yes. "But will you succeed? Is there
to be anybody against you?"

"Yes, my dear; there is to be somebody against me. In fact, there
will be three people against me; and probably I shall not succeed.
Men such as I am do not have seats offered to them without a contest.
But there is a chance. I was down at Percycross for two days last
week, and now I've put out an address. There it is." Upon which he
handed a copy of a placard to his daughter, who read it, no doubt,
with more enthusiasm than did any of the free and independent
electors to whom it was addressed.

The story in regard to the borough of Percycross was as follows.
There were going forward in the country at this moment preparations
for a general election, which was to take place in October. The
readers of this story have not as yet been troubled on this head,
there having been no connection between that great matter and the
small matters with which our tale has concerned itself. In the
Parliament lately dissolved, the very old borough of Percycross,--or
Percy St. Cross, as the place was properly called,--had displayed no
political partiality, having been represented by two gentlemen, one
of whom always followed the conservative leader, and the other the
liberal leader, into the respective lobbies of the House of Commons.
The borough had very nearly been curtailed of the privilege in regard
to two members in the great Reform Bill which had been initiated
and perfected and carried through as a whole by the almost unaided
intellect and exertions of the great reformer of his age; but it had
had its own luck, as the Irishmen say, and had been preserved intact.
Now the wise men of Percycross, rejoicing in their salvation, and
knowing that there might still be danger before them should they
venture on a contest,--for bribery had not been unknown in previous
contests at Percycross, nor petitions consequent upon bribery; and
some men had marvelled that the borough should have escaped so
long; and there was now supposed to be abroad a spirit of assumed
virtue in regard to such matters under which Percycross might
still be sacrificed if Percycross did not look very sharp after
itself;--thinking of all this, the wise men at Percycross had
concluded that it would be better, just for the present, to let
things run smoothly, and to return their two old members. When the
new broom which was to sweep up the dirt of corruption was not quite
so new, they might return to the ol