he was one of them, he
+sympathized with them, he entered their homes, and if he could he would
+make their lives brighter.
+
+Never had the candidate spoken to a more appreciative audience. With
+foot and hand and voice it thundered its applause; the building echoed
+with it, and all the time the fire burned higher and higher, and the
+merry crackling of the wood was a minor note in the chorus of applause.
+But Jimmy Grayson's own voice was like an organ, every key of which he
+played; it expressed every human emotion; full and swelling, it rose
+above the applause, and Harley, watching his expressive face, saw that
+he felt these emotions. Once he believed that the candidate, carried
+away by his own feelings, had become oblivious of time and place, and
+thought now only of the troubles and needs of the mountain men.
+
+Harley's attention turned once more to the windows. He thought what a
+lucky chance it was that no one standing on the ground outside was high
+enough to look through them into the room. He blessed the unknown
+builder, and then he tried to hear that familiar shuffle on the snow,
+but he did not hear it again.
+
+Jimmy Grayson spoke on and on, and the applause kept pace, until at last
+the guide slipped quietly from the room. When he returned, a quarter of
+an hour later, the candidate was still speaking, but Jim gave him a
+signal look and he stopped abruptly.
+
+"They are gone," said Jim. "They must have been gone a full hour. The
+snow has stopped, and I guess they are at least ten miles from here,
+runnin' for their lives. They knew that if the men of Crow's Wing put
+hands on 'em they'd be hangin' from a limb ten minutes after."
+
+Jimmy Grayson sank down on the stump, exhausted, and wiped his hot face.
+
+"Say, Mr. Harley," whispered the guide to the correspondent, "I've heard
+some great speeches in my time, but to-night's was the greatest."
+
+The candidate spoke the next day at Crow's Wing, and his audience was
+delighted. But Jim was right. The speech was not as great as the one he
+had made at Queen City.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+WORDS BY THE WAY
+
+
+Rumors of the adventure in the dead city had spread throughout the
+little mountain town in which Jimmy Grayson made his speech the day
+after the stop in Queen City, and when he began the return journey an
+escort, from which all the bandits in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains
+would have turned aside, was ready for him. It was a somewhat noisy
+band, but orderly and full of enthusiasm, secretly wishing that a second
+attempt would be made, and their devotion to Jimmy Grayson and his cause
+found an answering sympathy in Harley.
+
+They had passed the night in Crow's Wing, and the start was made when
+the first sunlight brought a sudden uplifting of a white world into a
+dazzling burst of blue and yellow and red. But no more snow was falling,
+and those who knew said that the day would continue fair.
+
+Sylvia Morgan had not been present at the speech the night before. Even
+she, bred amid hardships and dangers, was forced to admit that her
+nerves were somewhat unstrung, and she rested quietly in a warm room at
+the hotel. Harley knocked once on her door, and received the reply that
+she was all right. Then he turned away and went slowly down the hall,
+thoughtful, and, for the first time in many days, thoroughly
+understanding himself. To the world, when the world should hear of it,
+the candidate would always be the central figure in the episode of the
+dead city, but Harley knew that their adventure in the old hotel was
+more momentous to him than it had been to the candidate. His doubts and
+his hesitation were gone; he knew what Sylvia Morgan represented to him,
+and with that knowledge came a certain peace; it would have been a
+greater peace had not the shadow of "King" Plummer been so dark.
+
+When Sylvia reappeared for the return there was nothing to indicate that
+she had ever been tired or nervous. She seemed to Harley the incarnation
+of fresh, young life, and there was a singular softness and gentleness
+in her manner, all the more winning because she had let it appear more
+rarely hitherto. She held out her hand to Harley.
+
+"You see that I have passed through our adventure without harm to my
+nerves," she said.
+
+"I knew that you would do so," replied Harley.
+
+He would have said more, but the armed escort, to a man, was bowing
+respectfully, and making no very great effort to conceal its admiration
+at the sight of a lady, young and beautiful, such an infrequent visitor
+to their lonely hamlet. Nor was this admiration diminished by the fact,
+known to them all, that she had taken the hazardous journey over the
+mountains with Jimmy Grayson. They considered it a special honor and
+dignity conferred upon themselves, and as the candidate introduced them,
+one by one, the bows were repeated but with greater depth. Sylvia Morgan
+knew how to receive them. She was a child of the mountains herself, and
+without any sacrifice of her own dignity she could make them feel that
+they knew her and liked her.
+
+All Crow's Wing saw them off, and they rode away over the mountains in
+the splendid red and gold of the dawn. Mr. Grayson and "King" Plummer
+were near the head of the troop, and Harley and Sylvia were near the
+rear, where they remained a part of the general group for a long time,
+but at last dropped back behind all the others.
+
+"Won't Mr. Churchill be shocked when he hears of our adventure in the
+dead city?" said Sylvia.
+
+"He will think that it is the climax," was the reply.
+
+Harley laughed, but in a few moments he became grave. Yet there was an
+expression of much sweetness about his firm mouth.
+
+"Still I am glad that it happened," he said. "I saw a new illustration
+of our candidate's powers, and I learned, too, much more than that."
+
+She glanced at him, and as she read something in his face she looked
+quickly away, and a sudden flush rose to her cheeks. Despite herself,
+her heart began to beat fast and her hand trembled on the bridle rein.
+
+Harley expected her to ask what it was that he had learned, but when he
+saw her averted face he went on:
+
+"I learned then, Sylvia, what I should have known long before, that I
+love you, that you are the one woman in the world for me. And I do not
+believe, Sylvia, that you care only a little for me."
+
+He was bold, masterful, and the ring of confidence was in his voice. His
+hand, for a moment, touched her trembling hand on the bridle rein, and
+she thrilled with the answering touch.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, with grave sweetness, "I mean to win you."
+
+"You must not talk so," she said, and a sudden pallor replaced the
+color in her face. "You know that I cannot in honor hear it. I am
+promised, and of my own accord, to another, and to one to whom every
+sacred obligation commands me to keep my promise."
+
+"I do not forget your promise--Mr. Plummer was in my mind when I was
+speaking--nor do I urge you to break it."
+
+"Why, then, do you speak? Why do you say that you mean to win me?"
+
+"Because Mr. Plummer must break this bargain himself. He, of his own
+accord, must give your promise back to you. I mean to make him do so. I
+do not yet know how, but I shall find a way. Oh, I tell you, Sylvia,
+this marriage of his and yours is not right. It's against nature. You do
+not love him; you cannot--do not protest--not in a way that a woman
+should love the man whom she is going to marry. You love me instead, and
+I mean to make you keep on loving me, just as I mean to make Mr. Plummer
+give you back your promise."
+
+"Have you not undertaken two large tasks?" she said, smiling faintly.
+
+But Harley, usually so short and terse, had made this long speech with
+fire and heat, as the "still waters" were now running very deep, and he
+went on:
+
+"I have given you fair warning, Sylvia. Neither you nor Mr. Plummer can
+say that I have begun any secret campaign. I have told you that I mean
+to make you marry me."
+
+She thought that she ought to stop him, to tell him that he must never
+speak of such a thing again. Before her rose the figure of the man whom
+she had promised to marry, square, massive, and iron-gray, but, solid as
+the figure was, it quickly faded in the light of the real and earnest
+young face beside her. Youth spoke to youth, and she did not stop him,
+because what he was saying to her was very pleasant, though it might be
+wrong.
+
+The morning was brilliant and vivid on the mountains. Far away the white
+peaks melted dimly into the blue sky, and below them lay the valleys,
+cup after cup, white with snow. The others rode on ahead, not noticing,
+and Harley was not one to let time slip through his fingers.
+
+"You must not speak in this way to me again," she said, at last,
+although her tone was not sad, only firm, "because it is not right. I
+knew that it was wrong, even while you were saying it, but I could not
+stop you. You know you cannot change what is fixed, and I must marry Mr.
+Plummer."
+
+Harley laughed joyously. Later he did not know why he was so confident
+then, but the air of the mountains and a new fire, too, were sparkling
+in his veins, and at that moment he had no doubts.
+
+"You will not marry Mr. Plummer," he repeated, with energy, "and it is
+not you that will break the promise. It is he that shall give it back to
+you."
+
+For the time she felt his faith, and her face glowed, but her courage
+left her when the "King," who had been ahead with the candidate, dropped
+back towards the rear and joined them.
+
+"King" Plummer, too, had begun that return journey with feelings of
+exhilaration. Everything in the trip from Crow's Wing appealed to him,
+because it was so thoroughly in consonance with his early life in the
+mountains. The adventure in Queen City had stirred his blood, and around
+him were familiar things. He, too, wished that an organized band of
+bandits would come, because in his younger days he had helped to hunt
+down some of the worst men in the mountains, and the old fighting blood
+mounted as high as ever in his veins.
+
+He had seen that Sylvia was entirely recovered from the alarms of the
+night at Queen City, and then, because he felt that it was his duty, and
+because there was a keen zest in it, too, he rode on ahead with the
+candidate, to whom he pointed out dim blue peaks that he knew, and to
+whom he laid down the proposition that those mountains were full of
+minerals, and would one day prove a source of illimitable wealth to the
+nation.
+
+The crispness of the morning, the vast expanse of mountain, and the
+feeling of deep, full life made the "King's" blood tingle. His years of
+hardship, danger, and joy--and he had enjoyed his life greatly--swept
+before him, and he laughed under his breath; life was still very good.
+After a while the thought of Sylvia came to him, and he smiled again,
+because Sylvia was truly good to look upon. He rode back towards her,
+and then he received a blow--a blow square in the face, and dealt
+heavily.
+
+"King" Plummer's was not a mind trained to look upon the more delicate
+shades of life--he dealt rather with the obvious; but when he saw Harley
+and Sylvia he knew. Mrs. Grayson's warning, which at first he had only
+half accepted, had come true, and it had come quickly. His instant
+impulse was that of the primitive man to raise his fist and strike down
+this foolish, this presumptuous youth who had dared to cross the path of
+him, the King of the Mountains; but he did not raise it, because "King"
+Plummer was a gentleman; instead, he strove to conceal the fact that he
+was breathing hard and deep, and he spoke to them in a tone that he
+sought to render careless, but which really had an unnatural sound.
+Sylvia gave him a glance that was half fear, and had the "King" taken
+notice it would have filled him with deep pain, but Harley, who alone of
+the three retained his self-possession, spoke lightly of passing things.
+The feeling of exulting strength was not yet gone from him; in the
+presence of this man of great achievement he was not afraid, and,
+moreover, the desire to protect Sylvia, to turn attention from her, was
+strong within him.
+
+For these reasons Harley carried the whole burden of the talk, and
+carried it well. Neither of the others wished to interrupt him; Sylvia
+being full of these new emotions, half joy and half fear, that agitated
+her, and Mr. Plummer trying to evolve from chaos a way to act.
+
+Although the "King" had suppressed the muscular manifestation, he was
+none the less burned by internal fire. Sylvia was his: it was he who had
+found her in the mountains; it was he who had given her the years of
+care and tenderness, and by every right, including that of promise, she
+belonged to him. Nor was he one to give her up for a fancy. He had seen
+the look of love on her face when she spoke to Harley, but she was only
+a girl--from the crest of his years the "King" thought that he saw the
+truth, and knew it--and as soon as this campaign was over, and the
+Eastern youth had disappeared, she would forget him.
+
+Mr. Plummer regarded this youth out of the corner of his eye, and while
+he pitied him for his ignorance of life, he was bound to admit that
+Harley was a handsome fellow, tall, well knit, and with an air of
+self-reliance. Evidently there was good stuff in him, and he would
+amount to something when he was trained and mature, although the "King"
+concluded that he needed a great deal of training. But he could not fail
+to feel respect for Harley's presence of mind, his calm, and his ease.
+The youth showed no fear of him, no sign of apprehension, and the
+mountaineer gave him credit for it.
+
+Sylvia was glad when they stopped in one of the lower glades to rest and
+eat of the food which had been so amply provided for them. But she was
+proud of Harley and the manner in which he had taken upon himself all
+the burden. His conduct went far to justify in her eyes his confident
+prediction, and, secretly approving, she watched the ease with which he
+bore himself among the blunt mountaineers and the handsome manner in
+which he affiliated. She noticed that they seemed to think of Harley as
+one like Jimmy Grayson--that is, one of themselves--and they never
+considered him raw or green in any respect.
+
+Her confidence in Harley and the momentary elation returned as they
+stood there in this cup in the mountain-side and looked out upon the
+expanse of peak and plain. She ate, too, with an appetite that the
+mountain air sharpened, and she thrilled with strength and hope.
+
+Mr. Plummer, from some motive that she did not understand, kept himself
+in the background during the stop; nor did she know how his big heart
+was filled with wrath and gloom. But as he stood silently at the
+farthest rim of the circle, he resolved to push his fortunes, which was
+in accordance with his nature.
+
+"Will you walk to the edge of the cove with me?" he said to the
+candidate, when he saw that the latter had finished his luncheon, and
+Mr. Grayson, without a word, complied with his request.
+
+Jimmy Grayson must have had some premonition of what was to come,
+because he obeyed his first impulse, and glanced at Harley and Sylvia,
+who were standing together. He was confirmed in his thought when he saw
+the look of gloom and resolve upon the face of his friend.
+
+"I want to speak to you of Sylvia," said "King" Plummer, in tones of
+hurry, as if it cost him an effort. "It's about our marriage. I think I
+ought to hurry it up a little. You see--well, you can't help seeing,
+that, compared with Sylvia, I'm old. I'm not really old, but I'm old
+enough to be her father, an' youth has a way that's pretty hard to break
+of turnin' to youth."
+
+"Yes," said Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"Sylvia's just a girl; she don't seem much more 'n a child to me, an'
+lately she's been travellin' about a heap, an' she's met new people.
+Now, I don't blame her, don't think that, because it's natural, but here
+is this young writin' chap."
+
+"Harley, you mean?"
+
+"Yes. An' I'm not sayin' anythin' against him, either, though writin'
+has never been much in my line, but he an' Sylvia seem to have taken a
+sort of shine to each other--I don't know whether it amounts to any more
+than that, though I suppose it could if it was give a chance; but down
+there in Queen City he did more for her than I did, or anybody else, and
+I suppose that tells with a girl. Well, you saw 'em together as we
+walked out here, an' I'm bound to admit that they make a powerful likely
+couple."
+
+He hesitated, as if he were waiting for the candidate to speak, but Mr.
+Grayson was silent. He glanced once at the strong face of Plummer,
+drawn as if in pain, and then he looked into the valley a thousand feet
+below. Jimmy Grayson did not care to speak.
+
+"I ain't a blind man," continued the "King." "I may not be too smart,
+but still things don't have to be driven into me with a wedge. If Sylvia
+and Harley were left to themselves, they would fall deep in love, I can
+see that; but I tell you, Mr. Grayson, she's mine, she belongs to me,
+because I've earned her, and because she's promised herself to me, too,
+an' I can't give her up. Still, if it's wrong, if I ought to let her
+have her promise back, I'll do it anyhow. An' that's why I've asked you
+to walk out here. I don't like much to speak to another man of a thing
+right next to my heart, but I want to ask you, Mr. Grayson--you are her
+uncle an' my best friend--what do you think I ought to do?"
+
+It was hard to embarrass Jimmy Grayson, but he was embarrassed now. He
+would rather any other man in the world had asked him any other
+question. Sylvia was his niece, and her happiness was dear to him.
+Harley, too, had found a place in his heart. And when he glanced at them
+again and saw them still together, it seemed fit and right that they
+should continue so through life. But there was "King" Plummer, an honest
+man, and his claim could not be denied. And his mind could not help
+asking this insidious little question, "If Sylvia is allowed to throw
+over 'King' Plummer, will he not sulk and allow the Mountain States,
+passing from her uncle, to go into the other column?" Jimmy Grayson
+would not have been human if he had not heard this little question
+demanding an answer, but he resolutely resisted it.
+
+"What do you say?" asked Mr. Plummer. "I'd risk much on your advice."
+
+"I was studying your question, because in a case like this a man has to
+think of so many things, and then may miss the right one. But, Mr.
+Plummer, I don't know what to say; I think, however, I'd wait. Sylvia is
+a good girl, and I know you can trust her. But they are beckoning to us;
+they are ready to start."
+
+He was glad of that start, because it saved him from further discussion
+of the problem, and Mr. Plummer went back with him moodily.
+
+Yet the resolve in the "King's" mind had only been strengthened by his
+talk with the candidate. The danger of Sylvia slipping through his
+fingers because of his own want of precaution made her all the more dear
+to him, and he was determined to take that precaution now. So he was
+watchful throughout the remainder of the journey, seeking his
+opportunity, and it came towards the twilight, as they saw the first
+houses of the railroad station rise upon the horizon.
+
+Mrs. Grayson, Hobart, Blaisdell, the state politicians, and, all the
+others came out to meet them, and for a while there was a turmoil of
+voices asking questions and answering them. Presently Sylvia slipped
+from the group, and Mr. Plummer followed her towards the hotel.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "wait for me. I have some thing to say."
+
+She recognized an unusual tone in his voice and she was frightened. She
+felt an almost irresistible impulse to run and to hide herself in some
+dim room of the hotel. But she did not do it; instead, she waited and
+walked by his side.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "the perils and hardships of the trip we are just
+finishin' have set me to thinkin' hard."
+
+She trembled again. She felt as if he were going to say something that
+she would not like to hear.
+
+"That trip was full of dangers for you, and, as we go through all this
+Western country, there may be more to come. I want the right, Sylvia, to
+look after you, to look after you more closely than I've ever done
+before, and to do that, Sylvia, I've got to be your husband."
+
+"I have promised."
+
+"I know you have, an' I know you'll keep your promise. But I want you to
+keep it now. Why couldn't we get married, say next week, and make this
+campaign one big weddin' tour. I think it would be grand, Sylvia, an'
+it's right easy to arrange."
+
+He paused, awaiting her answer, but she had suddenly lost all her color,
+and, despite herself, she trembled violently.
+
+"Oh no!" she cried, "not now! It would be better to wait. Why break up
+this pleasant--Oh, I don't mean that! I mean, why not go on as we are
+through the campaign, and afterwards we could talk of--of--what you
+propose? Anything else now would be so unusual. I think we'd better
+wait!"
+
+She spoke almost breathlessly under impulse, and then she stopped
+suddenly as if afraid. The color poured back into her face, and she
+waited timidly.
+
+The King of the Mountains, who had never known fear, was gripped by a
+cold chill. He had delivered his master-stroke and it had failed.
+
+"We'll wait, Sylvia," he said, gloomily. "Of course a woman's wish in
+such a matter as this is law, and more than law."
+
+"Oh, daddy, don't you see how it is?" she cried, moved by his tone. "I'm
+but twenty-two. I don't want to marry just yet. I haven't seen enough of
+this big world. Why can't we wait a little?"
+
+"Don't be afraid, child; no one shall make you marry when you don't want
+to," he said, soothingly and protectingly, and this role became him
+superbly. "The subject sha'n't be mentioned to you again while the
+campaign lasts."
+
+"You are the best man in the world, daddy!" she exclaimed. Suddenly she
+rose on tiptoe, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and then ran away.
+"King" Plummer walked gravely back to the lobby of the hotel, where a
+crowd was gathered.
+
+Harley was one of this crowd, and on entering the room he had been met
+at once by Churchill, upon whose face was a look of consternation.
+
+"Harley," he asked, "is the report true that Grayson was in danger of
+being kidnapped by bandits on this trip to Crow's Wing?"
+
+"It is true, every word of it."
+
+"My God! what will Europe say?" exclaimed Churchill, aghast.
+
+Harley laughed, but he did not attempt to reason with Churchill. He knew
+that the correspondent of the _Monitor_ was too far gone to be reached
+by argument.
+
+Churchill sent a lurid despatch to the _Monitor_, describing in detail
+the folly and recklessness of the candidate, and the manner in which he
+neglected the great issues of the campaign for the sake of impulses,
+which always terminated in frivolous or dangerous adventures. And the
+_Monitor_ fully backed up its correspondent, because, when the issue of
+the paper that published the despatch reached them, it also contained
+an editorial, in which the editor wrote in anguish of heart:
+
+
+     "We have supported Mr. Grayson in this campaign with as much zeal
+     and energy as our moral sense would permit. We have given him full
+     credit for all the virtues that he may possess, and we have been
+     willing at all times for him to profit by our experience and
+     advice. But our readers will bear witness that we have never failed
+     in courage to denounce the wrong, even if it should be in our own
+     house. Our easy, and on the whole superficial, American temperament
+     condones too many things. Never was it more noticeable than in the
+     vital issues of this Presidential campaign. The yellow journals are
+     making a great noise over Mr. Grayson; they shout about his
+     oratory, his generosity, and his noble impulses until the really
+     serious minority of us can scarcely hear; but the grave, thoughtful
+     people, those who are recognized in Europe as the real leaders of
+     American opinion, will not be put down. Despite the turmoil of the
+     childish, we have never lost our heads. The _Monitor_, from the
+     very first, has perceived the truth, and it has the courage to tell
+     it. We contribute this advice willingly and without charge to those
+     who are conducting the campaign.
+
+     "The youthful and flamboyant qualities must be eradicated from Mr.
+     Grayson. Our young republic cannot afford to be discredited in the
+     eyes of Europe by the sensational or frivolous actions of one who
+     is nominated by a great party for the high office of President.
+     This last adventure with brigands in the mountains is really more
+     than our patience will bear, and our readers know that our patience
+     is great. We have suggested, we have advised, and we have even
+     threatened by indirection, but thus far it has all been futile.
+
+     "Now we mean to speak with the bluntness and decision demanded by
+     the circumstances. A committee of men, mature in years and solid in
+     judgment, some of whom we can name, must be put in control of the
+     campaign. Mr. Grayson must be kept within strict limits; he must
+     take advice before delivering his speeches, and he must not be
+     permitted to turn aside for irrelevant issues. And since the
+     _Monitor_ speaks reluctantly, and in the utmost kindness, we
+     suggest that he become a faithful reader of our columns. A word to
+     the wise is sufficient."
+
+
+The day this issue of the _Monitor_ arrived Sylvia said to Churchill:
+
+"Mr. Churchill, I want to thank you in behalf of my uncle for that
+beautiful editorial in the _Monitor_. It was put in the very way that
+would appeal to him most."
+
+"Do you really think so, Miss Morgan?" said Churchill, blushing with
+borrowed pride.
+
+"Oh yes, but it was so typical, it had so much of a certain personal
+quality in it, that I am sure you must have telegraphed it to the
+_Monitor_ yourself."
+
+"King" Plummer, who stood by and who had very little to say these days,
+smiled sourly.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+BY THE FIRELIGHT
+
+
+The special train now entered one of the most mountainous portions of
+Utah, and, as the strenuous nature of the campaign continued, its
+exigencies permitted little time for other things. Personal feelings,
+fears, and hopes had to be buried, or at least hidden for the time, and
+Harley, like all the rest, was absorbed in work. Nevertheless, his
+feeling of confidence, even exhilaration, remained. He believed that he
+would yet discover a way.
+
+He found this part of the campaign pleasant, physically as well as
+mentally. The alternation of huge mountain and fertile valley was
+grateful to the eye, and, however severe the day's journey might be,
+they knew there would be good rest at the end.
+
+It had been nearly a week since the episode of the dead city, when
+Hobart bustled back to Harley and said:
+
+"Harley, we shall have the noble red man to hear us to-night. We stop
+just at the edge of the Indian reservation, and a lot of the braves,
+with their squaws, too, I suppose, will attend. Of course they will be
+duly impressed by Jimmy Grayson's oratory."
+
+Sylvia Morgan was present when this news was announced, and Hobart
+suddenly stopped short and glanced at her. She had turned pale, and
+then, remembering that old tragedy in her life when she was a little
+child, he ascribed her pallor to her horror at the mention of Indians.
+But Hobart did not know that they were approaching the scene of the
+memorable massacre.
+
+The train now curved southward and entered a fertile valley lying like a
+bowl among the high mountains. They saw here fields that had been golden
+with wheat, ripe fruit yet hung from the trees, and the touch of green
+was still visible, although autumn had come. By the railway track a
+clear mountain stream flowed, sparkling in the thin, pure air, and there
+was more than one full-grown man in the candidate's party who, with
+memories of his youth before him, longed to pull off shoes and socks and
+wade in it with bare feet.
+
+The sight was most refreshing after so much mountain and arid expanse,
+and the tired travellers brightened up visibly.
+
+"One of the states has the motto, 'Here we rest'--I've forgotten which
+it is--but it ought to be Utah," said Hobart, "and now's the time."
+
+He was not disappointed. They came before noon to Belleville, the
+metropolis of the valley, the place where the candidate was going to
+speak, one of the prettiest little towns that ever built its nest in the
+Rocky Mountains. They were all enthusiastic over it, with its trim
+houses, its well-paved streets, the clear water flowing beside the
+curbs, and its air of completion. The people, too, had all the Western
+courage and energy, without its roughness and undue expression, and so
+the candidate and his party luxuriated.
+
+"You wouldn't think that this gem of a town was harried more by Indians
+in its infancy than perhaps any other place in the West, would you?"
+said Hobart to Harley.
+
+"Hobart, what a nuisance you are!" replied Harley; "you are always
+prowling around in search of useless facts. Now, I don't want to hear
+anything about bloodshed and massacre, when Belleville is the picture of
+neatness and comfort that it is to-day. Look at that little opera-house
+over there! You couldn't find anything handsomer in a city of fifty
+thousand in the East."
+
+"Harley," said Hobart, with emphasis, "I wouldn't have your lack of
+curiosity for anything in the world," and he wandered away in disgust to
+pour his ancient history into the ears of a more willing listener.
+
+At twilight they ate an admirable dinner, and then Harley, Hobart, who
+had returned from his explorations, Blaisdell, and two or three others,
+after their custom, filled in the interval between supper and the
+speeches with a stroll through the village, Mr. Plummer going along as a
+sort of mentor. The keeper of the hotel informed them that many of the
+Indians already were in town and were "tanking up." Harley found this to
+be true, and the red men failed to arouse in him either respect or
+admiration. If they had ever had any nobility of the wilderness, it was
+gone now, and they seemed to him a sodden, depressed, and repellent
+race. A half-dozen or so, in various stages of drunkenness, through
+whiskey surreptitiously obtained, increased the feeling of aversion.
+
+In the dusk they stumbled over a figure lying squarely across the path,
+and Harley drew back with a word of disgust. An old Indian, dilapidated
+and in the last stages of intoxication, was stretched out on his face. A
+local resident named Walker, who had joined them, laughed.
+
+"That," said he, "is a chief, a great man, or at least he was once. It's
+old Flying Cloud--poetical name, though he don't look poetical now by a
+long shot. Here, get out of this; you're blocking up the road!"
+
+With true Western directness he administered a kick to the prostrate
+form, but the old chief, buried in a sodden dream, only stirred and
+muttered; then the resident opened up a battery of kicks, and presently
+the Indian rose to his feet and slunk off, muttering, in the darkness.
+
+"They're no good at all," said Walker. "Only a lot of sots, whenever
+they get the chance."
+
+But Harley was thinking of the contrast between what he had just seen
+and what he had imagined might be the freedom and nobility of the
+wilderness.
+
+It was a beautiful autumn night, and the candidate spoke in the open, in
+the village square, with the mountains that circled about him as his
+background. Sylvia Morgan was not among the listeners. Usually she
+enjoyed these speeches in the evening, with the crowds, the enthusiasm,
+and the encircling darkness. But to-night she would not come, nor would
+she tell the reason to Harley or any of his friends. She merely said
+that she wished to stay in her room at the hotel.
+
+The audience was quiet and attentive, and Harley noticed here and there
+on the outskirts the dark faces of the Indians. They interested him so
+much that he left the platform presently to watch them. He was wondering
+if they had any conception at all of Jimmy Grayson's words or of a
+Presidential campaign. Nor did he gain any knowledge by his examination.
+They listened gravely, and their faces were without expression.
+
+The nearest of them all to the stand Harley recognized as the old chief,
+Flying Cloud, whom Walker had kicked off the sidewalk. He seemed to have
+recovered physical command of himself, and stood erect. There was a red
+feather in his felt hat, and a shawl in brilliant stripes was drawn
+across his shoulders.
+
+The candidate spoke in a specially happy vein that night, and the
+background of the mountains added impressiveness to his words. To
+Harley, again the analyst, and seeking to put himself in the Indian's
+place, there was a rhythm and power in what Jimmy Grayson said, although
+he, as an Indian, might not understand a word. He could interpret it as
+a chant of battle or victory, and such, he had no doubt, was the view of
+Flying Cloud.
+
+The chief, so Harley judged, was still half under the influence of
+drink, but he was paying close attention to the speaker, and the
+correspondent at last saw in his eyes what he took to be the stir of
+some emotion. It was a light, as of memories of his own triumphs, and
+the chief's figure began to sway gently to the music of Jimmy Grayson's
+voice. They had built a bonfire near the speaker's stand, and by its
+flare Harley clearly saw old Flying Cloud smile.
+
+Hobart came up at that moment, and, Harley pointed out to him the
+transformation in the old chief's appearance. Hobart's opinion agreed
+with Harley's.
+
+"It's a battle-song that Flying Cloud is hearing," he said. "It's Jimmy
+Grayson that's stirring him up, though maybe the old fellow doesn't
+understand it that way."
+
+The speeches ended after a while, and the people began to leave.
+Presently only a few were left in the square, and among them was
+Harley, who felt no touch of sleepiness. He looked at the quiet town,
+then up at the ridges and peaks, crested with snow and silhouetted
+against the moonlit sky, and thought again of that little girl, alone
+with her dead and in the night among the vast mountains.
+
+The next moment he believed that it was a telepathic feeling, because at
+his elbow was Sylvia Morgan herself, a red-striped shawl over her head
+to protect her from the cold, and "King" Plummer, who had evidently
+brought her from the hotel, not far away.
+
+"Are they all gone?" she asked.
+
+"No," replied Harley; "the Indians and a few more are left."
+
+Harley, in the moonlight, clearly saw her shiver.
+
+"I was restless, and I could not sleep," she said. "I came out for the
+sake of the air. But I'll go back."
+
+"No," said Harley, "don't go. Stay with us, please. Now what can that
+mean?"
+
+A wild, barbaric chant arose near the bonfire behind them.
+
+"Come!" exclaimed Harley, keen to see and hear. "I think it's old Flying
+Cloud, and he's ready to turn himself loose. We can't miss this!"
+
+Sylvia was about to turn away, but as "King" Plummer came up on the
+other side of her, and seemed to have a curiosity like Harley's, she
+yielded at last, though with reluctance, and the three walked towards
+the fire.
+
+Harley's surmise was correct, as old Flying Cloud, jumping back and
+forth, was singing some kind of war-song. There was a group about him,
+and in it was Hobart, who Harley guessed had been a moving spirit in
+this scene. Jimmy Grayson's fire and eloquence had done the rest.
+
+The flames burned down a little, but they cast a weird light on the old
+chief's face, bringing out like brown carving the high cheek-bones, the
+great, hooked nose, and the seamed cheeks. The thin lips fell away from
+long, yellow teeth, and heightened the effect of cruelty which his whole
+expression gave.
+
+Hobart came over to them, and said: "See how the old fellow is changing!
+We've got him to sing one of his ancient war-songs, and I guess he
+thinks he's beating Jimmy Grayson now!"
+
+Sylvia Morgan shuddered, but she said nothing. She seemed to be held by
+the fascination of the serpent.
+
+The chief continued to make his queer little jumps back and forth, and
+went on with his chant. As he had begun in English for his auditors, so
+he continued, although he was now oblivious of their presence. Harley,
+watching him, knew it, and he knew, too, that the chief's mind was far
+back in the past. His was not the song of the broken derelict, but of
+the barbarous and triumphant warrior, and as he sang he gathered fire
+and strength.
+
+The circle of white faces grew around the old chief. Every loiterer was
+there, and others came back. Not one spoke. All were fascinated by the
+singular and weird scene. The moon, low down on the mountain's crest,
+still shed a pallid, grayish light that mingled with the fitful red
+glare from the glowing coals, the two together casting an unearthly
+tinge. But Harley's eyes never left the chief, as he saw his figure
+continue to expand and grow with ancient memories of prowess, and the
+eyes of Sylvia beside him, as she too listened, expressed many and
+strong emotions.
+
+Flying Cloud told of hunting triumphs, of the slaughter of the buffalo,
+of fierce encounters with the mountain-lion, of hand-to-hand combat with
+the grizzly bear, and then he glided into war. Now his voice rose, full
+and prolonged, without any of the tremor or shrillness of age, and his
+eccentric dancing grew more violent. His emotions, too, were shown on
+his face in all their savagery as he told of the foray and the fight.
+
+At first it was Indian against Indian, and never was any mercy
+shown--always woe to the conquered; then it was the whites. An emigrant
+train was coming over the mountains--men, women, and children. There was
+danger in their path; a Ute war-band was abroad, but the fools knew it
+not. They travelled on, and at night the children played and laughed by
+the camp-fire, but the shadow of the Utes was always there. Flying Cloud
+led the war-band, but held them back until the time should come. He was
+waiting for a place that he knew. At last they reached it, a deep canon
+with bushes on either side, and the train entered the defile.
+
+Harley suddenly felt a hand upon his arm. It was the fingers of Sylvia
+grasping him, but unconscious of the act. He looked up and saw her face
+as white as death, and a yard away the eyes of "King" Plummer were
+burning like two coals.
+
+Flying Cloud's figure swayed, and his voice trembled with a curious joy
+at the old memories. He was approaching the great moment of triumph. He
+told how the warriors lay among the bushes, watching the foolish train
+come on, how they looked at each other and rejoiced in advance over an
+easy victory. Some would have fired too soon, but Flying Cloud would
+not let them. His was the cunning mind, as well as the bold heart, and
+he omitted nothing. The trap was perfect. The fools never suspected.
+They stopped to make a camp, and still they did not know that a ring of
+death was about them. They built their fires, and again the children
+laughed and played by the coals. It was the last time.
+
+The old chief was now wholly the wilderness slayer, the Indian of an
+earlier time. His glittering eyes at times swept the circle of white
+faces about him, but he did not see them, only that old massacre.
+
+The narrative went on. Flying Cloud told each of his warriors to select
+a victim, and fire true when he gave the word. He chose for himself a
+large man who stood by one of the wagons, a man who had with him a woman
+and a little boy and a little girl, and the little girl had long curls.
