The Red Cloud chief., 1879-09-04
only. nj. confidence rose superior esen to

the diagrsms.
Thi. ma.s-me~ting NJ the ~couuty-se.; va.
the even; Of the campaign. Every school
district IN the county Vas represented" the
Se,r Era aid, "AEd there were more team.
IN town than We have seen tn one day .incs
Barnum's show Wa here" There wa. .
procession, with Numerous bsnnsr. and
martial music; : dinner IN the grove down by
the ford; An Afternoon OF speeches In tbs
public square; and in the evening = bonfire
OF iar-barrels and dry-Eoots boxes. Cray
bill told Mics Munger sl about II late thai
night, .he having waited ~au1lou.ly for his
return. He talked somewhat slower than
was he won't, and would stop occasionally
In q reflective wav. Ike one under oath, and
now and then she fancied there Wa a shade
Of suppressed bitterness In nt. voice: bat hf.
round, unrufsed countenance gave no -ign
thst IL did not always weA-. and when hs
talked or when he Vas silent, he hooked
strA' ght toto Der eyr&
II seemed from his account that CraytIl
Wa not called upon TO speak until far In the
~eSeHinc-there were 80 mxny orator., b.
explained, and 80 much music. When a,
ia-l hi. turn came, be spoke from wagon in
the street near The bonfire; aid the audi
ence greeted him with a merry shout
" late a. IL was,"I he remarked to Ni-s Nun
ger, e~ncouragingiy. But hardly had he got
beyond q brief general statement Of his doe
trines. he went on N relate, when -one one
in the crowd called out, "PuH down your
yest!" and the cry wa taken UP and repeSt.
ed all around him from a hundred throais.
my VEST Is q bit short for public speak
ing," he said, after a pause, giving the gar
ment 4 little Iyitch, and / suppose IL did
look odd 10 them when | w4s gesturiny. |
forgot about IT," And then, presently.
The tar-barrels made every thing 80
4, light" he suggested, In asJft, indulgen,
tone.
Miss Munger moved u~neasily In her chair,
but said nothing, and he proceeded.
After that, though, they listened quietly,
until ] unrolled nv diagrams; but AZ sight
OF the diayram-, and before | had time "a
say a word about them. several asked al
once, Does that chrome 20 with the story
meaning by the story my speech, inferred
and | had TO stand there while they o.
laughed, and laughed, and tossed their hiatt
around. and crowded up 70 the wagon %
look closely AT the diagrams and shake hands
with me, a dozen Of ZEN - a time; and then,
all OF sudden, somebody cried, shoot IL,
shoot it.' and
"Ohl" screamed Miss Munger, starting "a
her feet and trembling.
at was all in fun" he assured her with a
wan smile; :" never saw folks seem 10 en-
10y themselves more"
at was shameful" she returned, a. she
took her seat agsin-"it was shamefuli"
pretty SOON" be continued, "they be
came still again, and appeared To grow In
teTc,ted, and | was demonstrating TO then
how 4 currency based upDnr real est tie would
do away with the issuing Of bond, OF any
kind 10 raise money-as IL certainly would
when some OF those standing nearest the
fire began to hallOO, Hire 4 bali, old mar
hire a hail. and then the laughing start
ed again, and they ali came crowding up "a
the wagon to shake hands with me again,
and the men with the drums beat them
A. hard as they could. IL was Al awful
racket"
Miss Munger drew a long breath and was
about To speak; then checked herself and
sat staring at him, bcwildered aud Won
dering.
1T ~as all good -humored-the hand.
shaking" he fastened 10 say, " but embar-
rassIng," he added, with another faint smile.
Then, buitoning his queer old coat acros. hi.
breast, " think myself the meeting ought
To have been in a halI-the evening meeting,
that is-for the air was quite cOoi, notwith-
standing the bonfire"
lie seemed lost in thought for a little
while, and did not speak again until Miss
Munger moved her chair, and the noise
aroused him.
