The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-05-13

But pOllcy ana LABOR QlQ not END at
twilight every day. There were even
ings. as in the time of Harkless, when
lamps shone from the upper windows
Of the Herald building; for the little
editor worked hard, and sometimes she
worked late; she always worked early.
She made some mistakes at first and
one or two plumbers which she took
much more seriously than any one else
did. But she found remedy for all
such results Of her inexperience, and
she developed experience. She set at
her task with the energy of her youth
fitness and no limit to her ambition,
and she felt that Harkless had pre-
pared the way for wide expansion of
the papers interests, wider then he
knew. She brought fresh point of
had fallen perhaps too much in the rut,
and she watched every chance with a
keen eye and looked ahead of her with
clear foresight. What she waited and
yearned for and dreaded was the time
when copy of the new Herald should
man who lay in the Rouen hospital.
Then she felt if he, unaware Of her
identity as he was and as he was to be
kept, should place everything in her
hands unreservedly, that would be a
tribute to her work. And how hard she
would labor to deserve it'll
After time she began to see that as
his representative and editor of the
Herald she had become a factor in dis
trict politics. 1t took her breath, but
with a gasp of delight, for there was
something she wanted to do.
Rodney McCune had lifted his head,
and the friends of his stricken enemy
felt that they and the cause that Hank
less had labored for were lost with
out the leader, for the old ring that the
Herald had beaten rallied around Nc
Cune. 1.-THE boys were in line again.
Every one knew that Holloway, dull
but honest man, the most available ma
terial that Harkless had been able to
find. was already beaten. If John
work for him. it was said, Holloway
could have received the nomination
again, but as matters stood he was
beaten and beaten badly. and Rodney
McCune would sit in congress, for NOM
nation meant election.
But one afternoon the Harkless
forces, demoralized. broken, hopeless,
woke up to find that they had leader.
There was a political conference at
Judge Briscoe's. The politicians de-
scended sadly at the gate from the
omnibus that had met the afternoon
train-Boswell and Heating, two gen.
tlemen Of Amo. and Bence and Shan
non, two others of Gaines county, to
confer with Warren Smith, Tom Mar
tin, Briscoe and Harkless' representa-
lives, Fisbee and the editor Of the
Herald. They entered the house gloom
lily, and the conference began in de-
jected monosyllables. But presently
Minnie Briscoe, sitting on the porch
pretending to sew, heard Helen's voice,
clear, soft and trembling a little with
excitement She talked for only two
or three minutes. but what she said
seemed to stir up great commotion
among the others. All the voices burst
forth at once in EXPLANATIONS, almost
shouts Then Minnie saw her father,
seated near the window, rise and strike
the table a great blow with his clinch-
ed fist "Will make the nominating
speech?" he cried. "Pd walk from
here to Rouen and back again to do
itv'
well swim outv' exclaimed Mr..
Heating of Amo. "The wonderful
thing is that nobody thought of this
before. There are just two difficulties
Holloway and our man himself. He
wouldn't let his name be used against
Hedge. Therefore we've got to work
it quietly and keep it from him."
'It's not too difficult" said the speak
er's colleague, Mr.. Boswell. Cali we've
got to do is to spring it as surprise on
the convention. Some of the old crowd
themselves will be swept along with us
when we make our nomination, and
you want to stuff your ears with cot
ton. You see. all we need to do is to
pass the word quietly among the Hal
loway people and the shaky McCune
people Rod may get wind Of it, but
you can't fix men in this district against
us when they know what we mean to
do now. On the first ballot we'll give
Holloway every vote he'd have got If
he'd run against McCune alone. 1t will
help him to understand how things
were afterward. On the second ballot
why, we nominate. OF course it can't
be helped that Holloway has to be kept
in the dark, too, but he's got to be-"
There's one danger" said Warren
Smith. "Kedge Holloway is honest, but
believe he's selfish enough to disturb
his best friends deathbed for his own
ends. It's not unlikely that he will get
nervous toward the last and be tele-
graphing HAIRLESS to have himself car
ried on cot to the convention to save
! him. That wouldn't do at all, of course.
And Miss Sherwood thinks maybe
thered be less danger if we set the
convention little ahead of the day
appointed. It's dangerous, because ii
shortens our time, but we can fix it for
three days before the day we'd settled
on, and that will bring it to Sept. T."
tits great plan," said Mr.. Bence
who was an oratorical gentleman. He