of course I'm much obliged. But I'm afraid I disagree with you."

"Eh?" said Blind Charlie, with the least trace of alarm.

Bruce's face tightened, and the flat of his hand came down upon his
desk.

"When you start a fight, the way to win is to keep on fighting. And
that's what I'm going to do."

Blind Charlie started forward in his chair.

"See here," he began, authoritatively. But in an instant his voice
softened. "You'll be making a big mistake if you do that. Better trust
to my older head in this. I want to win as much as you do, you know."

"I admit you may be right," said Bruce doggedly. "But I'm going to
fight right straight ahead."

"Come, now, listen to reason."

"I've heard your reasons. And I'm going right on with the fight."

Blind Charlie's face grew grim, but his voice was still gentle and
insinuating.

"Oh, you are, are you? And give no attention to my advice?"

"I'm sorry, but that's the way I see it."

"I'm sorry, but that's the way I don't see it."

"I know; but I guess I'm running this campaign," retorted Bruce a
little hotly.

"And I guess the party chairman has some say-so, too."

"I told you, when I accepted, that I would take the nomination without
strings, or I wouldn't take it at all. And you agreed."

"I didn't agree to let you ruin the party."

Bruce looked at him keenly, for the first time suspicious. Katherine's
warning echoed vaguely in his head.

"See here, Charlie Peck, what the devil are you up to?"

"Better do as I say," advised Peck.

"I won't!"

"You won't, eh?" Blind Charlie's face had grown hard and dark with
threats. "If you don't," he said, "I'm afraid the boys won't see your
name on the ticket on election day."

Bruce sprang up.

"Damn you! What do you mean by that?"

"I reckon you're not such an infant that you need that explained."

"You're right; I'm not!" cried Bruce. "And so you threaten to send
word around to the boys to knife me on election day?"

"As I said, I guess I don't need to explain."

"No, you don't, for I now see why you came here," cried Bruce, his
wrath rising as he realized that he had been hoodwinked by Blind
Charlie from the very first. "So there's a frame-up between you and
Blake, and you're trying to sell me out and sell out the party! You
first tried to wheedle me into laying down--and when I wouldn't be
fooled, you turned to threats!"

"The question isn't what I came for," snapped Blind Charlie. "The
question is, wha