+
+A groan burst from Plummer, and Harley saw his great figure gather as if
+for a spring. But Harley, quick as lightning, seized the man in a
+powerful grasp, and cried in his ear: "Not now, Mr. Plummer, not now,
+for God's sake! Wait until the end!"
+
+Harley felt the "King" quiver in his hands, and then cease to struggle.
+Sylvia stood by, still as white as death and absolutely motionless. The
+others, held by the old chief's song, did not see nor hear.
+
+Flying Cloud's eyes were glittering with cruel triumph as he continued
+his chant. The rifles were raised, the white fools yet suspected
+nothing, but laughed and jested with each other as if there would be a
+to-morrow.
+
+Then he gave the word, and all the rifles were fired at once. The canon
+was filled with smoke and the whistling of bullets. Most of the men in
+the train were killed at once, and then the warriors sprang among those
+who were left. Flying Cloud had shot the tall man by the wagon, and then
+he sought the woman and the two children. He slew the woman and the
+little boy, and he scalped them both. Then he sprang at the girl, but
+the child of the Evil Spirit slipped among the bushes, and he could not
+find her.
+
+The old chief stopped a moment, and once more his glittering eyes swept
+the circle of white faces, but saw them not. Then that fierce cry burst
+again from Plummer. Suddenly he threw off Harley as if he had been a
+child, and sprang through the ring of white faces into the circle of the
+firelight. The tall, pale girl, still not saying a word, stood by, like
+an avenging goddess.
+
+"Murderer!" cried the "King." "It is not too late to punish you!"
+
+He seized the old chief by the throat, but the white men threw
+themselves upon him and tore him off.
+
+Flying Cloud reeled back, gazed a moment at Plummer, and then drew a
+knife.
+
+"It was when there was war between us, and I will not swing at the end
+of the white man's rope," he said.
+
+So speaking, he plunged the blade into his own heart and fell dead,
+almost at the feet of the woman whose kin he had slain.
+
+"Whatever the red scoundrel was," said Hobart, later, "I shall always
+use the old text for him, and say that nothing in this life became him
+like the leaving of it."
+
+But there were no such feelings in the heart of Sylvia Morgan. When
+"King" Plummer sprang upon Flying Cloud, Harley turned involuntarily to
+Sylvia, and he saw the pallor replaced by a sudden flush; then, when the
+chief slew himself with his own knife, the flush passed, and whiter than
+ever she sank down gently. But Harley caught her in his arms before she
+fell, and in a moment or two she revived. It seemed to be her first
+thought that she was held by him, and she struggled a little.
+
+"Let me go," she said; "I can stand. I assure you I can. It was just a
+passing weakness."
+
+But Harley wished to make certain that it was not more than that before
+he released her, and the friendly darkness and the interest of the crowd
+centred on Flying Cloud aided him. A minute later Mrs. Grayson and the
+wife of a local political leader, Mrs. Meadows, took her from him and
+carried her to the hotel. Mrs. Grayson, who had heard the chief's chant,
+understood the story, but Mrs. Meadows, who knew nothing of Sylvia's
+relation to it, but who guessed something from the talk of the others,
+was devoured by curiosity. However, she prevailed over it, for the time,
+and was silent as she went with Sylvia back to the hotel, although she
+made a vow which she kept--that she would find out the full truth in the
+morning.
+
+Harley lingered a little by the firelight and joined Hobart and the
+crowd. The tragedy had cut deep into his thoughts--and he did not care
+to talk, but the others had plenty to say.
+
+"What a singular coincidence," said Tremaine, stroking his fine, white,
+pointed mustache, of which he was very proud. "I call it very remarkable
+that this savage should have told the story of that old tragedy the very
+night when the only survivor of it was present."
+
+"I do not call it remarkable at all," said Hobart. "It is not even a
+coincidence in the usual meaning of the word. It came about naturally,
+each chapter in the story being the logical sequence of the chapter that
+preceded it."
+
+"It may all be very clear to a man like you, one who makes a study of
+crime and mysteries," said Tremaine, ironically, as he gave his mustache
+an impatient tug, "but it is far from being so to me. I still call it a
+coincidence."
+
+"That is because you haven't taken time to think about it, Tremaine.
+Your mind is entirely too good to accept such a theory as coincidence.
+In the first place, Mr. Grayson is making a thorough tour of the West,
+all the more thorough because these are supposed to be doubtful states.
+Now what more natural than his coming to Belleville, which is one of the
+most important towns in northern Utah, and, having come, what more
+probable than the presence of the Indians at his speech, because such
+attractions are rare in Belleville, and the Indian would come to see
+what it is that stirs up so much his white friend and brother. Of
+course, the Indian in his degenerate days, would take the chance to get
+drunk, and, being in a whiskey stupor, he naturally supposed that Mr.
+Grayson was chanting a chant of victory, and quite as naturally he
+chanted in return his own chant, and also quite as naturally this chant
+was about the deed that he considered the greatest of his life. So,
+there you are; the chain is complete, the result is natural; any other
+result would have been unnatural."
+
+Tremaine laughed.
+
+"You have worked it out pretty well, Hobart," he said, "but I have my
+own opinion."
+
+"You are entitled to it," rejoined Hobart, briskly, "but be sure you
+keep it to yourself, and then you won't suffer from the criticisms of
+the intelligent."
+
+Tremaine laughed good-naturedly, and then avowed his concern about that
+beautiful girl, Miss Morgan, who suddenly and under such peculiar
+circumstances had been brought face to face with the slayer of her
+people; he had perceived from the first her noble qualities, and he felt
+for her the deepest sympathy. Tremaine, while a great lover of the
+ladies, had in reality less perception than any of the others in affairs
+of the heart. He was, perhaps, the only one in the group who did not
+know what was going on, and for that reason he talked at length of
+Sylvia, no one being able to stop him. He thought it a pity that Sylvia
+should be wasted on "King" Plummer, who was a good man, a fine old Roman
+soul, but then he had his doubts about Sylvia's love for him--that is,
+as a husband. Mr. Plummer was too old for her. Tremaine, by a curious
+inconsistency, never looked upon himself as old, and thought it
+perfectly natural that he should carry on a mild flirtation with any
+girl, provided she be handsome, although young enough to be his
+daughter.
+
+Harley was uneasy, and would have left them had not the act called
+attention to himself too pointedly, and he was forced to listen to
+Tremaine's rambling comment, knowing that all the others had him in
+their thoughts as they heard. Fortunately, Tremaine did not require any
+comment from others, preferring an unbroken stream of his own talk, and
+Harley was able to regain his hotel in silence.
+
+They were confronted the next morning by an announcement that sent
+sorrow through the whole group. Mrs. Grayson felt that the events of the
+night before were too much for a young girl, and unless she were
+removed for a time to quieter scenes and a less arduous life they would
+leave lasting effects. Moreover, the campaign was about to enter upon a
+phase in which women would prove burdensome, hence she and Sylvia were
+going to Salt Lake City for a stay of two weeks, and then they would
+rejoin the party at some point in the Northwest.
+
+It was with no counterfeit grief that they heard this news. The ladies
+had added brightness and variety to a most toilsome campaign, and their
+daily travel would seem very black indeed without them. Even Churchill
+was loud in his regrets, because Churchill had some of the instincts of
+a gentleman, and he never failed in what was due to Mrs. Grayson and
+Sylvia. But he could not keep from making one nasty little stab at
+Harley.
+
+"Harley," he said, "do you know that they are going to have a very
+stalwart escort to Salt Lake?"
+
+"I do not," replied Harley, in some surprise. "I think they are quite
+able to take care of themselves."
+
+"Perhaps they are, but 'King' Plummer is going with them, nevertheless.
+At his age it is well for a man to keep watch over a young girl whom he
+expects to marry, or some husky youth may carry her off."
+
+Harley was surprised at the strength of his desire to strike Churchill
+in the face, and he was also surprised at the fact that he resisted it.
+He accounted for it by his theory that Churchill could not help being
+mean at times, and, therefore, was not wholly responsible. So he
+contented himself with saying:
+
+"Churchill, you are a fool now and then, but you never know it."
+
+Then he walked carelessly away before Churchill had made up his mind
+whether to get angry or to return a sarcastic reply. Churchill liked to
+use sarcasm, as it made him feel superior.
+
+But Harley was much disturbed by Churchill's statement. Sylvia was going
+away, and her stay of two weeks might lengthen into months or become
+permanent. And Mr. Plummer was going with her. Harley's own absence
+would put him at a great disadvantage, and for a moment he suspected
+that this stop at Salt Lake City was an artful movement on the part of
+the "King," but reflection made him acquit Mr. Plummer, first, because
+the "King" was too honest to do such a thing, and, second, because he
+was not subtle enough to think of it.
+
+While he was planning what he would do to face this unforeseen
+development, a boy from the hotel handed him a note. Harley's heart
+jumped when he saw that it was in the handwriting of Sylvia Morgan, and
+it fluttered still further when she asked to see him in the hotel parlor
+for a few minutes. He was apprehensive, too, because if she had anything
+good to tell him she certainly would not send for him.
+
+Sylvia was sitting in the parlor beside a window that looked out upon a
+vast range of snow-covered mountains, rising like the serrated teeth of
+a saw, and, although she heard his footsteps, she did not turn her face
+until Harley stood beside her. Then she said, irrelevantly:
+
+"Isn't that a grand view!"
+
+"You did not send for me to tell me that," said Harley, with a certain
+protecting tenderness in his tone, because what he took to be the
+sadness in her face appealed to his manly qualities.
+
+"No, I did not. I have been thinking over what we said to each other
+when we were coming back from Crow's Wing, and I have concluded that it
+was wrong."
+
+"Why was it wrong? I love you, and I had the right to tell you so."
+
+"No, you did not. You would have had were I free, but I am promised to
+another. I was wrong to let you speak; I was wrong to listen to you."
+
+"I will not admit it," said Harley, doggedly, "because Mr. Plummer is
+going to give you up. He will see that he ought not to hold you to this
+promise."
+
+She smiled sadly.
+
+"I must be loyal to him," she said, "and before starting for Salt Lake
+City I want to tell you that you must not again speak to me of this."
+
+"But I shall write to you in Salt Lake."
+
+"You must not write of this. If you do, I will not open another one of
+your letters."
+
+"I promise not to write to you of love, but I make no promise after
+that. You are not going from Salt Lake to Idaho? This is not an excuse
+to leave us for good?"
+
+Her eyes wavered before his. It may be that she had intended to abandon
+the campaign permanently, but, with his straight and masterful glance
+demanding an honest answer, she could not say it.
+
+"Yes, I will come back," she said, and then, with a sudden burst of
+feeling: "Oh, I like your group; I like all of you. This great journey
+has been something fresh and wonderful to me, and I do not want to leave
+it!"
+
+"I thought not," said Harley, with returning confidence, "and I am glad
+that you sent for me here, because it has given me a chance to tell you
+that, while you mean to keep your promise, I also mean to keep mine.
+Mr. Plummer will yet yield you up. You are mine, not his, you know you
+are!"
+
+He bent suddenly and kissed her lightly on the forehead, and every nerve
+in her tingled at the first touch of the lips of the man whom she loved.
+Yet with the sense of right, of loyalty to another, strong within her,
+she was about to protest, but he was gone, and the first kiss still
+tingled on her forehead. She felt as if he had put there an invisible
+seal, and that now in very truth she belonged to him.
+
+The two ladies under the escort of Mr. Plummer left an hour later for
+Salt Lake City, and everybody was at the station to see them go. Mrs.
+Grayson was quiet as usual, and Sylvia was noticeably subdued, a fact
+which most of them ascribed to the tragedy of Flying Cloud and her
+coming absence of two weeks from a most interesting campaign.
+
+"You ought to cheer up, Miss Sylvia," said Hobart, "because you are not
+half as unlucky as we are. You can spare us much more easily than we can
+spare you."
+
+"I am really sorry that I must go," she said, sincerely.
+
+"But you will come back to us?"
+
+"I have promised to do so."
+
+"That is enough; we know that you will keep a promise, Miss Sylvia."
+
+Sylvia at first would not look at Harley. His kiss still burned upon her
+brow, and she yet felt that it was his seal, his claim upon her. And her
+conscience hurt her for it, because there was "King" Plummer, strong,
+protecting, and overflowing with love for her and faith in her. But as
+she was telling them all good-bye she was forced to say it to Harley,
+too, in his turn, and when he took her hand he pressed it ever so
+little, and said, for her ear only:
+
+"I am still hoping. I refuse to give you up."
+
+She retreated quickly into the Salt Lake car to hide her blush.
+
+When they saw the last smoke of the train melting into the blue sky,
+Harley and Mr. Heathcote walked back to the hotel together. A strong
+friendship had grown up between these two, and each valued the other's
+opinion.
+
+"A fine woman," said Mr. Heathcote, looking towards the silky blue of
+the sky where the smoke had been.
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Grayson has always impressed me as a woman of great dignity
+and strength," said Harley, purposely misunderstanding him.
+
+"That is apparent, but I was not speaking of her. I meant Miss Morgan;
+she seems to me to be of a rare and noble type. The man who gets her,
+whoever he may be, ought to think himself lucky."
+
+Harley noticed that Mr. Heathcote did not take it for granted that
+"King" Plummer would get her, but he said nothing in reply.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+THE SPELLBINDER
+
+
+An hour after the smoke of the Salt Lake train was lost in the blue sky,
+the special car bearing the candidate whirled off in another direction,
+deep into the wonderland of the mountains. Now white peaks were on one
+side and mighty chasms on the other; then both chasm and peak were lost
+behind them, and they shot through an irrigated valley, brown with the
+harvest, neat villages snuggling in the centre. But always, whether near
+or far, the mountains were around them, blue on the middle slopes, white
+at the crests, unless those crests were lost in the clouds and mists.
+
+The people in the car were more quiet than usual, the candidate absorbed
+in somewhat sad thoughts, the state politicians respecting his silence,
+and the correspondents planning their despatches. But all missed Mrs.
+Grayson and Miss Morgan, who, whether they talked or not, always
+contributed brightness and a gentler note to their long campaign. "King"
+Plummer, too, with his loud laugh and his large, sincere manner, left a
+vacancy. Every one felt that there was now nothing ahead but
+business--cold, hard business--and so it proved.
+
+Every campaign enters upon successive phases, in which the contestants
+advance, through politeness and consideration, first to wary feint and
+parry, and then to the stern death-grip of the battle which can mean
+nothing but the victory of one and the defeat of the other. They were
+now approaching this last stage, and great piles of Eastern newspapers,
+which reached them in Utah, reflected all the progress of the combat.
+
+It was obvious to all of those skilled readers and interpreters that the
+breach within the party was widening, and that this breach could become
+a chasm before the election. The _Monitor_ and other papers, the chosen
+or self-appointed champions of vested interests, were almost openly in
+revolt; in Harley's mind their course amounted to the same thing; they
+printed in their news columns many things derogatory to Grayson, and
+likely to shatter public faith in his judgment, and in nearly all of
+them appeared signed contributions from members of the wealthy faction
+led by the Honorable Mr. Goodnight, attacking every speech made by the
+candidate, and intimating that he was a greater danger to the country
+than the nominee of the other side.
+
+"The split will have to come," was Harley's muttered comment, "and the
+sooner the better for us."
+
+The journals of the rival party were a singular contrast to those of
+Grayson's side, as they expressed unbounded and sincere confidence. In
+all that had occurred they could not read anything but victory for them,
+and Harley was bound to admit that their exultation was justified.
+
+But amid all these troubles the candidate preserved his remarkable
+amiability of disposition, and Harley witnessed another proof that he
+was a man first and a statesman afterwards.
+
+The train was continually thronged with local politicians and others
+anxious to see Mr. Grayson, and at a little station in a plain that
+seemed to have no end they picked up three men, one of whom attracted
+Harley's notice at once. He was young, only twenty four or five, with a
+bright, quick, eager face, and he was not dressed in the usual careless
+Western fashion. His trousers were carefully creased, his white shirt
+was well-laundered, and his tie was neat. But he wore that strange
+combination--not so strange west of the Mississippi--a sack-coat and a
+silk-hat at the same time.
+
+The youth was not at all shy, and he early obtained an introduction to
+Mr. Grayson. Harley thus learned that his name was Moore--Charles Moore,
+or Charlie Moore, as those with him called him. Most men in the West,
+unless of special prominence, when presented to Jimmy Grayson, shook
+hands warmly, exchanged a word or two on any convenient topic, and then
+gave way to others, but this fledgling sought to hold him in long
+converse on the most vital questions of the campaign.
+
+"That was a fine speech of yours that you made at Butte, Mr. Grayson,"
+he said, in the most impulsive manner, "and I endorse every word of it,
+but are you sure that what you said about Canadian reciprocity will help
+our party in the great wheat states, such as Minnesota and the Dakotas?"
+
+The candidate stared at him at first in surprise and some displeasure,
+but in a moment or two his gaze was changed into a kindly smile. He read
+well the youth before him, his amusing confidence, his eagerness, and
+his self-importance, that had not yet received a rude check.
+
+"There is something in what you say, Mr. Moore," replied Jimmy Grayson,
+in that tone absolutely without condescension that made every man his
+friend; "but I have considered it, and I think it is better for me to
+stick to my text. Besides, I am right, you know."
+
+"Ah, yes, but that is not the point," exclaimed young Mr. Moore; "one
+may be right, but one might keep silent on a doubtful point that is
+likely to influence many votes. And there are several things in your
+speeches, Mr. Grayson, with which some of us do not agree. I shall have
+occasion to address the public concerning them--as you know, a number of
+us are to speak with you while you are passing through Utah."
+
+There was a flash in Jimmy Grayson's eye, but Harley could not tell
+whether it expressed anger or amused contempt. It was gone in a moment,
+however, and the candidate again was looking at the fledgling with a
+kindly, smiling, and tolerant gaze. But Churchill thrust his elbow
+against Harley.
+
+"Oh, the child of the free and bounding West!" he murmured. "What
+innocence, and what a sense of majesty and power!"
+
+Harley did not deign a reply, but he made the acquaintance, by-and-by,
+of the men who had joined the train with Moore. One of these was a
+county judge named Basset, sensible and middle-aged, and he talked
+freely about the fledgling, whom he seemed to have in a measure on his
+mind. He laughed at first when he spoke of the subject, but he soon
+became serious.
+
+"Charlie is a good boy, but what do you think he is? Or, rather, what do
+you think he thinks he is?"
+
+"I don't know," replied Harley.
+
+"Charlie thinks he's a spellbinder, the greatest ever. He's dreaming by
+night, and by day, too, that he's to be the West's most wonderful
+orator, and that he's to hold the thousands in his spell. He's a coming
+Henry Clay and Daniel Webster rolled into one. He's read that story
+about Demosthenes holding the pebble in his mouth to make himself talk
+good, and they do say that he slips away out on the prairie, where
+there's nobody about, and with a stone in his mouth tries to beat the
+old Greek at his own game. I don't vouch for the truth of the story, but
+I believe it."
+
+Harley could not keep from smiling.
+
+"Well, it's at least an honest ambition," he said.
+
+"I don't know about that," replied the judge, doubtfully. "Not in
+Charlie's case, because as a spellbinder he isn't worth shucks. He can't
+speak, and he'll never learn to do it. Besides, he's leaving a thing he
+was just made for to chase a rainbow, and it's breaking his old daddy's
+heart."
+
+"What is it that he was made for?"
+
+"He's a born telegraph-operator. He's one of the best ever known in the
+West. They say that at eighteen he was the swiftest in Colorado. Then he
+went down to Denver, and a month ago he gave up a job there that was
+paying him a hundred and fifty a month to start this foolishness. They
+say he might be a great inventor, too, and here he is trying to speak on
+politics when he doesn't know anything about public questions, and he
+doesn't know how to talk, either; I don't know whether to be mad about
+it or just to feel sorry, because Charlie's father is an old friend of
+mine."
+
+Harley shared his feelings. He had seen the round peg in the square hole
+so many times with bad results to both the peg and the hole that every
+fresh instance grieved him. He was also confirmed in the soundness of
+Judge Basset's opinion by his observation of young Moore as the journey
+proceeded. The new spellbinder was anxious to speak whenever there was
+an occasion, and often when there was none at all. The discouragement
+and even the open rebukes of his elders could not suppress him. The
+correspondents, comparing notes, decided that they had never before seen
+so strong a rage for speaking. He took the whole field of public affairs
+for his range. He was willing at any time to discuss the tariff,
+internal revenue, finance, and foreign relations, and avowed himself
+master of all. Yet Harley saw that he was in these affairs a perfect
+child, shallow and superficial, and depending wholly upon a few
+catchwords that he had learned from others. Even the former Populists
+turned from him. But their sour faces when he spoke taught him nothing.
+He was still, to himself, the great spellbinder, and he looked forward
+to the day when he, too, a nominee for the Presidency, should charm
+multitudes with his eloquence and logic. He had no hesitation in
+confiding his hopes to Harley, and the correspondent longed to tell him
+how he misjudged himself. Yet he refrained, knowing that it was not his
+duty; and that even if it were, his words would make no impression.
+
+But in other matters than those of public life and oratory Jimmy
+Grayson's people found young Moore likable enough. He was helpful on the
+train; now and then when the telegraph-operators had more material than
+they could handle, he gave them valuable aid; he was a fine comrade,
+taking good luck and bad luck with equal philosophy, and never
+complaining. "If only he wouldn't try to speak!" groaned Hobart, for
+whom he had sent a telegraphic message with skill and despatch.
+
+But that very afternoon Moore talked to them on the subject of national
+finance, until they fell into a rage and left the car. That evening
+Harley was sitting with the candidate, when an old man, bent of figure
+and gloomy of face, came to them.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Mr. Grayson," he said, "for intruding on you, but
+I've come to ask a favor. I'm Henry Moore, of Council Grove, the father
+of Charlie Moore, who was the best telegraph-operator in Denver, and who
+is now the poorest public speaker in Colorado."
+
+The old man smiled, but it was a sad smile, cut off early. Jimmy Grayson
+was full of sympathy at once, and he shook Mr. Moore's hand warmly.
+
+"I know your son," he said; "he is a bright boy."
+
+"Yes, he's nothing but a boy," said his father, as if seeking an excuse.
+"I suppose all boys must have their foolish spells, but he appears to
+have his mighty hard and long."
+
+The old man sighed, and the look of sympathy on Jimmy Grayson's face
+deepened.
+
+"Charlie is a good boy," continued Mr. Moore, "and if he could have this
+foolish notion knocked out of his head--there's no other way to get it
+out--he would be all right; and that's why I've come to you. You know
+you are to speak at Pueblo to-morrow night in a big hall, and one of the
+biggest crowds in the West will be there to hear you. Two or three
+speakers are to follow you, and what do you think that son of mine has
+done? Somehow or other he has got the committee to put him on the
+programme right after you, and he says he is going to demolish what he
+calls your fallacies."
+
+Harley saw the candidate's lips curve a little, as if he were about to
+smile, but the movement was quickly checked. Jimmy Grayson would not
+willingly hurt the feelings of any man.
+
+"Your boy has that right," he said to Mr. Moore.
+
+"No, he hasn't!" burst out the old man. "A boy hasn't any right to be so
+light-headed, and I want you, Mr. Grayson, when he has finished his
+speech, to come right back at him and wipe him off the face of the
+earth. It will be an easy thing for so big a man as you to do. Charlie
+doesn't know a thing about public affairs. He'll make lots of
+statements, and every one of 'em will be wrong. Just show him up. Make
+all the people laugh at him. Just sting him with your words till he
+turns red in the face. Roll him in the dust, and tread on him till he
+can't breathe. Then hold him up before all that audience as the biggest
+and wildest fool that ever came on a stage. Nothing else will cure him;
+it will be a favor to him and to me; and I, his father, who loves him
+more than anybody else in the world, ask you to do it."
+
+Harley was tempted to smile, and at the same moment water came into his
+eyes. No one could fail to be moved by the old man's intense
+earnestness, his florid and mixed imagery, and his appealing look.
+Certainly Jimmy Grayson was no exception. He glanced at Harley, and saw
+his expression of sympathy, but the correspondent made no suggestion.
+
+"I appreciate your feelings and your position, Mr. Moore," he said, "but
+this is a hard thing that you ask me to do. I cannot trample upon a boy,
+even metaphorically, in the presence of five thousand people. What will
+they think of me?"
+
+"They'll understand. They'll know why it's done, and they'll like you
+for it. It's the only way, Mr. Grayson. Either you do it or my boy's
+life is ruined."
+
+Jimmy Grayson walked up and down the room, and his face was troubled. He
+looked again and again at Harley, but the correspondent made no
+suggestion; he had none to make. At last he stopped.
+
+"I think I can save your son, and promise to make the trial, but I will
+not say a word just yet. Now don't ask me any more about it, and never
+mind the thanks. I understand; maybe I shall have a grown son myself,
+some day, to be turned from the wrong path. Good-night. I'll see you
+again at Pueblo. Harley, I wish you would stay awhile longer. I want to
+have further talk with you."
+
+The candidate and Harley were in deep converse for some time, and, when
+they finished, much of the trouble had disappeared from Jimmy Grayson's
+eyes. "I think it can be done," he said.
+
+"So do I," repeated Harley, with confidence.
+
+The next day, which was occupied with the run down to Pueblo and
+occasional stops for speeches at way-stations, was uneventful save for
+the growing obsession of Charlie Moore. He was overflowing with pride
+and importance. That night, in the presence of five thousand people, he
+was going to reply to the great Jimmy Grayson, and show to them and to
+him his errors. Mr. Grayson was sound in most things, but there were
+several in which he should be set right, and he, Charlie Moore, was the
+man to do it for him.
+
+The fledgling proudly produced several printed programmes with his name
+next to that of the candidate, and talked to the correspondents of the
+main points that he would make, until they fled into the next car. But
+he followed them there and asked them if they would not like to take in
+advance a synopsis of his speech, in order that they might be sure to
+telegraph it to their offices in time. All evaded the issue except
+Harley, who gravely jotted down the synopsis, and, with equal gravity,
+returned his thanks for Mr. Moore's consideration.
+
+"I knew you wouldn't want to miss it," said the youth, "I come on late,
+you know, and, besides, I remembered that the difference in time between
+here and New York is against us."
+
+Mr. Moore, the father, was on the train throughout the day, but he did
+not speak to his son. He spent his time in the car in which Jimmy
+Grayson sat, always silent, but always looking, with appeal and pathos,
+at the great leader. His eyes said plainly: "Mr. Grayson, you will not
+fail me, will you? You will save my son? You will beat him, and tread on
+him until he hasn't left a single thought of being a famous orator and
+public leader? Then he will return to the work for which God made him."
+
+Harley would look at the old man awhile, and then return to the next
+car, where the youth was chattering away to those who could not escape
+him.
+
+The speech in Pueblo was to be of the utmost importance, not alone to
+those whose own ears would hear it, but to the whole Union, because the
+candidate would make a plain declaration upon a number of vexed
+questions that had been raised within the last week or two. This had
+been announced in all the press on the authority of Jimmy Grayson
+himself, and the speech in full, not a word missing, would have to be
+telegraphed to all the great newspapers both East and West.
+
+In such important campaigns as that of a Presidential nominee, the two
+great telegraph companies always send operators with the correspondents,
+in order that they may despatch long messages from small way-stations,
+where the local men are not used to such heavy work. Now Harley and his
+associates had with them two veterans, Barr and Wymond, from Chicago,
+who never failed them. They were relieved, too, on reaching Pueblo, to
+find that the committee in charge had been most considerate. Some
+forethoughtful man, whom the correspondents blessed, had remembered the
+three hours' difference in time between Pueblo and New York, and against
+New York, and he had run two wires directly into the hall and into a
+private box on the left, where Barr and Wymond could work the
+instruments, so far from the stage that the clicking would not disturb
+Jimmy Grayson or anybody else, but would save much time for the
+correspondents.
+
+The audience gathered early, and it was a splendid Western crowd,
+big-boned and tanned by the Western winds.
+
+"They have cranks out here, but it's a land of strong men, don't you
+forget that," said Harley to Churchill, and Churchill did not attempt a
+sarcastic reply.
+
+They were both sitting at the edge of the stage, and in front of them,
+nearer the footlights, was young Moore, proud and eager, his fingers
+moving nervously. His father, too, had found a seat on the stage, but he
+was in the background, next to the scenery and behind the others; he was
+not visible from the floor of the house. There he sat, staring gloomily
+at his son, and now and then, with a sort of despairing hope, glancing
+at Jimmy Grayson.
+
+There were some short preliminary speeches and introductions, and then
+came the turn of the candidate. The usual flutter of expectation ran
+over the audience, followed by the usual deep hush, but just at that
+moment there was an interruption. A boy in the uniform of a telegraph
+company hurried upon the stage.
+
+"You must come at once, sir," he said to Harley. "Mr. Wymond hasn't
+turned up. We don't know what's become of him. And Mr. Barr has took
+sick, sudden and bad. The Pueblo manager says he'll get somebody here as
+quick as he can, but he can't do it under half an hour, anyway!"
+
+The other correspondents stared at each other in dismay, and then at the
+hired stenographer who was to take down the speech in full. But Harley,
+always thoughtful and resourceful, responded to the emergency. He had
+noticed Moore raise his head with an expression of lively interest at
+the news of the disaster, and he stepped forward at once and put his
+hand on the fledgling's shoulder.
+
+"Mr. Moore," he exclaimed, in stirring appeal, "this is a crisis for us,
+and you must save us. You have eaten with us, and you have lived with
+us, and you cannot desert us now. We have all heard that you are a great
+operator, the greatest in the West. You must send Mr. Grayson's speech.
+What a triumph it will be for you--to send his speech and then get upon
+this stage and demolish it afterwards!"
+
+The feeling in Harley's voice was real, and the boy was thrilled by it
+and the situation. Every natural impulse in him responded. It was the
+chivalrous thing for him to do, and an easy one. He could send a speech
+as fast as the fastest man living could deliver it. He rose without a
+word, his heart beating with thoughts of the coming battle, in which he
+felt proudly that he should be a victor, and made his way to the
+telegraphers' box.
+
+Moore had lived in Pueblo, and nearly everybody in the audience knew
+him. When they saw him take his seat at one of the instruments, their
+quick Western minds divined what he was going to do, and the roar of
+applause that they had just given to the candidate, who was now on his
+feet, was succeeded by another; but the second was for Charlie Moore,
+the telegraph-operator.
+
+The fledgling had no time to think. He had scarcely settled himself in
+his chair when the deep, full voice of Jimmy Grayson filled the great
+hall, and he was launched upon a speech for which the whole Union was
+waiting. The short-hand man was already deep in his work, and the copy
+began to come. But the boy felt no alarm; he was not even flustered; the
+feel of the key was good, and the atmosphere of that box which enclosed
+the telegraph apparatus was sweet in his nostrils. He called up Denver,
+from which the speech would be repeated to the greater cities, and with
+a sigh of deep satisfaction settled to his task.
+
+They tell yet in Western telegraph circles of Charlie Moore's great
+exploit. The candidate was in grand form that night, and his speech came
+rushing forth in a torrent. The missing Wymond was still missing, and
+the luckless Barr was still ill, but the fledgling sat alone in the box,
+his face bent over the key, oblivious of the world around him, and sent
+it all. Through him ran the fire of battle and great endeavor. He heard
+the call and replied. He never missed a word. He sent them hot across
+the prairie, over the slopes and ridges, and across the brown plains
+into Denver. And there in the general office the manager muttered more
+than once: "That fellow is doing great work! How he saves time!"
+
+The audience liked Jimmy Grayson's speech, and again and again the
+applause swelled and echoed. Then they noticed how the boy in the
+telegraphers' box--a boy of their own--was working. Mysterious voices,
+too, began to spread among them the news how Charlie Moore had saved the
+day--or, rather, the night--and now and then in Jimmy Grayson's pauses
+cries of "Good boy, Charlie!" arose.
+
+Harley, while doing his writing, nevertheless kept a keen eye upon all
+the actors in the drama. He saw the light of hope appear more strongly
+upon old man Moore's face, and then turn into a glow as he beheld his
+son doing so well.
+
+The candidate spoke on and on. He had begun at nine o'clock, but that
+was a great and important speech, and no one left the hall. Eleven
+o'clock, and then midnight, and Jimmy Grayson was still speaking. But it
+was not his night alone; it belonged to two men, and the other partner
+was Charlie Moore, who fulfilled his task equally well, and whom the
+audience still observed.
+
+But the boy was thinking only of his duty that he was doing so well. The
+victory was his, as he knew that it would be. He kept even with the
+speech. Hardly had the last word of the sentence left Jimmy Grayson's
+lips before the first of it was on the way to Denver, and in newspaper
+offices two thousand miles away they were putting every paragraph in
+type before it was a half-hour old.
+
+The boy, by-and-by, as the words passed before him on the written page,
+began to notice what a great speech it was. How the sentences cut to the
+heart of things! How luminous and striking was the phraseology! And
+around him he heard, as if in a dream, the liquid notes of that
+wonderful, golden voice. Suddenly, like a stroke of lightning, he
+realized how empty were his own thoughts, how bare and hard his speech,
+and how thin and flat his voice! His heart sank with a plunge, and then
+rose again as his finger touched the familiar key and the answering
+touch thrilled back through his body. He glanced at the audience, and
+saw many faces looking up at him, and on them was a peculiar look. Again
+the thrill ran through him, and, bending his head lower, he sent the
+words faster than ever on their eastern journey.
+
+At last Jimmy Grayson stopped, and then the audience cheered its
+applause for the speech. When the echoes died, some one--it was Judge
+Basset--sprang up on a chair and exclaimed:
+
+"Gentlemen, we have cheered Mr. Grayson, and he deserves it; but there
+is some one else whom we ought to cheer, too. You have seen Charlie
+Moore, a Pueblo boy, one of our own, there in the box sending the speech
+to the world that was waiting for it. Perhaps you do not know that if he
+had not helped us to-night the world would have had to wait too long."
+
+They dragged young Moore, amid the cheers, upon the stage, and then,
+when the hush came, the candidate said:
+
+"You seem to know him already; but as all the speaking of the evening is
+now over, I wish to introduce to you again Mr. Charlie Moore, the
+greatest telegraph-operator in the West, the genius of the key, a man
+destined to rise to the highest place in his profession."
+
+When the last echo of the last cheer died, there died with it the last
+ambition of Charlie Moore to be a spellbinder, and straight before him,
+broad, smooth, and alluring, lay the road for which his feet were
+fitted.
