le as his grandfather came in. Captain
Zelotes' florid face was redder even than usual, for it was a cloudy day
in October and blowing a gale.

"Whew!" puffed the captain, pulling off his overcoat and striding over
to warm his hands at the stove; "it's raw as January comin' over the
tops of those Trumet hills, and blowin' hard enough to part your back
hair, besides. One time there I didn't know but I'd have to reef,
cal'late I would if I'd known how to reef an automobile."

"Is the car running as well as ever?" asked Albert.

"You bet you! Took all but two of those hills on full steam and never
slowed down a mite. Think of goin' to Trumet and back in a forenoon,
and havin' time enough to do the talkin' I went to do besides. Why, Jess
would have needed the whole day to make the down cruise, to say nothin'
of the return trip. Well, the old gal's havin' a good rest now, nothin'
much to do but eat and sleep. She deserves it; she's been a good horse
for your grandma and me."

He rubbed his hands before the stove and chuckled.

"Olive's still scared to death for fear I'll get run into, or run over
somebody or somethin'," he observed. "I tell her I can navigate that car
now the way I used to navigate the old President Hayes, and I could
do that walkin' in my sleep. There's a little exaggeration there," he
added, with a grin. "It takes about all my gumption when I'm wide awake
to turn the flivver around in a narrow road, but I manage to do it. . .
. Well, what are you doin' in here, Al?" he added. "Readin' the Item's
prophesy about how big your majority's goin' to be?"

Albert smiled. "I dropped in here to wait for you, Grandfather," he
replied. "The novel-writing mill wasn't working particularly well, so I
gave it up and took a walk."

"To the parsonage, I presume likely?"

"Well, I did stop there for a minute or two."

"You don't say! I'm surprised to hear it. How is Helen this mornin'? Did
she think you'd changed much since you saw her last night?"

"I don't know. She didn't say so if she did. She sent her love to you
and Grandmother--"

"What she had left over, you mean."

"And said to tell you not to tire yourself out electioneering for
me. That was good advice, too. Grandfather, don't you know that you
shouldn't motor all the way to Trumet and back a morning like this? I'd
rather--much rather go without the votes than have you do such things."

Captain Zelotes seated himself in his desk chair.

"But you a