g all to thinking as
clearly and rationally as you, Mr. Greifmann," said the leader with a
winning smile.

Schwefel accompanied the millionaires into a lengthy hall, across the
lower end of which stood a table. There sat the commissary of elections
surrounded by the committee, animated gentlemen with great beards, who
were occupied in distributing tickets to voters or receiving tickets
filled up. The extraordinary good-humor prevailing among these
gentlemen was owing to the satisfactory course of the election, for
rarely was any ultramontane paper seen mingling in the flood that
poured in from the ranks of progress. The sides of the hall were hung
with portraits of the sovereigns of the land, quite a goodly row. The
last one of the series was youthful in appearance, and some audacious
hand had scrawled on the broad gilt frame the following ominous words:
"May he be the last in the succession of expensive bread-eaters." Down
the middle of the hall ran a baize-covered table, on which were
numerous inkstands. Scattered over the table lay a profusion of green
bills; the yellow color of the ultramontane bills was nowhere to be
seen. The table was lined by gentlemen who were writing. They were not
writing for themselves, but for others, who merely sighed their names
and then handed the tickets to the commissary. Several corpulent
gentlemen also occupied seats at the table, but they were not engaged
in writing. These gentlemen, apparently unoccupied, wore massive gold
watch-chains and sparkling rings, and they had a commanding and stern
expression of countenance. They were observing all who entered, to see
whether any man would be bold enough to vote the yellow ticket. People
of the humbler sort, mechanics and laborers, were constantly coming in
and going out. Bowing reverently to the portly gentlemen, they seated
themselves and filled out green tickets with the names of the liberal
candidates. Most of them did not even trouble themselves to this
degree, but simply laid their tickets before the penman appointed for
this special service. All went off in the best order. The process of
the election resembled the smooth working of an ingenious piece of
machinery. And there was no tongue there to denounce the infamous
terrorism that had crushed the freedom of the election or had bought
the votes of vile and venal men with beer.

Seraphin stood with Greifmann in the recess of a window looking on.

"Who are the fat men at the tabl