+
+But the words most grateful to Jimmy Grayson were the thanks of the
+fledgling's father. The little drama of the side-box and the
+telegraph-key was known to but five people--the candidate, Harley, the
+two operators, and happy Mr. Moore. The old gentleman, indeed, said
+something about Mr. Grayson having helped him, but it was taken by the
+others to mean that a mere chance, a lucky combination of circumstances,
+had come to his aid, and they failed to see in it anything of
+prearrangement or even intention. Hence there appeared on the surface
+nothing to be criticised even by Churchill, ever on the lookout for an
+incident that seemed to him incongruous or irrelevant.
+
+Harley made it an excuse for something that he wished very much to do.
+About this time Mrs. Grayson, returning from Salt Lake City, rejoined
+them, but she did not bring Sylvia with her, leaving her in the Mormon
+capital for a further stay with relatives. But Harley wrote a long
+letter to Sylvia, beginning with the story of the spellbinder, and he
+told her that his admiration for the candidate steadily increased,
+because Mr. Grayson was able, at all times, even in the heat of the
+hottest campaign that the Union had ever known, to put the highest
+attributes of the human heart--mercy, gentleness, help--before his own
+political good or even that of his party. Mr. Grayson might be beaten,
+but he would make a record that must become a source of pride, not to
+his party alone, but to the whole country. In fact, Mr. Grayson belonged
+to humanity, and the race might lay claim to him as one of its finest
+types.
+
+Then from Mr. Grayson he glided to the other, and, to Harley, greater
+topic--herself. He told her that nothing had occurred to make him change
+his wishes or his hopes; since her absence began his resolve had grown.
+He felt more than ever that the claim of Mr. Plummer upon her, though of
+a high and noble nature, even if he did hold her promise, must yield to
+the love of the husband for the wife. Mr. Plummer would come to see
+this, and he would come to see it in time. He had no desire to interfere
+with the natural affection of the man who had done so much for Sylvia,
+nor did he feel that he was making such interference.
+
+Harley was not sure that he would receive a reply to this letter, but it
+came in due time, nevertheless, and it was Jimmy Grayson himself who
+handed it to him. The handwriting of the address was known, of course,
+to Mr. Grayson, and he could scarcely have failed to notice it, but he
+said nothing, and apparently the fact passed unheeded by him.
+
+Sylvia, in the course of her letter, confined herself to impartial
+narrative, and began with the event of the spellbinder, which Harley had
+told to her in detail. Indeed, it seemed to Harley that she devoted a
+very remarkable amount of space to its consideration, especially as she
+agreed with him that Mr. Grayson's action was right; nevertheless, she
+discussed it from all points of the compass, and then she wrote with
+almost equal amplitude of her sight-seeing in Salt Lake City.
+
+Harley knew that Mormons were no novelty to Sylvia, as she had seen many
+of them in Idaho, but she seemed to feel it necessary to describe with
+particularity all the great Mormon buildings, and also to speak fully of
+the manners and customs of the people. All this might have been very
+interesting to him at another time and from another pen, but now he saw
+only the handwriting and wished her to devote attention to that little
+codicil in his own letter in which he so earnestly avowed again his love
+and his belief in its ultimate triumph. She made no allusion whatever to
+it, and he felt his heart sink. Nor did she speak of "King" Plummer, and
+he could not gather from the letter whether he was yet in Salt Lake City
+or had gone back to Idaho. She had carefully avoided all the subjects on
+which he hoped she would write, and as he closed the letter and put it
+in his pocket he was still rather blue.
+
+But reflection put him in a different and much more pleasant frame of
+mind. The fact that she had replied was a good omen, and her very
+avoidance of the most delicate of all subjects was proof that she did
+not forbid it to him. Harley was a bold man, and, being ready to push
+his fortune to the utmost in a cause that he believed righteous, he
+resolved to write her another letter in a few days, and to repeat in it
+much that he had said in his first, or to say words to the same effect.
+
+Meanwhile his countenance assumed a joyous cast, which was noticeable
+because he was habitually of grave demeanor, and his associates,
+observing the change, taxed him with the fact and demanded an
+explanation, Hobart in particular wishing to know. Harley lightly
+ascribed it to the rarefied air, as they were ascending a plateau, and
+the others, though calling it the baldest and poorest of replies, were
+forced to be content.
+
+But one man who noticed Harley, and who said nothing, guessed much
+closer to the cause. It was Mr. Grayson himself, who had seen the
+address on the envelope, and it aroused grave thoughts in him. Nor were
+these thoughts unkind to Sylvia or Harley. It was the custom of the
+candidate to subject himself at intervals to a searching mental
+examination, and now he made James Grayson walk out before him again and
+undergo this minute process.
+
+He was extremely fond of Sylvia, whose grace, intelligence, and loyalty
+appealed to the best in him, and he was anxious to secure her happiness
+and her position in life, on which, in a measure, the former depended.
+For these reasons he had received with pleasure the news that Sylvia was
+going to marry Mr. Plummer. Despite the disparity of ages, the match
+seemed fitting to him; he knew the worth and honor of the "King" to be
+so great that the happiness of any young girl, especially that of one
+who owed so much to him, ought to be safe in his keeping. But now the
+doubts which had begun to form were growing stronger. He saw that nature
+was playing havoc with mere material fitness, and there came to him the
+question of his own duty.
+
+The candidate now knew well enough that Sylvia did not love Mr. Plummer
+as a girl should love the man whom she is going to marry, but that she
+did love Harley. He conceived it, too, to be a true and lasting love
+with both the young man and the young woman, and again came to him that
+question of his own duty, a question not only troublesome, but dangerous
+to him in his present situation. He knew that Sylvia, despite all, would
+marry "King" Plummer unless the unforeseen occurred, and make herself
+unhappy all her life. Should he, then, tell "King" Plummer, or have his
+wife tell him in the more indirect and delicate way women have, that the
+burden of the situation rested upon him, and that he ought to release
+Sylvia? The candidate shrank from such a task; he could not meddle, even
+when it was his own niece whom he wished to save, and there was another
+thought, too, in the background which he strove honestly to keep out of
+his mind; it was the old apprehension lest the "King" in his rage,
+particularly when it was the candidate himself who took from him his
+heart's desire, should rebel, or at least sulk and put the Mountain
+States in the opposing column. It was no less true now than in the
+Middle Ages that men disappointed in love some times did desperate
+things, and "King" Plummer was a full-blooded, impulsive man.
+
+Brooding much upon the question, a rare frown came to the face of Jimmy
+Grayson, and stayed there so long that his followers noticed it, and
+wondered much. They decided that it was the revolt within the party, and
+did not disturb him, but his wife, more acute, knew that it was not
+politics, and, sitting down beside him, waited silently until he should
+speak, as she knew he would in time. A full hour passed thus, and
+scarcely any one in the train uttered a word. The candidate gazed
+gloomily out of the window, but he did not see the mountains and the
+canons as they shot by. Most of the state politicians slept in their
+seats, and the correspondents either wrote or communed with themselves.
+
+Mr. Grayson rose at last, and, saying to his wife, "I should like a word
+with you in private," led the way to the drawing-room. She followed,
+knowing that he wished to speak of the trouble on his mind, and she made
+a shrewd guess as to its nature.
+
+"Anna, it is something that I have been trying to put away from me," he
+said, when they were in the privacy of the drawing-room, "but it won't
+stay away. I suppose I ought to have spoken to you of it some time ago,
+but I could not make up my mind to do it."
+
+She smiled a little.
+
+"I, too, have been dreading the subject," she said, "if it is what I
+think it is. You are going to speak of Sylvia, Mr. Plummer, and Mr.
+Harley."
+
+"Yes, Harley has a letter from Sylvia, and he will have more. She
+doesn't want to write to him, but she will. The girl is breaking her
+heart, and I am not sure that you and I are doing what we ought to do."
+
+"And you do not think that Mr. Plummer would make a suitable husband for
+her?"
+
+She regarded him keenly from under lowered eyelids--the question was
+merely intended to lead to something else.
+
+"That is not the point. Harley is the man she loves, and Harley is the
+man she should marry."
+
+"Should she not decide this question for herself?"
+
+The candidate studied the face of his wife. Her words, if taken simply
+as words, would seem metallic and cold, but there was an expression that
+gave them a wholly different meaning to him.
+
+"Under ordinary circumstances, yes," he said, "but the circumstances in
+which Sylvia finds herself are not ordinary, and I am not sure how far
+we are responsible for them."
+
+"I undertook to act once, and I was sorry that I did so."
+
+The candidate did not speak again for several moments, but Mrs. Grayson
+read his expressive face.
+
+"You have thought of something else," she said, "that is or seems to be
+connected with this affair of Sylvia's."
+
+"I have, and I am afraid it is that which has been holding me back."
+
+The eyes of the two met, and, although they said no more upon that
+point, they understood each other perfectly.
+
+"Anna," said the candidate, with decision, "you must write to Mr.
+Plummer. I do not shift this burden from myself to you because of any
+desire to escape it, but because I know you will write the letter so
+much better than I can."
+
+Her eyes met his again, and hers shone with admiration--he was not less
+brave than she had thought him.
+
+"I do not know what will come of it," he said; "perhaps nothing, but in
+any event we ought to write it."
+
+"I will write," she said, firmly.
+
+The candidate said nothing more but he bent down and kissed his wife on
+the forehead.
+
+When Jimmy Grayson returned from the drawing-room, they noticed that the
+frown was gone from his face, and at once there was a new atmosphere in
+the car. The sleepy politicians awoke and made new or old jokes; the
+correspondents ceased writing, and asked Mr. Grayson what he intended to
+put in his next speech. Obviously the current of life began to run full
+and free again, and the incomparable scenery gliding by their
+car-windows no longer passed without comment. But Mrs. Grayson, in the
+drawing-room, taking much thought and care, was writing this letter,
+which she addressed to Mr. Plummer, in Boise, where she heard that he
+was going from Salt Lake City:
+
+
+     "DEAR MR. PLUMMER,--I want to tell you how we are getting on,
+     because I know how deeply you are interested in the campaign, and
+     all of us have enjoyed the way in which you affiliated with our
+     little group. We have been so long together now that we have become
+     a sort of family--speakers, writers, and well-wishers, with Mr.
+     Grayson as the head in virtue of his position as nominee. You have
+     had a large place in this family--what shall I call it?--a kind of
+     elder brother, one who out of the fund of his experience could
+     wisely lead the younger and more impulsive."
+
+
+Mrs. Grayson stopped here and tapped her finger thoughtfully with the
+staff of her pen. "That paragraph," she mused, "should bring home to him
+the fact that he is old as compared with Sylvia and Mr. Harley, and that
+is the first thing I wish to establish in his mind." Then, dipping her
+pen in the ink again, she wrote:
+
+
+     "This, I think, is one of the reasons that our young people have
+     missed you so much. You were always prepared to take your part in
+     the entertainment of the day, but your gravity and your years,
+     which, without being too many, become you so much, exercised a
+     restraining influence upon them, and showed them the line at which
+     they should stop. I think that you acquired over them an influence,
+     in its way paternal, and it is in such a capacity that they miss
+     you most."
+
+
+The lady's smile deepened, and in her mind was the thought that if he
+did not wince at this bolt he was, indeed, impervious. Then she
+continued:
+
+
+     "My interest in this campaign is not alone political nor personal
+     to Mr. Grayson, which also means myself, but I have become much
+     interested in those who travel with us--that is, those who have
+     become the members of our new family. There is Mr. Heathcote, who
+     was sent West as our enemy, and quickly turned to a friend. There
+     is Mr. Tremaine, who is such a gay old beau, and who never realizes
+     that he is too old for the young women with whom he wishes to
+     flirt."
+
+
+The lady stopped again, and her smile was deeper than ever. "Now that
+was unintended," she mused, "but it comes in very happily." She resumed:
+
+
+     "And there is Mr. Hobart, who loves mysteries, especially murder
+     mysteries, and who saved the life of that innocent boy. I find him
+     a most interesting character, but, after all, he is read with less
+     difficulty than Mr. Harley, who, though silent and reserved, seems
+     to me to be deeper and more complex. His, I am sure, is a very
+     strong nature--Mr. Grayson, you know, is quite fond of him, and in
+     certain things has got into the habit of leaning upon him. Mr.
+     Harley seems to me to be fitted by temperament and strength to be
+     the shield and support of some one. He could make the girl who
+     should become his wife very happy, and I am wondering if he will go
+     out of our West without forming such an attachment."
+
+
+"That surely," thought the lady, "will bring him to the question which I
+present to his mind, and he will answer it whether he will or not, by
+saying this attachment has been formed, and it is for Sylvia." She
+continued:
+
+
+     "Like Mr. Grayson, I am very fond of Mr. Harley, who has proved
+     himself a true friend to us, and I should like to see him
+     happy--that is, married to a true woman, who would not alone
+     receive strength, but give it, too. In the course of his vocation,
+     he has already roamed about the world enough, and it is time now
+     for him to settle down. If I had my way I should select for him one
+     of our fine Western girls; about twenty-one or two, I think, would
+     be the right age for him--there is a fitness in these things."
+
+
+"I wonder if that is blunt?" she mused. "No, he will think it just
+popped out, and that I was unconscious of it. I shall let it stay." Then
+she resumed:
+
+
+     "It ought to be a girl with a temperament that is at once a match
+     and foil for his own. She should have a sense of humor, a gift for
+     light and ironic speech that can stir him without irritating him,
+     because he is perhaps of a cautious disposition, and hence would be
+     well matched with one a little bit impulsive, each exercising the
+     proper influence upon the other. She should be strong, too,
+     habituated to physical hardship, as our Western girls are. Such a
+     marriage, I think, would be ideal, and I expect you, Mr. Plummer,
+     when you rejoin us, to help me make it, should the opportunity
+     arise.
+                                  Yours sincerely,
+                                            "ANNA GRAYSON."
+
+
+She folded the sheets, put them in the envelope, and addressed them. It
+was the second time that she had written to Mr. Plummer, but with a very
+different motive, and she had more confidence in the second letter than
+she had ever felt in the first.
+
+"That will cause him pain," she reflected, "but the task cannot be done
+without it."
+
+In her heart she was genuinely sorry for Mr. Plummer, thinking at that
+moment more of his grief than of her husband's risk, but she was
+resolute to mail the letter, nevertheless. She read it a little later to
+Mr. Grayson, and he approved.
+
+"It is likely to bring 'King' Plummer raging down from Idaho, but it
+ought to go," he said.
+
+A half-hour later, this letter, written in a delicate, feminine hand,
+but heavy with fate, was speeding northwestward.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+THE SACRIFICE
+
+
+A few days after writing this letter, Mrs. Grayson announced that Sylvia
+would rejoin them on the following afternoon, having shortened her stay
+in Salt Lake City, as her relations were about to depart on a visit to
+California.
+
+"She wants very much to go on with us," said Mrs. Grayson, "and rather
+than send her either to Boise or to our home, where she would be alone,
+we are willing for her to continue."
+
+"I should think you would be!" exclaimed Hobart. "Why, Mrs. Grayson,
+much as we esteem you, we would start a violent rebellion if you should
+send Miss Morgan away, a rebellion attended by bloodshed and desperate
+deeds."
+
+Mrs. Grayson smiled and glanced at Harley, who was silent. But she did
+not fail to see the flash of pleasure under his veiled eyelids.
+
+"Keep your pistol in your pocket and your sword in its sheath, Mr.
+Hobart," she said; "I shall not give you occasion to use either."
+
+"Then I declare for peace."
+
+Sylvia joined them at the time mentioned by Mrs. Grayson, quiet,
+slightly pale, and disposed, in the opinion of the Graysons, to much
+thought. "The girl has something on her mind which she cannot put off,"
+said Tremaine, and in this case he was right.
+
+Sylvia, while in Salt Lake City, far from the influences which recently
+had brought to her acute pain and joy alike, considered her position
+with as much personal detachment as she could assume. Away from Harley
+and the magic of his presence and his confident voice, she strengthened
+her resolve to keep her word--if "King" Plummer claimed her, he should
+yet have her. But this same examination showed her another fact that was
+unalterable. She loved Harley, and, though she might marry another man,
+she would continue to love him. In a way she gloried in the truth and
+her recognition of it. It was a love she intended to hide, but it
+brought her a sad happiness nevertheless.
+
+It was this feeling, spiritual in its nature, that gave to Sylvia a new
+charm when she came back, a touch of sorrow and womanly dignity that all
+noticed at once, and to which they gave tribute. It melted the heart of
+Jimmy Grayson, who knew so well the reason why, and he was glad now that
+his wife had written to "King" Plummer.
+
+Sylvia said nothing about Mr. Plummer; if she knew whether he would
+return and when, she kept it to herself, and Mrs. Grayson, who was
+waiting in anxiety for an answer to her letter--an answer that did not
+come--was in a state of apprehension, which she hid, however, from all
+except Mr. Grayson. This agitation was increased by an event in her
+husband's career, so unexpected in its nature and so extraordinary that
+it was the sensation of the country, and exercised an unfavorable
+influence upon the campaign. If any one in the United States, whether
+friend or enemy, had been asked if such a thing could occur, he would
+have said that it was impossible.
+
+In their travels they came presently to Egmont, a snug town, lying in a
+hollow of the land, from which they were going to conduct what Hobart
+called a circular campaign--that is, it was the centre from which they
+were to make journeys to a ring of smaller places lying in a circle
+about it, returning late at night for sleep and rest.
+
+They were all pleased with Egmont; though less than ten years old, it
+had houses of brick and stone, a trim look, and the smoothness of life
+and comfort that usually come only with age. It was a pleasure to return
+to it every night from the newer and cruder villages in the outer ring,
+and enjoy good beds and fresh sheets.
+
+But the candidate spoke first in Egmont, and the chairman of the
+committee that managed the meeting was the solid man of the town. Harley
+and his comrades required no information on this point; it was visible
+at once in the important manner of the Honorable John Anderson, the cool
+way in which he assumed authority, and his slight air of patronage when
+he came in contact with the correspondents. Harley and his comrades only
+laughed; they had often noticed the same bearing in men much better
+known in the world than the Honorable John Anderson, of Egmont, Montana,
+and they generally set it down as one of the faults of success;
+therefore they could smile.
+
+But Mr. Anderson was hospitable, insisting that the candidate and his
+family, instead of spending the first night at the hotel, should go with
+him to his house. "I have room and to spare," he said, with a slight
+touch of importance. "My house will be honored if it can shelter
+to-night the next President of the United States."
+
+"Thank you for the invitation," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely. "I shall be
+glad to join you with my family and Mr. Harley. Mr. Harley has become in
+a sense one of my advisers, almost a lieutenant, I might say."
+
+Mr. Anderson was not intending to ask Harley, as the correspondent knew,
+but the candidate had included him so deftly that the important citizen
+must do so, too, and he widened the invitation with courtesy. Harley,
+always in search of new types, always anxious to explore the secrets of
+new lands, accepted as promptly as if the request had been spontaneous.
+
+Although his house was only a few hundred yards away, Mr. Anderson took
+them there in his two-seated, highly polished carriage, drawn by a pair
+of seal-brown trotters. "Good horses," he said, as he cracked his whip
+contentedly over them. "I brought them all the way from Kentucky. Cost
+me a lot, too."
+
+The Anderson house was really fine, built of light stone, standing far
+back on a wide lawn, and Harley could see that the good taste of some
+one had presided at its birth. It had an Eastern air of quiet and
+completion. When Mr. Anderson, glancing at his guests, beheld the look
+of approval on their faces, he was pleased, and said, in an easy,
+off-hand manner:
+
+"Been up only four years; planned it myself, with a little help from
+wife and daughter."
+
+Harley at once surmised that the good effect was due to the taste of the
+wife or daughter, or both, and he was confirmed in the opinion when he
+met Mrs. Anderson, a slight, modest woman, superior to her husband in
+some respects that Harley thought important. The daughter did not appear
+until just before dinner, but when she came into the parlor to meet the
+guest the correspondent held his breath for a moment.
+
+Rare and beautiful flowers bloom now and then on the cold plains of the
+great Northwest, and Harley said in his heart that Helen Anderson was
+one of the rarest and most beautiful of them all. It was not alone the
+beauty of face and figure, but it was, even more, the nobility of
+expression and a singular touch of pathos, as if neither youth nor
+beauty had kept from her a great sadness. This almost hidden note of
+sorrow seemed to Harley to make perfect her grace and charm, and he
+felt, stranger though he was, that he was willing to sacrifice himself
+to protect her from some blow unknown to him. Speaking of it afterwards,
+he found that she had the same effect upon the candidate. "I felt that I
+must be her champion," said Mr. Grayson. "Why, I did not know, but I
+wanted to fight for her."
+
+Miss Anderson herself was unconscious of the impression that she
+created, and she strove only to entertain her father's guests, a task in
+which she achieved the full measure of success. Mr. Anderson mentioned,
+casually, how he had sent her to Wellesley, and Harley saw that her
+horizon was wider than that of her parents. But the pathetic, appealing
+look came now and then into her beautiful eyes, and Harley was convinced
+of her unhappiness. Once he saw a sudden glance, as of sympathy and
+understanding, pass between her and Sylvia.
+
+It was not long before the secret of Helen Anderson was told to him,
+because it was no secret at all. The whole town was proud of her, and
+everybody in it knew that she was in love with Arthur Lee, the young
+lawyer whose sign hung on the main street of Egmont before an office
+which was yet unvisited by clients. It was true love on both sides,
+they said, with sympathy; they had been boy and girl together, and
+during her long stay in the East at school she had never forgotten him.
+But Mr. Anderson would have none of the briefless youth; his prosperity
+had fed his pride--a lawyer without a case was not a fit match for his
+daughter. "If you were famous, if it were common talk that some day you
+might be governor or United States senator, I might consent, but, sir,
+you have done nothing," he had said, with cruel sarcasm to Lee.
+
+It was a bitter truth, and Lee himself, high and honorable in all his
+nature, saw it. The girl, too, had old-fashioned ideas of duty to
+parents, and when her father bade her think no more of Lee she humbly
+bowed her head. But the town said, and the town knew, that the more she
+sought to put him out of her heart, the more strongly intrenched was he
+there; that while she now tried to think of him not at all, she thought
+of him all the time.
+
+The whole story was brought to Harley; it was not in his nature to pry
+into the sacred mysteries of a young girl's heart, but the tale moved
+him all the more deeply when he saw young Lee, a man with a high, noble
+brow and clear, open eyes, through which his honest soul shone, that all
+might see. But upon his face was the same faint veil of sadness that
+hovered over Helen Anderson's, as if hope were lacking.
+
+Harley met young Lee two or three times, and on each occasion purposely
+prolonged the talk, because the young lawyer without a case aroused his
+interest and sympathy. He soon discovered that Lee had an uncommon mind,
+acute, penetrating, and on fire with noble ideals. But it was a fire
+that smouldered unseen. He had never had a chance; it would come to him
+some day, Harley knew, but it might be, it surely would be, too late.
+Harley had seen much of the world, its glory and its shame alike, and he
+was convinced that nothing else in it was worth so much to man as the
+spontaneous love of a pure woman and a happy marriage. He knew from dear
+experience how much Lee was losing--nay, had lost already--and his pity
+was deeply stirred. He wished to speak of it to Sylvia, but the thought
+of such words only made his own wound the deeper. The whole town was on
+the side of the lovers, but it was bound and helpless; the father's
+command and Lee's own honor were barriers that could not be passed.
+
+The people about Egmont were so much delighted with Mr. Grayson's speech
+that they demanded a second from him, and, with his usual good-nature,
+he yielded, although Harley knew that he was feeling the strain of such
+a long and severe campaign. The evening of the fifth day after his
+arrival was set for the time, and he was expected to deliver the address
+at a late hour, when he returned from one of the circle of villages.
+
+On the night before the second speech, the candidate and Harley, who
+were now staying at the hotel, after making their excuses to the others,
+slipped out for a walk in the cool and silence of the dark. The rarest
+thing in Jimmy Grayson's life now was privacy, and he longed for it as a
+parched throat longs for water; it was only at such times as this, with
+a late hour and a favoring night, that he could secure it.
+
+Nearly all Egmont was in bed, and they turned from the chief street into
+the residence quarter, where a few lights twinkled amid the lawns and
+gardens. No one had noticed them, and Jimmy Grayson, with a sigh of
+relief, drew breaths of the crisp, cool air that came across a thousand
+miles of clean prairie.
+
+"What a splendid night!" he said. "What a grand horizon!"
+
+They stood upon a slight elevation, and they looked down the street and
+out upon the prairie, which rippled away, silver in the moonlight, like
+the waves of the sea. A wind, faint, like a happy sigh, was blowing.
+
+"An evening for lovers," said the candidate, and he smiled as his mind
+ran back to some happy evenings in his own life. "Now, why should such a
+moonlight as this ever be spoiled by a political speech?" he continued.
+
+"I was thinking of lovers myself," said Harley, "because here is the
+Anderson house before us. Don't you see its white walls shining through
+the trees?"
+
+"Poor girl!" said the candidate. "It is a terrible thing for a woman to
+be separated from the man she loves. A woman, I think, can really love
+but once. And yet her father's pride is natural; young Lee has not even
+made a start in life."
+
+"All he needs is a chance, which he will get--when it is too late," said
+Harley.
+
+The house and its grounds, surrounded by a stone wall not more than
+three feet high, occupied an entire square in the outskirts of the
+little city, and the candidate and Harley followed the least frequented
+of the streets--one running beside the stone wall, which was shaded
+presently by thick and arching boughs of trees that grew within. As they
+entered the shadow they saw a man leap over the low barrier and
+disappear in the Anderson grounds.
+
+"A burglar!" exclaimed Harley. His first thought was of Helen Anderson
+and her beautiful, appealing face, and without a moment's hesitation he
+sprang over the wall to pursue. Jimmy Grayson looked at him in
+astonishment, and then followed.
+
+Harley stopped for an instant inside the grounds, and saw the dark
+figure just ahead of him, but now walking with such slowness that
+pursuit was easy. Evidently the burglar was making sure of the way
+before he sought to enter the Anderson mansion; but Harley was
+surprised, in a few moments, to notice something familiar in the
+shoulders and bearing of the man whom he followed. His burglar never
+looked back, but entered an open space; and then Harley, his surprise
+increasing, stopped when he saw him approach a little summer-house of
+lattice-work. The hand of the candidate fell at that moment upon his
+arm, and a deep voice said in his ear:
+
+"I think we have gone far enough, don't you, Harley?"
+
+"I do," replied Harley, with conviction.
+
+A woman was coming, a woman with a beautiful, pale face, more lovely and
+sad than ever in the moonlight, and the two men knew at once that Helen
+was about to meet her lover. They would have turned and fled from the
+grounds, because a woman's pure love was sacred, to be hidden from all
+eyes and ears save those of one, but her face was towards them, and had
+they stepped from the shadow of the oak she would have seen the two.
+
+"Ah, Helen!" said Lee, as he met her and took her hands in his.
+
+"Arthur, for the last time!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, I know it is for the last time," said Arthur, and there was a
+moving sadness in his voice.
+
+Their faces were turned towards the two there in the shadow of the
+great oak, although unwitting that others were so near, and neither man
+dared to move. The moonlight, in softened silver, fell upon the faces of
+the lovers, disclosing all the beauty of the woman's and all the
+loftiness of the man's. Harley thought he had never seen a nobler pair.
+
+The man took both the girl's hands in his and held them for a few
+moments. Then he walked back and forth, taking quick little steps. Every
+motion of his figure expressed agony and despair. The girl stood still,
+and her face, clearly shown in the moonlight, was turned towards Harley;
+it, too, expressed agony and despair; but her stillness showed
+resignation, Lee's fierce movements were full of rebellion.
+
+"I am going away, Helen," said Arthur. "I have decided upon it. I shall
+not be here more than a week or two longer. I cannot be in the same
+town, seeing you every day and knowing that you cannot be mine. I could
+not stand it."
+
+"I suppose it is best," said Helen; "but, Arthur, I love you. I have
+told you that, and I am proud of it. I shall never love any one else. It
+is not possible."
+
+Her beautiful, pale face was still turned towards Harley, and he saw
+again upon it that touch of ineffable sadness and resignation that had
+moved him so deeply. Lee stopped his despairing walk back and forth and
+looked at Helen. Then he uttered a little cry and seized her hands
+again.
+
+"Helen," he said, "I cannot do it! I came here to give you up forever,
+to tell you that I was going away, and I meant to go, but I cannot do
+it. We love each other--then who has the right to separate us? I thought
+that I could stand this, that I had hardened myself to endure it, but
+when the time comes I find that it is too much. My right to you is
+greater than that of father or mother. Come with me; we can go to
+Longford to-night, and in three hours we shall be man and wife."
+
+He still held her hands in his, and his face was flushed and his eyes
+shining with an eager but noble passion.
+
+Harley and the candidate, in the shrubbery, never stirred. They
+listened, but they forgot that they were listening.
+
+The girl lifted her eyes to those of her lover, and there was in them no
+reproach, only a high, sad courage.
+
+"You do not mean what you say now, Arthur," she said. "I have given my
+promise to my father, and you must help me to be strong, for alone I am
+weak, very weak. None can help me but you. You must go, as you said you
+would go, but your face shall always be with me here. Though I may not
+be your wife, I shall be true to you all my life."
+
+"In such moments as these the woman is always stronger than the man,"
+breathed Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Lee dropped her hands again and walked a step or two away.
+
+"Helen," he said, "forgive me, and forget what I said. I was base when I
+spoke. But I have found it too hard!--too hard!"
+
+Her eyes still expressed no reproach; there was in them something almost
+divine. She loved him the more because of his weakness, although she
+would not yield to it.
+
+"It is hard, very hard for us both," she whispered, "but it must be
+done. But, Arthur, I love you. I have told you that, and I am not
+ashamed of it. I shall never love any one else. It is not possible."
+
+"I know it. I know, too, that your heart will always be mine, but, as
+the world sees it, your father is right. I am nothing. I have no right
+to a wife--above all, to one such as you. I feel that I have a power
+within me, the power to do things which the world would call good, but
+there is no chance. I suppose that the chance will come some day--when
+it is too late."
+
+Harley started. The words were the echo of his own. "We must go," he
+whispered to the candidate. "No one has a right to listen, even without
+intention, at this, their last meeting." Jimmy Grayson had already
+turned away, and by the faint moonlight sifting through the branches
+Harley saw a mist in his eyes. But their movement made a sound, and the
+lovers looked up.
+
+"Did you hear a noise? What was it?" asked Helen.
+
+"Only a lizard in the grass or a squirrel rattling the bark of a tree,"
+replied Arthur.
+
+They listened a moment, but they heard nothing more, save the faint
+stirring of the wind among the leaves and the grass.
+
+"Are you really going, Arthur?" asked Helen, as if, approving it once,
+she would like now to hear him deny it.
+
+He looked at her, his face flushing and his eyes alight, as if at last
+he heard her ask him to stay; but he saw in her gaze only brave resolve.
+She could love him, and yet she had the strength to sacrifice that love
+for what she considered her duty. He drew courage from her, and he
+lifted his head proudly, although his eyes expressed grief alone.
+
+"Yes, I have only to start," he replied; "you know I have little to
+take. I make just one more public appearance in Egmont. Mr. Grayson
+speaks here again to-morrow night, and the committee, by some chance--a
+chance it must have been--has put me on the list of speakers."
+
+"Oh, Arthur, it may be an opportunity for you!"
+
+She was eager, flushed, her eyes flaming and uplifted to his.
+
+"It might be, Helen, at any other time, but this is evil fortune. I am
+of the other party; I must speak against him--we are fair to both sides
+here; he will have the right of rejoinder, and you know what he is,
+Helen--the greatest orator in America, perhaps in all the world. No one
+yet has ever been able to defeat him, and what chance have I, with no
+experience, against the most formidable debater in existence? I should
+shirk it, Helen, if the people would not think me a coward."
+
+"Oh, Arthur, what an ordeal!" She looked up at him with wet, tender
+eyes.
+
+Harley, at the mention of Jimmy Grayson's name, glanced away from the
+lovers and towards the candidate. He saw him start, and a singular, soft
+expression pass over his face, to be followed by one of doubt.
+
+"Now I shall go, Helen," said Arthur. "It was wrong of me to ask you to
+meet me here, but I could not go away without seeing you alone and
+speaking to you alone, as I do now."
+
+"I was glad to come."
+
+He took her hands again, and for a few moments they stood, gazing into
+each other's eyes, where they saw all the grief of a last parting.
+Harley wished to turn his gaze away, but, somehow, he could not. There
+was silence in the grounds, save that gentle, sighing sound of the wind
+through the leaves and grass, and only the moon looked down.
+
+Suddenly the youth bent his head, kissed the girl on the lips, and then
+ran swiftly through the shrubbery, as if he could not bear to hesitate
+or look back.
+
+"It was their first kiss," murmured Harley.
+
+"I did not see it," said Jimmy Grayson, turning his eyes away.
+
+"And their last," murmured Harley.
+
+The girl stood like a statue, still deadly pale, but Harley saw that her
+eyes were luminous. It was the man whom she loved who had taken her
+first kiss; nothing could alter that beautiful fact. She listened, as if
+she could hear his last retreating footstep on the grass dying away like
+an echo. Harley and the candidate watched her until her slender figure
+in the white draperies was hid by the house, and then they, too, went
+back to the street.
+
+Neither spoke until they passed the low stone wall, and then the
+candidate said, brusquely:
+
+"Harley, unless this moonlight deceives me, there is moisture on your
+eyelids. What do you mean by such unmanly weakness?"
+
+Harley smiled, but, refraining from the _tu quoque_, left Jimmy Grayson
+to lead the way, and he noticed that he chose a course that did not take
+them back to the hotel. Moreover, he did not speak again for a long
+time, and Harley walked on by his side, silent, too, but thoughtful and
+keenly observant. He saw that his friend was troubled, and he divined
+the great struggle that was going on in his mind. Whether he could do it
+if he were in the place of the candidate he was unable to say, and he
+was glad that the decision did not lie with himself.
+
+They walked on and on until they left the town and were out upon the
+broad prairie, where the wind moaned in a louder key, and the
+candidate's face was still troubled.
+
+"Harley," said the candidate, at last, "I cannot get rid of the look in
+that girl's eyes."
+
+"I do not wish to do so," said Harley.
+
+It was nearly midnight when he turned and began to walk back towards the
+town. The moonlight, breaking through a cloud, again flooded Jimmy
+Grayson's face, and Harley, who knew him so well, saw that the look of
+trouble had passed. The lips were compressed and firm, and in his eyes
+shone the clear light of decision. Harley's feelings, as he saw, were
+mingled, a strange compound of elation and apprehension. But at the
+hotel he said, gravely, "Good-night," and the candidate replied with
+equal seriousness, "Good-night." Neither referred to what they had seen
+nor to what they expected.
