eserted his party,
and you laughed a little at the time, but you did not tell me how it
came about."

"I kind o' thought I told ye," said David.

"No," said John, "I am quite sure you did not."

"Wa'al," said Mr. Harum, "the' was, as you know, the Tenaker-Rogers
crowd wantin' one thing, an' the Purse-Babbit lot bound to have the
other, an' run the road under the other fellers' noses. Staples was
workin' tooth an' nail fer the Purse crowd, an' bein' a good deal of a
politician, he was helpin' 'em a good deal. In fact, he was about their
best card. I wa'n't takin' much hand in the matter either way, though my
feelin's was with the Tenaker party. I know 't would come to a point
where some money 'd prob'ly have to be used, an' I made up my mind I
wouldn't do much drivin' myself unless I had to, an' not then till the
last quarter of the heat. Wa'al, it got to lookin' like a putty even
thing. What little show I had made was if anythin' on the Purse side.
One day Tenaker come in to see me an' wanted to know flat-footed which
side the fence I was on. 'Wa'al,' I says, 'I've ben settin' up fer
shapes to be kind o' on the fence, but I don't mind sayin', betwixt you
an' me, that the bulk o' my heft is a-saggin' your way; but I hain't
took no active part, an' Purse an' them thinks I'm goin' to be on their
side when it comes to a pinch.'

"'Wa'al,' he says, 'it's goin' to be a putty close thing, an' we're
goin' to need all the help we c'n git.'

"'Wa'al,' I says, 'I guess that's so, but fer the present I reckon I
c'n do ye more good by keepin' in the shade. Are you folks prepared to
spend a little money?' I says.

"'Yes,' he says, 'if it comes to that.'

"'Wa'al,' I says, 'it putty most gen'ally does come to that, don't it?
Now, the's one feller that's doin' ye more harm than some others.'

"'You mean Staples?' he says.

"'Yes,' I says, 'I mean Staples. He don't really care a hill o' white
beans which way the road comes in, but he thinks he's on the pop'lar
side. Now,' I says, 'I don't know as it'll be nec'sary to use money with
him, an' I don't say 't you could, anyway, but mebbe his yawp c'n be
stopped. I'll have a quiet word with him,' I says, 'an' see you agin.'
So," continued Mr. Harum, "the next night the' was quite a lot of 'em in
the bar of the new hotel, an' Staples was haranguin' away the best he
knowed how, an' bime by I nodded him off to one side, an' we went across
the hall into the settin' room.

"'I see yo