r. "I won't be here,
boys," he said. "This is confidential. I have been asked for my
resignation and it takes effect the day after election."

There was utter silence in the room for a moment, then Henderson leaned
forward and spat past Uncle Denny into the grate.

"Hell's fire!" he said gently.

"How long have you known this, Boss?" asked Murphy.

"Nearly three months," answered Jim.

"Pen told me," said Dennis. "Suma-theek told her."

Jim looked up in astonishment, then he shook his head. "I'm sorry Pen
has that to bother her, too."

Murphy jumped to his feet. "And you have known this three months and
never told us! Is that any way to treat your friends? Do you suppose we
want to lie by and see you licked off this dam like a yellow cur? It's
no use for you to ask this to be kept quiet, Boss. I won't do it."

Jim rose and pointed his pipe at Murphy. "Murphy, if you try to use this
confidential talk to raise sentiment for me, I'll fire you!"

"You can't fire my friendship!" shouted Murphy. "You can have my job any
time you want it!"

Here Oscar Ames spoke for the first time. "When's Mrs. Penelope coming
back?"

"Don't you get her out here," said Jim. "She can do no good and she
needs peace and quiet."

CHAPTER XXVI

THE END OF THE SILENT CAMPAIGN

"The dream in them of a greater good lifts humans from the
level of brutes. Take this dream from them and they are like
quenched comets."

MUSINGS OF THE ELEPHANT.

It was Oscar's turn to get to his feet. "Manning," he said, "ain't you
learned your lesson yet? Who was it kicked me out of the dirty political
scrape I was getting into and made me see straight? Huh? Who was it?
Well, it was my wife. And who woke my wife up? It was Mrs. Pen, wasn't
it? And who, by your own admission, showed you things you'd been seeing
crooked all your life? Huh? 'Twas Mrs. Pen, wasn't it? You're as
moss-bound in lots of ways as a farmer. Now I've learned my lesson. I'm
willing to admit that women folks has got intuitions that beat our fine
ideas all hollow. She may not do us any good. But I want to know what
she thinks about things. I'll be yelling votes for women next. Gimme her
address. I'm going to send her a night message they'll have to use an
adding machine to count the words in."

"What can be done in a week?" asked Jim, with his first show of
irritation. "I won't have her bothered, I tell you."

"Stil