The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-12-06


speakers stand. hastily knocked to-
rether and literally bedecked With
nags ana Autographs or Lincoln and OF
Beck, the candidate for treasurer. In
front are many rows of pine benches
over all falls the white splendor of the
full October moon, to be dlmmed when
the four kerosene torches guarding the
speakers stand are set flaring and
smoking. and by many other lights.
Debouching into Main street from
other roads comes steady stream OF
steeds, gaunt and strong and slow
moving rs the human freight they
draw. shying awkwardly at the lights
flashed in their eyes by reckless mis-
chievous boys. The steeds are safely
hitched in various churchyards, and
the drivers gather in the square in
shifting, serious groups. Gradually the
square fills. A hoarse hum of voices
rises. The air becomes charged with
an unnatural excitement-the sense OF
an occasion-bred of the strange lights
and hustle and the presence of many
men. John between handshakes has
time to feel it. His tagging soul, jaded
by much questioning, leaps forth sud
denly responsive. These men are-the
people. The power of 1.-THE power
and the glory! He thrills under q
sense of oneness with them. Murchell
and his machine, Sheehan and his con.
! troll, seem far away, unreal, impossible.
The candidates, properly acclaimed,
and their party of distinguished citi.
zens are on the platform. The benches
are filled. Around them stands fringe
of men, mostly farmers, who in the
rush for seats have been too slow.
| John, sandwiched in between Sheehan
and Congressman jenkins, looks out
over the audience, strange question
in his eyes. He is seeking a reason"
as though it were to be found written
on the faces of the men before him.
The speaking begins. After a short
preliminary speech the chairman intro
duces Beck, candidate for treasurer, as
inconsiderable now as he will be when
in office. Then comes Parrot, a IA
nous corporation lawyer, whose fea-
lures somehow suggest that he is well
named. He is adept in the use of those
phrases which elicit enthusiasm, but do
not convince. After him Mark Sherrod,
state senator, tall, suave man with
magnetic something about him. One
of his eyes has a slight cast and gives
his face sinister expression which not
all his undoubted attraction can re-
move. He is a coming man. Already
a power in the big eastern city, it is
| Eff hnf 1,n 10, NlOr oirf 70
ceed Beck in the treasurership. And
after him the Hon. G.. Washington Jen-
kins. congressman from the district,
Lincolnian in figure, shrill and nasal of
voice, but with the old campaigner's S
fund of stories and a rough and ready
eloquence that catches the crowd in
spite of his time worn arguments.
The front seats roar their approval.
From the fringe of farmers, Jim Shee-
han observes, comes only grim silence.
There is an uneasy sense that Jerry
Brent's suspicious have not been an
wered.
Through it all John sat, hardly mov-
ing. But within him was tumult. He
was contrasting the grandiloquent, vir-
tuous phrases with the machine as he
had seen it. And he knew that in the
devious devices of which he could not
help hearing hints in his campaigning
he had caught but a glimpse of the
thng-the machine. He did not believe
that good employs evil to its ends; by
its agencies a cause was to be judged
He sighted along the line of those who
profited by it-Sheehan, Beck, Parrott
Sherrod, Murchell. The line was lost
in the mist of his incomplete knowl
edge. This knowledge, his ranking
suspicious, Brent's questionings, rose
up to confront him, demanding "rea
SON" He could not find it. And the
people-the sturdy, patient, hard headed
: men out there-were they such dolts as
J to be fooled by the hollow mockery be
: ing enacted before them? He could
: not believe it. And yet he-he who
| doubted-was expected to play par
J in the mockery, to give the lie to his
inner consciousness, to befog the ISSUE
. in the minds of the listeners, to take
his place in the ranks Of the machine
, The speech in his pocket burned to tn,
skin.
/ The tumult was still raging when tn,
Hon. Wash jenkins concluded his floriC
. peroration and the applause died down
! Vaguely, as from a distance, JohI
' heard the chairman introduce "NeV
Chelsea's candidate" and the suddel
cheers that rose. He did not realize
: although Parrot and Sherrod did, tina
4 in the cheers was a quality not felt IL
e the other greetings that night. He ros
D mechanically. He hardly knew whel
0 Sheehan, grasping his arm, shouted
/. into his ear: Don't forget the stat
q ticket. Play it up hardw
He stood silent before them. Th
well conned speech, with its smootI
. periods, the dramatic climaxes, t.
d, which his clear, flexible voice lent il