+
+The second speech at Egmont drew an even greater audience than the
+first, as the fame of Jimmy Grayson's powers spread fast, and there
+would be, too, the added spice of combat; members of the other party
+would accept his challenge, replying to his logic if they could, and the
+hall was crowded early with eager people. Harley, sitting at the back of
+the stage, saw the Honorable John Anderson come in, importantly, his
+wife under one arm and his daughter under the other. Helen looked paler
+than ever, but here under the electric lights her sad loveliness made
+the same appeal to Harley. Lee arrived late, and although, as one of the
+speakers, he was forced to sit on the stage, he hid himself behind the
+others. But a single glance passed between the two, and then the girl
+sat silent and pale, hoping against hope for her lover.
+
+The candidate spoke well. His voice was as deep and as musical as ever,
+and his sentences rolled as smoothly as before. All his charm and
+magnetism of manner were present; the old spell which he threw over
+everybody--a spell which was from the heart and the manner as well as
+from the meaning of his words--was not lacking, but to Harley, keenly
+attentive, there seemed to be a flaw in his logic. The reasoning was not
+as clear and compact as usual. Only a man with a penetrating, analytical
+mind would observe it, but there were openings here and there where his
+armor could be pierced. Blaisdell, one of the correspondents, noticed
+the fact, and he whispered to Harley:
+
+"It's a good thing that Jimmy Grayson has no great speaker against him
+to-night; I never knew him to wander from the point before."
+
+"Where's your great speaker?" asked Harley, with irony.
+
+But the crowded audience was oblivious. It heard only the music of the
+candidate's voice and felt only the spell of his manner; therefore, it
+was with a sort of contempt that it looked upon Lee, the young lawyer
+without a case, who rose to reply. Lee was pale, but there was a fire in
+his eyes, as if he, too, had noticed something, and Harley, observing,
+caught his breath sharply.
+
+The correspondent again looked down at the girl, and he saw a deep flush
+sweep over her face, and then, passing, leave it deadly pale. The next
+moment she averted her eyes as if she would not see the failure of her
+lover, not the less dear to her because he was about to go away forever.
+But though he did not see her face now, Harley, as he looked at the bent
+head, could read her mind. He knew that she was quivering; he knew that
+she, too, had been completely under the spell of the candidate's great
+voice and manner, and she feared the painful contrast.
+
+Harley glanced once at Jimmy Grayson, sitting quietly, all expression
+dismissed from his face, and then he looked back at the girl; she should
+receive all his attention now. Presently he saw her raise her head, the
+color returned to her face, and a sudden look of wonder and hope
+appeared in her eyes. Arthur was speaking, not timidly, not like one
+beaten, but in a strong, clear voice, and with a logic that was keen and
+merciless he drove straight at the weak points in the candidate's
+address. Even Harley was surprised at his skill and penetration.
+
+The correspondent watched Helen, and he read every step of her lover's
+progress in her eyes. The wonder and hope there grew, and the hope
+turned to delight. She looked up at her father, as if to tell him how
+much he had misjudged Arthur, and that here, in truth, was the beginning
+of greatness; and the important man, as he felt her eyes upon him, moved
+uneasily in his seat.
+
+The feelings of the audience were mingled, but among them amazement led
+all the rest. The great Jimmy Grayson, the Presidential nominee, the
+unconquerable, the man of world-wide fame, the victor of every campaign,
+was being beaten by a young townsman of their own, not known twenty
+miles from home. Incredible as it seemed, it was true; the fact was
+patent to the dullest in the hall. Harley saw a look of astonishment and
+then dismay overspread the faces of Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia, and he knew
+that of all in the hall they were suffering most acutely.
+
+The keen, cutting voice went on, tearing Jimmy Grayson's argument to
+pieces, clipping off a section here and a section there, and tossing
+the fragments aside. By-and-by the amazement of the people gave way to
+delight. Their home pride was touched. This boy of their own was doing
+what no other had ever been able to do. They began to thunder forth
+applause, and the women waved their handkerchiefs. Hobart leaned over
+and whispered to Harley:
+
+"Old man, what does this mean? Is Jimmy Grayson sick?"
+
+"He was never better than he is to-night."
+
+Hobart gave him an inquiring look.
+
+"I'll ask more about this later," he said.
+
+But Harley already had turned his attention back to Helen, and as he
+watched the growing joy on her face his own heart responded. It was
+relief, elation, that he felt now, and, for the moment, no apprehension.
+He saw the color yet flushing her cheeks, and the eyes alight with life
+and joy. He saw her suddenly clasp her father's arm in both hands, and,
+though he was too far away to hear, he knew well that she was telling
+him what a great man Arthur was going to be. For her all obstacles were
+driven away by this sudden flood of fortune, and Harley again saw the
+important man move uneasily while a look, half fear, half shame, came
+into his eyes.
+
+The speech was finished, and young Lee, a man now on a pedestal, sat
+down amid thunders of applause. Jimmy Grayson undertook to respond, but
+for the first time in his life he was weak and halting. He wandered on
+lamely, and at last retired amid faint cheers, to be followed quickly by
+an astonished silence. Then, when the people recovered themselves, they
+poured in a tumult from the hall; but the hero to whom they turned
+admiringly was Arthur Lee, their own youthful townsman, and not the
+candidate.
+
+The next day Hobart told Harley that Lee had won everything. Mr.
+Anderson, sharing the pride of Egmont, could resist no longer, and had
+withdrawn his refusal. Arthur and Helen would be married in the winter.
+
+"You see," said Hobart, "young Lee is now a hero."
+
+"But not the greatest hero," said Harley.
+
+"That is true," said Hobart, and then he added, after a moment's pause,
+"I could never have done it."
+
+But that night, when Jimmy Grayson left the hall, he went at once to the
+hotel with Mrs. Grayson. Luckily there was a side-door, out of which
+they slipped so quietly and quickly that not many people had a chance
+either to pity him or to exult over him, at least in his presence. Yet
+he did not fail to notice more than one sneer on the faces of those who
+belonged to the other party, and his cheeks burned for a moment, as
+James Grayson, the candidate, had his full store of human pride.
+
+In the hall the amazed crowd lingered, and the correspondents, not less
+surprised than the people, gathered in a group to talk it over. Sylvia
+was there, too, and she was almost in tears. To none had the blow been
+harder than to her, and she was so stunned that she could yet scarcely
+credit it. All of the group were sad except Churchill, who felt all the
+glory of an I-told-you-so come to judgment.
+
+"It was bound to happen, sooner or later," he said, when he noticed that
+Sylvia was not listening; "the man is all froth and foam, but who could
+have thought that the bubble would be pricked by an obscure little
+Western attorney? Was ever anything more ignominious?"
+
+Then the ancient beau, Tremaine, spoke from a soul that was stirred to
+the depths.
+
+"Churchill," he exclaimed, "I've been travelling about the world forty
+years, but there are times when I think you are the meanest man I ever
+met."
+
+Churchill flushed and clinched his fist, but thought better of it, and
+turned off the matter with an uneasy laugh.
+
+"Tremaine," he said, "the older you grow the fonder you become of
+superlatives."
+
+"I admired Jimmy Grayson in his triumphs, and I admire him more than
+ever in his defeat," said Tremaine, still bristling, and fiercely
+twisting his short, gray mustache.
+
+"Mr. Tremaine, I want to thank you," said Sylvia, who, turning to them,
+had heard Tremaine's warm speech; and she put her hand in his for a
+moment, which was to him ample repayment.
+
+Harley stood by, and was silent because he did not know what to say. To
+state that Mr. Grayson had allowed himself to be beaten for a purpose
+would have an incredible look in print--it would seem the poorest of
+excuses; nor did he wish to make use of it in the presence of Churchill,
+who would certainly jeer at it and present it in his despatches as a
+ridiculous plea. He had begun to have a certain sensitiveness in regard
+to the candidate, and he did not wish to be forced into a quarrel with
+Churchill.
+
+But Sylvia caught a slight smile, a smile of irony, in the eyes of
+Harley, and the tears in her own dried up at once. She felt
+instinctively, with all the quickness of a woman's intuition, that
+Harley knew something about the speech which she did not know, but she
+meant to know it, and she watched for an opportunity.
+
+They were turning out the lights in the hall and the people began to go
+away, the correspondents closing up the rear. Sylvia fell back with
+Harley, and touched his arm lightly.
+
+"There is something that you are not telling me," she said.
+
+"I am willing to tell it to you, because you will believe it."
+
+Tremaine, with ever-ready gallantry, was about to join them, but Sylvia
+said:
+
+"I thank you, Mr. Tremaine, but Mr. Harley has promised to see me to the
+hotel."
+
+Her tone was light, but so decisive that Tremaine turned back at once,
+and Hobart, who was ahead, hid a smile.
+
+"Now, I want to know what it is," she said, eagerly, to Harley. "That
+was a good speaker, an able man, but I don't believe that he or anybody
+else could beat Uncle James. How did it happen?"
+
+Harley did not answer her at once, because it seemed to him just then
+that the action of Jimmy Grayson was an illustration, and the idea was
+hot in his mind.
+
+"Perhaps there is nothing to tell, after all," she said, and her face
+fell.
+
+"There is something to tell; I hesitated because I was looking for the
+best way to tell it. Mr. Grayson to-night made a sacrifice of himself,
+purposely and willingly."
+
+"A sacrifice of himself! How could he have done such a thing?"
+
+"For the best reason that makes a man do such a thing. For love."
+
+She stared at him a moment, and then broke into a puzzled but ironic
+laugh.
+
+"You are certainly dreaming a romance. Uncle James and Aunt Anna have
+been happily married for years, and there is nothing now that could
+force him to make such a sacrifice."
+
+Harley smiled, and his smile was rarely tender, because he was thinking
+at that moment of Sylvia.
+
+"The sacrifice was not to help his own cause, but the cause of another,
+the cause of the man who beat him--that is, seemed to beat him. Mr. Lee,
+through his victory to-night, wins the girl whom he loves, and he could
+have won her in no other way. There are people who can do great deeds
+and make great sacrifices for love, even to help the love of two others.
+It will be printed in every paper of the United States in the morning
+that Mr. Grayson was defeated in debate to-night by a young local
+lawyer. His prestige will be greatly impaired."
+
+Her eyes glowed, and her face, too, became rarely tender.
+
+"Uncle James was truly great to-night!" she exclaimed.
+
+"At his greatest. I know of no other man who could have done it. After
+all, Sylvia, don't you think love is the greatest and purest of motives,
+and that we should consider it first?"
+
+"John," she said, and it was the first time that she had ever called him
+by his first name, "you must not tempt me to break my sacred word to the
+man to whom I owe all things. Oh, John, don't you see how hard it is for
+me, and won't you help me to bear it, instead of making the burden
+heavier?"
+
+She turned upon him a face of such pathetic appeal that Harley was
+abashed.
+
+"Sylvia," he replied, almost in a whisper, "God knows that I do not wish
+to make you unhappy, nor do I wish to make you do what is wrong. I spoke
+so because I could not help it. Do you think that I can love you, and
+know you to be what you are, and then stand idly by and see you passing
+to another? I believe in silence and endurance, but not in such silence
+and endurance as that. It is too much! God never asks it of a man!"
+
+She looked at him. Her eyes were dewy and tender, filled with love, a
+love tinged with sorrow, but he saw the brave resolution shining there,
+and he knew that, despite all, she would keep her word unless "King"
+Plummer himself willingly released her from it. And he loved her all the
+more because she was so true.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "I was wrong. I should not have spoken to you in such
+a manner. I am a weak coward to make your duty all the harder for you."
+
+They were at the "ladies' entrance" of the hotel, and the others either
+had gone in or had turned aside. They were alone, and she bent a little
+towards him.
+
+"The things that you say may be wrong," she whispered, "but--oh, John--I
+love to hear you say them!"
+
+Then she went into the hotel, and Harley wisely did not seek to follow.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+AN IDAHO STORM
+
+
+Among the mountains of Idaho, a dark storm-cloud, ribbed with flashes of
+steel-edged lightning, was growing. For thirty years "King" Plummer had
+lived a life after his own mind, and it had been a very free life. In
+four or five states he was a real monarch, and there was nothing at all
+derisive about his nickname. At fifty he was at his mental and physical
+zenith, never before had he felt so strong, both in body and mind, so
+capable of doing great deeds, and with so keen a zest in life. The blood
+flowed in a rich, red tide through his veins, and he breathed the breath
+of morning like a youth.
+
+To this big, strong man, rioting in the very fulness of life, came Mrs.
+Grayson's letter. He was not in Boise when it arrived there, but it was
+forwarded to him at a mining-camp in the very highest mountains. He read
+it early one morning sitting on a big rock at the edge of a valley that
+dropped off three thousand feet below, and first there was a shade of
+annoyance on his face, to be followed by a frown, which gave way in its
+turn to an angry red flush.
+
+But while the shade of annoyance was still on his face the "King" asked,
+"What is she driving at?" and then, when it was replaced by the frown,
+he muttered, "Why does she waste so much time on Harley and a marriage
+for him?" and then, when the red flush came, he exclaimed, "Damn the
+Eastern kid!" In the mind of "King" Plummer everybody who did not live
+west of the Missouri River was Eastern.
+
+He read the letter over four or five times, and it sank deeper and
+deeper into his soul, and as it sank it burned like fire. All that he
+had feared, but which he had refused to believe when he came away, was
+true. Sylvia did not love him, but she loved that raw youngster Harley.
+And here was Mrs. Grayson, the wife of a man who was under obligations
+to him, whom he could ruin, hinting that he give her up, and she a woman
+whom he had supposed to be endowed with at least ordinary intelligence.
+
+In his wrath, which was mighty, "King" Plummer swore at the whole tribe
+of women as fickle, heartless creatures. Then he rose to his feet,
+clinched his fist, shook it at the opposite mountain across the valley,
+and swore aloud at all creation. And "King" Plummer knew how to swear;
+he was no mealy-mouthed man; his had been a wild and tumultuous youth,
+and though he would never use oaths in the presence of Sylvia, he could
+still, in the seclusion of mountain or desert, let fly an imprecating
+volley that would burn the rocks themselves. It was apparent to some
+miners coming up the slope that their chief was no extinct volcano, and
+they wisely passed in silence on the other side.
+
+For the present there was little grief in the "King's" outpouring; the
+tide of wrath was too full and sparkling to be tinged yet awhile by
+other currents, and just now it flowed most against Mrs. Grayson, who
+had been bold enough to tell him what he was least willing to hear. His
+heart, too, was full of unspoken threats, as "King" Plummer was a
+passionate man who had lived a rough life, close to the ground, and full
+of primitive emotions. And the threats he expressed in words were such
+as these: "They shall pay for it!" "I helped put that husband of hers
+where he is, I helped make him, and I can help unmake him; and, by
+thunder, I will do it, too!" In the hour of his wrath he hated Jimmy
+Grayson, and his head was filled with sudden schemes. He would "teach
+the man what it was to play the King of the Mountains for a sucker,"
+and, still raging, he cast from him all the ties of party and
+association.
+
+Within an hour he was on his swiftest horse, riding furiously towards
+Boise, his heart full of anger and his head full of plans for revenge.
+
+Nor was he sparing in speech when he reached Boise. His words cracked so
+loud that the echo of them travelled several hundred miles and reached
+Mrs. Grayson, who was waiting vainly for a reply to a letter that she
+had written nearly two weeks before. Now, no reply was necessary,
+because this news was what she had feared, but which she had hoped would
+not come.
+
+The report was winged and full of alarms. "King" Plummer, shooting out
+of the mountains like a cannon-ball, had made his appearance in the
+streets of Boise, openly denouncing Jimmy Grayson, calling him a
+traitor, and saying that he would beat him if he had to ruin himself to
+do it. What had caused this sudden change nobody knew, but it must be
+something astonishing, and it behooved the candidate to explain himself
+quickly.
+
+The loyal soul of the candidate's wife flashed back an angry reply
+across the five hundred miles of mountain and desert. If "King" Plummer
+was not the man she had hoped he was, then they preferred that they
+should fight him rather than have him as a false friend. Yet there was
+in her heart a throb of admiration for him, because he was willing to
+throw everything overboard for the love of a woman.
+
+The defection clothed the whole train in the deepest gloom. Tremaine
+spoke for the group when he said it was all up with Jimmy Grayson, and
+the others did not have the heart even to pretend to a different belief.
+With a Plummer defection on one side and a Goodnight falling away on the
+other, there was no hope left for a party which even with these wings
+faithful had only a desperate fighting chance.
+
+Harley was thoroughly miserable. He could guess--no, he did not guess,
+he knew the cause of "King" Plummer's bolt, and he knew, too, that if it
+were not for himself it would never have occurred; he had wrecked all
+the future of others, nor in making such a wreck had he secured his own
+happiness, provided even that he was selfish enough to be happy when
+others were ruined.
+
+Sylvia, too, was sunk in the depths. She did not have to be told that
+her aunt had written to Mr. Plummer; she guessed that Mr. Plummer had
+received some warning, some message, it did not matter from whom,
+nothing else could cause him to burst forth with such violence, and the
+very nature of the case forbade her from speaking; she could only keep
+silent, knowing that significant talk was going on all around her, and
+pass sleepless nights and troubled days.
+
+The situation brought a thrill of satisfaction and interest to one man
+on the train, and he was Churchill. The cumulative effect of "King"
+Plummer's bolt might force Jimmy Grayson off the track, and it was not
+yet too late to put up another candidate. Such a thing had never been
+done, but that was no reason why it could not succeed, and he
+telegraphed Mr. Goodnight that Mr. Grayson was very despondent, and that
+those about him knew he did not have a ghost of a chance.
+
+Churchill guessed close to the cause of the Plummer bolt, but he was not
+sure, and for that and other reasons he at once sought an interview with
+the nominee.
+
+Mr. Grayson was courteous, and seemingly not as despondent as Churchill
+had described him. He said that he could not speak of Mr. Plummer's
+defection, because he had no official knowledge of the fact; it was
+merely report, and hence he could not comment on what was not proved.
+Mr. Churchill, he knew, would readily recognize the unfitness of such a
+thing, nor could he tell what he should do in supposititious cases,
+because, even if the latter came true, circumstances might give them
+another appearance.
+
+Churchill skirmished as delicately as he could about the subject of
+Sylvia and the surmise that she was the key to the situation, which, if
+true, would make one of the greatest stories told in a newspaper; but
+here the candidate was impervious. Not only was he impervious, but he
+seemed to be densely ignorant; all the hints of Churchill glided off him
+like arrows from a steel breast-plate, all the most delicate and skilful
+art of the interviewer failed. So far as concerned the subject of
+politics, Sylvia was unknown to Mr. Grayson. Baffled upon this
+interesting point, Churchill retired to write his interview; but as he
+rested his pad upon the car-seat and sharpened his pencil he flung out a
+feeler or two.
+
+"I say, Hobart," he said to the mystery man, who sat just in front of
+him, "I think there's something at the bottom of this Plummer revolt
+that we haven't probed. Now, isn't it the truth that Miss Morgan has
+thrown him over, and that he is taking his revenge on her uncle?"
+
+Hobart glanced up the car, and noticed that Harley was not within
+hearing. Then he replied, gravely:
+
+"Churchill, I don't believe that Miss Morgan has broken her engagement
+with the 'King'--she'll marry him yet if he says so--but I do believe
+that she has some connection with this affair. What it is, I don't know,
+and I'm mighty glad that I don't have to speak of it in my despatches;
+it's too intangible."
+
+But Churchill was not so scrupulous. Without giving any names, he wove
+into his four-thousand-word despatch a very beautiful and touching
+romance, in which Jimmy Grayson figured rather badly--in fact, somewhat
+as an evil genius--and the _Monitor_, dealing in the fine vein of irony
+which it considered its strongest card, wrote scornfully of a campaign
+into which personal issues were obtruding to such an extent that they
+were shattering it. The _Monitor_ still affected to see some good in Mr.
+Grayson, but put the bad in such high relief that the good merely set it
+off, like those little patches that ladies wear on their faces. And the
+mystery of the Plummer bolt, involving a young and beautiful woman, just
+hinted at in the despatches, heightened the effect of the story. "King"
+Plummer himself appeared to the reading public as a martyr, and even to
+many old partisans party rebellion seemed in this case honorable and
+heroic.
+
+For a day or so Harley scarcely spoke to any one, and, as far as was
+possible within the limited confines of a train, he avoided Sylvia. He
+did not wish to see her, because he was strengthening himself to carry
+out a great resolution which he meant to take. In this crisis he turned
+to only one person, and that was Mr. Heathcote, who he felt would give
+him advice that was right and true.
+
+When Harley told Mr. Heathcote of his purpose, the committeeman's face
+became grave, but he said, "It is the hard thing for you to do, although
+it is the best thing." An hour later, Harley sent to his editor in New
+York a despatch, asking to be recalled; he said there had arisen
+personal reasons which would make him valueless for the rest of the
+campaign, and he felt that the _Gazette_ would be the gainer if he were
+transferred to another field of activity.
+
+Harley felt a deep pang, and he did not attempt to disguise it from
+himself, when he sent this telegram, but after it was gone his
+conscience came to his relief, although he still avoided the presence of
+Sylvia with great care. But the pang was repeated many times, as he sat
+silent among his companions and calculated how he could leave them that
+night and get a train for New York in the morning.
+
+He was still sitting among them about the twilight hour when the
+conductor handed him a telegraphic despatch, and Harley knew that it was
+from his editor, who had a high appreciation of his merits, both
+personal and professional. The message was brief and pointed. It said:
+"Can't understand your request for a transfer. Your despatches from the
+campaign best work you have ever done; not only have all news, but write
+from the inside; you present the candidate as he is. Have telegraphed
+Mr. Grayson asking if there is any quarrel, and in reply he makes
+special request that you represent _Gazette_ with him to the end. Stay
+till you are sent for, and don't bother me again."
+
+Harley read it over a second time. Despite himself he smiled, and he
+smiled because he felt a throb of pleasure. "Good old chief," he said,
+and he understood now that a refusal of his request was a hope that he
+had dared not utter to himself. But he knew that he should have taken
+the great risk.
+
+He showed the despatch to Mr. Heathcote, and the committeeman was
+sincerely glad.
+
+"Your editor has done his duty," he said.
+
+Mr. Grayson did not allude to the subject, and Harley respected his
+silence, although devoutly grateful for the reply that he had made.
+
+Other telegrams caused by the threatened revolt in the mountains were
+also passing; some of them stopped at the house of Mr. Plummer, in
+Boise, and upon the trail of one of these telegrams, a forcible one,
+came a thin-faced and quiet but alert man, Mr. Henry Crayon, who in his
+way was a power in both the financial and political worlds. Mr. Crayon
+was perhaps the most trusted of the lieutenants of the Honorable Clinton
+Goodnight, and the two had held a long conference before his departure
+for the West, agreeing at the end of it that "it was time to make a
+move, and after that move to spring a live issue."
+
+Mr. Crayon was fairly well informed of the causes that agitated the soul
+of "King" Plummer, and as he shot westward on a Limited Continental
+Express he considered the best way of approach, inclining as always to
+delicate but incisive methods. Long before he reached Boise his mind was
+well made up, and he felt content because he anticipated no difficulty
+in handling the crude mountaineer, who was unused to the ways of
+diplomacy.
+
+He found the "King" in Boise, still hot and sulky. Mr. Plummer had not
+heard anything in person from the Graysons, nor had he sent any message
+to them, and the mountains were full of talk about his bolt, which was
+now spoken of as an accepted fact.
+
+Mr. Crayon's first meeting with Mr. Plummer came about in quite an
+accidental and easy way--Mr. Crayon saw to that--and the Easterner was
+deferential, as became one who had so little experience of the West,
+who, in case he was presumptuous, was likely to be reminded that Idaho
+was nearly twenty times as large as Connecticut and twice as large as
+the state of New York itself. After making himself pleasant by humility
+and requests for advice, Mr. Crayon glided warily into the subject of
+politics. He disclosed to Mr. Plummer how much a powerful faction in the
+party was displeased with Mr. Grayson, and the equally important fact
+that this faction felt the necessity of speedy action of some kind.
+
+They were at that moment in a secluded corner of the reading-room of the
+chief hotel in Boise, and Mr. Crayon had ordered a pleasant and powerful
+Western concoction which he and Mr. Plummer sipped as they talked. The
+"King's" face was red, partly with the sun and partly with the anger
+that still burned him. Mr. Crayon's words fell soothingly upon his
+ear--Mr. Crayon had a quiet, mellow voice--and his sense of injury at
+the hands of Jimmy Grayson deepened. What right had Jimmy Grayson or
+Jimmy Grayson's wife, which was the same thing, to interfere in his
+private affairs? And it was only a step from one's private life to one's
+public life. Wrong in one, wrong in the other. Mr. Crayon, watching him
+keenly though covertly, was pleased with the varying expressions that
+passed over the unbearded portions of the "King's" face. He read there
+anger, jealousy, and revenge, and he said to himself that he would bend
+this man, big and strong as he was, to his will.
+
+Mr. Crayon now grew bolder. He said that the minority within the party,
+which, for the present, he represented, was resolved to come to an issue
+with Mr. Grayson; the destinies of a great party, and possibly the
+country, could not be put in the hands of a man who had neither the
+proper dignity nor the proper sense of responsibility. Thus far he went,
+and then the wily Mr. Crayon stopped to notice the effect.
+
+It seemed to him to be favorable, and Mr. Crayon was an acute man. The
+"King" drank a little of his liquor and nodded his head. Yes, he had
+been fooled in Jimmy Grayson, he had thought that he was as true as
+steel, but there was a flaw in the steel; Jimmy Grayson had done him a
+great injury, and he was not a man who turned one cheek when the other
+was smitten; he smote back with all his might, and his own hand was
+pretty heavy.
+
+Mr. Crayon smiled--all things were certainly going well; he had caught
+Mr. Plummer at the right moment, and there was no doubt of the
+impression that he was making. Then he went a little further; he
+suggested that a certain important issue not hitherto discussed in the
+campaign was going to be brought up, even now they were proposing to
+present it in the West, and Mr. Grayson would have to declare himself
+either for or against it--there was no middle ground. Mr. Crayon again
+stopped and observed the "King" with the same covert but careful
+glance. The face of Mr. Plummer obviously bore the stamp of approval;
+moreover, he nodded, and, thus encouraged, Mr. Crayon went further and
+further, telling why the issue was so great, and why it must be
+presented to the public without delay.
+
+Mr. Plummer asked him to name the issue, and when Mr. Crayon did so,
+without reserve, the "King's" face once more bore the stamp of approval,
+and he nodded his head again.
+
+"If Mr. Grayson accepts the law as we lay it down," said Mr. Crayon,
+with satisfaction, "he places himself in our hands and we control him.
+Our policies prevail, and, if he becomes President of the United States,
+we remain the power that rules him, and that, therefore, rules the
+country. If he resists us, well, that is the end of him!"
+
+Mr. Crayon had lighted a cigar, and as he said "that is the end of him"
+he flicked off the ash with a quick gesture that had in it the touch of
+finality.
+
+Mr. Plummer said nothing, and Mr. Crayon was content; he could do enough
+talking for two.
+
+"Mr. Goodnight and other of my associates are coming West very soon," he
+continued. "The velvet glove will be taken off, and it is high time."
+
+Then they went forth into the streets of Boise and they were seen
+walking together by many people, to which Mr. Crayon was not averse, and
+in an hour three or four local correspondents were sending eastward
+vivid despatches stating that Mr. Crayon, the representative of the
+conservative and dissatisfied minority in the party, was in Boise in
+close conference with "King" Plummer, the political ruler of the
+mountains. And the burden of all these despatches was fast-coming evil
+for Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Nor was the candidate long in hearing of it. The very next day a Boise
+newspaper containing a full first-page account of it reached them, and
+was read aloud to the party by Mr. Heathcote. Mr. Grayson made no
+comment as it was being read, but Harley once saw his face darken and
+his lips close tightly together; this was the only sign that he gave,
+and it quickly passed.
+
+But the others were not so chary of words. The train was full of
+indignant comment, and the ears of "King" Plummer in the distance must
+have burned.
+
+"I could not have believed it of him," said Mr. Heathcote. "It is untrue
+to the man's whole nature, even if he is swayed suddenly by some
+powerful emotion."
+
+Hobart glanced at Sylvia, who had withdrawn to the far end of the car,
+where she was apparently gazing at the mountains that fled by, although
+she said not one word and her face was red. Nor did Harley join in the
+talk, but, taking advantage of the slight bustle caused by Mr. Grayson's
+retirement to the drawing-room, he took refuge in a day car to which
+their own coach was attached for the time. That evening, while the
+others were at dinner, he saw Sylvia alone.
+
+"I ought to tell you," she said, "that I have asked to leave the train,
+but my aunt has refused to consent to it. She says she needs me, and as
+I cannot go now to my old home in Boise, it is better for me to stay
+with her. I have heard that you asked to be recalled to the East, and I
+honor you for it."
+
+"Are you sorry that my request was refused?" asked Harley.
+
+She did not falter, although the red in her cheeks flushed deeper.
+
+"No, I am not sorry; I am glad," she replied. "Why should I tell an
+untruth about what is so great a matter to both of us? But it cannot
+change anything."
+
+Harley felt that this was, indeed, a maid well worth winning, and his
+hope yet to find a way, which had been weakened somewhat lately, grew
+high again. That night wild resolves ran through his mind. He would
+sacrifice his pride, hitherto an unthinkable thing--he would see "King"
+Plummer and tell him that Sylvia and he loved each other, that neither
+of them could possibly be happy unless they were wedded, then he would
+appeal to the older man's generosity; he would tell him how Sylvia
+loyally meant to keep her word and pay her debt of gratitude with
+herself, then he would ask him to release her from the promise. But he
+gave up the idea as one that required too much; he could never humiliate
+himself so far, and even then it would be a humiliation without result.
+
+If Harley had undertaken to carry out such a wild idea, he would have
+found it difficult, because no one in the party then knew where "King"
+Plummer was; they were hearing of him all over the West, and the Denver,
+Salt Lake, and smaller newspapers were filled with accounts of his
+doings, all colored highly. His bolt, they said, was now an accomplished
+fact; he showed the deepest hostility to the candidate, and he was also
+in constant correspondence with a powerful and dissatisfied wing in the
+East.
+
+Mr. Grayson never said a word, he never spoke of Mr. Plummer in any of
+his speeches, and Harley believed there was only sadness in his mind,
+not anger, whenever he thought of the "King."
+
+But there could be no doubt of the effect of all these events upon the
+campaign; to the public Jimmy Grayson seemed as one lost in the
+wilderness, and only in the mountains, where the people were far from
+the great centres of information, did they yet cherish a hope of his
+election. Churchill wrote to the _Monitor_ that Jimmy Grayson himself
+had abandoned hope.
+
+Ominous rumblings were coming from the East, too. Goodnight, Crayon, and
+their friends had found a pretext upon which to take drastic action, and
+they were about to take it.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+THE GREAT PHILIPSBURG CONFERENCE
+
+
+If ever you go to Philipsburg, which is in Wyoming, not far from the
+Montana line, you will hear the people proclaim the greatness of the
+town in which they live. You expect this sort of thing in the Far West,
+and you are prepared for it, but you will be surprised at the nature of
+the Philipsburg boast. Its proud inhabitants will not tell you that it
+is bound to be the largest city between the Missouri and the coast, they
+will not assert that since the horizon touches the earth at an equal
+distance on all sides of the town, it is, therefore, the natural centre
+of the world; but they will tell you stories of the Great Philipsburg
+Conference, and some of them will not be far from the truth.
+
+Philipsburg is but a hamlet, fed by an irrigation ditch that leads the
+life-giving waters down from a distant mountain, and it has neither the
+beauty of nature nor that given by the hand of man, but the people will
+point importantly to the square wooden hotel of only two stories, and
+tell you that there occurred the great crisis in the most famous and
+picturesque Presidential campaign ever waged in the United States; they
+will even lead you to the very room in which the big talk occurred, and
+say, in lowered voices, that the furniture is exactly the same, and
+arranged just as it was on that momentous night when the history of the
+world might have been changed. In this room the people of Philipsburg
+have a reverential air, and there is cause for it.
+
+The affair did not begin at Philipsburg--it merely had its climax
+there--but far away on the dusty plains of eastern Washington, where the
+wheat grows so tall, and it bubbled and seethed as the candidate and his
+party travelled eastward, stopping and speaking many times by the way.
+It was all about the tariff, a dry subject in itself, but, as tall oaks
+from little acorns grow, so a dry subject often can make interesting
+people do interesting things.
+
+At the convention that nominated Mr. Grayson for the Presidency the
+subject of the tariff had been left somewhat vague in the platform, not
+from deliberate purpose, but merely through the drift of events; the
+question had not interested the people greatly in some time; other
+things connected with both the foreign and internal policy of the
+government, particularly the continued occupation of the Philippines and
+a projected new banking system, were more to the fore; but as the
+campaign proceeded certain events caused the tariff also to be brought
+into issue and to receive a large share of public attention.
+
+Now, a clever man--above all, one as clever as Jimmy Grayson--could
+avoid giving a decided opinion upon this subject. It is party creed for
+a candidate to stand upon his platform, and, as the platform contained
+no tariff plank, he was not obliged to take any stand upon the tariff.
+Such a course would seem good politics, too, but Harley knew that Mr.
+Grayson favored a reduction of the tariff and a liberal measure of
+reciprocity with neighboring states, and he dreaded the time when the
+candidate should declare himself upon the subject; he did not see how he
+could do it without losing many votes, because there was a serious
+difference of view inside his own party. And Harley's dread grew out of
+his intense desire to see Mr. Grayson elected. His hero was not
+perfect--no man was; there were some important truths which he did not
+yet know, but he was honest, able, and true, and he came nearer to being
+the ideal candidate than any other man whom he had ever seen. Above all,
+he represented the principles which Harley, from the bottom of his soul,
+wished to triumph.
+
+The fight had been begun against great odds, against powerful interests
+consolidated in a battle-line that at first seemed impervious, but by
+tremendous efforts they had made progress; the vast energy and the
+winning personality of Mr. Grayson were a strong weapon, and Harley was
+gradually sensible that the people were rallying around him in
+increasing numbers, and by people he did not merely mean the masses of
+the lowest, those who never raise themselves; Harley was never such a
+demagogue as to think that a man was bad because he had achieved
+something in the world and had prospered; he had too honest and clear a
+mind to put a premium upon incapacity and idleness.
