The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-04-23


told her. Al least, with ali Janet.s 10y
atty, Arne discerned some unfathom-
able ~negation in her heart. He laid IL
to her tiredness; the stress was in
evitably too much for q woman, even
vitality, But with q brothers IN
straint ne did not intimately question
the matter. .,@ p ,@
He was busted with plans for the
big meeting the night before the cleo
ton. Curran had never spoken in his
home town. He had always evaded 1t,
and early in the campaign his mana
gers had thought it wise. But now,
when he had addressed the people in
every country district, in every town OF
the constituency-when he had met
every issue and the progression Of his
Il had spelled his triumph every
where, Mcbride, Purcell. the Vances.
and all the exultant group Of young
men in Earlville, had insisted that they
conclude the battle in his home spot.
The battle, indeed, was won; but they
wanted to brawl their victory in the
faces Of the old county ring at Rome.
Curran had assented; he caught the
fire Of their ardor. And 1t would be
pregnant for his own soul. Here, where
ne had been the failure. he would sting
them with his success.
o. "ASAA8g OANthAALCA NO.
not even II every mossback in this
town stayed away. Well take care Of
that. The Earlville bunch will send over
enough to pack that dinky opera house
and then Wen overflow on to the court
house lawn. Two bands and red fire,
and Wen burn up half the sidewalks
on High street. Rub 1t in-yell II In
their faces, damn emf"
The town was talking Of tina wind
up meeting Of the Curran campaign for
two weeks. The old line county COM
m1ttee was helpless. Old Thad Tanner
might curse impotently In his office:
but on the street Curran walked with
the consciousness that men looked back
at him. The transformation suddenly
became acute in the minds Of his
townsmen; the farmers. over their Sat-
urday trading In the stores, said that
all the folks would come In to Wiley's
meeting"
Old Mowry, the undertaken. with his
10 years grievance against the coun-
ty crowd since they threw him out OF
the coroner's office, ambied into the
News and sat where he could stare at
the Widow Steger'S-always wait
ing"
Busted, Wiley" He cackled: why.
this mornin' even Dickinson admitted
they was busted! Some of these days
there'n be a board that'Il pay me for
ludI IlBSer i Dur1eQ! Wiley, VAN /
always your friend?"
Friend? The town, the county. the
vast Midlands all voiced 1t.
He was getting his mail the day be-
fore election when Cal Rice, & white
faced, young man, habitually rejecting
the last word Of his wife's father,
Thaddeus Tanner. detached himself
from a group In the postotfice lobby to
detain him. His pasty smile was apollo
getic.
"How's prospects, wiIey?" The
banker had never before had anything
but a grim nod for the editor.
"Splendid!" He felt q throb Of mag
unanimous condescension.
L suppose you'll want to renew
your mortgage on the 1str"
Il think Q Mr.; Rice" Wiley smiled
Earlvine. will take It up"
Rice looked up quickly. "Ah, your
friend, Purcell, I suppose?"
i've q good many friends over there
Well acquainted these days. So TIL take
UP that MORTGAGE when it's due. Eight
hundred and forty dollars. interest and
all. isn't it?"
Something like that. Drop in this
morning. Wen look II up" Rice fg-
ured a moment There's another mat
ter. Mr.. Curran. Come at IL"
MI. Curran drew out his watch lazily.
He found 1t hard to conceal his triumph.
Cal Rice, Of the First National, coming
to him, wanting a conferences! Beaten,
eh? And they knew 1.-THE whole
court house crowd! They wanted to
placate the victor. that vas 1t. In a
flash Wiley guessed it-Thad Tanner
was going to offer some compromise,
plead for some agreement with him
anything, so that Thad might retain
control Of the county committee. Cur
ran In congress and solid as he was
In the county would dethrone Thad
from his local owe sure as shoot
ing fish in a bucket" All over town
they had discussed that days ago.. II
Thad lost his grip some mighty un-
pleasant stories OF board contracts
might come out. They we're gossiped
about. had been for
And now Curran thrilled with It. He
had felt 1t coming. He had told Arne,
and Arne had cried sourly: Kick the
old s~on-ot-a-gun out of your shop If
he ever comes 70 you'll"
Rice's next words sealed 1t. The
banker shufned n~ervously and then
went n "Curran, you've been dead
wrong about the First Nationals att-
tude toward your tight. We're not-er
against you-not at all-not at all.
er-youn como over at III"
ting aniability. "Expecting o telegram
from Governor Delroy- something
about the campaign" He looked at his
watch again, conscious that every mar
In the group was listening and in 10
minutes would spread the report that
Thad Tanner was going to quit the
hight on Curran. Then he said: Make
1t 11;15 Rice. Best I can do today"