"Well," he resumed, AZ got their atten-
ton once more, after . few minutes, and
they were very patient, only they would
cheer so frequently, until finally, just a. |
was making ready 10 sum up, with the dii-
grams held out before them, two OF three
voices in the edge OF the gathering shout
I'd, give Us 4 rest and 1 stopped;
and at IN Al they all surged up TO the wagon
10 shake hands with Inc again, one
after another. And then they seized
hold Of the wagon and went running with
IL UP the street 80 fast that | could scarcely
keep my feet; and when they halted il
front OF the Court house, | thanked then
for their kiHdness, and climbed down ant
came away"
He assumed a reflective aspe { again, oh.
serving a. ne did so, more in soliloquy than
otherwise, /" Ii would have been i'll bred in
me TO try to talk 10 them any more:'
and a minute later, he said, in the sam,
musiDg, absent manner: "If only | could
have had my diagrams painted on rolling
canyas!r
Then he was silent and his head dropped
and when, directly, Miss Munger arose anC
started toward the door, and passing him
stopped 10 bid him good night, >hr saw hal
his eyes were shut, and his mind in dream,
land. She did not wake him, she only
touched his shoulder with the tips OF he
fingers.
"Blesss his old heart" she said, under
her breath, and went softly out.
The next morning, Uncle Cliff called Il
congratulate Craybill upon his speech, anC
to declare to him that il they did not spriD.
something very smart at the last moment
his election was as good a. settled. Nv.
can't figure desd-sure on sandy precinct
he ssiu, "fOr they're a slippery lot dow
there; several Of 'em have lately noved in
and don't talk, several Of Penn are on thu
fence, and several of Fem can be bought: so il
may 20 three or four either WAY. But tn.
towns FOR you, after that speech; and mos
ofthe country precincts, except Sauly. viii
do Ia tie 10, unless there's been some toh pu'
up that We haven't dropped on-and | doL'
reckon there has" and with a parting in
junction 10 Craybill 10 "keep n stiff uppel
lip" he mounted his horse and rode away.
"A man OF parts" said Craybill, watch
Ing him till he passed ONT Of sight-'a mar
Of parts"
Later in the day, Craybill made a trip Il
town TO see his friend the editor, who a..
sured him, with a profusion of adjectives
that every thing was working like a clock
And when he returned home, after sunset
in the sparkling October twilight, there wa:
Miss Munger by the front window waitin.
for him-or at least she was alone, and APP,
parently waiting for him-and he noticed
that her hair, ordinarily so plain aud smooth
WAS combed in droll pufs over her forehead
with "beau- cstchers" on either side: and
there were some observation-disclosures a
her throat. She had knots OF ribbon curl
ously pinned to the cuff, about her wrists
too; and her scrap-book Law opened in hel
lap, AMI she was fumbling over a little bunc
OF ne wspaper clippings. several OF which es'
capped her fingers and fluttered 10 the door
as he came in.
"I'm glad you've got back" she remark
q at once, in 4 ton that was low and un'
usual with her: and then, A. she gathered
up the fugitive clippings, she added, witt
an affect4tion OF Cirlish chirping which wa
a melancholy failure, The stars are very
pretty tonight"
Pm going to be elected!" Craybill inter.
posed, biuntly unregardful OF her speech
and leaning over toward her eagerly, hi,
face aglow and his voice bold and positive
I'm going to he elected" be repeated, still
more euphaticslly, and he wondered why
she did not clap her hands and tell him how
happy she felt shout it.
Don't be too certain" she replied pres
emily, in 4 quiet and kindly manner, As il so.
licitous To avoid wounding him; and wher
the radiance left his face, and a sort OF dis
NAV settled over il, and he wouli have told
her sll the uplifting things Uncle Cliff and
the editor hsd been saving 10 him, she sim.
ply raised her hand like one admonishinc
an oSer-talkatiye child, and he lowered hi.
eyes and kept silence.
But no natter" she said quickly, aud in
an evident furry; "let's not talk OF If any
more, AZ present. Do you like poetry ~
Then she ~nervously fumbled over her little
bunch Of scraps Sgain, n picked u one,
SAYING. =" Here's something"-this with