+
+Lately he had begun to have hope--a feeling that Mr. Grayson might be
+elected despite the "King" Plummer defection was growing upon him, if
+they could only abide by the issues already formed. But at the best it
+would be a fight to the finish, with the chances in favor of the other
+man. Yet his heart was infused with hope until this hateful tariff
+question began to raise its head. Harley knew that a declaration upon it
+would split the party, or at least would cut from it a fragment big
+enough to cause defeat. He devoutly hoped that they would steer clear of
+this dangerous rock, but he was not so sure of Jimmy Grayson, who, after
+all, was his own pilot. And his amiability did not alter the fact that
+he had a strong hand.
+
+Harley at first heard the mutterings of the thunder only from afar; it
+was being debated in the East among the great manufacturing cities, but
+as yet the West was untouched by the storm. Mr. Heathcote, the Eastern
+committeeman, called his attention to it after they had passed the
+mountain-range that divides western Washington from eastern Washington.
+
+Harley was looking out of the window at the rippling brown plain, which
+he was told was one of the best wheat countries in the world. "At
+first," said his informant, a pioneer, "we thought it was a desert, and
+we thought so, too, for a long time afterwards; it looked like loose
+sand, and the wind actually blew the soil about as if it were dust. Now,
+and without irrigation, it produces its thirty bushels of wheat per acre
+season after season."
+
+Harley was thinking of this brilliant transformation, when the
+committeeman, who was sitting just behind him, suddenly changed the
+channel of his thoughts.
+
+"I have here a Walla Walla paper that will interest you, Mr. Harley," he
+said. "In fact, it is likely to interest us all. The despatch is
+somewhat meagre, but it will suffice."
+
+He put his finger on the top head-line of the first page, and Harley
+read: "The Tariff an Issue." He took the paper and read the article
+carefully. The debate had occurred before an immense audience in Madison
+Square Garden, in New York City, and according to the despatch it had
+excited the greatest interest, a statement that Harley could easily
+believe.
+
+"I was hoping that we would be spared this," he said, as he laid the
+paper down and his face became grave. "Why do they bring it up? It's not
+in the platform and it should not be made an issue, at least not now."
+
+"But it is an issue, after all," replied Mr. Heathcote, "and I am
+surprised that the enemy did not raise the question sooner. They must
+have had some very bad management. They are united on this question, and
+we are not. If we are forced to come into line of battle on it, then we
+are divided and they are not; don't you see their advantage?"
+
+"Yes, it is manifest," replied Harley, gloomily. Then, after a little
+thought, he began to brighten.
+
+"It is not necessary for Jimmy Grayson to declare himself."
+
+"He will, if he is asked to do so."
+
+"But we are away out here in the Western mountains, out of immediate
+touch with the great centres of population. These thinly settled states
+are doubtful, those more populous are not. Here they are not interested
+in the tariff either one way or the other; the subject has scarcely been
+mentioned on our Western tour; why can we not still keep it in the
+dark?"
+
+"But, I tell you, if the issue is presented to Jimmy Grayson, he is sure
+to speak his mind about it."
+
+"It is for us to see that it is not presented. I don't think it will be
+done by any of the local population, and we must exercise a censorship
+over the press. We must try to keep from him all newspapers containing
+accounts of the tariff debates; we must not let him know that the issue
+is before the public off there in the East. There is only a month more
+of the campaign, and, while it is not likely that we can suppress the
+matter entirely, we may keep it down until it is too late to do much
+harm."
+
+"The plan isn't a bad one," said Mr. Heathcote; "but we've got to take
+everybody into the plot. Mr. Grayson alone is to be left in ignorance."
+
+"They are all his devoted personal friends except Churchill, of the
+_Monitor_, and I can bully him into silence."
+
+Harley's face flushed slightly as he made this assertion with emphasis.
+Mr. Heathcote, who was learning much these days, smiled as he observed
+him.
+
+"Mr. Harley," he said, "no one could doubt the reality of your wishes
+for Mr. Grayson's success."
+
+All went willingly into the little conspiracy against the extension of
+Mr. Grayson's knowledge, even Churchill, under the whip and spur of
+Harley's will, promising a sullen silence. The case itself presented
+aspects that stirred these men, calling as it did for an alertness of
+mind and delicacy of handling that appealed to their sense of
+responsibility; hence it aroused their interest, which in turn begat a
+desire to succeed.
+
+But Harley, as well as Mr. Heathcote and the others, knew very well that
+it was not the enemy alone who had raised this new and, as they all
+feared, fatal issue; even if they had not read it in the despatches, the
+hand of the minority within their own party was too clearly visible. In
+the newspapers that reached them constant allusions were made to Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates, who were deeply interested
+in the maintenance of the tariff, and who, it was said, would force Mr.
+Grayson to pledge himself to its support; this, it was predicted, they
+could easily do, as it was obvious that he could not win without the
+help of this minority.
+
+Harley knew that the Goodnight faction now intended to force the
+issue--that is, either to subject Mr. Grayson or to ruin him, and he saw
+that the affair would require the most delicate handling; only that and
+the best of fortune could postpone the issue long enough.
+
+They took Sylvia into their confidence, both by necessity and choice,
+but they were rather surprised to find that in this case she did not
+believe in diplomacy.
+
+"If I were Uncle James," she said, with indignant anger, "I would tell
+them to go to--well, well, where a man would tell them to go to, and I
+would not be polite about it, either."
+
+Harley laughed at her heat, although he liked it, too.
+
+"And then you'd lose the election," he said.
+
+"I'd lose it, if I must, but at least I'd save my independence and
+self-respect in doing so. Is Uncle James the nominee, or is he not? If
+he is the nominee, shouldn't he say what he ought to do?"
+
+"Perhaps, but it isn't politics; even if he were elected he wouldn't be
+absolutely free; no ruler ever was, whether president or king."
+
+But she clung to her opinion.
+
+It was no easy matter to hide the tariff issue from Jimmy Grayson, who
+was exceedingly watchful of all things about him, despite his great
+labors in the campaign; yet his associates were aided to some extent by
+the rather meagre character of the newspapers which now reached them,
+newspapers published in small towns, and therefore unable to pay for
+long despatches from the East. But even these were censored with the
+most jealous care; if they contained anything about the hot tariff
+discussion off there in the Atlantic States, they disappeared before
+they could reach the candidate. All the news was inspected with the most
+rigid care, just as if the real feeling of his subjects was being hidden
+from a kaiser or a czar.
+
+But Harley and his friends soon found that they had laid upon themselves
+a great and onerous task, and to Harley, at least, it was all the
+heavier because he found, at last, that his heart was not wholly in it.
+Despite all their caution, references to the tariff debate would dribble
+in; Jimmy Grayson began to grow suspicious; he would ask about the work
+of the campaign orators in the East, and he seemed surprised that his
+friends, above all the correspondents, should have so little news on the
+subject.
+
+"I should like to see some of the New York or Chicago newspapers, even
+if they are ten days old," he said. "It seems odd that we have not had
+any for a week now."
+
+"The metropolitan press scarcely reaches these isolated regions," said
+Harley.
+
+"We have been in isolated regions before, and we had the New York and
+Chicago newspapers every day."
+
+Harley did not answer, and presently contrived some excuse for leaving
+Jimmy Grayson, being much troubled in mind, not alone because the
+candidate was growing suspicious, but because of a rising belief that he
+ought to know, that the truth should not be hidden from him. If the
+tariff was to be an issue, then the candidate should declare himself,
+cost what it might. Yet Harley, for the present, followed the course
+that he had set. But he shivered a little when he looked at the New
+York and Chicago newspapers that were smuggled about the train; the
+tariff question was swelling in importance, and the head-lines over the
+debates were growing bigger.
+
+A stray copy of the _Monitor_ reached them, and it was big with
+prophecy: "At last the gauntlet has been thrown down by the wise, the
+conservative, and the high moral element of the party." It said,
+editorially: "Our impulsive young man will learn that there are older
+and soberer heads, and he must bow his own to them. The _Monitor_ has
+long foreseen this necessary crisis, although the blind multitude would
+not believe us, and we are both glad and proud to say that we have had
+our modest little share in forcing it."
+
+The candidate sent for Harley the next noon, and when the correspondent
+entered the state-room set aside for his use, he saw that Mr. Grayson's
+face was grave. He held a yellow sheet of paper, evidently a telegraph
+form, in his right hand, and was tapping it lightly with the forefinger
+of his left hand.
+
+"Harley," he said, smiling the frank smile that made him so many
+friends; "I've got in the habit of looking upon you as a friend and sort
+of confidential adviser."
+
+"It makes me happy to hear you say so," said Harley, who was gratified.
+
+Jimmy Grayson looked at the telegram, and his face became grave. Then he
+handed it to Harley, saying, "I have here something that I do not
+altogether understand. Read it."
+
+It was from New York, and it said:
+
+"Your silence on tariff issue admirable. Keep it up. Don't let enemy
+force you into action."
+
+It was signed with the name of a New York politician well-known as a
+trimmer.
+
+Mr. Grayson looked Harley squarely in the eye, and the correspondent's
+face fell.
+
+"Now what does it mean?"
+
+Harley was silent.
+
+"What does it mean?" continued Mr. Grayson, in a perplexed tone. "The
+tariff has not been a real issue in this campaign. Now why does he
+congratulate me on my silence?"
+
+Harley did not speak and Jimmy Grayson's face grew grave.
+
+"I am sorry that we have not been able to keep fully informed about the
+campaign in the East," he said. "I am bound to assume from this that the
+tariff issue has been raised there, and if a fight is to be made upon it
+I, as the head of the ticket, must do my share."
+
+Then Harley confessed, and in doing so relieved his conscience, in which
+he was wise, both from the moral and prudential points of view, because
+the truth about the situation could not be hidden any longer from the
+acute mind of Jimmy Grayson. He concealed nothing, he showed that he was
+the leader of the conspiracy, and he described their devious attempts,
+with their relative success and failure.
+
+"Harley," said the candidate, when the tale was told, "I am more than
+ever convinced that you are my sincere friend. You would not have done
+this if you were not. It was a mistake, but you certainly meant well."
+
+"I did it because I thought I could help."
+
+"I know it, but I repeat that it was a mistake. Such an important matter
+could not be kept permanently in the background. It was bound to come
+forward, and with all the greater force because it had been restrained
+so long. I don't think any harm has been done, but I'll have to take the
+management of it into my own hands now."
+
+He smiled again with such frankness and sincerity that Harley's feelings
+were not hurt by his words, but he quickly realized the truth of his
+assertion about the increased force of the disclosure because it had
+been kept back so long. Now the avalanche struck them. When Harley left
+the state-room, Churchill came to him.
+
+"Harley," he said, "the _Monitor_ has telegraphed me to get a thousand
+words from Mr. Grayson, if I can, on the tariff issue. My first duty is
+to my paper, and I am bound to obey these instructions."
+
+"It's all right, he knows now; go right in to see him; but I am sure he
+won't talk to you about it; he isn't ready yet."
+
+Three or four more correspondents received instructions of the same
+character, and in addition there was a rain of telegrams for Jimmy
+Grayson himself and for his party associates. It seemed that the issue
+had suddenly culminated in the East, and the candidate would be bound to
+speak. But the telegrams to Mr. Grayson were of a varying nature; many
+of them were opposed to revision, and they were usually signed by men of
+wealth and power, those who furnished the sinews of war, as necessary in
+a political campaign--and entirely within the confines of honesty,
+too--as the cannon and the rifles are on the field of battle. Others
+took another view, and it was apparent to everybody that great trouble
+in the party was at hand.
+
+Gloom settled over the train. They were ready at all times to fight the
+enemy, but how to handle defection among their own men was a puzzling
+thing, and there was cause for despair. Sylvia, however, was glad that
+Mr. Grayson knew. She said that he would do right, whatever it might be.
+
+"I've been in to see Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Heathcote to Harley, "and I
+suggested that he might continue his silence on the great question. You
+see, he is not bound to speak. If he doesn't want to, nobody can make
+him."
+
+"No, nobody can make him speak, nor can anybody keep him from it if he
+wishes to do so."
+
+While they talked the train was slowing down for a stop at a tiny
+village of a dozen houses, and when there a long telegram was brought to
+Mr. Heathcote. He read it with absorbed attention, and when he looked up
+at Harley his face showed relief.
+
+"This is good! This is good!" he said. "The telegram is dated Chicago,
+and it tells me that a big committee of New York, Philadelphia, and
+Boston men is coming on to see Mr. Grayson. They are good members of our
+own party, all in favor of letting the tariff alone, and I think they
+can bring such pressure to bear that they will save us."
+
+Harley himself felt relief. The committee might achieve something, and,
+at any rate, the responsibility would rest upon more heads.
+
+"When can we expect these men?" he asked.
+
+"In two days; they are already well on their way."
+
+"Being an Eastern man yourself, it will fall to your lot to be the
+intermediary."
+
+"I suppose so," said Mr. Heathcote, and he sighed a little.
+
+True to Mr. Heathcote's prediction, the committee overtook them two days
+later at a way-station, and Harley saw at once that strenuous days were
+ahead, because the committee had a full sense of its own largeness and
+importance, a fact evident even to those less acute than Harley; and it
+was led by Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon themselves. It was composed of
+eight men, all middle-aged or more, and every one was set in a way of
+thinking peculiar to the business in which he had spent many years and
+in which he had made much money.
+
+All glittered with the gloss of prosperity. When they left the train
+they put on polished silk-hats, brought forth by ready servants, and
+when they walked through the streets of the little villages they were
+resplendent in long, black frock-coats and light trousers. They were
+not, as Mr. Heathcote had been in his primordial condition, young and
+merely mistaken, but they had passed the time of life when there was
+anything to be learned; in fact, they were quite well aware that they
+knew everything, particularly those subjects pertaining to the growth
+and prosperity of the country.
+
+The leader of the committee was Mr. Clinton Goodnight, who, as has been
+told, was a manufacturer of immense wealth and also a member of the
+Lower House of Congress, thus combining in himself the loftiest
+attributes of law-making and money-making. He was helped, too, by a
+manner of great solemnity and a slow, deep voice that placed emphasis
+upon every alternate word, thus adding impressiveness to everything he
+said. He was assiduously seconded by Mr. Henry Crayon, thin-faced and
+alert as ever, speaking in short, snappy sentences, from which all
+useless adjectives were elided. Mr. Crayon was self-made, and was
+willing that it should be known. He, too, had fathomed the depths of
+knowledge.
+
+They were introduced to Mr. Grayson by Mr. Heathcote, who, with useful
+experience of his own not far behind him, was able to show much tact.
+
+"I am glad to meet you again, Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Goodnight, in a
+large, rotund manner. "I am sorry I did not see more of you when we were
+together in the House. But you were very young then, you know. Who'd
+have thought that you would be so conspicuous now? I dare say you did
+not expect to see us here. We business-men are usually so much engrossed
+with affairs that we do not have time for politics, but there come
+occasions when our help, especially our advice, is needed, and this is
+one of them."
+
+Harley saw a faint smile pass over the face of the candidate, but Jimmy
+Grayson was a man of infinite tact, which, instead of being allied to
+greatness, is a part of greatness itself, and he took no notice of
+anything in Mr. Goodnight's words or manner. On the contrary, he
+welcomed him and his associate with real warmth; he was glad to see the
+great business interests of the country represented in person in the
+campaign; it ought always to be so; if the solid men took more part in
+the elections it would be better for all.
+
+Every member of the committee smiled a satisfied smile and admitted that
+Mr. Grayson's remarks were true. This was progress, as Harley could see.
+The committee may have come with advice and reprobation in its soul, but
+clearly it was placated, for the present.
+
+"We give proof of devotion to cause," said Mr. Crayon, in his sharp,
+snappy way. "Have come all the way from great financial centres to these
+lonely plains. Heavy sacrifice of time. Hope it will be duly
+appreciated."
+
+"You can rest easy on that point," said Jimmy Grayson, as the faint
+smile again passed over his face. "Your intentions will be taken at
+their full value."
+
+"We wish to have a long and thorough talk with you a little later on,"
+said Mr. Goodnight. "The subject is one of the greatest importance, and
+the age and experience of the members of this committee fit us to deal
+with it."
+
+"Undoubtedly," said Jimmy Grayson, and Harley thought that his voice was
+a little dryer than usual.
+
+Fortunately the members of the committee had their own special car,
+equipped with many luxuries, and it was attached to Jimmy Grayson's
+train. Hence there was no crowding and no displacing of the old
+travellers, but it was clear that there were now two parties following
+the candidate, since the old and the new did not coalesce. The members
+of the committee showed at once that they knew themselves to be the
+mainstay of the country, while the others were merely frivolous and
+unstable politicians.
+
+Sylvia, of course, was eager to know what they had said and how they
+bore themselves, and Harley was anxious to gratify her.
+
+"They said they were very great men, and they bore themselves
+accordingly."
+
+"Uncle James is a greater man than all of them put together."
+
+"I foresee trouble," said Hobart, joyfully, to Harley a little later. "I
+can feel it in the air around me, I breathe it, I can even see it."
+
+"Hobart," said Harley, pityingly, "you only obey your instincts."
+
+"Wherein I am a wise man," replied Hobart, with satisfaction. "I am out
+here to get news, and the livelier the news the better. Now I think
+that these gentlemen will soon furnish us something worth writing
+about."
+
+"I am afraid so," said Harley, despondently.
+
+The committee was in no haste to speak. Its members dined luxuriously in
+their private car, and invited to join them those whom they thought
+worthy of the honor--only a very few besides the ladies. Among these was
+Harley; but it was Jimmy Grayson who took him.
+
+The conversation was exclusively commercial and financial. Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates were well aware that the
+whole science of government pertained to the development of trade, and
+it was the business of a people, as well as of a man, to stick to the
+main point. It was for this reason, too, that Mr. Crayon incidentally
+let it be understood that he did not value a college education. He had
+several university graduates working for him on small salaries, while he
+had never been inside the walls of a university, and that was the
+beginning and end of the matter; there could be no further discussion.
+
+"I understand you are connected with the press," he said to Harley, who
+sat in the next chair. "I should think there was not much in that; but
+still, with careful, diligent man, it might serve as opening into
+financial circles. You must come in contact with men of importance. I
+know a man, originally a writer for press, who has risen to be a bank
+cashier. Worthy fellow."
+
+"I am sure that he must be," said Harley, and Mr. Crayon's opinion of
+him rose.
+
+The atmosphere of which Hobart spoke with such emphasis did not permeate
+the special car. There was no sign of trouble around the bountiful
+dining-table. The committee had its own way and did all the talking,
+leaving Mr. Grayson, Mr. Heathcote, and the others in silence. Hence
+there was no chance of a disagreement, and, as Harley judged, Mr.
+Goodnight and Mr. Crayon were assured that this pleasant state of
+affairs would continue.
+
+Mr. Crayon, who was pleased with his neighbor, again gave Mr. Harley
+enlightenment. He asked him about the country through which they were
+passing, and was kind enough to consider his information of some weight.
+But he permitted Harley to furnish only the premises; it was reserved
+for himself to draw the conclusions; he predicted with absolute
+certainty the future of this region and the amount of revenue it would
+yield through its threefold interests--agricultural, pastoral, and
+mineral. He added that only the trained mind could make these accurate
+estimates.
+
+"Well, what happened?" asked Hobart, when Harley returned to his own
+car.
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Nothing? Maybe so, but it won't remain nothing long. You just wait and
+see."
+
+Sylvia, to whom these men were, of course, polite, summed them up very
+accurately in a remark that she made to Harley.
+
+"It is impossible to teach them anything," she said, "because they know
+everything already."
+
+An hour later the candidate spoke at a small station to a large audience
+composed of people typical of the region--miners, farmers, and cowboys,
+variously attired, but all quiet and peaceful. There was not a sign of
+disorder, there was nothing even remotely resembling the toughs of the
+great Eastern cities. This seemed to be a surprise to the members of
+the committee, who sat in a formidable semicircle on the stage behind
+the candidate. But as the surprise wore away a touch of disdain appeared
+in their manner; they seemed to doubt whether the region and its people
+were of any importance.
+
+To Harley the speech of the morning was of particular interest, and he
+watched Jimmy Grayson with the closest attention. He wanted to see
+whether he would venture upon the treacherous ocean of the tariff, and
+he had been unable to draw from his manner any idea of his intention.
+But Jimmy Grayson did not launch his bark upon those stormy waters. He
+handled many issues, and never did he allow any one in the audience to
+doubt his meaning; it was a plain yea or nay, and he drew applause from
+the audience or a disapproving silence, according to its feelings.
+
+But the committee was satisfied, the faces of the members shone with
+pleasure, and Harley, reading their minds, saw how they told themselves
+of the quick effect their presence had upon Jimmy Grayson. It was well
+for men of weight to surround a Presidential candidate; despite himself,
+with strong, grave faces beside him he would put a prudent restraint
+upon his words. The long trip from the East and the temporary sacrifice
+of important interests was proving to be worth the price. When the
+speech was over, they congratulated him upon his caution and wisdom.
+
+But that afternoon they were caught under a deluge of Eastern
+newspapers, and in them all the tariff discussion loomed formidably.
+There was every indication, too, that this big storm-cloud was moving
+westward; already it was hovering over the Missouri River Valley,
+because the newspapers of Kansas City and Omaha, like those of Chicago
+and New York, fairly darkened with it.
+
+And the telegrams, too, continued to fall on Jimmy Grayson thick and
+fast. They came in yellow showers; all the correspondents received
+orders to get long interviews with him upon the subject, if possible,
+and the leaders in every part of the country were telegraphing to do
+this and to do that, or not to do either. It was evident that a great
+population wanted to know just how Jimmy Grayson stood on the tariff.
+
+The members of the committee took alarm; Harley saw them bustling in
+uneasily to Jimmy Grayson, and whispering to him much and often.
+
+"It's begun! It's begun! The war is on!" said Hobart, gleefully. "I hear
+the dropping bullets of the skirmishers!"
+
+"Hobart, you'd exult over an earthquake!" exclaimed Harley, wrathfully.
+
+But he knew Hobart's words to be true, and presently he drifted back to
+Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"Mr. Harley is my intimate personal friend," said the candidate to some
+of the members of the committee who looked askance at the correspondent;
+"and what you say before me you can say before him. He knows what to
+print and what not to print."
+
+"It is this," said Mr. Goodnight, and Mr. Crayon nodded violently in
+affirmation; "all the news shows that this tariff agitation is growing
+fast. But it is only a trick of the enemy to force an expression from
+us. They are united in favor of the tariff and we are not. There is a
+division within our ranks. Many of us, and I may say it is the more
+solid and conservative wing of the party, the men who really understand
+the world, know that it is not wise to meddle with the question. Leave
+well enough alone. We are interested in this ourselves, and, as you
+know, we furnish the sinews of war."
+
+He stopped and coughed significantly, and Mr. Crayon also coughed
+significantly. The remaining members of the committee did likewise.
+Jimmy Grayson looked thoughtful.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "I confess to you that my mind has been upon this
+subject for several days past."
+
+"But you will listen to advice," said Mr. Goodnight, hastily.
+
+"Certainly! Certainly!" said Jimmy Grayson. "But you see the time is
+coming when I must decide upon some course in regard to it. I appreciate
+the self-sacrifice of you gentlemen in leaving your business interests
+to come so far, and I shall be glad if we can co-operate. We reach
+Philipsburg to-night; I make a speech there, but it will be over early.
+Suppose we have our talk immediately afterwards."
+
+The committee at once accepted the offer and expressed satisfaction. Mr.
+Grayson showed every sign of tractability, and they began to feel again
+that their valuable time had not been expended in vain.
+
+Harley told Sylvia that the affair was now bound to come to a head very
+soon, but she repeated her confidence in her uncle.
+
+Hobart, however, was gloomy; his joy of the morning seemed to have
+passed quickly.
+
+"I don't like it," he remarked to Harley. "Jimmy Grayson seems to have
+followed the lead of these men without once saying: 'I am the nominee
+and it is for me to say.'"
+
+"And why not? Every dictate of prudence requires that he should. What is
+the use of taking up such a troublesome question at this late day of the
+campaign?"
+
+"But there will be no fight!" This was said very plaintively.
+
+Harley smiled.
+
+"I sincerely hope we will escape one," he said.
+
+Mr. Grayson, after the brief talk, retired to his state-room, and for a
+long time did not see anybody. Harley knew that he was thinking deeply,
+and when the time came for the next speech at another way-station, he
+followed close behind and was keenly watchful.
+
+Again the members of the committee arranged themselves on the stage in a
+formidable semicircle behind the speaker, and surveyed the audience with
+an air that bore a tinge of weary disdain. They were in one of the most
+barren parts of the country, a section that could never be developed
+into anything great, and Mr. Crayon looked upon a speech there as a
+sheer waste of time.
+
+The candidate spoke upon many important issues, and then he began to
+skirmish gingerly around the edge of one that hitherto had been
+permitted to slumber quietly. He did not show any wish to make a direct
+attack, just a desire to worry and tease, as it were, a disposition to
+fire a few shots, more for the sake of creating an alarm than to do
+damage.
+
+The committee at once felt apprehension. This was forbidden ground. The
+candidate was growing entirely too frivolous; he should be reminded of
+his duty to the country and to great business interests. Yet they could
+do nothing at the moment; Mr. Grayson was speaking, and it was
+impossible to interrupt him.
+
+But Harley, attentive and knowing everything that passed in their minds,
+enjoyed their uneasiness. He saw them quiver and shrink, and then grow
+angry, as Mr. Grayson skirmished closer and closer to the forbidden
+ground, that area sown with traps and pitfalls, in which many a man has
+broken his political limbs, yea, has even lost his political life. He
+watched the massive Mr. Goodnight as he swelled with importance and
+indignation. He knew that the great manufacturer was on pins to get at
+the candidate, to tell him the terrible mistake that he was so near to
+making, and perhaps to lecture him a little on the indiscretions of
+youth and inexperience. But, perforce, he remained silent until Mr.
+Grayson concluded, and then as the crowd was leaving, he approached him.
+The candidate seemed to be in a light and joyous humor, and he lifted
+his hand in a gesture that was a dismissal of care.
+
+"Remember our coming conference to-night, Mr. Goodnight," he said. "We
+will discuss everything then."
+
+He smiled as he spoke, and walked on, but Mr. Goodnight felt himself
+waved aside in a manner that was not pleasing to his sense of dignity;
+he was sixty years old, and he had done great things in the world.
+
+Harley and Hobart saw it all, and light began to appear on Hobart's
+gloomy countenance.
+
+"Harley," he said, "I believe that after all my first intuition was
+correct. We may yet have trouble."
+
+Harley was not so sure. It seemed to him that the affair, which was
+really not an affair, merely the bud and promise of one, could be
+adjusted, especially in these shortening days of the campaign. Tact
+would do it, and he was full of hope.
+
+The members of the committee went into their private car and were
+inhospitable the remainder of the day; apparently they wished to be
+alone, and no one was inclined to violate their wish. Harley supposed
+that they were in conference, and he was correct.
+
+They arrived at Philipsburg in a gorgeous twilight that wrapped the
+Western mountains in red and gold, but Harley scarcely noticed either
+the town or the colors over it. He was full of anxiety, as he began to
+share Hobart's view that something was going to happen, although he did
+not take the same cheerful view of trouble.
+
+The speech at Philipsburg was not long. Again Jimmy Grayson skirmished
+around the dangerous question, but, as before, he did not make any
+direct attack upon it. Just when the committee became most alarmed, he
+withdrew his forces, and the speech once more closed with the decisive
+things unsaid.
+
+But as soon as the crowd dispersed, the Great Philipsburg Conference
+began. The large parlor of the hotel had been obtained, and when Jimmy
+Grayson started, he put his hand on Harley's shoulder, saying:
+
+"Harley, the press is excluded from this conference, which is secret,
+but I take you with me in your capacity as a private citizen. I have
+made it a requisite with the committee, because you are a friend and I
+may need your help."
+
+Harley gave him a glance of gratitude and appreciation, and the two
+together entered the designated room. It was a large, cheerful
+apartment, with a wood-fire burning on the broad hearth. The members of
+the committee were already there, and Mr. Goodnight stood importantly,
+back to the fire, with a hand in either pocket, and a coat-tail under
+either arm. Mr. Crayon leaned against the wall and gently stroked his
+arm.
+
+They exchanged the usual commonplaces about the weather and the
+campaign, and, as they spoke, most of the committee looked darkly at
+Harley, but they said nothing. It was quite evident that his presence
+was a matter arranged definitely by Mr. Grayson, and it was politic for
+them to endorse it.
+
+Mr. Grayson settled himself easily into an armchair, and looked around
+as if to say he was ready to listen. Harley stood by a window, careless
+in manner, seemingly, but never more watchful in his life, and on fire
+with curiosity.
+
+Mr. Goodnight glanced at Mr. Crayon, and Mr. Crayon glanced at Mr.
+Goodnight. There came at once to Harley an amusing thought about putting
+the bell on the tiger. But perhaps these men regarded themselves as
+tigers.
+
+Mr. Goodnight gave a premonitory cough, and taking his hands out of his
+pockets let his coat-tails drop. This also was a signal.
+
+"Mr. Grayson," he said, "we have admired your campaign--have admired it
+greatly; we have appreciated the skill with which you have kept away
+from dangerous subjects, and we have been sure that it would continue to
+the end, but I must confess that this confidence of ours was shaken a
+little to-day--I trust that I am not hurting your feelings."
+
+"Oh no, not at all. I also have a statement to make," said Jimmy
+Grayson, ingenuously. "But I shall be glad to hear yours first."
+
+The big men were somewhat disconcerted, and Mr. Crayon spoke up briskly:
+
+"Great issues at stake. In such emergencies Presidential nominees must
+hear advice."
+
+"You are right," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely. "A Presidential nominee
+ought always to listen to advice."
+
+Mr. Goodnight's face cleared.
+
+"We feel that we are in a position to speak plainly, Mr. Grayson," he
+said. "We are elderly men, used to the handling of large affairs,
+and--and this cannot be said of all others in our party. We noticed
+to-day how you skirted dangerously upon the tariff question, which we
+think--in fact, which we know--should be avoided. It is a dangerous
+thing, and we trust it is only an indiscretion that will not be
+repeated; or, perhaps, it might be a little sop to these people out
+here, who really do not count."
+
+Harley glanced at Jimmy Grayson, who was distinctly in the position of
+one receiving a lecture from his elders, and, therefore, from those who
+knew more than he. But the face of the candidate expressed nothing save
+gravity and attention.
+
+"That is quite true," he said.
+
+"I am glad that you recognize our need," said Mr. Goodnight. "I do not
+know how you feel personally upon this great question, but, as I take
+it, politics and one's private opinion are different things."
+
+Jimmy Grayson raised his head as if he were going to speak, but he let
+it drop without saying anything, and the great manufacturer continued:
+
+"It is often necessary to submerge the lesser in the greater, and never
+was there a more obvious instance of it than this. We, and by 'we' I
+mean the great financial interests of the party, are interested in the
+tariff, and believe that it is best as it is. We do not know how you
+stand personally, but there is no question how you should stand
+politically. We men of finance may be in a minority within the party in
+the matter of votes, but perhaps we may constitute a majority in other
+and more important respects."
+
+"All wings of the party are entitled to an opinion," said Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"True, but the opinion of one wing may be worth more than the opinion of
+another wing," continued Mr. Goodnight; "and for that reason we who
+stand at the centres from which the affairs of America are conducted are
+here. We see the unwisdom of approaching such a subject, and, above all,
+the destruction that would be caused if you were to speak fully upon it.
+It is a topic that must be eliminated."
+
+Harley saw a quick glitter appear in the eyes of Jimmy Grayson, and then
+it was shut out by the lowered lids.
+
+"But if this is an issue, and if I am to judge from the overwhelming
+testimony of the press it is an issue," said Mr. Grayson, gently, "ought
+I not in duty both to my party and myself declare how I stand upon it? I
+freely confess to you that the matter looks somewhat troublesome, and,
+therefore, I am glad that we can consult with one another."
+
+"Why troublesome?" exclaimed Mr. Crayon, shortly. "Seems to me, Mr.
+Grayson, that your shrewd political eye would see point at once. Above
+all things must avoid split in the party. Campaign will soon close, you
+are here in Far West, nothing can force you to speak, you avoid issue to
+the last; clever politics, seems to me."
+
+And Mr. Crayon rubbed his smooth chin, his eye lighting up with a
+satisfied smile. Harley glanced again at Jimmy Grayson, and saw a frown
+pass over his face, but it was fleeting, and when he spoke once more his
+voice was unemotional.
+
+"Clever politics is a phrase hard to define," he said. "One does not
+always know just where cleverness lies. I have not said anything
+definite upon this issue, but it doubtless occurs to you gentlemen that
+I may have opinions."
+
+The committee stirred, and Mr. Crayon and Mr. Goodnight looked at each
+other; it was evident to them that they had not taken the candidate in
+hand too soon. Harley felt no abatement of interest.
+
+"That is just the point," said Mr. Goodnight, "and so we have come West.
+We felt that we must act."
+
+Harley expected to see a flame of wrath appear on Jimmy Grayson's face,
+but the candidate was unmoved.
+
+"Of course you know what would happen if you were to declare for
+reduction," said Mr. Goodnight. They seemed to take it for granted that
+if he declared at all it would be for reduction.
+
+"Not at all," replied Mr. Grayson.
+
+"But I do," said Mr. Goodnight, with emphasis. "The wealthy, the
+important wing of the party, would be bound to disown you."
+
+"Ah!" said Jimmy Grayson.
+
+Harley felt a thrill of anger, but he did not move.
+
+The silent members of the committee, who were sitting, stirred in their
+chairs, and their clothes rustled importantly. They felt that
+equivocation and indirection were thrust aside, and the law was now
+being laid down.
+
+"Then I am to understand that silence on this question is a requisite,"
+said Mr. Grayson, mildly.
+
+"Undoubtedly," replied Mr. Goodnight, with growing emphasis. "We are
+quite convinced of its necessity, and it is the demand that we make. A
+Presidential candidate must always listen to advice."
+
+"But sometimes it has seemed to me," said Mr. Grayson, musingly, "that
+in a Presidential campaign the public is entitled to certain privileges,
+or, rather, that it has certain rights, and chief among these is to know
+just how its candidate stands on any important issue."
+
+"It would never do! It would never do!" exclaimed Mr. Goodnight,
+hastily, and with some temper. "We cannot allow it!"
