The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-10-14
CHAPTER I.
The Nominee.

The Nominee.
The huge convention hall still rang
Nth the thunders of applause, and most
of the delegates were on their feet shout
ing or waving tne1r 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 des-
perate 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 dra-
matte 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 peO-
ple had sat there, hour after hour,
waiting for the result, and now the re-
suit had come. The rival parties had
entered their conventions full of doubt
and apprehension. There was a sin
gular 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
we're bound TO recognize It; the sense
Of dependency upon the Old World in
certain matters which applied to the
mental state rather than anything ma
terial was almost gone; the Democracy
had grown more democratic and the re-
public 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 every
body in either party that It would be
wiser to nominate a Western man, and,
the first having done so. the second. as
eTeu knew il must, now followed the good
example.
Moreover, both conventions had nOmI-
mated dark horses" but the second
nominee was the darker OF the two.
James Madison Grayson, affectionately
called Jimmy Grayson by his neighbors
Id admirers, was quite young. without
gray hair in his head, tall, power
v built, smooth-shaven, and with hon
yes that gazed straight into yours.
-aS known as q brave man, with fine
Ebrical- powers and "a winning per
Tality, but he had come 20 the con-
Thtion merely as a delegate, and with
L any thought Of securing the nomi-
S2tion for himself. Not a single vote
1sd been instructed for him, but in that
hay his opportunity. All the conspicuous
"a n1idates were weak; good men in them
Il selves. a solid political objection could
8 be raised against every one of them, and
for a while the voting was scattered and
desultory. Then Grayson began to at
tract attention: as a delegate he had
spoken two or three times, always briefly.
hut with grace and TO the point, and the
people were glad both 20 see him and
20 hear him.
At last far-sighted old man from
the same State knew that the mo-
ment 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 tSrayson, putting II forward mildly as
Il SUGGESTION that he would withdraw at
the first opposition, but his very mild
q ness warded OF attack. Received rather
RTghtly at first, tho suggestion soon
made a strong appeal to the delegates
Nothing could be urged against GraysOn;
he was quite young, il was true, but
youth was needed 10 make a great cam
a psign-the odds were heavily IN favor
- of the other party. Nor were there lack
ing those who, expecting defeat. said
~ hat a young man could bear il better
han an old one, and beating now
hight train him for d victory four years
Fence.
GTaySon himself was surprised when
he heard the report. nor could he ever
be convinced that he would be nomi-
mated; he regarded the whole thing as
absurd, s. 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 a home or else
where in the city, and Jimmy Grayson
and his wife stayed quietly in their rooms
at the hotel
Harley had believed this evening that
pc nomination Of Grayson was at hand
was an intuitive sense, q sort OF pre-
aonition that the battaliOns were clos
q for the final conflict. and he did not
oubt the result He had just returned
om war on the other side Of the
orld. where he had been present as the
'rrespondent Of great New York
IrnaI on many battlehelds. and he often
ticed this strained. breathless feeling
lat the moment had come just before
combat was Joined. Now this con
antion hall was none the less battle
Id. though the weapons were ballots,
bullets. and Harley believed In his
uition. At midnight the food tide
ept in, bearing Grayson on its crest,
J. when they saw that he was the
Es@9n, everybody focked 70 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 pickpOeket,
shouted to him 10 stop, but he fitted by
and was gone.
It was only two or three blocks to the
hotel where Mr. CSrayso0 sat quietly in
his room. and Harley was running swift
", 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