Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-12-01


front are many rows Of pite bench4
Over all falls the white splepdor Of tt
full October moon, to be dinimed Wild
| the four kerosene torches GUARDING tn
speakers stand are set fSring anil
smoking. and by many otherIlights.
Debouching into Main strict fronb
other roads comes q steady Aream oil
steeds. gaunt and strong AID slows|
moving as the human freight they
draw. shying awkwardly at the nghtsl
flashed in their eyes by reckless. mig
chievous boys. Tho steeds are. safely
hitched In various churchyardn, and
the drivers gather in the square IN
shifting, serious groups. Gradually TIC
square fllls. A hoarss hum Of VOICES
rises. The air becomes charged with
an unnatural excitement-the sense /
an occasion-bred Of the strange Mgh4
and hustle and the presence Of man
men. John between handshakes had
time to feel it. His tagging soul. faded
by much questioning. leaps forth sudx
denly responsive. These men aye-thsI
people. The power Of 1.-THE powei|
and the glory! He thrills under d
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 filed. 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, a strange question
IN his eyes. He Is seeking a reason"
as though 1t 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 rs 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 10
not convince. After him Mark Sherr&
state senator, tall, suave man witBa
magnetic something about him. Che
of his eyes has slight cast and gies
his face sinister expression which iot |
all his undoubted attraction can fe- |
move He is coming man. Alrehy |
a power in the big eastern city. ills |
whispered that he is planning to &C.
coed Beck in the treasurership. I'D
after him the Hon. G. Washington IN.
kins. congressman from the disttt,
Lincolnian in figure. shrill and nasdof
voice, but with the old campaigns
fund Of stories and rough and rely
eloquence that catches the crowdin
spite Of his time worn arguments.
| The front seats roar their appr4al
From the fringe Of farmers, Jim SEE
han observes, comes only grim silde
There is an uneasy sense that J1ry
Brents suspicious have not beenkn
wered.
Through It all John sat, hardly 4v-
ing. But within him was tumult. He
was contrasting the grandiloquent.lir
tuous phrases with the machine alhe
had seen it. And he knew that i1he
devious devices of which he couldhot
help hearing hints in his campaigning
he had caught but a glimpse oflhe
thing-the machine. He did not be1ve
J that good employs evil to It's endslby
its agencies a cause was to be juded.
, He sighted along the line of those pho
profted by it-Sheehan, Beck, Parttt.
Sherrod, Murrhell. The line was bst
in the mist Of his incomplete knE-
edge. This knowledge. his ranking
suspicious. Brent's Questionings, Use
up to confront him, demanding pa
SON" He could not find it. Andlhe
people-the sturdy, patient, hard heae
men out there were they such doltSas
to be fooled by the hollow mockerybe-
ing enacted before them? He cdld !
not believe it. And yet he-he 1ho |
doubted-was expected to play a Hrt !
in the mockery. to give the lie to lis |
inner consciousness, to befog the issae
in the minds OF the listeners, to take
his place in the ranks of the machiae
The speech in his pocket burned to tie
skin.
The tumult was still raging when the
Hon. Wash jenkins concluded his norid
peroration and the applause died down
Vaguely. as from distance, John
heard the chairman introduce New
Chelsea's candidate" and the sudden
cheers that rose. He did not realize,
although Parrot and Sherrod did. that
in the cheers was quality not felt in
the other greetings that night. He rose
mechanically. He hardly knew when
Sheehan. grasping his arm, shouted
into his ear: Don't forget the state
ticket Play 1t up hard"
He stood silent before them. The
well conned speech, with its smooth
periods, the dramatic climaxes, to
which his clear, flexible voice lent IT.
self so beautifully, refused to be ut
tered. He could not speak the lie he
had prepared; reason" he had not.
At last words came, in a dry, sup
pressed voice. He did not mean to be.
facetious. and no one laughed at his
grave. protesting irony