+
+Harley glanced again at Jimmy Grayson, but the candidate's lids were
+lowered, and no flash came from his eye.
+
+"I put it forward in a tentative way," he said, in the same mild and
+musing tone. "Of course, I may be mistaken. I have received many
+telegrams from important people asking how I stand, and I notice that
+the press is discussing the same question very actively."
+
+"They can be waved aside," said Mr. Crayon, loftily. "Telegrams can go
+unanswered, and why bother about a foolish press?"
+
+"Still," said Jimmy Grayson, mildly, but tenaciously, "the public has
+certain rights."
+
+"An ignorant mob that can be left in ignorance," said Mr. Crayon,
+briskly.
+
+"Nothing must be said! Nothing must be said! Quite resolved upon that!"
+exclaimed Mr. Goodnight, brusquely.
+
+"This resolution is unchangeable, I take it?" asked Jimmy Grayson, in
+tones milder than ever.
+
+"There is not the least possibility of a change," replied Mr.
+Goodnight, in a tone of finality. "We have considered the question from
+every side, and nothing is to be said. Of course, if you were to declare
+for a revision, we should have to abandon you at once to overwhelming
+defeat."
+
+"But I should like to say a few words upon the subject," said Jimmy
+Grayson, and there was a slight touch of pleading in his tone, "just as
+a sort of salve to my conscience. You see I am troubled about all these
+requests that I should declare myself, and I have certain ideas about
+what a candidate should do, in which I differ from you, and in which
+probably I am wrong, but I cannot help it. I should like to ease my
+mind, and hence I ask you that I be permitted to say a few words. Just
+one little speech, and I will not handle the subject again, if you
+direct me not to do so."
+
+"We are against it; we are against saying a single word," declared Mr.
+Goodnight.
+
+"Just one little speech," pleaded Jimmy Grayson. "I think the people are
+entitled to it. We stop to-morrow at a small station, a place of not
+more than twenty houses; I should like to say something there, and that
+would serve as a claim later on that I had not avoided the issue. But,
+as I said, I promise you that I will not touch the subject again without
+your permission."
+
+"Don't believe in it! Don't believe in it!" said Mr. Crayon, snappily.
+
+"I am afraid I shall have to insist," said Jimmy Grayson, plaintively.
+"I do not like to say anything that would displease such powerful
+friends, but our people are peculiar, sometimes. I feel that I must
+touch the subject a little when we reach Waterville to-morrow morning."
+
+He spoke in his most propitiatory tones, but the committee was still
+stirred. Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates demanded
+absolute silence, and they had not found it difficult to overawe the
+candidate. Yet there was a certain mild persistence in his tone which
+told them that they should humor him a little, as one would a spoiled or
+hurt child. They, as men of the world, knew that it was not well to bear
+too hard on the bit.
+
+They conferred a little, leaving Jimmy Grayson alone in his chair, where
+he remained silent and with inexpressive face. Harley still stood by the
+window. He had never spoken, but nothing escaped his attention. More
+than once he was hot with anger, but none of the committeemen ever
+looked at him.
+
+"If you insist, and as you say you will, we yield this little point,"
+said Mr. Goodnight, "but we only do so because Waterville is such a
+small place. Even then we are not sure that it is not an indiscretion,
+to call it by a mild name, and if anything should come of it you would
+have to bear the full responsibility, Mr. Grayson."
+
+"That is true," said Jimmy Grayson, cheerfully, "but as you have said,
+Waterville is a small, a very small place; one could hardly find a
+smaller on the map."
+
+"In that event it will doubtless do no harm," said Mr. Goodnight,
+relaxing a little, and Mr. Crayon, stroking his smoothly shaven chin,
+said after him: "No harm; no harm, perhaps, in so small a place!"
+
+Harley had never moved from the window, and again he studied Jimmy
+Grayson's face with the keenest attention. Harley was a fine judge of
+character, but he could read nothing there, save gravity. As for
+himself, he felt often those hot thrills of anger at the words of these
+men; would nothing stir them from their complacency? He had, too, a
+sense of pain at Jimmy Grayson's lack of resentment. It was true that
+their support was a necessity, but after all they were a minority within
+the party, and one might remind them of the fact. Yet Jimmy Grayson
+probably knew best; he understood politics, and perhaps his course was
+the wiser. But Harley sighed.
+
+After the victory, although it had not been a difficult one to win, the
+members of the committee were disposed to condescend a little. They sent
+to their private car for champagne and other luxuries which the
+candidate and Harley touched but lightly, and they treated even Harley,
+the newspaper-man, with graciousness.
+
+Mr. Crayon felt the flame of humor sparkling in his veins, and he jested
+lightly on the little speech at Waterville. "Just think of our candidate
+wasting sweetness on desert air," he said, "for Waterville is in desert,
+and, as I am reliably informed, has less than forty inhabitants."
+
+Jimmy Grayson showed no resentment, but smiled gravely.
+
+"Of course Mr. Harley understands that all this is _sub rosa_," said Mr.
+Goodnight, looking severely at the correspondent.
+
+"Mr. Harley knows it, and he is to be trusted entirely," said Jimmy
+Grayson. "Otherwise I should not have brought him with me. I vouch for
+the fact that he will say nothing of this meeting until we give him
+permission."
+
+Mr. Grayson presently excused himself, on the plea that he needed sleep,
+a plea which was admitted by everybody, and Harley also withdrew, while
+the members of the committee went to their private car pleased with the
+evening's work. Thus the Great Philipsburg Conference came to an end.
+
+The candidate and Harley walked together to their rooms through a rather
+dim hall, but it was not too dim to hide from Harley a singular
+expression that passed over the face of the candidate. It was gone like
+a flash, but it seemed to Harley to be a compound of anger and
+anticipation. Wisely he kept silent, and Jimmy Grayson, stopping a
+moment at his own door, said, in the grave but otherwise expressionless
+tone that he had used throughout the discussion:
+
+"Good-night, Harley; I don't think we shall forget this evening, shall
+we?"
+
+"No," replied Harley, and he tried to decipher a meaning in Jimmy
+Grayson's tone, but he could not.
+
+When Harley turned away, he found Hobart, Blaisdell, Churchill, and all
+the other correspondents waiting for him at the end of the hall to get
+the news of the conference.
+
+"There is nothing, not a line," said Harley.
+
+They looked at him incredulously.
+
+"It is the truth, I assure you," continued Harley. "I am not sending a
+word to my own paper. I am going straight to my bed."
+
+"If you say so, Harley, I believe you," said Churchill. "Besides, it's
+past one o'clock now, and that's past four o'clock in New York and past
+three in Chicago; all the papers have gone to press, and we couldn't
+send anything if we wanted to do so."
+
+"There is nothing to tell you," said Harley, "except that Mr. Grayson
+will allude to the tariff in his speech to-morrow, or, rather, this
+morning, at Waterville. He has promised the committee not to do so
+again--they were not very willing to grant him even so little--but it is
+a sort of sop to Cerberus; later on, if any one twits him with avoiding
+the revision, he can say, and say truthfully, that he has spoken on it."
+
+"I see," said Churchill.
+
+And before they could ask him anything more Harley had entered his own
+room and was going to bed.
+
+The morning dawned badly. The sun shone dimly through a mass of dirty
+brown clouds, and the mountains were hidden in mist. A slow and
+provoking cold rain was falling. It was also a start at the first
+daylight, and, forced to rise too early from their beds, all were in a
+bad humor. Even Sylvia was hid in a heavy cloak, and she did not smile.
+Harley had told her that he could make nothing of the conference the
+night before.
+
+They reached Waterville an hour later, and they found it even smaller
+and bleaker than they expected. Although the usual body of citizens was
+on hand to meet them at the train, the attendance was less than at any
+point hitherto. The shed under which Jimmy Grayson was to speak would
+easily hold them.
+
+But the members of the committee, when they came from their private car,
+showed satisfaction. They had enjoyed a good breakfast, their _chef_, as
+Harley could testify, was one of the best, and they were not averse to
+hearing the candidate make his record good. Hence they were all
+comfortably arranged on the platform in their usual solid semicircle
+when Mr. Grayson appeared. The candidate himself was a bit later than
+usual, but he gave them a cheerful good-morning when he appeared, and
+then proceeded at once to the matter of the speech.
+
+The audience, though small, greeted Mr. Grayson with the heartiest
+applause, and he soon had them under his spell. He talked a while on the
+customary issues, and then he said:
+
+"Gentlemen, there is one question which seemed in previous campaigns to
+be of paramount importance, but in this it has been suffered a long time
+to rest. Lately, however, it has been rising into prominence again. In
+the great centres of population to the eastward it has become a question
+first in the minds of the people, and before the campaign closes it is
+bound to become as momentous here."
+
+Harley, in a seat at the corner of the stage, glanced at the committee,
+and he noticed a slight shade of disapproval on all their faces. The
+candidate was a little too strong in his preamble, but they smiled again
+when they noticed his face which wore an expression so gentle and
+innocent.
+
+"It has been but recently that the matter came to my attention,"
+continued the candidate, in an easy, conversational tone, "but in the
+time since then I have been thinking about it a great deal. This
+question I need scarcely tell you is the revision of the tariff, and I
+am going to speak to you about it this morning."
+
+There was a sudden cheer from the audience, and the people seemed to
+draw closer around the speaker's stand. Their faces glowed with
+interest. Sylvia sat up straight and her eyes sparkled. The committee
+looked a warning at Jimmy Grayson, but he did not see it.
+
+"This question has come up late," he said, "and perhaps it could have
+been put aside. I have been told that it would be for the good of our
+party, particularly in this campaign, to do so, and many have advised
+me to keep silence, saying that I could consistently and honorably
+follow such a course, as our platform does not declare itself on the
+question; but there are some things that trouble me. This is an issue, I
+feel sure, which must be threshed out sooner or later, and as it is now
+so importantly before the country I think that I, as the standard-bearer
+of our party, should have an opinion upon it."
+
+The audience cheered again, and longer and louder than ever. Sylvia's
+eyes not only sparkled, they flashed. Mr. Goodnight half rose in his
+seat and said something in a loud whisper to the candidate, but Mr.
+Grayson did not hear it and went on with his speech.
+
+"It did not take me long to make up my mind," he continued. "I have
+decided opinions upon the subject, and what they are I shall tell you
+before I leave this stage; but first I want to tell you a story."
+
+Mr. Grayson did not tell stories often; he did so only when they were
+thoroughly relevant, and Hobart, Blaisdell, and the other correspondents
+leaned forward with sudden interest. Sylvia's face glowed.
+
+"I think I'll sharpen my lead-pencils," said Hobart.
+
+"I would if I were you," said Harley.
+
+"This story," continued the candidate, in an easy, confidential manner,
+"is about a man who was in a position much like mine. He was the nominee
+of his party for a most important office, and towards the close of his
+campaign a great issue came up again, just as in my case. He did not
+think that he ought to keep silent about it, but when he was thinking
+over what he ought to say a committee of men, representing a minority in
+his party, arrived from the great centres of population, industry, and
+finance--he was then far away in a thinly settled and somewhat
+isolated region."
+
+Again the committee stirred, and they whispered loudly both to one
+another and to Mr. Grayson, but he paid no heed to them and spoke on.
+All the correspondents were writing rapidly, eagerly, and with rapt
+attention, while Sylvia's eyes still sparkled and flashed.
+
+"Well, the members of this committee and the man met," continued the
+candidate, "and from the first they treated him as one who might have an
+opinion of his own but who must not be allowed to express it. They were
+not bad men, perhaps, but a long course of exclusive attention to their
+own personal interests had, we will say, narrowed them. That personal
+advantage was always dangling before them; they could see nothing else.
+The sun rose and set in its interest, and such an affair as the
+government of a mighty nation like the United States must be regulated
+with sole regard to it. They thought they knew everything in the world
+when they knew only one thing in it. Their ignorance was equalled only
+by their presumption."
+
+The rolling cheer came once more from the audience, but Harley saw that
+the faces of the committee had turned red. They whispered no more, but
+stared angrily and uneasily at Jimmy Grayson, who did not notice them.
+
+"How glad I am that I sharpened all my lead-pencils!" said Hobart, in a
+low tone to Harley.
+
+But Harley never stopped writing.
+
+"They did not even have the tact to treat this candidate with courtesy
+and consideration," continued Mr. Grayson. "They lectured him on his
+comparative youth and his ignorance of the world, when it was they who
+were ignorant. They told him, without hesitation, regardless of his own
+opinion and the fact that he was a free man among free men, that he must
+not speak on this issue. They threatened him."
+
+"Did he take the bluff?" shouted a big man in the audience.
+
+"Wait and we shall see," said Jimmy Grayson, sweetly. "They were
+entitled to their opinion, and he would have heard their advice, but
+their manner was intolerable; they undertook to treat him as a child.
+They called him to a conference, and there they laid down the law to him
+as a school-master would order a sulking child to be good."
+
+"Did he take the bluff?" again shouted the big man in the crowd.
+
+"Wait and we shall see," repeated Jimmy Grayson, as sweetly as ever.
+"Well, this conference came to pass, and it lasted a long time, but only
+the committee talked; they gave the candidate scarcely a chance to say a
+word. They treated him with increasing arrogance. They said that if he
+declared himself upon this great issue they would bolt the party and let
+him go headlong to destruction."
+
+"The traitors!" shouted the big man in the audience. But the members of
+the committee, from some strange cause, seemed to be struck speechless.
+Their jaws fell, but the faces of them all were as red as fire. Sylvia
+leaned forward and clapped her gloved hands.
+
+"Blaisdell," whispered Hobart, "slip away and arrange at the
+telegraph-office; any of us will give you his report. I shall have at
+least five thousand words myself."
+
+Blaisdell slid noiselessly away.
+
+"The candidate endured it all, but only for the time," thundered Jimmy
+Grayson, and now his voice was swelling with passion, while his eyes
+fairly sparkled with heat and anger--"but only for the time. He had
+decided opinions upon this subject, as I have upon the question of
+tariff revision, and he intended to utter them as I intend to utter
+mine. They said--and they said it with intolerable condescension and
+patronage--that for the sake of his record he might make one little
+speech upon the subject before a few people out in what they called the
+desert, and he accepted the concession. But there was rage in his heart.
+He was willing to be beaten by the biggest majority ever given against a
+Presidential candidate before he would yield to such insolent dictation.
+Moreover, there was the question of his true opinion, which the people
+had a right to know, and he took his resolve. There was that little
+speech, and he remembered the telegraph wire, the thin line that binds
+the farthest little village to the great world, and I say he took his
+resolve."
+
+"He called the bluff!" shouted the big man in the audience, in a perfect
+roar of triumph, and Jimmy Grayson smiled sweetly.
+
+Suddenly Mr. Goodnight, in all the might of his majesty and importance,
+rose up and stalked from the stage, and the eleven other members of the
+committee, headed by Mr. Crayon, followed him in an angry file,
+accompanied by the derisive shouts of the audience. They quickened their
+pace somewhat when they reached solid ground, but before they were
+within the sheltering confines of their private car, Jimmy Grayson was
+launched upon his great and thrilling tariff speech, in which he
+invested the driest subject in the world with an interest that absorbed
+the attention of ninety million people.
+
+All day the wires eastward and westward sang with the burden of the
+great speech made in the tiny hamlet of Waterville, in the Wyoming
+mountains, and the next morning it occupied the front pages of ten
+thousand newspapers. It was absolutely clear and decisive. No one could
+doubt how the candidate stood. He was heart and soul for revision.
+Sylvia threw her arms around his neck, and said, "Uncle James, I was
+never prouder of you than I am at this moment."
+
+When they left Waterville the private car of the committee was still
+attached to their train, but there was no communication between it and
+the other cars. About the middle of the afternoon they reached a
+junction with another railroad line. There the private car was cut off
+and attached to a new engine. Then it sped eastward at the rate of fifty
+miles an hour.
+
+Meanwhile the correspondents were holding a little conference of their
+own.
+
+"They will bolt him sure," said Hobart. "Will it ruin Jimmy Grayson?"
+
+"I believe not," said Harley, who had been thinking much. "Of course
+there will be a split, but such courage, and his way of meeting their
+attack, will appeal to the people; it will bring him thousands of new
+votes."
+
+"Whether it does or does not," said Hobart, "if I had been in his place
+I'd have done as he did."
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+ALONE WITH NATURE
+
+
+When the party returned to the train after Jimmy Grayson's thrilling
+defiance there was an air of relief, even joyousness, about them all. No
+more diplomacy, no more watching for blows in the dark, no more waiting,
+now they knew who their friends were, and they knew equally well their
+enemies. They could strike straight at Goodnight, Crayon, and all the
+others. Only in the heart of nearly every one of them there was still
+mourning for the lost leader, for "King" Plummer, whom a gust of passion
+had led astray.
+
+"Well," said Hobart, "I thank God that the split has come at last. Even
+if we are beaten out of our boots, I've got that defiance to remember,
+and the picture of Jimmy Grayson refusing either to be browbeaten or
+cajoled, even though the price was the Presidency."
+
+"We know where we stand," said Mr. Heathcote, "and that at least is a
+gain."
+
+As for Sylvia, she was thrilling with pride. Her uncle's high heroism,
+his superb truthfulness appealed to every quality in her woman's soul,
+and with another impulse full as womanly she hated Goodnight, Crayon,
+and their associates with all her heart; she believed them capable of
+any crime, personal as well as political. She felt so intensely upon
+the subject that she wanted to speak of it to somebody else, but Mr. and
+Mrs. Grayson had withdrawn to the drawing-room, and all the
+correspondents were deep in their work, as it would be necessary to send
+very long despatches to the great cities that day.
+
+Harley wrote five or six thousand words full of fire and zeal. As usual,
+he wrote from the "inside," and his was not a bare record of facts; one
+reading it, though three thousand miles away, was upon the scene
+himself; everything passed before him alive; he saw the heroic figure of
+the candidate thundering forth his denunciation; he knew all that it
+cost, the full penalty, and he shared the stern impulse which such a
+speaker in such a situation must feel; he, too, saw the astonishment on
+the faces of the committee, astonishment followed by fear and rage, and
+he shared also the noble thrill that must come to a man who had lost all
+save honor, but was proud in the losing. Harley was always a good
+writer, but now as he wrote he saw every word burning before him, so
+intense were his feelings, and even across the United States he
+communicated the same thrill to those who read.
+
+His despatch brought from his abrupt editor the one word "Splendid!" and
+it attracted marked attention not only wherever the _Gazette_ went, but
+where also went the numerous journals into which it was copied.
+Everybody who read it said, "What a magnificent figure Jimmy Grayson
+is!" and the impression was deepened and widened by other writers on the
+train who were inferior in powers only to Harley. In this his day of
+great disaster the candidate was to find that there were friends who
+were truly bound to him with "hooks of steel." Nor was he ungrateful.
+The moisture rose in his eyes when he first heard of their accounts,
+and in privacy he confided to his wife that he did not know how to thank
+them.
+
+"If I were you I should not say anything," she advised. "They will like
+it better if you don't."
+
+And he did not.
+
+Now the campaign took on a new phase. Even in the beginning it had
+differed from any other ever waged in America, and since the Philipsburg
+conference that difference, already great, increased. It was permeated
+throughout by the personal element, party platforms sank into the
+background, and in the foreground stood the titanic figure of Jimmy
+Grayson fighting single-handed against a host of foes.
+
+His hero appealed more powerfully than ever to Harley; every sympathy
+within him was aroused by this lone figure who stood like Horatius at
+the bridge--the old simile was always coming to him--and under its
+influence his despatches took on a vivid coloring and a keen, searching
+quality that thrilled all who read. And many other newspapers gave the
+same lifelike impression.
+
+The figure of the candidate, although he was admittedly a beaten man,
+loomed larger than ever to the whole country, and his enemies, although
+counting already the fruits of victory, began to feel a certain awe of
+him. They showed an anxiety to keep away from him, even in what they
+considered his dying moments, and no speaker dared to meet him on the
+platform, despite the recollections of his defeat at Egmont. The
+opposition often alluded to this "defeat," and sought to make great
+capital of it, but the sensation that it had created at first faded. It
+was surrounded by too many brilliant triumphs; people would say that on
+the day of his defeat he was ill, like Napoleon at Leipsic; that he was
+giving daily proofs that he was without a match in the world, and one
+such little incident did not count.
+
+The split in the party was made complete. Mr. Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and
+eighteen of their associates, all men of wealth and influence, came out
+in a formal signed statement published first in the _Monitor_, stating
+their position in calmness and moderation and in measured language. They
+said that they had tried to support Mr. Grayson; they had given him
+every chance; they had always been ready with advice; they had sought to
+instil in him a full sense of his responsibility, and to impart to his
+mind the breadth and solidity so necessary in a Presidential nominee;
+they were strong in party loyalty, and they hesitated long before taking
+such a momentous step; but they knew that in every great crisis brave
+men who would not hesitate at great risk to lead must be found;
+therefore they stepped into the breach. Reluctantly and with much grief
+they announced that they could not support Mr. Grayson. He was a menace
+to the country, and they felt that they must remove this danger; hence
+they would support the other side, and they advised all the solid worth
+of the country, those who cared for the national honor, to do likewise.
+
+The _Monitor_ commented editorially in its finest vein upon this tribute
+to conscience. It was glad to know that there were yet brave and honest
+men; it was never worth while to despair of the republic so long as such
+lofty and heroic citizens as Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Crayon were
+vouchsafed to it. The American people were frivolous and superficial,
+but there was a saving remnant, men who might almost compare with the
+great statesmen of Europe, and in every emergency, every crisis, it was
+they who would make enormous sacrifice of private interest and save the
+state.
+
+Churchill followed the lead, and in a long despatch made a ferocious
+attack upon Jimmy Grayson, the man. Then, with a concealed sense of
+importance, he waited until the paper arrived, and when the two hours
+that he thought necessary to make the impression deep had passed he went
+in to Mr. Grayson and announced with an air of great dignity that he was
+prepared to leave the train; he felt that as a keen and remorseless
+critic his presence would put a severe constraint upon the candidate;
+there was nothing personal in his course, and he did not wish to prevent
+anybody from doing his best; he was aware that he must be regarded with
+the greatest hostility and apprehension, and therefore he would retire,
+seeking his news either by going before or by following.
+
+"Why, Mr. Churchill!" exclaimed the candidate, in surprise, "we do not
+dream of letting you go. You have been so long with us that your place
+could not be filled. I cannot consent to such a thing! You must stay
+with us to the end!"
+
+Churchill felt that his shot had missed again, but he said:
+
+"I spoke out of consideration. I thought that my continued presence here
+might have a somewhat disconcerting effect upon you."
+
+"Not at all! Not at all!" replied the candidate, courageously. "It's a
+blow, but we prefer to bear it rather than lose you. Ah, here is my
+niece, Sylvia; perhaps she can persuade you. Sylvia, Mr. Churchill
+speaks of leaving us; he thinks that he ought to do so because he is a
+critic of us. Sylvia, I leave him in your hands, and I want you to
+persuade him that it is only his exaggerated sense of honor."
+
+Sylvia was not averse to the task. She was wholly feminine, and hence
+there was in her a trace of cajolery which she now used. She told
+Churchill that her uncle and all his friends felt the truth and edge of
+his criticisms, but they felt, too, that although he was in the
+opposition now, they might, nevertheless, profit by them. And there was
+the influence of his personal presence on the train--his gravity of
+manner and his weighed and measured speech were a useful antidote to the
+flippancy and levity of his associates.
+
+Sylvia said these things rather by indirection than by plain words, and
+under the influence of such soothing speech Churchill gradually melted
+and became forgiving; he would stay, but it was partly for the sake of
+Miss Morgan that he stayed, and later in the day he confided to Mr.
+Heathcote that he was surprised at the way Sylvia was coming out; she
+really had strong and attractive qualities; if she were to marry a man
+of refinement and knowledge of the world who would exercise a
+stimulating and also a corrective influence upon her, she might become a
+very fine woman. Mr. Heathcote bowed assent, but looked away from
+Churchill and out of the window. Churchill's opinion of Mr. Heathcote
+also improved.
+
+There was yet one element in the situation that was not clarified. Mr.
+Plummer not only failed to appear upon the scene, but did not
+communicate in any manner with either the Graysons or Sylvia. They heard
+of him as floating about the Northwest and full of hot talk, but no one
+could put his hand upon him, and they were puzzled, because they had
+expected decisive, straight-from-the-shoulder action from the "King."
+
+In this week Harley saw Sylvia almost every hour in the day, but never
+once did he speak of the subject that was nearest both their hearts.
+Sometimes he thought that it would have been better had the Graysons
+granted her request to go, because he could see that she was suffering
+from a constant nervous strain, and that her gayety with the group was
+often forced.
+
+They came at last to Grafton, a village in the corner of North Dakota,
+where a sweep of low mountains opens out for a space and forms a wide
+valley. In that hollow lies Grafton, and to Harley it looked warm and
+inviting. The candidate was to speak here, and as Harley ascertained in
+advance that Mr. Grayson did not intend to say anything new, merely
+repeating a speech of the day before, he did not consider it necessary
+to be present; instead, he chose to take a walk through the town and its
+outskirts for the sake of fresh air, exercise, and some solitary musing.
+
+The autumn was far advanced in that Northern latitude, but the chill of
+winter had not yet come. The wide sky of glittering blue hung high, and
+in the thin air the mountain-peaks that stood far away came near; the
+wooden houses of the new town were gilded and softened by the yellow
+sunshine.
+
+Harley saw the usual audience--the ranchmen, the sheep-herders, the
+miners, and the railroad-men--all flocking towards the stand where the
+candidate would speak, and exchanging jocose or admiring comment,
+because this was to them both a holiday and a ceremony.
+
+Only a minute or two sufficed to carry him to the outskirts of the
+little town, and he would have paid no further attention to the crowd,
+but he thought he saw on its fringe a broad, powerful back that he knew.
+When he undertook to take the second look and make sure the back was
+gone, and Harley went on, telling himself, as one is apt to do, that it
+was only his fancy. The echo of cheering came to his ears, and he knew
+that the candidate, as usual, held the audience in his grasp. Presently
+the echo died, and those that followed it did not come to him, as he had
+left the town behind; although from the low crest of a swell he could
+see the heads of the people surrounding Jimmy Grayson, and by the way
+they bobbed back and forth he knew that the enthusiasm was boiling.
+
+He went down the far side of the swell, passed a clump of bushes, and
+came face to face with Sylvia Morgan. She, too, leaving the speech, had
+been walking, and the color of her face was deepened by the exercise and
+the crisp, bracing air. It had given her, also, an obvious exhilaration,
+probably physical, that Harley had not seen before in a long time, and
+her smile was of pure welcoming joy.
+
+Harley's was an answering smile, but his heart was full of a longing and
+an anger equally fierce. Never had she seemed to him more to be desired
+than on that morning; tall, straight, and young, instinct with the life
+and strength of the great upland reaches upon which she lived, her pure
+soul looking out of her pure eyes, she was a woman to be won by the man
+to whom her love was given, and he rebelled because he did not have the
+right. Temptation was strong within him, and he had excuse.
+
+"Speeches, however good, do not appeal to you to-day?" he said.
+
+"No, I prefer the mountains."
+
+She pointed to the line of peaks that formed a border of darker blue on
+the horizon.
+
+"So do I," said Harley, with emphasis, but he meant, at that moment,
+that he was glad to be alone with her.
+
+"Since chance has brought us together," he said, "why should we not
+continue in this way?"
+
+They walked on, and he was very close to her, so close that when a
+wanton wind caught a stray ringlet of her hair it brushed lightly
+against his cheek. Faint and fleeting as was the touch, every nerve
+thrilled. He said fiercely to himself that she was his and should remain
+his.
+
+They came to a little brook, a stream of ice-cold water flowing down
+from the distant mountains, and he helped her across, although a single
+step would have carried her from bank to bank. Then, too, he held her
+hand in his longer than the case warranted, and again he tingled. He
+said nothing, nor did she, but she glanced at him and she was a little
+afraid; his lips were closed in the firm fashion that she knew, and his
+eyes were on the distant mountains. Behind them came a broad shadow, but
+neither looked back.
+
+Jimmy Grayson was a great man, but Caesar and his fortunes were now
+completely forgotten by both Harley and Sylvia; each was thinking only
+of the other, and though they were still silent, they wandered on and
+on, Sylvia content that Harley was by her side, and Harley happy to feel
+her so near that her hair blown in the wind had touched his face. Had
+they looked back they would have seen the shadow come a little nearer
+and raise its arm in an angry gesture. The town sank behind the swells,
+and before lay only a brown expanse of country that rolled away with
+unbroken monotony. A slight grayish tint, as of a mist, crept into the
+glittering blue of the sky, but Harley and Sylvia did not notice it.
+
+Sylvia felt, in a way, as if she were in a state of suspended animation.
+The world had paused for a moment, and for that reason she knew that
+fate was impending; she, too, felt a thrill running through every nerve,
+and she felt the presence, so near her, of the man whom she loved, and
+would always love. He was master to-day, and she knew that she would do
+whatever he should ask her; all her resolves, all the long course of
+strengthening through which she might put herself would melt away in the
+heat of an emotion that was too strong for her; if he said that they
+should slip back to the town, take a train to the next station and get
+married there, forgetful of her promise, "King" Plummer, the campaign,
+her uncle, and everything else, she would go with him. But she
+remembered to pray that he would not say it.
+
+Harley still did not speak. He, too, was struggling with himself, and
+saying, over and over under his breath, that he should remember his
+duty. Sylvia glanced at him covertly from time to time, and, while she
+yet felt a little fear, she admired the firm curve of his chin and the
+clear cut of his face. They came at last to a clump of dwarfed trees,
+sheltered between the swells, and they stopped.
+
+"Sylvia," said Harley, "I felt only joy when I met you, but I am sorry
+now that the chance brought us together this time, because it is a
+greater grief to see you go. I thought once that we might be together
+always, because I know that you are mine, mine in spirit at least, no
+matter to whom the law may give you, but now--"
+
+He broke off and looked at her with longing.
+
+"It is better that I should leave you and go alone," she said.
+
+She held out her hand.
+
+"This is a good-bye," she said.
+
+"But it shall not be so cold a one!" he exclaimed.
+
+He put his arms around her, and kissed her full upon the lips.
+
+"Oh, John!" she cried, and when he released her she ran back upon their
+path, her face very red, although she was in no wise angry with him.
+Harley walked on, and he did not raise his head until the shadow that
+followed them stood across his way. Then, when he looked up, he found
+himself gazing into the muzzle of a very large revolver, held by a
+large, brown hand. Behind the hand, and lowering at him, was the
+inflamed and determined face of "King" Plummer.
+
+In this crisis neither of the two wasted words. Each was a man of
+action, and each knew that long speech was vanity of vanities.
+
+Harley was pale; life was sweet, never sweeter than when it seemed to be
+leaving, but he did not flinch.
+
+"You have stolen her from me," said the "King." "I saw what you did
+there; you ought to be willing to pay the price."
+
+"I object to the word 'stolen,'" said Harley, calmly. "The love of
+Sylvia Morgan is not a thing that could be stolen by anybody."
+
+"Words differ, but acts don't. I've been a border man, and I've got to
+do things in the border way."
+
+"One of which is to come armed upon an unarmed man?"
+
+Harley saw the "King" flinch, but the finger did not leave the trigger.
+
+"You took from me when I wasn't looking all that I love best, and I'll
+take from you all I can."
+
+The red face of "King" Plummer suddenly turned gray, and Harley saw it,
+but he did not see what caused it. There was the light, swift tread of
+footsteps behind him, a warm breath upon his face, and then Sylvia's
+arms were around his neck and she was upon his breast.
+
+"Shoot if you want to," she said to the "King," "but your bullet will
+strike me first."
+
+Her eyes, for the first time in her life, sparkled defiance at him, and
+their gaze stabbed the "King" to the heart.
+
+Harley strove to put her aside, but she clung to him with strong, young
+arms.
+
+The "King's" face, pale before, now became white. It was, perhaps, the
+first time in his life that all the blood had left it, and it showed the
+power of this new and sudden emotion. "King" Plummer, in a flash, saw
+many things. The finger that lay upon the trigger trembled, and then,
+with a cry of fear, this man who feared no other man threw his pistol to
+the earth.
+
+"My God, Sylvia!" he exclaimed. "What do you think I am?"
+
+"Not a murderer!"
+
+"No, I am not; but I came very near to being one."'
+
+He looked at the two, in each other's arms as it were, and turned away,
+leaving the pistol upon the ground. "King" Plummer had seen enough for
+one day.
+
+They watched him until the broad back passed over a swell and was lost.
+Then Sylvia, blushing, remembered, and took her arms from Harley's neck.
+
+"You have saved my life," said Harley.
+
+"I do not think that he would have fired."
+
+"You have saved it, anyhow. Now it is yours, and you must take it. He
+cannot claim you after this."
+
+The blush became brilliant.
+
+"He has not given me up. He has not said so."
+
+"But he will give you up. He shall. You are mine now. Come!"
+
+He took her unresisting hand in his, and again they walked side by side,
+so close that the strong wind once more brushed the little ringlet
+against his cheek.
+
+It is a peculiarity of Grafton that the low swells around it, rolling
+away towards the mountains, look just alike everywhere. One has to be a
+resident, and an old-timer at that, to be able to tell one from another.
+Harley and Sylvia, hand-in-hand, had little thought of such things as
+these, nor were they anxious to reach Grafton quickly; yet the time when
+they must be there would come, and Harley at last interrupted a
+pleasanter occupation by exclaiming:
+
+"Why, where is Grafton? We should have reached it long ago!"
+
+Sylvia saw only the low swells, rolling away, one after the other; there
+was no glimpse of a house, no smoke on the horizon to tell where the
+village had hid itself so suddenly. Around them were the low ridges, and
+afar the circle of blue mountains. Save for themselves, it seemed a lone
+and desolate world. Sylvia became white; she knew their situation better
+than Harley.
+
+"We have lost the town! We mistook the direction!" she said.
+
+"We can easily find it again; it must be there."
+
+He pointed in the direction in which he thought Grafton lay, and
+continued:
+
+"It will merely make our walk back to town the longer, and that is what
+I like."
+
+But she, who had lived her life on the plains and in the mountains, was
+not so sure. She knew that they had walked far, because not even the
+smoke of Grafton could be seen now. Yet he was with her.
+
+"Suppose we try that direction," she assented.
+
+"And if it isn't right, we will try another; our train stays at Grafton
+all day."
+
+They walked on, saying to each other the little things that mean nothing
+to others, but which lovers love, and Grafton yet lay hidden in its
+place between the swells. The skies, changing now from a bright to a
+steely gray, were unmarred by a single wisp of smoke.
