“Wa’al,” said Mr. Harum, “the’ was, as you know, the Tenaker-Rogers crowd wantin’ one thing, an’ the Purse-Babbit lot bound to have the other, an’ run the road under the other fellers’ noses.  Staples was workin’ tooth an’ nail fer the Purse crowd, an’ bein’ a good deal of a politician, he was helpin’ ’em a good deal.  In fact, he was about their best card.  I wa’n’t takin’ much hand in the matter either way, though my feelin’s was with the Tenaker party.  I know ’t would come to a point where some money ‘d prob’ly have to be used, an’ I made up my mind I wouldn’t do much drivin’ myself unless I had to, an’ not then till the last quarter of the heat.  Wa’al, it got to lookin’ like a putty even thing.  What little show I had made was if anythin’ on the Purse side.  One day Tenaker come in to see me an’ wanted to know flat-footed which side the fence I was on.  ‘Wa’al,’ I says, ‘I’ve ben settin’ up fer shapes to be kind o’ on the fence, but I don’t mind sayin’, betwixt you an’ me, that the bulk o’ my heft is a-saggin’ your way; but I hain’t took no active part, an’ Purse an’ them thinks I’m goin’ to be on their side when it comes to a pinch.’

“‘Wa’al,’ he says, ‘it’s goin’ to be a putty close thing, an’ we’re goin’ to need all the help we c’n git.’

“‘Wa’al,’ I says, ’I guess that’s so, but fer the present I reckon I c’n do ye more good by keepin’ in the shade.  Are you folks prepared to spend a little money?’ I says.

“‘Yes,’ he says, ‘if it comes to that.’

“‘Wa’al,’ I says, ’it putty most gen’ally does come to that, don’t it?  Now, the’s one feller that’s doin’ ye more harm than some others.’

“‘You mean Staples?’ he says.

“‘Yes,’ I says, ‘I mean Staples.  He don’t really care a hill o’ white beans which way the road comes in, but he thinks he’s on the pop’lar side.  Now,’ I says, ’I don’t know as it’ll be nec’sary to use money with him, an’ I don’t say ’t you could, anyway, but mebbe his yawp c’n be stopped.  I’ll have a quiet word with him,’ I says, ‘an’ see you agin.’  So,” continued Mr. Harum, “the next night the’ was quite a lot of ’em in the bar of the new hotel, an’ Staples was haranguin’ away the best he knowed how, an’ bime by I nodded him off to one side, an’ we went across the hall into the settin’ room.

“’I see you feel putty strong ‘bout this bus’nis,’ I says.

“‘Yes, sir, it’s a matter of princ’ple with me,’ he says, knockin’ his fist down onto the table.

“‘How does the outcome on’t look to ye?’ I says.  ‘Goin’ to be a putty close race, ain’t it?’

“‘Wa’al,’ he says, ‘’tween you an’ me, I reckon it is.’

“‘That’s the way it looks to me,’ I says, ‘an’ more’n that, the other fellers are ready to spend some money at a pinch.’

“‘They be, be they?’ he says.