The Baltimore County union, the Towson news., 1909-09-25

Oh HIS DICdlu duu d noSu IA Ato 90
that did not come from The Blue
Danube which beckoned them to the
floor.
The Girl had gone home with her
aunt that night and 'sthat wild young
Todd" had never known how she
cried in the dark corner of the fami-
ly carriage. But he knew that the
note had come next day-the day
The Girl went back to her home in
the West. And no answer had come
to the frantic apology which he had
dispatched hurried1y in his next
morning contrition. Old Bill Todd
folded up the Times and showed it
aside.
"Not a very decent joke" he
grunted "I'll have every briefless
lawyer in town guying me now"
X X X X X X X
Look here, Cummings, said
Brewer, three days later, THAT gag
about runnin' Old Todd is goin' too
far. The towns talkin' about it, and
it's too late to explain the joke. And
the funny part is the crowds sayin'
we could GO further and do worse.
They know Old Bills straight, and if
he'd cut out the booze there's lot
in him.
"You know what he did in that
Winston case. 1t was his work that
cleared the boy, though of course
Miles and Molesworth got the credit
and the coin. He's got whole cy-
clopedia of criminal law under that
greasy hat, and he's got a street full
of friends, too"
why, Bill Todd's helped thous-
and youngsters and poor men out of
trouble and never asked fee, and
they all mean votes if he wants 'em. I"
"He'll lose, of course" chipped
in Mr.. Darius Cobb, one of the coun-
Gil of war. "'But we never expected
to win that place, and Todd's line of
talk can put the rest of the bunch
through. If he'll make the race he
can swing tue VOtClS.
go see him, Charley" suggested
Brewer. "Offer him the nomina
tion."
Mr.. Cummings set forth on his
mission and in fifteen minutes was
back in the Office, looking rather
queer.
"Stung p he remarked. Moth.
ing doing with Todd; said I'd made
a Joke out of him and now I could
wiggle out of it. He knows there's
no chance for him to win" And
pleading nor cajoling had any
effect on the abdurate Mr.. Todd.
He liked the party and he liked the
platform, but he wasn't in politics
these days.
Next morning the postmaD left a
letter under Mr.. Todd's door. When
the addressee had sworn bit at the
insistency of creditors and stopped to
pick it up he had surprise.
The missive bore the postmark of
a Western town-the town where
The Girl lived-and Mr.. Todd went
back and shaved his stubbly chin be-
fore he opened it.
IT see in the Times" wrote The
Girl, after a word of greeting, "you
are nominated for Judge. I am so
glad of your success, and I know you
will win, as you won everything you
wanted. l don't know why / am
writing-except that 1 am coming
back to Springville soon, just a day
or two after the election-and hope
the new Judge will come to see me
again."
Old Bill Todd sat down on the bed
and read the letter twice. Then he
placed it carefully in the old wallet
with another which bore the same
handwriting and went whistling down
the stairs.
81 reckon Robinson will credit me
for some new things" he muttered
to himself. II helped his boy out Of
a muddle last week.
x
The council of war had surprise
when the Honorable William Todd
passed the porter at headquarters and
strobe into the inner sanctum.
Young Cummings gasped as his eyes
travelled downward from new Fall
hat, past smooth shaven chin and a
pleasant smile, past natty necktie
and a we'll cut coat, past trousers that
hung superbly to boots that shone
like twin mirrors. The counselors
waited in silence.
"I'd like to change my mind, gen.
tlemen," quoth the Honorable Mr..
Todd.
"Will you make the racer" asked
Brewer,
"I'l make the fastest race you
ever watched" returned Mr.. Todd,
"and I'll win it, too"
X X X X X X X
The story of that campaign is an
Gent history in Springville, but the
cigar store politicians still relate with
pusto how Old Bill Todd turned his
back on the Bottle and set his face
toward the Bench; how he spoke
night after night, from the wagon
yard to the opera house, weaving a
spell of oratory which wrapped his
listeners in enchantment how his
final burst of eloquence on the eve OF
election swept the city to the polls to
vote for the Independents, and how
the whole ticket, excepting only
Charley Cummings, went through tri-
umphant, with the name of William
Todd leading the list of majorities.
"Aud Todd in his third term now,
| o.d tbara,c MT a better nor SQuarei