its and cursing the mill trust by
whatever name they called a monopoly then. One day along came a cute
boy astride a mule with two bags of grain. He sized up the crowd ahead
of him as he carried in his grist, and decided that if he waited his
turn the country would grow up without him. The miller happened to be
tinkering his water-wheel, so the boy got his bags into a dark corner
unobserved, and with a handful of mill dust gave his work the finishing
touch of ripe old age. I dare say you think he took the man in, but he
didn't. 'Bub,' said the miller, 'I used to do that trick myself.'"

Shelby's old associates in log-rolling took the unmasking
good-naturedly, but declined the amendment he suggested. He dismissed
them with charming civility, jotted a laconic memorandum that the bill
meditated a raid on public property for private gain, and with the calm
of a gardener lopping a weed, withheld his signature.

It were hard to say whose smart was shrewder, the spoilsmen's who
mourned the backsliding of a pal, or the professional reformers' who
chewed the galling fact that not one of the elect, but a practical
politician, had done this creditable thing. Both joined forces to
fling clods. In the greater world, however, Shelby's simple act won
swift approval. In the cartoonists' fancy the wires of the puppet-show
had gone awry, the dog bit the heel at which it slunk, the usurper's
knuckles were rapped by the sceptre he would have seized. The press
teemed with anecdotes and personal gossip of the governor. Everything
he did or said became of interest: his dress, his habits of work, his
Tuscarora stories, his domestic life. An admirer on Long Island who
bred bulldogs sent him a white pup trained to answer to the name of
"Veto." Triplets in the valley of the Susquehanna were christened
"Calvin," "Ross," and "Shelby," respectively.

During this time no word passed between Shelby and the Boss. The
leader had not witnessed the inaugural ceremonies. Indeed, he had not
attended the inauguration of a governor since his party regained
control of the state. He and the governor-elect had lunched together
frequently, however, and in concord discussed the forthcoming message
and the party policy of the incoming Legislature. With two years of
common work and intimacy behind them, they felt slight need of
explanations. The machine as it stood was of their joint perfecting.
Accordingly, the Boss viewed the cartoons with his