The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1903-03-27

Marati." /
But try as he could he could hit
upon no plan. AS he cudgeled his
brain the daylight faded and darkness
fell. He came to with a start and re-
membered that he had an engagement
to call upon the girl of his dreams
the girl he meant to install in the white
house some day. Soon he sat in the
modest little parlor talking to the one
person in all the world who believed
in the enthusiastic future Alexander
Hannibal Spike had marked out for
himself.
The Bancrofts were in exceedingly
moderate circumstances but of good
family. The widowed mother had the
but had married a poor man and had
been left with a very modest income.
She was one of those women who hold
their youth well-indeed she looked
more the sister to Helen than the
mother. And ambition filled her whole
being. She sighed continually for the
life she: had known as a girl when her
fathers home was the rendezvous for
the clever and the great.
"Oh, Alex, mamma has a new beau,".
exclaimed Helen as they all three sat in
the p%arlor, clapping her hands in de-
light.
flush, child, don't be foolish" said
Mrs. Bancroft, flushing slightly.
"But she has," persisted Helen, her
eyes dancing with mischief. "She met
Mr.. Hepworth-the politician, you
know, at the Dodds reception last
Thursday evening and they discovered
that they were old schoolmates and he
just devoted himself to her the entire
evening. And he called last evening
and stayed everso long" Z.
The widow protested and the topic
passed. But it left an indelible i'm
preston on Alexis mind. During the
bantering he had been struck by a big
idea-so big that he. dared not attempt
to entertain it until in the quiet of
his chamber. He gathered himself suf-
ficiently, however. to say some exceed
ingly complimentary things about
John Hepworth and to drop a sugges-
ton that he was likely to be governor
or senator within a short time. Then
he went home and thought it all out.
"The very thing" he chuckled, slap
ping his thin knee with his thin hand
and cackling with his thin voice.
even as Eve proved Adams down.
fall and Delilah, Samson's, even as
woman has yer proved tempter and
the ruin of man. so a womanshall tear
down big John" to the end that out
of the ruin shall come the opportunity
Of Alexander Hannibal Spike"
His reasoning was thus: big john
is ali-powerful as a wire-puller and an
organizer. He has not strong mag
netic qualities and is disliked by the
people as a "boss.' If he can be in
duced to come out in the open and run
for an elective office it will be easy to
rally the opposition and defeat him an9
his power will be broken. Then his
machine will go to pieces and in the re-
adj ustment Alexander Hannibal Spike
sees his opportunity.
So, i~nsidiously and persistently,
Spike poured honeyed i~nsinuations
into the widow Bancroft's ear. He
showed her how Hepworth held abso-
lutte power over his party and could
be nominated for governor at the next
convention by the turn of his hand.
He suggested to her mind insidiously
but clearly, the picture of herself pre-
siding over the governors mansion.
He urged nothing and advised nothing
definitely, but artfully put the bait
before her.
The result was that John Hepworth,
bachelor and aged so, surprised and
shocked his political friends by marry
ing the widow Bancroft that fall. Soon
after he began to feel of his friends
and political associates as to the ad-
visibility of his taking the nomination
for governor. And they, being quick
to discover the direction of his mind,
patted him on the back and said Seer
tainly, John, Of course; who else is so
we'll entitled to it; you have done the
wheel-horse work all these years; of
course you should round out your
SoASS4 Win lAC SOFCl IOlSIlp. Anu
the wave started and grew until it car
ried everything before it-even big
Johns" usually clear and cold judy
ment.
So John Hepworth was nominated
and Alexander Hannibal Spike nearly
broke his thin leg slapping it in glee
with his thin hand on the might after
it was decided. At once a mighty howl
went up from the "reform" press and
the. 'independent" press and all the
people who had tried in vain to shake
Hepworth's hold on the party all these
years.
It was a close year and Hepworth
made matters worse by losing his tenn
per, not being used to being the object
of attack himself. There wa no man
ager to take his place and altogether it
was a bad campaign-and Hepworth
lost. 1t was the first defeat his party
had suffered in the state for a quarter
of a century. His organization was