al and the apathetic began to bestir themselves and
take sides. A week before the election there was not an impartial or
unbiassed person left in Stoneleigh. Collisions between supporters of
either party became frequent and serious. On the first occasion, when a
Conservative sought to punctuate an argument by discharging a small
gin-and-ginger into the face of his Liberal opponent, and the Liberal
retaliated by felling the Conservative to the earth with a pint-pot,
Stridge and I wrote quite effusively to one another apologising for the
exuberance of our friends. A week later, when certain upholders of my
cause bombarded Stridge's emporium with an assortment of Stridge's own
eggs, hitting one of Mr Stridge's white-jacketed assistants in the eye,
and severely damaging the frontage of Mr Stridge's Italian
warehouse--whereupon local and immediate supporters of the cause of
Stridge squared matters by putting three bombardiers into a
horse-trough--Mr Stridge and I expressed no sort of regret to one
another whatsoever, but referred scathingly, amid rapturous cheers, at
our next meetings to the blackguardly policy of intimidation and
hooliganism by which the other side found it necessary to bolster up a
barren cause and hopeless future; all of which shows that things were
tuning up to concert pitch.

Results of other elections were coming in every day, and they were not
by any means favourable to our side. Still, we kept on smiling, and
talked largely about the swing of the pendulum--almost as useful a
phrase as "Mesopotamia" of blessed memory--and other phenomena of
reaction, and hoped for the best. Champion, who had been returned for
his constituency by a thumping majority, had promised to come down and
speak for me at a great meeting two nights before the election; and
Dubberley, who had lost his seat, threatened to come and help me to lose
mine.

With the exception of Robin, who appeared to be made of some material
_aere perennius_, we were all getting the least bit "tucked up," from my
humble self down to Phillis, who appeared at breakfast one morning
looking flushed and rather too bright-eyed.

"Electioneering seems to be telling on you, old lady," I remarked.
"Feeling quite well--eh?"

"Just a _teeny_ headache, daddy. But"--hastily--"I can come with you to
the meeting in the theatre to-morrow night, can't I? it will be such
fun!"

"Meeting? My little girl, it does not begin till an hour after your
bed-time."

"T