+
+Harley felt at last an uneasiness which increased gradually as they went
+on; the country was provokingly monotonous, one swell was like another,
+and the dips between were just the same; there were patches of brown
+grass eaten down by cattle, but mostly the soil was bare; it seemed to
+Harley, at that moment, a weary and ugly land, but it set off the star
+in the midst of it--Sylvia--like a diamond in the dust. He looked up;
+the mountains, before blue and distinct in the clear sky, were now gray
+and vague.
+
+"We must have walked fast and far," he said. "Look how that range of
+mountains has moved away."
+
+Sylvia looked, and her face whitened again.
+
+"It is not distance, John," she said. "It is a mist. See, the clouds are
+coming!"
+
+The mountains moved farther away and became shadowy; the steel-gray of
+the skies darkened; up from the southwest rolled ugly brown clouds;
+there was a rush of chill air.
+
+Harley understood all, and a shiver passed over him. But his fear was
+for her, not for himself.
+
+"It is going to snow," said Sylvia.
+
+"And we are lost in this desert; it was I, too, who brought you here,"
+said Harley.
+
+She looked up into his eyes, and her face was not pale.
+
+"We are together," she said.
+
+He bent his head and kissed her, for the second time that day.
+
+"You are the bravest woman in the world, Sylvia," he said. "Now we live
+or die together, and we are not afraid."
+
+"We are not afraid."
+
+He put his arm around her waist, and she did not resist. Both expected
+to die, and they felt that they belonged to each other for eternity. A
+strange, spiritual exaltation possessed them; the world about them was
+unreal now--they two were all that was real.
+
+"The snow comes, dearest," she said.
+
+Up from the southwest the ugly brown clouds were still rolling, and the
+sky above them still darkened; the mountains were gone in the mist, the
+chill wind strengthened and shrieked over the plain. Harley kept his arm
+around Sylvia's waist, and drew her more closely to him that he might
+shelter her.
+
+"Let the snow come," he said.
+
+Great white flakes, borne upon the edge of the wind, fell damp upon
+their faces, and suddenly the air was filled with them as they came in
+blinding clouds; the wind ceased to shriek and died, and the brown
+clouds, now fused into one mass that covered all the heavens, opened and
+let down the snow in unbroken volume.
+
+"We must go on, sweetheart," said Harley, rousing himself. "To stand
+here is death. We may find some kind of shelter if we go; there is none
+in this place."
+
+They walked on, their heads bent a little, as the snow was coming
+straight down. They could not see twenty yards before them through the
+white cloud, and Harley was scarcely conscious whether they climbed the
+swells or descended into the dips between.
+
+Sylvia covered her head with a small shawl that she wore. Harley wanted
+to take off his coat and wrap it around her, but she would not let him.
+
+"I am not cold," she said; "I think it is the walking that keeps me
+warm."
+
+It was partly that, but it was more the presence of Harley and the state
+of spiritual exaltation in which they remained. Both took it as a matter
+of course that they were to die in a few hours, but they had no fear of
+this death, and it was not even worth while to talk or think of it.
+Harley had spoken merely through habit and instinct of moving on lest
+they die, and it was these same unconscious motives that made them
+struggle, although they took no interest in their own efforts.
+
+"We may come to a clump of trees," said Sylvia, "or to a hollow in a
+rocky hill-side; that happens sometimes in this part of the Dakotas."
+
+"Maybe we shall," said Harley, but he thought no more about it.
+
+The wind rose again and swept over the plain with a shriek and a howl.
+Columns and cones of snow were whirled past them and over them; wind and
+snow together made it harder for them to keep their feet.
+
+"If we don't find that hollow soon, we won't need it," said Harley.
+
+"No," she said.
+
+She was very close to him, and when she looked up he could see a smile
+on her face.
+
+"Death is not terrible," she said.
+
+"Not with you."
+
+The shriek of the wind had now become a moan like the moan of a desolate
+world. They came to two or three dwarfed trees growing close to one an
+other, but they gave no shelter, and, Harley being in dread lest
+branches should be blown off and against Sylvia, they went on.
+
+"What will they think has become of us?" said Sylvia.
+
+But the only thought it brought into Harley's mind at that moment was
+the interruption it would cause to the campaign. He was sorry for Jimmy
+Grayson. He felt that the girl's step was growing less steady. Obviously
+she was becoming weaker.
+
+"Lean against me," he said; "I am strong enough for both."
+
+She said nothing, but he felt her shoulder press more heavily against
+him. He drew his hat-brim down that he might keep the whirling flakes
+from his eyes, and staggered blindly forward. His knee struck against
+something hard, and, putting out his hand, he touched stone and earth.
+
+"Here is a hill," he said, without joy, and he uncovered his eyes again
+to seek shelter. He did not find it there, but farther on, in another
+hill, was a rocky alcove that in earlier days had been the den of some
+wild animal. It was carpeted with old dead leaves, and it faced the
+east, while the wind and the snow came from the southwest. It was only a
+hollow, running back three or four feet, and one must crouch to enter;
+but except near the door there was no snow in it, and the storm drove by
+in vain.
+
+"Here is our house, Sylvia," exclaimed Harley, with a strong ring in his
+voice, and he drew her in. He raked up the old, musty, dead leaves in a
+heap, and made her sit upon them. He was the man now, the masculine
+animal who ruled, and she obeyed without protest.
+
+"Hark to the storm! How the wind whistles!" he said.
+
+Pyramids and columns of snow whirled by the mouth of their little
+hollow, and they crouched close together. Out upon the plain the shriek
+of the wind was weird and unearthly. Now and then some blast, fiercer
+and more tortuous than the rest, drove a fringe of snow so far into the
+hollow that it fell a wet skim across their faces.
+
+Sylvia did not move or speak for a long time, and when Harley looked out
+again the snow was thinner but the wind was still high, and it was
+growing much colder. The blast lashed his face with a whip of ice.
+
+He turned back in alarm, and took Sylvia's hand in his. It was cold, and
+it seemed to him that the blood in it had ceased to run.
+
+"Sylvia! Sylvia!" he cried in fear, and not knowing what else to say.
+"What is the matter?"
+
+"This, I think, is death," she replied, in sleepy content.
+
+It was dark in the hollow, whether the darkness of coming night or the
+darkness of the storm Harley did not know nor care. He could not see her
+face, but he touched it; it, too, was cold.
+
+He felt a pang of agony. When both expected to die he had neither fear
+nor sorrow; now she was about to die alone and leave him!
+
+"Sylvia! Sylvia!" he cried. "It is not death! You cannot go!"
+
+He rubbed her hands violently, and even her cheeks. He called to her
+over and over again, and she awoke from her numbing torpor.
+
+"It was beginning to be like an easy sleep," she said.
+
+"That is what we must fight," said Harley.
+
+He brushed up all the leaves at the mouth of the hollow as a sort of
+barrier, and he believed that it gave help. Then he sat down on a small
+ledge of stone and leaned against the wall.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "I want you to live, and you cannot live if this cold
+creeps into your body again. Sit here."
+
+She hesitated, and in the darkness he did not see her blush.
+
+"Why should you not? It may be our last day."
+
+He drew her down upon his knees, then closer to him, and put his arms
+around her. Presently he could feel her face against his, and it was
+cold no longer. Neither spoke nor moved, but Harley could feel that she
+was warm, and he could hear her soft, regular breathing. After a while
+he stirred a little, and he found that she was asleep. Her hands and
+face were still warm. He did not move again. She spoke once in her
+sleep, and all that she said was his name.
+
+Outside the plain was a vast sheet of snow, over which the cold wind
+moaned, and out of the east the night was coming.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+THE "KING'S" AWAKENING
+
+
+When "King" Plummet left Harley and Sylvia on the plain, he strode
+blindly forward, his heart filled with rage, grief, and self-accusation.
+He said aloud: "William Plummer, you are fifty years old, and you have
+made of yourself the damnedest fool in the whole Northwest!"
+
+Hitherto he had always held the belief that if Harley were away she
+would soon forget him and would be happy as his wife. Now he knew that
+this could never come to pass, and the truth filled him with dismay.
+
+He had ridden across country with no knowledge of Mr. Grayson's presence
+in Grafton until he was very near the place; then, when he heard of it,
+he was overwhelmed with a great desire to see these people and bid them
+defiance. He was a man who fought his enemies, and he would show them
+what he could do. So he rode into Grafton, and slipped quietly into a
+saloon to get a tonic. He was a border man bred in border ways, and
+usually liquor would have had no effect on him, but to-day it was fire
+to a brain already on fire. All his grievances now became great
+wrongs--he was an injured man whom the world persecuted; Grayson, for
+whom he had done so much in political life, had betrayed him; the girl
+whom he was going to marry had betrayed him, too, and this young
+Eastern slip, Harley, was surely laughing at him.
+
+These thoughts were intolerable to the "King," who had hitherto been
+victorious always, and now his rage centred on Harley; he saw Harley
+everywhere, at every point of the compass wherever he looked, and when
+he came out of the saloon and went down the deserted street he saw
+Harley in reality, strolling along absently, his eyes upon the ground.
+He thought first that the correspondent was on his way to join the crowd
+around the speaker's stand, but he soon perceived that he was going in
+another direction. It was "King" Plummer's first impulse--there was
+still liquid fire in his veins--to overtake Harley and demand the only
+kind of satisfaction that such a man as he should have. Then he wished
+to see where Harley was going, because he had a premonition--false in
+this case, the meeting was by accident--that he was on his way to
+Sylvia; so he decided to follow as an animal stalks its game. Only the
+most powerful emotion conjoined with other circumstances could have made
+the "King" do such a thing, as his nature was essentially open, and he
+loved open methods. Yet he trailed his enemy with the skill and cunning
+of an Indian.
+
+He saw Harley and Sylvia meet, and all his suspicions were confirmed.
+Again he felt a fierce impulse, and it was to rush upon the guilty pair,
+but he restrained it and still followed. His perceptions were trained to
+other things, but he was in no danger of being seen by them; they were
+too much absorbed in each other, and all the world passed by them
+unnoticed. The "King," though a rough, blunt man, saw this, and it made
+the fire in him burn the hotter.
+
+He saw them stop at last, he saw Harley kiss Sylvia, and then he saw
+the girl turn away. He waited until he saw Sylvia pass over the swell,
+and then he took his opportunity. Whether he would have fired if Sylvia
+had not come he could not say to himself afterwards in his cooler
+moments. Remorse upon this point tortured him for some time.
+
+When he turned away he saw nothing. He was agitated by the powerful
+truth that Sylvia preferred death with Harley to life with him, and all
+his views were inward. He still did not know what he would do, but there
+was much of a moving nature to him in the scene that he left. He had
+never before seen such a look on a woman's face as that on Sylvia's when
+she threw herself upon Harley's breast and defied his bullet; it was
+beautiful and wonderfully pathetic, and something like a sob came from
+the burly "King." Harley, too, had borne himself like a man; there was
+no fear in the face of the Eastern youth when he looked into the muzzle
+of the pistol that threatened instant death; "King" Plummer remembered
+more than once in the early days when he had been covered by the
+levelled weapon of an enemy, and he knew how hard it was in such a case
+to control one's nerves and keep steady. He could not help respecting a
+courage fully the equal of his own.
+
+He wandered on in a series of circles that did not take him far, and in
+a half-hour he stopped at the crest of a swell higher than the rest. He
+saw Sylvia and Harley far away--but he knew them well--walking side by
+side. "Well, I suppose they have the right!" he said, moodily. The fire
+within him was dying down, but he added; "I'll be damned if I look at
+them making love."
+
+The "King" had the habits bred by long years of necessity and
+precaution, and unless the distracting circumstances were very powerful
+he was always a keen observer of weather and locality. Now the fire was
+low, but he was almost at the edge of the town before his blood became
+normal and cool. Then he looked about. A half-mile away he saw a mass of
+heads, sometimes rising and falling, and a faint echo of cheers came to
+him. He knew that the candidate was still speaking, and he smiled rather
+sourly. Then he was conscious that the sunshine was not so brilliant,
+and there was a feeling of chill damp in the wind that came up from the
+southwest.
+
+The "King" glanced up at the sky; it had turned a steely gray, and ugly
+brown clouds were coming up over the rim of the southwestern horizon.
+"There's going to be an early snow," he said, and for the moment the
+matter gave him no further concern. Then Sylvia and Harley suddenly shot
+up and filled his whole horizon. He had seen them far from where he
+stood, and they were going directly away from the town, not towards it!
+And one was a girl and the other a tenderfoot!
+
+Now Harley disappeared from the "King's" horizon as suddenly as he had
+come into it, and the solitary figure of Sylvia filled all its space.
+She was not a woman now, but the desolate little girl whom he had found
+alone in the mountains, vainly trying to bury her massacred dead, and
+whom he had carried away on his saddle-bow. All the long years of
+protection and tenderness that he had given her came back to him; there
+was only the image of the slim little girl with flying curls who ran to
+meet him and who called him "Daddy!"
+
+That little girl was lost out there on the plain, and as sure as the sun
+had gone from the heavens a snow-storm was coming fast on the wings of
+the southwestern wind. He knew, and his heart was filled with grief and
+despair; no rage was left there; that fire had burned out completely,
+and it seemed to the "King" that it never could be lighted again. It was
+wonderful now to him that the flame could ever have been so fierce. And
+the boy Harley was lost, too. Mr. Plummer again remembered, and with a
+certain admiration, how brave Harley had been, and he remembered, too,
+that when he first saw him his impulse was to like him greatly.
+
+He ran back towards the swell where he had last beheld them, hoping to
+find them or at least to follow upon their traces before the snow fell
+and hid the trail. He was an old frontiersman, and with a favorable soil
+he might do it. But long before he reached the swell the snow flew, and
+the brown clouds and the whirling flakes together blotted out all the
+plain, save the little circle in which he stood.
+
+He raised his powerful voice and called in tones that carried far,
+"Sylvia! Sylvia!" But no sound came back save the lonely cry of the wind
+and the soft, whirring rush of the snow, like the soft beat of wings.
+The "King" was a brave and sanguine man, physically and mentally
+disposed to hope, but his heart dropped like lead in water. He saw the
+slim little girl, with flying brown hair, dead and cold in the snow.
+Then his courage came back, and with it all his mental coolness. He did
+not seek to rush after them, floundering here and there in the
+semi-darkness and calling vainly, but hurried back to the town.
+
+The people had just returned from the candidate's speech, and were
+crowding into the lobby of the hotel to shake Mr. Grayson's hand and to
+tell him that he would win by a "million majority." The candidate was
+enduring this ordeal with his usual good-nature and grace, although the
+crowded room was hot and close, and the odor of steaming boots arose.
+
+Into this packed mass of human beings "King" Plummer burst like a bomb.
+"Help! All of you!" he cried, and his voice cracked like a rifle. "They
+are lost out on the plain in the storm, and they were wandering away
+from the town! Miss Morgan! Sylvia! My child! And the young man,
+Harley!"
+
+There was no mistaking the "King's" meaning. Here was a mountain man,
+one who knew of what he was talking, one who would raise no false alarm.
+Both grief and command were in his voice, and the Dakotans responded
+upon the instant; they knew Sylvia, too--her fresh, young beauty, coming
+into so small a town, was noticed at once. To the last man they went out
+into the storm to the rescue; and there were many women who were
+willing, too.
+
+The candidate seized Mr. Plummer's arm in a fierce grasp.
+
+"Do you mean to say that Sylvia and Harley are lost in that?" he cried,
+and he pointed into the mass of driving snow.
+
+"Ay, they are there," said the "King," "but we will find them."
+
+"We will find them," echoed Jimmy Grayson, and, though they strove to
+make him stay at the hotel, he drew his overcoat about his ears and was
+by his side as "King" Plummer led the way. Hobart, Blaisdell, even old
+Tremaine, and Churchill as well, were there, too.
+
+They knew that Sylvia and Harley were somewhere north of the town, and,
+dividing into groups, five or six to a group, they spread out to a
+great distance. They carried whiskey for warmth, and lanterns with
+which to signal to each other, and for guidance in the night that might
+come before they returned. In the twilight of the storm these lanterns
+twinkled dimly.
+
+The "King" himself carried a lantern, and Jimmy Grayson, by his side,
+could read his face. Mr. Plummer had not told him a word, but he could
+guess the story. He had come upon them, there was a violent scene of
+some kind, and now the "King," with death threatening "his little girl,"
+was stricken with remorse. All the candidate's anger against Mr. Plummer
+was gone, melted away suddenly--and he saw that the "King's" wrath
+against himself was gone the same way. Now he felt only pity for the
+stricken man.
+
+The great line of men moved across the plain towards the north, calling
+to each other now and then and waving the dim lanterns. Jimmy Grayson
+listened for the welcome cry that the lost had been found, but it did
+not come. The "King" did not speak save to give orders--he had naturally
+assumed command of the relief party, and his position was not disputed.
+
+They advanced far northward, and they noticed with increased alarm the
+thickening of the storm. Whirlwinds of snow beat in their faces. Jimmy
+Grayson once heard the big, burly man by his side say, in a kind of
+sobbing whisper, "Oh, my little girl!" and he felt a catch in his own
+throat.
+
+Then he repeated the "King's" own words, "We will find them."
+
+"And alive!" said the "King," in fierce defiance.
+
+He did not speak again for a long time. He seemed to become unconscious
+of the presence by his side of Jimmy Grayson, the man whom in his hot
+wrath he had threatened to betray. At last he turned his head and said,
+as if it were an impulse:
+
+"Mr. Grayson, they said I was going to knife you, and I meant to do it!
+They tempted me, and I was willing to be tempted by them; but, by God! I
+gave them no promise and I won't. I was your friend, and I'm your friend
+again!"
+
+"A better I never hope to have," said Jimmy Grayson, and in the storm
+the hands of the two men met in a grasp as true as it was strong.
+
+"We will not speak of this again," said Mr. Grayson and they never did.
+A resident of Grafton, Mr. Harrison, came up to them, fighting his way
+through the snow.
+
+"Mr. Plummer," he said, "there are some rocky hills three or four miles
+north of here, with hollows and sort of half-way caves here and there in
+their sides. It's barely possible that Mr. Harley and Miss Morgan have
+got to one of those places. I think we ought to go there at once,
+because, because--"
+
+The man's voice failed.
+
+"Speak out," said the "King," "I can stand it."
+
+"Well, it's just this, though I hate to say it. It's a sure thing that
+they've gone a long distance, an' if they've hit on one of the hollows
+we're likely to find 'em alive if we get there pretty soon, but if they
+ain't in a hollow they'll be--they'll be--"
+
+"They'll be dead when we do find them. Take us to the hills, Mr.
+Harrison."
+
+The man, lantern in hand, strode on, and with him were Mr. Grayson and
+Mr. Plummer. Hobart was at the candidate's elbow. Twilight was at hand
+and the darkness was increasing, although the snow was thinning. Hobart,
+peering out on the plain, saw only the swells of snow rising and
+falling like a white sea, and overhead the sky of sullen clouds. He
+marked the agony on the faces of the candidate and the "King," and his
+own heart was heavy. There was no thrill over a mystery now; the lost
+were too dear to him.
+
+"It's night," said Mr. Plummer. In his heart was the fear that the two,
+overpowered, had fallen down and slowly frozen to death under the snow,
+but he did not dare to whisper it to others.
+
+It was heavy work going through the drifts and keeping the right way
+over a plain that had the similarity of the sea, but the men did not
+falter. Jimmy Grayson was always looking into the darkness, striving to
+see the darker line or blur that would mark the hills, but he asked no
+questions. The snow ceased, and after a while low, black slopes appeared
+against the dusky horizon.
+
+"The hills!" said the candidate, and the Grafton man nodded. They
+increased their pace until they were almost running. Neither Mr. Grayson
+nor Mr. Plummer knew it, but the Grafton man had little hope; he had
+merely suggested the place as a last chance.
+
+It took them much longer than they thought or hoped to reach the hills,
+but when they came to them they began a rapid search. The "King" and the
+candidate were still together, and the former had taken a lantern from
+one of the men. They had been looking among the hills for about a
+quarter of an hour, and they drew somewhat away from the others. The
+"King" raised his lantern at intervals and threw ribbons of light along
+the white slopes. They came to a hill a little higher than the rest, and
+he raised the lantern again. It was not a white reflection that came,
+but something misty and brown.
+
+"Dead leaves!" cried the "King." "It's a cave or a hollow."
+
+He raised the lantern higher, and the light shone directly in at the
+opening; it shone, too, upon Sylvia's face as she lay asleep in Harley's
+arms.
+
+"Babes in the wood!" muttered Hobart, who had come up behind them.
+
+The "King" paused a moment. The picture appealed to him, too, and he saw
+then in Harley only the rescuer of "his little girl." His heart yearned
+over Harley also. Then he uttered a joyous shout, dropped his lantern,
+and seized Sylvia. "Daddy," she said, awakening and putting her arms
+around his neck, "I've come back."
+
+"God bless you, my child, my daughter!" he said.
+
+To Harley it was all a dream; there was something the matter with
+him--there was a sort of dull, unreal feeling, and these men that he
+knew seemed to be very far away. Nor did he understand why they pulled
+him out so roughly, rubbed snow on his face and ears, and chafed his
+hands violently. Afterwards he remembered hearing dimly some one say,
+"We're just in time; he was freezing to death," and then he wished they
+would be gentler. Fiery stuff was poured down his throat, and he coughed
+and struggled, but they had no mercy. Then they committed the crowning
+outrage--they took him by the arms, held him up and made him run back
+and forth in the snow. After that the pain came; there were strong
+needle-pricks all through him, and he heard some one say in a foolish
+tone of satisfaction, "He's coming around all right." Then they poured
+more fiery stuff down his throat.
+
+After a while the needle pains ceased, and Harley understood that they
+had saved him from freezing to death. He thought at once of Sylvia;
+there she stood wrapped from chin to heel in a great fur coat, and she
+smiled at him.
+
+It was a slow but happy walk back to Grafton. The "King's" joyful shout
+had been repeated and passed on to all the searchers, and all the
+lanterns had been whirled aloft in rejoicing signal. Messengers were
+already hurrying on to Grafton with the news.
+
+Harley walked by the side of Mr. Grayson, who had given his hand one
+strong clasp and who had said, "Harley, it was like finding a brother."
+Sylvia leaned on Mr. Plummer's arm because the whole of her strength had
+not yet come back. "Daddy," she whispered, "where did you come from?
+We've been waiting for you a long time."
+
+"Something up there must have called me," he replied, reverently,
+pointing to the heavens, in which the new stars twinkled. "Sylvia," he
+continued, "I'm not a fool any more. Forgive your old daddy and you can
+love the boy."
+
+"Not unless you are really, truly, and wholly willing, daddy."
+
+"Really, truly, and wholly, my little girl."
+
+"Now you must tell him so, daddy."
+
+"I'll tell him so."
+
+They were startled by Sylvia suddenly stopping, throwing her arms around
+Mr. Plummer's neck, and kissing him. But they ascribed it to the
+hysteria natural in a woman under such circumstances.
+
+The world was still unreal to Harley. Now and then the people with whom
+he was walking seemed very far away, merely vague black shadows on the
+white plain of snow; all but Sylvia, who smiled again at him, and who
+he thought had drawn him back to earth.
+
+As they approached the town the "King" gave Sylvia to her uncle and fell
+back a little, until he was by the side of Harley.
+
+"Lad," he said, and he used the word because he felt that Harley was
+very much younger than he, "you've won her and she's yours; I'll give
+her to you. I've played the part of father to her, and it's what I ought
+to keep on playing. I see it now. I guess I keep a daughter and gain a
+son."
+
+Harley looked squarely into his eyes--the world was real now--and he saw
+the utmost sincerity there.
+
+"Mr. Plummer," he said, "you are one of God's noblemen."
+
+The "King's" hand and Harley's met in a strong and true grip, and those
+who noticed thought it was another incident due wholly to the stress of
+the night and the storm.
+
+When they reached the town Mrs. Grayson took Sylvia in her arms and the
+others left her. Jimmy Grayson was to speak the next day at Freeport, a
+village a little farther on, but that speech was never delivered, and
+when the Freeport people heard the reason they made no complaint.
+
+It was announced the next morning that Mrs. Grayson and Sylvia would
+leave at once for the candidate's home, as their part of the campaign
+was finished, but Harley found Sylvia alone in the little parlor of the
+hotel. She was sitting by the window looking out at the vast snowy
+plains and the dim blue mountains afar, and apparently she did not hear
+him as he entered, although he closed the door behind him with a slight
+noise. He leaned over her and took one of her hands in both of his.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "won't you come away from the window a moment?"
+
+He did not wait for her answer, but drew her away.
+
+"I do not want any one in the street to see me kiss you," he said, and
+he kissed her.
+
+Her cheeks, already red, grew redder.
+
+"You mustn't do that," she said.
+
+"I can't help myself," he said, humbly, and did it again.
+
+"I have the right," he added, "because you are mine now. Last night Mr.
+Plummer, of his own free will and volition, gave you to me."
+
+"Good old daddy!" she murmured.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+ELECTION NIGHT
+
+
+At last came the great day which was to tell whether their efforts were
+a brilliant success or a dire failure--there was no middle ground--and
+the special train took them to the small city in which the candidate
+lived. All the correspondents were yet with him, as on the eventful
+night following the eventful day they must tell the world how Jimmy
+Grayson looked and what he said when the wires brought the news, good or
+bad. A few faithful political friends had been invited also to stay with
+him to the end, and they completed the group which would share the
+hospitality of the candidate, who must smile and be the good host while
+the nation was returning his sentence. Harley thought it a bitter
+ordeal, but it could not be helped.
+
+After his recognition of the great fact that Sylvia and Harley loved
+each other and belonged to each other, "King" Plummer had gone to Idaho
+for a while, but he rejoined them on the homeward journey, and his
+spirits seemed fully recovered. He drifted easily in conversation about
+her into the old paternal relationship with Sylvia which became him so
+well, and he never again alluded to that vain dream of his that he might
+be something else. Moreover, after his temporary alienation he had
+become a more ardent Graysonite than ever, and would not hear of
+anything except his triumphant election, despite the immense power of
+the forces allied against him.
+
+While they changed cars often in the West, the one that bore them to the
+candidate's town had been their home for several weeks, and even the
+engine was the same; thus the train attendants fell under the spell of
+Jimmy Grayson, and when he walked down their car-steps for the last time
+they came around him in their soiled working clothes and wished him
+success. It was scarcely dawn then, the east was not yet white, but
+Harley could see sincerity written all over their honest faces, and
+Jimmy Grayson, who had listened to ten thousand words of the same kind,
+some true and some false, was much moved.
+
+"Sir," said the engineer, "at midnight, when the tale is told, I shall
+be three hundred miles from here, but if you are not the man, then it is
+a tale that I shall not care to hear."
+
+"Friends," said Jimmy Grayson, gravely, "I am glad to have your good
+wishes; the good wish is the father of the good act, and whatever tale
+the coming night has to tell let us endure it without vaunting or
+complaint."
+
+As Mr. Grayson and his friends walked away in the growing dawn, the
+railroad men raised a cheer. A little later Harley heard the puff, puff
+of a locomotive followed by the grinding of wheels, and the train which
+had been their home whirled away into that West where they had seen and
+done so many strange things. Harley tried to follow it awhile with his
+eyes, because this was like a parting with a human being, an old and
+faithful friend; he felt, too, that the most vivid chapter yet in his
+life was closing. Unconsciously he raised his hand and waved good-bye;
+the others, noticing the act, understood and were silent.
+
+All were under the influence of the morning, which was dawning slowly
+and ill. There are fine days in November, yet we cannot depend upon it,
+and now the month was in one of its bad humors. An overcast sun was
+struggling through brown, ominous clouds, and its light was pale and
+cold. A sharp wind whistled against the houses, yet shuttered and silent
+in these early morning hours. The city was still asleep, and did not
+know that the candidate had come home to hear his fate.
+
+"Is this ugly sky an omen of ill?" asked Churchill, who, despite his
+supercilious nature and the fact that he represented an opposition
+newspaper, had come at last under the spell of Jimmy Grayson and was in
+a way one of the band.
+
+"If it is a gray sky for Mr. Grayson, it is a gray sky for the other
+man, too, and I draw no inference from the circumstance," replied
+Harley.
+
+Nevertheless there was an oppression over the whole group--perhaps it
+was because they were so near the end; and scarcely another word was
+said as they walked along the silent street, each thinking of the day at
+hand and the night to follow.
+
+The candidate had offered all the hospitality of his house, but none
+would accept, not wishing to intrude upon the first freshness of his
+family reunion; they intended to register at the hotels and come to his
+home later on for the news of the day. So they stopped at a street
+corner, bade him a short farewell, and allowed him to go on alone.
+
+But Harley could not resist the temptation of looking back. They had
+arrived in the town two hours ahead of time, and he knew that the
+candidate's family were not yet expecting him, but he could see the
+house behind its shield of trees, now swept of foliage, and already
+there were signs of life about it. He saw the candidate's wife run down
+the steps and meet her husband, and then he looked away.
+
+"This is one part of a Presidential campaign that we must not watch," he
+said to the group about him, and without a word they walked to their
+hotel, not glancing back again, although more than one in the group was
+secretly envious of Harley, because of the welcome that they knew
+awaited him a little later.
+
+It was a good hotel that received them, and it was an abounding
+breakfast that awaited them there. Harley sat near a window of the
+dining-room, where he could look out upon the street and see the city
+coming to life, a process that began but slowly, because it is always a
+holiday when the people cast their votes for a President. Yet the city
+awoke at last, men began to appear in the streets, a polling-booth
+opposite the hotel was opened, and the Presidential election had begun.
+
+The dining-room was now filling up, and all around Harley and his
+friends rose the hum of interested talk. People were beginning to
+speculate on the result, and to point out the strangers whom Jimmy
+Grayson had brought among them.
+
+Harley presently went into the lobby and found it crowded. All there
+were touched by a keen, eager interest, and were balancing the chances.
+The correspondent, alert, watchful, saw that the bulk of opinion was
+against Jimmy Grayson. He saw, too, that while there was much local
+pride in the candidate, it was tinctured by envy, and here and there by
+malice. He realized to the full the truth of the old adage that a
+prophet is never without honor save in his own country.
+
+In that crowded lobby were men who had been conspicuous in local public
+life when Jimmy Grayson was a mere boy, and they could not understand
+how he had passed them; it was a chance, they said and believed--mere
+luck, not merit. Others, in a tone of patronage, told stories of the
+days when he was a threadbare and penniless young attorney, and they
+named at least five other men of his age who had been more promising.
+Then they depreciated his gifts, and in the same breath disclaimed all
+intention of doing so, believing, too, that the disclaimer was genuine.
+Yet Harley had no great blame for these men; he understood how bitter it
+was for them to see the hero march by while they stood still, and it was
+not the first instance of the kind that he had noticed.
+
+But the crowd, on the whole, was loyal, and sincerely wished Jimmy
+Grayson success. Yet they could not keep down gloomy forebodings. There
+had been a defection of a minority within the party, led by Mr.
+Goodnight, Mr. Crayon, and their associates, who had gone bodily into
+the enemy's camp, a procedure which had made much noise in the American
+world, and none could tell how much it would cost. The story of the
+Philipsburg conference and Jimmy Grayson's great speech at Waterville
+was known to everybody, and now, while the old politicians applauded his
+courage and honesty, they began to fear its effects. Harley felt the
+same thrill of apprehension, the momentary timidity, that even the
+bravest experience when about to go into battle.
+
+Those in the lobby soon knew Harley and his friends, and the nature of
+their business, and many questions which they could not answer were
+asked them. "You have been with Jimmy Grayson all along; will he win?"
+and whether it was Harley or another he was forced to reply that he did
+not know.
+
+Harley now looked at his watch, something he had been eager to do for a
+time that seemed interminable to him; it was yet early, so the watch
+told him, but he looked out next at the heavens and the day was
+unfolding. "I will go now; I refuse to wait any longer," he said to
+himself, and he slipped away from the crowd.
+
+He went rapidly down the street, and the Presidential campaign was not
+in his mind at all; the only thought there was Sylvia! Sylvia! He stood
+presently before the Grayson door and rang the bell. He remembered how
+he had rung that same bell five months ago, never dreaming that his fate
+would answer his ring. And now that same happy fate was answering it
+again, because, when the door swung back, there was Sylvia, her hand
+upon the bolt and the smile of young love that has found its own upon
+her face.
+
+"I knew it was you--I knew your ring," she said, unconscious of the fact
+that one ring is like another.
+
+"And you came to meet me," said Harley. "It is fitting; you opened it
+first to me and you let my happiness in."
+
+"And you brought mine with you when you came."
+
+They were young and much in love.
+
+Harley stepped inside, and she closed the door.
+
+"I think I shall kiss you," he said.
+
+"Uncle James and Aunt Anna are in the next room."
+
+"I don't want to kiss either Uncle James or Aunt Anna."
+
+"They might come."
+
+"I defy them--yes, I bid defiance even to a Presidential nominee."
+
+He put his arm around her waist and kissed her.
+
+"You know that he hasn't had time to come."
+
+"Then I give him another chance. I defy that terrible man again. Yes, I
+defy him twice, thrice, and more times."
+
+She struggled a little, and her cheeks flamed, but she thought how fine,
+tall, and masterful he was, and how long it was since she had seen
+him--it had not really been long.
+
+"Sylvia," he said, "this is the next best day."
+
+"The next best day?" wonderingly.
+
+"The next best day to the one on which we shall be married. I think I
+shall defy your terrible uncle again."
+
+And she blushed redder than ever. As a matter of fact the "terrible
+uncle," hearing a step in the hall, came to the door of his room and saw
+this defiance issued to him not only once, but twice. Whereupon he
+promptly went back into his own room, shut the door, and said to his
+wife, "Anna, you must not go into the hall for at least ten minutes." He
+remembered some meetings of his own, and Mrs. Grayson, although she had
+not looked into the hall, understood perfectly.
+
+Presently Sylvia, keeping herself well into the background, showed
+Harley into the parlor, and he paid his respects to Mrs. Grayson, who
+was sincerely glad to see him again. She looked upon him now as one of
+the family. "King" Plummer came before long, and by-and-by he and Harley
+went into the town to seek political news. "But I'll be back soon," he
+said to Sylvia.
+
+"And I'll be at the door when you come," she said to him.
+
+They did not spend more than an hour in the town, and when they returned
+the other correspondents were with them. The day had not improved, the
+lowering clouds still stalked across the horizon, and the wind came cold
+and sharp out of the northwest.
