things."

"Dr. Grant will, perhaps, take up the meaning of Hare's scheme when the
newspapers have advocated it for years, and it has been familiar to all
the people around him," said Francis, "or he may vote for it without
understanding it, when it becomes a popular cry."

"But to have to stir such a dish of skimmed milk to honourable action!"
said Brandon. "Frank, you really must stand for our district. I fancy
McIntyre will go home by the time your partner comes back, so we will
have a vacancy. I will canvass for you, and so will Edgar. It would be
a credit to us to have a real British M.P. as our representative, and
then you could push your grand idea, as you intended to have done in
England, before love routed ambition. As you say, the result has
hitherto been a failure in the colonies, but the contest should not be
abandoned."

"I hear that the movement makes slow progress in Britain," said
Francis, "but still it makes progress. It is too great a change there,
and there are so many vested interests which consider such a reform
would interfere with their prescriptive rights. On the Continent it
makes more way; and, perhaps, as my French friends say, the discovery
may be first carried into practice there; but I had hopes of its
success in the colonies. There is so much less to disturb here that a
change from exclusively local to general elections would not be
difficult, if we could only make the idea familiar. All we see in
America, all we see in political matters here, only show how much
easier it is to reform before abuses go too far. I should very much
like to try your district, Brandon, and will be very glad of your
services when the time comes; and so I should feel that my work had
been postponed, but not altogether given up."

"If we could carry the measure by a COUP DE MAIN in any one of the
colonies, and bring it into working, the whole world would be the
better for it," said Brandon.

"There can be no carrying it by a COUP DE MAIN," said Francis. "Every
inch of the ground must be fought here, as in Britain, but the extent
of ground is shorter."

"I have grown much more patriotic since I was married," said Brandon.
"The place where you have a real home--the birthplace of your
children--and where you hope to see them grow up--becomes very dear to
you. And here are the youngsters!"

Little Maggie Brandon (so called in compliment to Peggy) seemed to know
by intuition that there was something for her in