The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1931-03-27

well. you had better form the
Elmer B. Clarke Campaign com.
mittee and permit 1t to spend that
money" she suggested. "Name the
committee and appoint me treas
urer. You have already spent as
much money as you are permitted
to spend under the law; II you
spend more. you will violate the
purity Of the election law; II you
win. your enemies will check up
on you after the election. indict
you. convict you and deprive you
of your hard-won Office"
Put T can't pass the hat for
my campaign expenses" he pro-
tested. bewildered-
"Organize your finance commit
tee. head the subscription list with
a fifty-dollar donation and open an
account in Anse Moody's bank.
Then send your bills to me and. as
treasurer. l will pay them"
But hOwr
"Never mind how. AS treasurer
that will be my worry. You stick
to your knitting"
"But where can you get the
money!"
"I1l get It somewhere. Elmer, did
O ever e a cat reconnoiter q
hole In q fence? He sticks his head
through and IL his whiskers touch
he knows he cannot get his body
through. so he climbs over the
fence. Well. I'm going to crawl
through this hole without touching
my financial whiskers."
She did. She gave the Pllarcitos
Commercial Trust & Savings bank
a second mortgage for two thou
sand dollars on the property she
had bought from Elmer Clarke, and
old Anse charged her ten per cent
interest on the loan and refused to
make II for more than a year. This
money she deposited to the credit
of the Elmer B. Clarke Campaign
committee, and on the day after
the election she paid her last bill,
closed up her account and had four
hundred dollars left.
And on election day Elmer re-
ceived two votes in excess of the
total votes cast for his opponents.
1t was a stupendOus, a sweeping
victory. and the politically wise
ascribed it to but n thing: ire
mendous admiration for Elmer
Clarke's modesty. Throughout the
campaign he had not once adj
dressed the local post Of the Amer
lean Legion, nor had he appeared
at any meeting of it. He had made
absolutely no appeal for the old
soldier vote, either verbally or in
print not once mad he referred to
his war record and cited the fact
that he had been in the army.
Everybody In Pilarcitos had felt
certain Elmer would wave the
bloody shirt, and he had disappoint-
ed them; wherefore, In gratitude
and admiration, they had elected
him.
Nellie was far happier than El
mer when the votes were counted.
Elmer had a rather well-dehned
idea that he had labored and
brought forth a mouse-that he had
fought for the sheer love OF a
fight. Now that he had q certih-
cate Of election he shuddered to
think he would have to use It, But
Nellie, her plans for his career long
since made, merely checked of an
other milestone on the road to the
heights; and when Elmer, having
taken his oath Of office, secured a
twO-week leave Of absence from
the city council in order to rest
after his furious campaign, Nellie
was relieved to be rid Of him, even
for that brief period. Elmer be-
took himself again to Los Angeles,
but Nellie did not keep an eye on
him this time. She knew Elmer
had had an ample s%ufficiency OF
wandering in strange pastures and
that the next damsel who "sold him
a pup" would have to be adroit to
a degree something more than HUI
manly possible.
Upon his return Elmer devoted
himself assiduoIsly to his duties as
mayor for three months; during
which period he saw as much OF
Nellie as possible. Then, having
secured a sixty-day leave Of alb
sence from the city council, he de-
parted ON his l~ong-deferred trip
to Muscatine, Iowa, to settle the
estate of his late Uncle Hiram.
For some mysterious reason Mel
lie was very distract the night be-
fore he left. In the stuffy parlor
Of the old Tully home they said
good-by and Elmer was amazed to
see her go completely out Of con
troll for the first time In their ac-
quaintance. She put her arms
around his neck and wept for about
five minutes. Elmer was mysti-
fed.
In vain Elmer reminded her that
he would wire her frequently-long
night letters; that he would write
her daily and send his letters by
air mail: that he would telephone
her every Saturday night
She refused to be comforted and
continued to sob:
"Oh, Elmer, you poor boyi You
good, kind-hearted, decent old
Nu,.n x~~~ IN |