The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-01-25
HIS RISE TO POWER
(contlnued From FAC Threel

1
sIoucn or speaker. but you can beat Z
him. Farmers like good speech"
81 don't know that / care to make 9
the speech"
Don't you want to be elected?"
Sheehan demanded II
81 guess So Yes" with sudden vigor !:
and a short laugh that Sheehan did
not understand. 81 do"
"Wen. then. play up your indie
pendence Tell 'em there's no strings :
tied to you"
'T can tell them that-with truth"
Sheehan looked long and hard at
him. Then he chuckled. "Of course.
And don't forget the state ticket when
you're ta1kin'." !
When he was alone John fairly 3
writhed in his self contempt and hat !.
red Of the boss. |:
He prepared fine speech, and then
came the night Of the raliy-the pomp
and panoply Of war.
We stand with John under the big
elm at the northwest corner Of the
square. where Main and North streets
meet. Before us is the rough board
speakers stand. hastily knocked to-
gether and literally bedecked with
days and Autographs Of 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 dimmed when
the four kerosene torches guarding the
speakers stand are set faring and
smoking, and by many other lights.
Debouching into Main street from
other roads comes q steady stream OF
steeds, gaunt and strong and slow
moving as the human freight they |
draw, shying awkwardly at the lights |
flashed in their eyes by reckless, mis-. |
chieyous boys. The steeds are safely |
hitched I'm 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 a
sense OF oneness with them. Murchell
and his machine, Sheehan and bis con
troll, seem far away, unreal, impossible
The candidates, properly acclaimed,
and their party OF distinguished Cit
ha
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, strange question
In his eyes. He is seeking 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, az
InconsIderable now as he will be when
In Office. Then comes Parrot, 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 q
magnetic something about him. One
Of his eyes has slight cast and gives
his face a sinister expression which not
all his undoubted attraction can re-
move. He is coming man. Already
q power In the big eastern city, it is
whispered that he is planning to sue
coed 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
fund OF stories and 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
Brents suspicious have not been an
wered.
Through it all John sat, hardly NOV
ing. But within him was tumult. He
was contrasting the grandiloquent, vir-
tuous phrases with the machine as be
had seen 1t. And he knew that in the
devious devices of which he could not
help hearing hints In his campaigning
he had caught but glimpse Of the
thing-the machine. He did not believe
that good employs evil to its ends: By
its agencies cause was to be judged
He sighted along the line Of those who
proited by it-Sheehan, Beck, Parrot
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 a "rea
Son." He could not find it. And the
people-the sturdy, patient, hard headed
men out there-were they such dolts as
20 be fooled by the hollow mockery be
ing enacted before them2 He could
not believe 1t. And yet he-he who
doubted-was expected to play a part
In the mockery, to give the lie to bis
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 the
skin
The tumult was still raging when the
Hon. Wash jenkins concluded his ford
peroration and the applause died down
Vaguely, as from a distance, John