+
+"I've had a telegram from New York saying that a great vote is being
+polled," said Hobart, "and I've no doubt it's the case throughout the
+East. Yet Jimmy Grayson is bound to sit at home helpless while all this
+great battle is going on."
+
+"He has done his work already," said Harley; "and now it is the rank and
+file who count."
+
+There was no sign of gloom at the Grayson home. The candidate,
+refreshed, and with his half-dozen young children around him, was
+unfeignedly happy, while Mrs. Grayson, hovering near her husband, who
+had been practically lost to her for, lo! these many months, showed the
+same joy and relief. She received the group with genuine warmth--her
+husband's friends were hers--and bade them make the house their home
+until the fight was over. Sylvia greeted them as old comrades, which, in
+fact, they were. A room with tables for writing was already set apart
+for their use.
+
+The children were in holiday attire and thrilled by excitement; they
+could not be suppressed. They were well aware what it was to be
+President of the United States, and they failed to understand how any
+one could vote against their father. "If he is beaten," thought Harley,
+"it is not Mr. Grayson nor Mrs. Grayson who will feel the most
+disappointment, but these little children."
+
+Neither the candidate nor his wife alluded to the Presidential race,
+seeming to enjoy this short respite after the long strain and before the
+crucial trial yet to come. They talked of the small affairs of the home,
+and she gave the news of their neighbors, as if they would make the most
+of this brief hour; yet it was not wholly natural, there was in it a
+note of suspense, and Harley knew that, despite the joy of reunion, the
+shadow of the coming night was already over them. Jimmy Grayson must
+feel that while he idled about his own home the ballots were falling in
+the boxes off to the East and to the West by the hundred thousand, and
+his own fate was being decided.
+
+Harley and Sylvia, after the greetings and the casual talk, slipped away
+from the others. There was a little glass-covered piazza at the back of
+the house, and there they sat.
+
+"Now you must tell me all that you have been doing since I left you."
+
+"Nothing worth the telling. How could anything interesting happen after
+you had gone? But I've been doing some fine thinking."
+
+"Of what?"
+
+"Of you!--always you! I've had to tear up the first page of many of my
+despatches."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I would address them to Sylvia instead of to the _Gazette_."
+
+"John, I didn't know that you had imagination."
+
+"It isn't imagination; I don't need imagination when I'm near you or
+thinking of you, which is all the time."
+
+"And you are going to marry a Western girl, after all?" irrelevantly.
+
+"I wouldn't marry any other kind, and there is only one of them that I
+would marry."
+
+They did not speak again for a half-minute, but what they said was
+relevant.
+
+But the best of times must come to an end, even if it is merely to give
+way to another good time, and Harley could not remain long at the
+candidate's house, but strolled with Blaisdell and two or three others
+through the city. He, too, had a sense of helplessness in regard to the
+campaign. Like Jimmy Grayson, he was now condemned to a period of
+inaction, and, strive as he might, he could not aid his friend a
+particle. They went to the local headquarters of the party--two parlors
+of the largest hotel in the city.
+
+The rooms, which had been thrown together, were packed with men and
+thick with tobacco-smoke, making the air heavy and hot. News there was
+none, but clouds of rumor and gossip. The telegraph said bad weather,
+cold and raw, with gusts of rain, prevailed all over the United States,
+but that an enormous vote was being polled, nevertheless. In all the
+booths in all the great cities long lines of people were waiting, and
+reports of the same character were coming from the country districts.
+But with the secret ballot there was nothing whatever to indicate which
+way this vote was being cast, nor would there be until the polls were
+closed and the official count was begun. It was said that in many of the
+precincts of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia more than half the vote
+was cast already, so eager were both sides for victory. These bulletins,
+more or less vague as they came from time to time, were posted on a
+blackboard, and their vagueness did not keep them from arousing the
+keenest interest.
+
+Dexter, the chairman of the state committee, a thin-faced man who talked
+little, shook his head ominously.
+
+"I don't like the enormous vote they are polling so early in the big
+cities," he said. "It shows that the band of traitors led by Goodnight,
+Crayon, and their kind are getting in their work."
+
+"But we don't know it to be a fact," said Harley, resolved that the
+cloud should have its silver lining. "For every man in that crowd eager
+to cast a vote against Jimmy Grayson, there may be one eager to cast a
+vote for him."
+
+Dexter shook his head again, and with increased gloom. Harley's argument
+might appeal to his hopes, but not to his judgment.
+
+"I'm sorry that Jimmy Grayson made his attack upon that committee," he
+said. "It spoke well for his courage and honesty, but it was bad
+politics."
+
+"I think that courage and honesty are good politics," said Harley, and
+he left Dexter to his pessimistic thoughts.
+
+The rooms were growing too close, and there was an absence of definite
+news, so he went again into the open air. The character of the day was
+unchanged; it was still dark with ominous clouds trooping across the
+sky, and the wind had grown more bitter.
+
+Harley now found himself under the strain of an extreme anxiety. He did
+not realize until this day how deeply his own feelings were interwoven
+with the fate of the campaign, and how bleak the night would look to him
+and Sylvia if Mr. Grayson were beaten--and he knew that the odds were
+against him; despite himself, he, a man of calm mind and strong will,
+was a prey to nerves. He began to shrink at the thought of the count of
+the votes, and to fear the first real bulletins.
+
+He walked about the streets awhile to steady himself, and then looked at
+his watch. It was past noon there, but later in the East and earlier in
+the West; yet the bulk of the ballots were cast already. In three or
+four hours more the tabulated vote in the states farthest east would
+begin to arrive, and they would listen to the opening chapter of the
+story, a story which he feared to hear.
+
+Absorbed in his thoughts, he had strolled unconsciously towards the
+country. There, at a turn of the road, he met two people in a light
+wagon, and they were the candidate and his wife Mrs. Grayson driving.
+Harley looked up in surprise at their calm, cheerful faces. How could
+they assume such an air with the combat at its height?
+
+"I'm sorry you and Sylvia were not with us," said Mr. Grayson; "Mrs.
+Grayson has been taking me to see the changes in the country since I
+went campaigning. There are a half-dozen new residences in the suburb
+out yonder, and they've built a new foot-bridge, too, over the river.
+Oh, our city is looking up!"
+
+They drove on cheerfully, and Harley went back to town. All the
+arrangements for the night were made; the two great telegraph companies
+would handle their despatches in equal proportion, and would send
+bulletins of the count, as fast as they came, to the candidate.
+Headquarters would do the same, and there would be no lack of news.
+
+Harley rejoined his comrades at the hotel, but stayed with them only a
+little while, because he, of course, was to dine with Sylvia and the
+Graysons. All the others had been invited, but they did not wish to
+overwhelm the candidate on this day of all days, and none except "King"
+Plummer would go.
+
+"Lucky fellow," said Hobart, as Harley walked away.
+
+"But not luckier than he deserves," said Blaisdell.
+
+After dinner Hobart looked at his watch, then shut it, and with a quick
+motion thrust it into his pocket.
+
+"The polls have closed in three-fourths of the states," he said, "and
+probably somebody is elected. I wonder who it is?"
+
+Nobody replied, but on their way to Jimmy Grayson's house they passed
+through the party headquarters. The rooms were so crowded that they
+could scarcely move, but they managed to approach the blackboard, and
+they saw written upon it:
+
+"Goodnight, Crayon, and others claim decisive defeat of Grayson. Assert
+that he will not get one-third the vote of the electoral college."
+
+"What nonsense!" exclaimed Hobart, who felt a thrill of anger. "Why,
+they have not begun the count of the vote anywhere!"
+
+They left the rooms and went into the street. The November twilight was
+coming earlier than ever under the shadow of the thickening clouds, and
+already lights were beginning to shine from many windows. Uniformed
+messenger-boys were passing.
+
+"The wires will soon be talking," said Churchill.
+
+The candidate's house was not inferior to any in the number of its
+lights. In the cold, dark twilight it reared a cheerful front, and the
+candidate himself, when he received them, was steady and calm.
+
+"Some of our friends are here already," he said, and he had them shown
+into the large room, where the tables for their use had been placed.
+
+It was brilliantly illuminated, and a dozen men were sitting about
+speculating on the events of the day and hoping for a happy result.
+Among them was old Senator Curtis, who had come all the way from
+Wyoming, and he was loudly declaring that if Mr. Grayson were not
+elected he would never take any interest in another Presidential
+election. The others made no comment on his declaration.
+
+Harley came in late. At dinner with the Graysons he had been thinking,
+when he looked at Sylvia's lovely face across the table, that it would
+always be just across the table from him now, and the thought was such a
+happy one that it clung to him.
+
+The correspondents disposed themselves about the room, and placed pencil
+and paper on the tables; yet there would be nothing for them to write
+for a long time. They were only to tell the story of how the candidate
+took it, after the story itself was told. Their business was with either
+a paean or a dirge.
+
+Harley looked around at the group, all of whom he knew.
+
+"Have you fellows thought that this is our last meeting?" he asked.
+
+There was a sudden silence in the room. All seemed to feel the solemnity
+of the moment. Out in the street some happy men, who had helped to empty
+the bowl, were singing a campaign song, and its sound came faintly to
+the group.
+
+"A wager to you boys that none of you can name the state from which the
+first completed return will come. What odds will you give?" said "King"
+Plummer, who was resolutely seeking to be cheerful.
+
+"We won't take your wager because we'd win, sure," said Hobart. "It will
+be a precinct in New York City, up-town. They get through quick there;
+they never fail to be first."
+
+"Whatever the vote there is, I am going to look upon it as an omen,"
+said Mr. Heathcote. "If our majority is reduced it will mean a bad
+start, good ending; if our majority is increased, it will mean that a
+good beginning is half the battle."
+
+Dexter, the chairman of the state campaign committee, entered, his thin
+face still shadowed by gloomy thoughts.
+
+"We've had a few bulletins at headquarters, but nothing definite," he
+said. "All the reports so far are from the East, of course, owing to the
+difference in time, but I'd like mighty well to know what they are doing
+out there on the Slope and in the Rockies."
+
+"We'll know in good time, Charlie; just you wait," said Jimmy Grayson,
+who was the calmest man in the room.
+
+"I've done enough waiting already to last me the rest of my life," said
+Dexter, moodily.
+
+The door was opened softly, and four or five pairs of young eyes peeped
+shyly into the room. The candidate, with assurances that there was
+nothing to be told, gently pushed the youthful figures away and closed
+the door again.
+
+"I would put them to bed," he said, apologetically, "but they can't
+sleep, and it is not any use for them to try; so they are supposed to be
+shepherded in another part of the house by a nurse, but they seem to
+break the bounds now and then."
+
+"I claim the privilege of carrying them the good news when we get it, if
+they are still awake," said Harley.
+
+A messenger-boy entered with a despatch, but it contained no
+information, merely an assurance from a devoted New England adherent
+that he believed Jimmy Grayson was elected, as he felt it in his bones.
+
+"Why does a man waste time and money in telegraphing us a thing like
+that?" said Dexter. "It isn't worth anything."
+
+But Harley was not so sure. He believed with Jimmy Grayson that good
+wishes had more than a sentimental value. He went to the window and
+gazed into the street. The number of people singing campaign songs as
+they waited for the news was increasing, and the echoes of much laughter
+and talk floated towards the house. Farther down the street they were
+throwing flash-lights on white canvas in front of a great crowd, but so
+far the bulletins were only humorous quotations or patent-medicine
+advertisements, each to be saluted at the beginning with a cheer and at
+the end with a groan. He turned back to the table just as another boy
+bearing a despatch entered the room.
+
+Mr. Dexter had constituted himself the clerk of the evening--that is, he
+was to sit at the centre-table and read the despatches as they came. He
+took the yellow envelope from the boy, tore it open, and paused a
+moment. Then all knew by the change upon his face that the first news
+had come. Dexter turned to Hobart.
+
+"You were right," he said, "it is from New York City, up-town. The
+Thirty-first Assembly District in the City of New York gives a majority
+of 824 for Grayson. This is official."
+
+At another table sat a man with a book containing the complete vote of
+all the election districts in every state of the Union at the preceding
+Presidential election. All looked inquiringly at him, and he instantly
+made the comparison.
+
+"We carried the Thirty-first Assembly District of the City of New York
+by 1077 four years ago," he said. "Our majority suffers a net loss of
+253."
+
+"Did I not tell you?" exclaimed Heathcote. "A bad start makes a good
+ending."
+
+"It's a happy sign," said Sylvia, with her usual resolute hopefulness.
+
+But, despite themselves, a gloom settled upon all; the first report from
+the battle was ominous--such a loss continued would throw the election
+heavily in favor of the other man--and after her remark they were
+silent.
+
+Mrs. Grayson looked into the room, but they told her there was nothing,
+and, whether she believed them or not, she closed the door again without
+further question.
+
+"Here comes another boy," said Hobart, who was at the window, watching
+the crowd before the transparency.
+
+"Now this is good news, sure," said "King" Plummer.
+
+It was from another assembly district in New York City, and the party
+majority was cut down again, but this time the reduction was only 62
+votes.
+
+"That's better," said Mr. Heathcote.
+
+"It will have to be a great deal better to elect our man," whispered
+Hobart to Harley.
+
+Harley went to the window again, and looked down the street towards the
+transparency, where the opposition voters were cheering wildly at the
+first news so favorable to their side. Despite himself, Harley felt an
+unreasoning anger towards them. "You cheer about nothing," he said to
+himself. "This is only a few thousand votes among millions." Then he was
+ashamed of his feeling, and left the window.
+
+"The Hub speaks!" exclaimed Mr. Dexter, as he tore open another
+envelope. Then he announced a vote from one of the wards of Boston.
+
+"And it speaks right," said the man with the book. "Mr. Grayson cuts
+down the majority polled against us there four years ago by 433 votes."
+
+A little cheer was raised in the room, and down the street at the
+transparency there was a cheer, too, but the voices were not the same as
+those that cheered a few moments ago.
+
+"Good old Boston," said Hobart, "and we made that gain right where the
+enemy thought he was strongest!"
+
+The first gain of the evening had a hopeful effect upon all, and they
+spoke cheerfully.
+
+But a vote from Providence, a minute later went the other way, and it
+was followed by one of a similar nature from New Haven. The gloom
+returned. Their minds fluctuated with the bulletins.
+
+"It was too good to last," whispered Hobart, downcast.
+
+The children again appeared at the door and wanted to know if their
+father was elected. Sylvia took upon herself the task of assuring them
+that he was not yet elected, but he certainly would be before many
+hours. Then they went away sanguine and satisfied, and trying to keep
+sleepy eyelids from closing. In the street the noise was increasing as
+the crowd received facts, and the cheers were loud and various. But
+those of the enemy predominated, and Harley thrilled more than once with
+silent anger. A half-dozen men passed the house singing a song in
+derision of Jimmy Grayson; some of the words came to them through the
+window, and Sylvia flushed, but Mr. Grayson himself showed no sign that
+he understood.
+
+The telegrams now were arriving fast; there were two streams of boys,
+one coming in at the door and the other going out, and Mr. Dexter, at
+the table, settled to his work. For a while the chief sounds in the room
+were the tearing of paper, the rustling of unfolded despatches, and the
+dry voice of the chairman announcing results. These votes were all from
+Eastern cities, where the polls closed early and the ballots could be
+counted quickly. Over the West and the Far West darkness still brooded,
+and the country districts everywhere were silent.
+
+Yet Harley knew that throughout the United States the utmost activity
+prevailed. To him the night was wonderful; in a day of perfect peace
+nearly twenty million votes had been cast, and the most powerful ruler
+in the world had been made by the free choice of the nation, just as
+four years or eight years hence another ruler would be made in his place
+by the same free choice, the old giving way to the new. Now to-night
+they were trying to find out who this ruler was, and no one yet could
+tell.
+
+But the tale would be told in a few hours. Harley knew that over an area
+of three million square miles, as large as the ancient civilized world,
+men were at work counting, down to the last remote mountain hamlet, and
+putting the result on the wires as they counted it. And ninety million
+people waited, ready to abide by the result, whether it was their man or
+the other. To him there was something extraordinary in this organized,
+this peaceful but tremendous activity. To-night all the efforts of the
+world's most energetic nation were bent upon a single point. In each
+state the wires talked from every town and village to a common centre,
+and each state in turn, through its metropolis, talked to the common
+centre of them all, and the general result of all they said would be
+known to everybody before morning. It seemed marvellous to him, although
+he understood it perfectly, that a few hours after the boxes were opened
+the votes should be counted and accredited to the proper man.
+
+He resumed his seat at a table, although there was yet but little for
+him to write, and listened to the dry, monotonous voice of Dexter as he
+called the vote. The results were still of a variable nature, gains here
+and losses there, but on the whole the losses were the larger, and the
+atmosphere of the room grew more discouraging. The great state of New
+York, upon which they had relied, was showing every sign that it would
+not justify their faith. The returns from the city of New York, from
+Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, were all bad, and the most resolute hopes
+could not make them otherwise.
+
+"'As goes New York, so goes the Union,'" whispered Hobart, quoting an
+old proverb.
+
+"Maybe that rule will be broken at last," replied Harley, hopefully.
+
+But even Sylvia looked gloomy. There was one thought, as these returns
+came, in the minds of them all. It was that the members of the
+Philipsburg Committee had made good their threat; their defection had
+drawn from Grayson thousands of votes in a pivotal state, and if he had
+ever had a chance of election this took it from him. Yet no one uttered
+a word of reproach for Jimmy Grayson, although Harley knew that those
+who called themselves practical politicians were silently upbraiding
+him. He feared that they might consider their early warnings justified,
+and he resented it.
+
+A discordant note, too, was sounded by the South; Alabama, a state that
+they considered sure, although by a small majority, would go for the
+other man if the returns continued of the same tone. The only ray of
+light came from New England, whence it had not been expected. The large
+cities there were showing slight increases for Jimmy Grayson.
+
+"Who would have thought it?" said Mr. Heathcote.
+
+But it seemed too small to have any effect, and they turned their minds
+to other parts of the country that seemed to be more promising ground.
+The voice of Mr. Dexter, growing hoarse from incessant use and wholly
+without expression, read a bulletin from New York:
+
+"Great crowd in front of the residence of the Honorable Mr. Goodnight,
+on upper Fifth Avenue, and he is speaking to them from the steps. Says
+the election of their man is assured. Derides Mr. Grayson; says no man
+can betray predominant interests and succeed. Crowd hooting the name of
+Grayson."
+
+"The traitor!" exclaimed Hobart.
+
+But Jimmy Grayson said nothing. Harley watched him closely, and he knew
+now that the candidate's expressionless face was but a mask--it was only
+human that he should feel deep emotion. Harley saw his lips quiver
+faintly now and then, and once or twice his eyes flashed. Down the
+street, in front of the transparency, there was a tremendous noise, the
+people had divided according to their predilections and were singing
+rival campaign songs, but there was no disorder.
+
+Waiters came in bearing refreshments, and during a lull in the bulletins
+they ate and drank. Mrs. Grayson also joined them for a little while.
+She said nothing about the news, and Harley inferred from her silence
+on the point that she knew it to be discouraging. But he saw her give
+her husband a glance of pride and devotion that said as plain as print,
+"Even if you are beaten, you are the man who should have been elected."
+She reported that the younger of the children had dropped off to sleep,
+but the others were still eager.
+
+Again some men passing the house raised a cry in derision of Jimmy
+Grayson, and Mrs. Grayson's face flushed. The others did not know what
+to do; they could not go out and rebuke the deriders, as that would only
+make a bad matter worse, but the men soon passed on. Mrs. Grayson stayed
+only a little while in the room, retiring on the plea of domestic
+duties. Jimmy Grayson, too, went out to see his children, he said, but
+Harley thought that man and wife wished to talk over the prospect.
+
+The news, after the lull, began to come faster than ever. The West spoke
+at last, and its first words came through Denver and Salt Lake, but its
+voice was non-committal. There was nothing in it to indicate how
+Colorado and Utah, both doubtful states, would go. But presently, when
+Mr. Dexter broke an envelope and opened a bulletin, he laughed.
+
+"Boys," he said, "here's faith for you: the precinct of Waterville, in
+Wyoming casts every one of her votes for Grayson."
+
+They cheered. Certainly the people who had heard Mr. Grayson's decisive
+speech were loyal to him, and they should have honor despite their
+fewness. But immediately behind it came a bulletin that gave them the
+heaviest blow they had yet received.
+
+"Complete returns from more than three-fourths of the precincts in the
+state," read Mr. Dexter, "show beyond doubt that New Jersey has gone at
+least 20,000 against Grayson."
+
+"I never did think much of New Jersey, anyhow," said Hobart, sourly.
+
+They laughed, but there was no mirth in the laugh. Tears rose in
+Sylvia's eyes. Ten minutes later, Alabama had wheeled into line with New
+Jersey it was certainly against Grayson and the news from New York was
+growing worse. Harley, in his heart, knew that there was no hope of the
+state, although he tried to draw encouragement from scattered votes here
+and there. From the Middle West the news was mixed, but its general
+tenor was not favorable. But New England was still behaving well.
+
+"Our vote in Massachusetts surprises me," said Mr. Heathcote; "we shall
+more than cut their majority in half. We shall carry Boston and
+Worcester, and we are even making gains in the country districts."
+
+"Almost complete returns from Michigan and Wisconsin show that the
+former has gone for Grayson by a substantial majority, and the latter
+against him by a majority about the same," read Mr. Dexter.
+
+"Which shows that Michigan is much the finer state of the two," said
+Hobart.
+
+"One state at least is secure," said Harley.
+
+They heard a tremendous cheer down the street in front of the
+transparency, and Harley went to the window. His heart fell when he saw
+that the cheer, was continued, came from the opposition crowd. It was
+announced definitely on the cloth that New York had gone against
+Grayson; the returns permitted no doubt of it, and there was reason why
+the enemy should rejoice. Presently their own bulletins confirmed the
+bad news, and announced that off in another city the bands were
+serenading the other man.
+
+Blow followed blow. Connecticut, despite gains made there, went against
+Grayson by a majority, small it is true, but decisive, and Illinois and
+Indiana speedily followed her bad lead. To Harley all seemed over, and
+he could not take it with resignation. Jimmy Grayson was the better man
+on the better platform, and he should have been elected. It was a crime
+to reject him. An angry mist came over his eyes, and he walked into the
+hall that no one should see it. But Mr. and Mrs. Grayson stood at the
+end of the hall, evidently having just come from the children's room,
+and before he could turn away he heard her say:
+
+"We have lost, but you are still the man of the nation to me."
+
+As he was returning he met Sylvia, and now the tears in her eyes were
+plainly visible.
+
+"John, it can't be true! He isn't beaten, is he?"
+
+"No, it is not true, Sylvia," he said, telling what he did not believe.
+"We still have a chance."
+
+They returned at once to the room, and Mr. Grayson came in a minute
+later, his face wearing the same marble mask. When two or three forced
+themselves to speak encouraging words, he smiled and said there was yet
+hope. But Harley had none, and he felt sure that Jimmy Grayson, too, was
+without it.
+
+"Good news from Iowa!" suddenly cried Mr. Dexter. "A despatch from Des
+Moines reports heavy gains for Grayson throughout the south and west of
+the state."
+
+Here was a fresh breath of life, and for a moment they felt glad, but
+North Dakota, a state for which they had hoped but scarcely expected,
+soon reported against them. The good news could not last.
+
+"Anything more from Massachusetts?" asked Mr. Heathcote.
+
+Mr. Dexter was opening a despatch and he gave a gasp when he looked at
+it.
+
+"Massachusetts in doubt!" he exclaimed. "Grayson makes heavy gains in
+the country districts as well as in the cities. Our National Committee
+is claiming Massachusetts!"
+
+There was a burst of cheering in the room. They had never even hoped for
+Massachusetts. From first to last it was conceded to the enemy.
+
+"Oh, if Massachusetts only had as many votes as New York!" groaned
+Hobart. "This is so good it can't be true!"
+
+But Sylvia smiled through her tears.
+
+Soon there was another cheer. Fresh despatches from Massachusetts
+confirmed the earlier news and made it yet better; then the state was in
+doubt, now it inclined to Jimmy Grayson; the gains came in, steady and
+large.
+
+"We've got it by at least 20,000," exclaimed Mr. Dexter, exultantly.
+"It's a regular upset. Who'd have thought it?"
+
+It was true. It was known in a quarter of an hour that Massachusetts had
+given a majority of 25,000 for Grayson, and behind their big sister came
+New Hampshire and Rhode Island, with small but sure majorities. Jimmy
+Grayson had carried three New England states, when all of them had been
+conceded to the enemy, one of the most surprising changes ever known in
+a Presidential election.
+
+There were repeated cheers in the room. Even Jimmy Grayson was compelled
+to smile in satisfaction. But Harley did not have hope. This, in his
+opinion, was merely a pleasant incident--it could not have much effect
+on the result; Massachusetts had a large vote, but those of New
+Hampshire and Rhode Island were small, and there against them stood the
+gigantic state of New York, towering like a mountain. New York had the
+biggest vote of all, and he did not see how it could be overcome.
+
+Harley now and then wrote a paragraph of his despatch to his newspaper,
+telling of the scene at the candidate's house and how he and his friends
+looked and talked, but it did not take all his time. By-and-by he went
+out on the steps to see the crowd in the streets and to get the fresh
+air. The night was cold and raw, but its touch was soothing. His
+thoughts were with Jimmy Grayson. He yet had little hope, and he was
+thinking of all those gigantic labors wasted; it was a case where a man
+must win or lose every thing. At the transparency the rival crowds were
+cheering or groaning according to the news that came.
+
+Harley turned back and met Mrs. Grayson.
+
+"Tell me, Mr. Harley," she said, and her eyes were eager, "just how the
+election stands so far. I know that you will tell me the truth; is there
+really as much hope as the others seem to feel?"
+
+Harley looked into her clear, brave eyes, and he replied honestly:
+
+"I think there is some hope, Mrs. Grayson, but not much. Too many big
+states have gone against us, and we cannot offset big states with little
+ones. New York, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Alabama are all in the
+hostile line."
+
+"Thank you for the truth," she said. "I can stand it, and so can Mr.
+Grayson."
+
+But Harley was not sure. He felt at times that this ordeal was too
+great for any man or woman. When he returned to the room they were
+announcing news from the Pacific coast.
+
+"We have Washington," said Mr. Dexter; "and Oregon is against us, but
+California is in doubt."
+
+"But we mean to have California," said Sylvia, and the others smiled.
+
+Good reports came from the Rocky Mountain region, all the states there
+except Utah going for Grayson. It had been thought once by both sides
+that these doubtful states would decide the election, but with the great
+upset in the East and Middle West affairs took on another complexion,
+and they must make new calculations.
+
+"Has anything been heard from Pennsylvania?" asked Mr. Heathcote.
+
+Several laughed, and the laugh was significant.
+
+"Nothing at all," replied Mr. Dexter, and there was a suggestion of
+contempt in his tone; "but why should we want to hear anything? It's
+sure for the enemy by at least 100,000, and he may get 200,000.
+Pennsylvania is one state from which I don't want to hear anything at
+all."
+
+They laughed again, but, as nothing yet came from Pennsylvania, Harley's
+curiosity about it began to rise. "Strange that we do not hear
+anything," he said; but Mr. Dexter laughed, and promised to read in an
+extra loud tone the first Pennsylvania bulletin they should get.
+
+It was nearly midnight now and the election was still undecided;
+midnight came and the situation was yet unchanged, but a full half-hour
+later Mr. Dexter cleared his throat and said, in a high voice:
+
+"Listen, Mr. Harley! Here's your first Pennsylvania bulletin!"
+
+He was sarcastic both in voice and look.
+
+"Complete reports from Pittsburg, Alleghany, and their surrounding
+districts show remarkable change. This district gives 20,000 majority
+for Grayson."
+
+Then Mr. Dexter, holding the telegram in his hand, sat open-mouthed,
+barely realizing what he had read. But Harley sprang up with exultant
+cry. For once he lost his self-control.
+
+"We are not beaten yet!" he cried.
+
+"We are not beaten yet!" echoed Sylvia.
+
+They waited feverishly for more Pennsylvania news, and presently it came
+in a despatch from Philadelphia. Grayson had carried that great city by
+a small majority, and the enemy was frightened about the state. A third
+despatch from Harrisburg, the state capital, confirmed the news; the
+state of Pennsylvania, coming next to New York in the size of its vote,
+was in doubt. It was the most astonishing fact of the election, but
+every return showed that Grayson had developed marvellous strength
+there. The National Committee issued a bulletin claiming it, but the
+other side claimed it, too; it would be at least two hours yet before
+the claim could be decided, and they must suffer in suspense.
+
+Harley and Hobart walked together into the street. Harley's forehead was
+damp.
+
+"This is getting on my nerves," he said.
+
+"If Pennsylvania goes for Grayson, what then?" asked Hobart.
+
+"It means that Grayson is elected; an hour ago I could not have dreamed
+of such a thing."
+
+Down the street the crowd was roaring and cheering, and the roars and
+cheers were about equally divided between the two parties.
+
+When they returned to the room the volunteer secretary was just
+announcing that Iowa was safely in the Grayson column. It was conceded
+to him by 15,000. Further news from Pennsylvania was indecisive, but it
+continued good.
+
+Mrs. Grayson was in the room, and Harley looked at her and her husband.
+The faces of both had become grave, and Harley knew why. The
+Presidential chair was not wholly out of sight, after all, and the
+chance was sufficient to bring upon them both a sense of mighty
+responsibilities. There was a great shout down the street.
+
+"They have posted a bulletin," said Hobart, who was at the window. "It
+says that California has gone for Grayson by 10,000, and that all
+indications point to his carrying Ohio."
+
+"I was right, and we do have California," said Sylvia.
+
+Again Jimmy Grayson and his wife exchanged that grave look. It seemed
+that each was frightened a little. But Mr. Dexter did not notice it. He
+was reading a telegram from New York saying that consternation over the
+news from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Iowa prevailed in the hostile
+ranks; they no longer claimed the election, they merely asserted that it
+was in doubt; it was admitted that while Goodnight, Crayon, and their
+friends had taken many votes from Jimmy Grayson, he was making up the
+difference, and perhaps more, elsewhere.
+
+"If Jimmy Grayson were to come so near and yet miss, it would be more
+than mortal flesh could bear," whispered Hobart.
+
+"It would have to be borne," replied Harley.
+
+It was far past one o'clock in the morning. The room was hot and close.
+The floor was littered with envelopes and telegrams. The two lines of
+telegraph-boys had trodden two trails in the carpet, and Harley began
+to feel the long strain. All the men had red eyes and black streaks
+under them. Yet they were as keen as ever to hear the last detail. It
+seemed to every one that the fate of Jimmy Grayson was now hanging in
+the balance; a feather would tip it this way or that, and the room sank
+into an unusual silence, the silence of painful suspense.
+
+There was a long wait and then came a telegram rather thicker than the
+others. Somehow all of them felt that this told the story, and the
+fingers of Mr. Dexter trembled as he tore open the envelope. He paused,
+holding it a moment between his fingers, and then, in a quivering voice,
+he read:
+
+"Complete returns from the state of Pennsylvania give it to Grayson by
+18,000, and he is chosen President of the United States by a majority of
+36 in the electoral college. Our enemies concede their defeat. We send
+our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Grayson on his victory, and on the
+great campaign he made. Everybody here recognizes that it was Grayson
+who won for Grayson."
+
+It was signed with the name of the chairman of the National Committee,
+and with a deep "Ah!" the reader let it fall upon the table, where it
+lay. Then there was a half-minute of intense silence in the room. That
+for which they had long fought and for which they had scarcely hoped had
+come at the eleventh hour. Mr. Grayson was the President-elect. They
+could not speak; they were awed.
+
+It was Mrs. Grayson who first broke the silence. She ran to her husband,
+threw her arms around him, and exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, Jimmy! It is almost too much for us to undertake!"
+
+But Jimmy Grayson was not afraid. He stood up and Harley saw a glow of
+deep emotion come over his face.
+
+"As God is my judge," he said, "I shall try with my utmost strength to
+fulfil the duties of this high place."
+
+Sylvia, not knowing what else to do, put her hand in Harley's; and he
+held it.
+
+There was a tremendous burst of cheering in front of the house, and a
+band began to play. Above the music swelled a continuous roar for the
+President-elect, "Grayson!" "Grayson!" "Grayson!" They were all for him
+now. There was no need for Harley to wake up the children; the thunders
+of applause already brought them, triumphing in a result of which they
+had never felt any doubt.
+
+"You will have to speak to the people, Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Dexter.
+"It is their right. You are no longer a free man; you belong to the
+nation now."
+
+The President-elect went out on the veranda and spoke to them with a
+certain solemnity and majesty while they listened in respectful silence.
+Meanwhile telegrams of congratulation were pouring into the house from
+all parts of the world, and out in the distant mountains men came down
+to the camps and spoke to each other about the President-to-be.
+
+
+Harley's last despatch was sent, the crowd was gone, the other
+correspondents were on their way to the hotel, and the people were
+turning out the lights, but he yet lingered at the Grayson home. It was
+Jimmy Grayson who asked him to wait a moment, and they stood alone on
+the dark veranda.
+
+"Harley," said Jimmy Grayson, and there was much feeling in his voice,
+"you have been the best friend I ever had, and I am so selfish that I
+do not want to lose you. Stay with me; be my secretary. In these later
+days the office of the President's secretary has grown to be a big one.
+I think that you are the best man in the world for it, and if I am
+re-elected you shall go into the Cabinet. You will be old enough then.
+Remember, Harley, that it is I who ask a favor now, and it is for you to
+grant it."
+
+The hands of the two strong men met in a strong grasp.
+
+"I accept the offer," said Harley.
+
+The President-elect turned away, faded into the darkness of his own
+house, and another figure took his place. A small, warm hand slipped
+into Harley's, and he held it fast.
+
+"What was he saying to you?" asked Sylvia.
+
+"He was asking me to be his secretary."
+
+"And your reply?"
+
+"I hesitated and asked for a bribe."
+
+"Oh, John!"
+
+"I said that if, one month from to-day and with the assistance of a
+minister, he would give you to me forever, I would take the place."
+
+"What did he say then?"
+
+"He said the price was high, but I could have it. And we shall all be
+together again for four years more, and perhaps eight."
+
+Her eyes, very close to his, were shining through a mist of happy tears,
+and, standing there at the doorstep, he kissed her in the darkness.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Candidate, by Joseph Alexander Altsheler
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