sions whenever he could.
On his brief stop-overs in the capital he kept his eyes and ears open
for the earliest hint of any charge of chicanery, and though he was
unable to get hold of Gantry personally, he kept up a steady fire of
letters and telegrams, all pointing to the same end--absolute and utter
good faith, and the upholding of his hands in the public plea for a
square deal. To these the traffic manager always replied guardedly and
optimistically. Everybody was delighted with the good work done, and
doing, by the railroad company's field manager; public opinion was
slowly but surely changing; let the good work go on--and much more to
the same effect.

Blount did let the good work go on; but as the critical pre-election
weeks approached, he began to arm himself, reluctantly but resolutely. A
little quiet investigation, which was made to dovetail cleverly with his
speech-making journeys, revealed--as Gantry had confessed it
would--convincing evidence of past corruption and present law-breaking.
Hathaway had told the truth when he had asserted that his own
involvement was only one of many similar bargains. Blount called upon
the president of the Irrigation Alliance at Romero, in the heart of the
agricultural district, upon the managers of several of the
electric-power companies, and upon a number of influential mining
men--all shippers, and all large employers of labor. It was the same
story everywhere. Preferential freight rates had been given in return
for votes controlled, and the rates were still in effect.

The investigator turned sick at heart when these men talked quite freely
to him, thus showing conclusively that they were cynically discounting
his public utterances. McDarragh, owner and manager of the "Wire-Gold"
properties in the Moscow district, winked slyly when Blount cautiously
inserted the probe.

"You're on, Mr. Blount. I sat up there in the Op'ry-house last night
listening to your game, and says I to myself, 'Thim railroad
shift-bosses know their trade.' 'Twas a gr-reat talk you gave us, and
it'll make the swinging of the har-rd-rock vote as easy as twice two. Of
course, we have a thin paring on the ore rate; you'll be knowing that as
well as annybody in the game, I'm thinking. 'Tis well that we fellows at
the top know how to make one hand wash the other. Come again, Mr.
Blount, and give my regards to the sinator when ye see him. And ye might
whisper in his ear that it's a waste of good wor-rk f