in the open,
was not the man to die there; he hastened to cover where he could
resume the fight in the manner most to his liking. Again Scarborough
was borne to the platform; again she saw him standing there--straight
and mighty, but deathly pale, and sad--well he might be bowed by the
responsibility of that mandate, given by the god-in-man, but to be
executed by and through plain men. A few broken, hesitating words, and
he went into the wings and left the theater, applause sweeping and
swirling after him like a tidal wave.

Pauline, coming out into the open, looked round her, dazed. Why, it
was the same work-a-day world as before, with its actions so
commonplace and selfish, with only its impulses fine and high. If these
moments of exaltation could but last, could but become the fixed order
and routine of life! If high ideal and courage ruled, instead of low
calculation and fear! She sighed, then her eyes shone.

"At least I have seen!" she thought. "At least I have lived one of
those moments when the dreams come true. And 'human being' has a new
meaning for me."

Two men, just behind her in the crowd, were talking of Scarborough. "A
demagogue!" sneered one.

"A demi-god," retorted the other. And Pauline turned suddenly and gave
him a look that astonished and dazzled him.

XXI.

A COYOTE AT BAY.

Six weeks later, on the morning after the general election, Dumont
awoke bubbling over with good humor--as always, when the world went
well with him and so set the strong, red currents of his body to
flowing in unobstructed channels.

He had not gone to bed the previous night until he had definite news
from Indiana, Illinois and New York, the three states in which his
industrial-political stakes were heaviest. They had gone as he wished,
as he and his friends had spent large sums of money to assist them to
go. And now a glance at the morning papers confirmed his midnight
bulletins. Indiana, where he had made the strongest efforts because
the control of its statute book was vital to him, had gone his way
barely but, apparently, securely; Scarborough was beaten for governor
by twenty-five hundred. Presently he had Culver in to begin the day's
business. The first paper Culver handed him was a cipher telegram
announcing the closing of an agreement which made the National Woolens
Company absolute in the Northwest; the second item in Culver's budget
was also a cipher telegram--from Merriweather. It had b