He was not especially
charmed with the manager's brief reply:
"Don't be alarmed. We're not _all_ fools!"
"I guess, 'Rast," remarked Mary Hopkins, looking at her damaged and
irritable husband with a blending of curiosity and contempt, "that
you're 'bout at the end of your rope."
"You wait," said Erastus, grimly. "This thing ain't over yet."
The day passed very quietly and without any especial incident. A full
vote was polled, and by sundown the fate of the candidates had been
decided. But the counting seemed to progress slowly and the group
assembled around the telephone in Kenneth's library thought the returns
would never arrive.
The Republican Committee had given Mr. Forbes a table showing what the
vote of each precinct should be, according to their canvass.
The first report was from Elmwood, and showed a gain of seventeen over
the estimate. Patsy was delighted, for she had worked hard in Elmwood,
and this proved that her efforts had been successful. Then came a report
from Longville, in Jefferson County. It showed a gain of forty-three
votes for Hopkins, and a consequent loss for Forbes. This was a
startling surprise, and the next advice from a country precinct in
Washington County showed another gain of twelve for Hopkins.
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