The Winslow mail., 1897-04-03

uuCOIuEOEldUle pTeulCG meQC, ana ne
was untyiDg his horse from a neighbor-
ing tree.
Van Vert explained in an Injured
tone, adding, with as much dignity rs
he could command: Il am the candi i,
date for Superintendent of Schools, and
l suppose this is a sample of the METH
DDS Miss Smith and her cowboy friends
have adopted TO defeat me. They knew
| was to speak at Meeker tonight, and
thought that by preventing me from
doing so they could gain a few votes.
I'll show 'em when l get there
The young woman laughed merrily.
Politics is a funny business, isn't it?''
she said "'The idea of resorting to
such mea sures! But" she added sober
ly, you should not blame Miss Smith
for what her over-zealous friends have
done. Miss Smith is a friend of
mine, and 1 know she would not sane
ton such a thing. lit would be most
unfair to accuse her of it, don't you
think, without being certain of your
ground?'
Van Vert admitted that 1t would.
Then as favor to me-" said his fair
rescuer, do not, please, say anything
about it, at least by way of connecting
would regret it more than she, If she
knew about It,"
After some hesitation Van Vert
promised, and presently his rescuer and
her escort left him, branching off on a
trail that led toward a farmhouse that
he could see in the distance.
The candidate noted with a grim
smile, on his return, the CONSERVATION
his appearance created in certain part
Of the room, and concluded that two or
three men whom he knew to be friends
of his looked rather sheepish, but he
kept his own counsel and made no ref
erence to his adventure. In the course
of the excellent speech he presently
made he took back" what he had said
about his opponent In manner SO
graceful as to win for him rounds Of
applause, and when he sat down it was
with the consciousness that lie had in
part redeemed himself.
AS he started, along with some of the
other candidates, to leave the hall, he
noticed for the first time that the young
woman who had rescued him from the
''fix" in which the cowboys had left
him had not gone home to stay when
she left him, for there she was, just
leaving the hall in company with an
older woman in widows weeds.
"Who is that?" he asked Of the candi.
date for Sheriff, who was at his side.
That girl?" queried the other. "IEhy,
boy, that's your hated adversary, Miss
Smith. Hadn't you seen her before?"
But Van Vert did not hear the ques-
ton. He hurried to catch up with the
opposing candidate, who started when
he addressed her, but quickly recovered
herself and smiled sweetly upon him.
"Miss Smith," he burst out impetu-
ously, II don't know what you must
think Of me, after all the low-down
things I've said about you, and the holy
show l made Of myself this evening
But l hope you'll believe me when l
say I'm sorry for the things I've said
and l honestly hope you'll be elected,
after all. shall vote for you, any way,
and you can count on lots of my
friends"
But his boyish enthusiasm in behalf
of his opponent came too late to be Of
service to her, for the returns showed
that Van Vert was elected by a small
majority, for which he was indebted to
the miners. On Thursday after cleo
ton he went to Miss Smith.
II regret this as much as you do" he
said, earnestly. 81 wish had met you
earlier in the campaign. But have
proposition to make. What are you GO
ing to do now?'
Il don't know" she said, trying to
conceal the sadness in her tones. you
see, / had to give up my school, and
there are no vacancies now"
well, what was going to propose is
this: Will you take an appointment as
my deputy? Remember, all the work
will devolve upon you."
Miss Smith gasped, and her pretty
face grew rosy red, then turned pale.
She did not wish to be under obliga-
tions to this man-and yet, there was
the mother to be considered, and the
invalid sister in Chicago, whose hos
pital bills were such severe tax on the
family resources. YES" she said,
finally, land thank you, very much, for
offering me the place. You have lifted
q great load from my mind"
There was some comment on this ar
rangement by the voters Of the county,
but 1t was hardly adverse, and the dep
uty soon showed that she was the right
one In the right place. She worked day
and night, and denied herself necessary
sleep that her beloved schools should
not retrograde; in fact, in the course Of
a few weeks she succeeded In making
herself almost Ill, for the death of the
former superintendent had left the af-
fairs of the office in rather chaotic con-
dition, and although Van Vert and his
deputy qualified at once after the meet
ing of the canvassing board, 1t was al
most Christmas before they got matters
Strengthened out.
And it was just at this time. when
the little deputy, more than half i'll
from overwork, was spending a couple
of days at home, that she got a brief
note from her superior, which read:
Miss Smith: For some time past |
have been dissatisfied with you as Dep
uty Superintendent of Schools, and
vour RESIGNATION as such will be ac-