citizen in turn, persuading him that they and they alone
were taking him to Westminster. Nor had they apparently for the most
part much trouble with electors, who, finding uncertainty distasteful,
passionately desired to be assured that the country could at once be
saved by little yellow facts or little blue facts, as the case might be;
who had, no doubt, a dozen other good reasons for being on the one side
or the other; as, for instance, that their father had been so before
them; that their bread was buttered yellow or buttered blue; that they
had been on the other side last time; that they had thought it over and
made up their minds; that they had innocent blue or naive yellow beer
within; that his lordship was the man; or that the words proper to their
mouths were 'Chilcox for Bucklandbury'; and, above all, the one really
creditable reason, that, so far as they could tell with the best of their
intellect and feelings, the truth at the moment was either blue or
yellow.

The narrow high street was thronged with voters. Tall policemen
stationed there had nothing to do. The certainty of all, that they were
going to win, seemed to keep everyone in good humour. There was as yet
no need to break anyone's head, for though the sharpest lookout was kept
for any signs of the philosophic eye, it was only to be found--outside
Courtier--in the perambulators of babies, in one old man who rode a
bicycle waveringly along the street and stopped to ask a policeman what
was the matter in the town, and in two rather green-faced fellows who
trundled barrows full of favours both blue and yellow.

But though Courtier eyed the 'facts' with such suspicion, the keenness of
everyone about the business struck him as really splendid. They went at
it with a will. Having looked forward to it for months, they were going
to look back on it for months. It was evidently a religious ceremony,
summing up most high feelings; and this seemed to one who was himself a
man of action, natural, perhaps pathetic, but certainly no matter for
scorn.

It was already late in the afternoon when there came debouching into the
high street a long string of sandwichmen, each bearing before and behind
him a poster containing these words beautifully situated in large dark
blue letters against a pale blue ground:

"NEW COMPLICATIONS.
DANGER NOT PAST.
VOTE FOR MILTOUN AND THE GOVERNMENT,
AND