The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-04-25
Continued from yesterday.)


The next morning but one, my
daughter and | went for an early
walk. At the turn Of the main drive
just beyond view from the lodge, she
exclaimed: "Oh, father, OH" and
chung to me. Somethlng-ike a scare /
crow, but not scarecrOw-swung
from limb overhanging the drive.
The face was distorted and swollen;
the arms and legs were drawn UP in
sickening crookedness. Before saw,
I knew it was CRANKY.
I took Frances home, then returned,
passing the swaying horror far on
the other side Of the road. l got the
Iodge-keeper, and he and l went
back together. / had them tele-
phone from the lodge for the cor
oner and personally saw to it that the
corpse should be reported as found
from my place. But CRANKY had left
a message Ito the public" in his room
at the hotel Senator Sayler ruined
me and drove me to death. l have
gone to hang myself in his park.
Down with monopoly" In spite OF
my efforts, this was published
throughout the ountry-though not
in Fredonia Such of the big oppo-
sition papers as were not under our
control sent reporters and raked out
the whole story; and it was blown
up hugely and told everywhere. Our
organs retold it, giving the true color
and perspective; but my laundering
attempt to avoid publicity had put
me in too bad a light.
1t was the irony Of fate-my power
thus ludicro.sly thwarted by trivial
fly. Within "a hours l realized the
danger to our campaign. l sent Wood
ruff post-haste to the widow He gave
her convincing assurances that she
and her children were to be lifted
from the slough OF poverty into
which Granby's drunkenness had
at his dictation and issued an ap-
parently uninspired public statement,
generating me from all blame for
her husbands reverses, and saying
that he had been acting strangely
for over q year, and had been in
sane for several months. In brief,
! did everything suggested by sim
cere regret, and such skill at influ-
encing public opinion as / had and
commanded. But not until 21y re-
ports began to show the good effects
OF the million dollars Woodruff put
into the last week of the campaign,
did l begin to hope again.
Another hope frightened toward
confidence, when, on the Saturday be
fore election, l sprung my carefully
matured scheme for stiffening those
of our partizans who were wavering
The Scarborough speakers had, with
powerful effect, been haunting us with
our huge campaign fund, daring us to
disclose its sources. On that Sun
day morning, when 1t was too late
for the opposition to discount me, l
boldly threw open a set of campaign
ledgers which showed that our fund
was just under a million dollars, with
the only large subscription, the hun
dred thousand dollars which l my
seslf had given. Tens OF thousands
Of our partizans, longing for an ex-
cuse for staying with us, returned
cheering to the ranks-enough OF
them in the doubtful states, we be-
heyed, to restore the floating vote
TO its usual balance of power.
Each horse of my team had taken
turn at doing dangerous, even
menacing, threshing about: but both
were now quietly pulling in the har-
ness. Partizanship as docile as Plu-
tocracy. The betting odds were six
to five against us, but we Of the in
side" began to plunge on Burbank and
Howard.
CHAPTER XIV.