sang blithely from the top
of the first column--sang of Denney's public-spirited optimism as to
Slocum County and the Little Country.

Keep your eye on Slocum,
She's all right!
Her skies are clear and full of cheer,
And all her prospects bright.

As pointing more specifically to the incubus of Potts, there was
this:--

"Lots of people are saying that we have met our Waterloo. They forget
that Waterloo was a _victory_ as well as a defeat. Two men met it, and
the name of one was Wellington. Look it up in your encyclopaedia."

But the faction of Potts, it should be noted, saw no reason to be
impressed by a vaunting so vague. It had not tempered its hopefulness.

Its idol was jubilant, careless as a schoolboy, babbling but sober. The
_Banner_ still challenged the world with its page-wide line: "Potts
Forever! Potts the Coming Man!"

Certain hopeful souls among the opposition had taken counsel how they
might cause Potts to fall by means of strong drink. They had observed
that the mill-race was still significantly uncovered. But to all
invitations, all cunning incitements to indulgence, Potts was urbanely
resistant. Conscious that a river of strong waters rippled at his feet,
freely to be partaken of did he choose, it is true that his face showed
lines of restraint, a serene restraint, like unto that which the great
old painters limned so beautifully upon the face of the martyr. But the
martyrs of old in their ecstasy were not more resolute than Potts. It is
probable that he looked forward to a period of post-election
refreshment; but pending the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November, his determination was such that it stamped his face with
something akin to dignity. Said Westley Keyts, "If it was raining
whiskey, Potts wouldn't drink as much as he could ketch on a fork!" and
to this the town agreed. For once Potts was firm.

His alpaca suit had visibly deteriorated during the campaign, and his
tall hat again cried for the glossing ministry of a heated iron, but his
virtue burgeoned under stress and flowered to beauty in the sight of
men. It was understood at last that the mill-race might as well be
covered for any adventitious relation it could sustain to Potts drunk.

Westley Keyts's suggestion that Potts be weighted with pig-iron and
dumped into the healing waters, drunk or sober, was the mere playfulness
of an excellent butcher unpractised in sarcasm. His offer to supply,
free of