borough of Eatanswill.

Talking of Eatanswill, I had already made the acquaintance of Mr Horatio
Fizkin in the person of my opponent, Mr Alderman Stridge, Wholesale
Provision Merchant and Italian Warehouseman. His selection as Liberal
Candidate was a blow to us: we had hoped for nothing worse than a
briefless carpet-bagger from the Temple, as on previous occasions.
However, the Alderman on our introduction was extremely affable, and
expressed a hope, with the air of one discovering the sentiment for the
first time, that the best man might win; to which I, as in duty bound,
replied that I hoped not; and we parted with mutual expressions of
goodwill and esteem, to deride each other's politics and bespatter each
other's characters on countless platforms and doorsteps until we should
meet again, after the fray, at the counting of the votes.

On returning from our morning drive (which usually included an open-air
meeting) we took luncheon, generally in the presence of various anaemic
young men who represented local organs of public opinion, and who
expected the long-suffering candidate to set forth his views between
mouthfuls of chop and sips of sherry. I usually turned these over to
Robin, who understood their ways; and he charmed them so wisely that
even the relentless Cash was compelled to admit that our press notices
might have been worse.

Robin was a tower of strength. Indeed he and Dolly were my two chief
lieutenants; Dilly and Dicky, as became a pair who had only been married
a few months, proving but broken reeds. A week's electioneering proved
sufficient for their requirements; and, declining flatly to "grin like a
dog and run about the city"--Dilly's pithy summary of the art of
canvassing--any longer, they left us ten days before polling-day to pay
a country-house visit. But Robin was everywhere. He answered my letters
and he interviewed reporters. He could keep a meeting in hand (pending
my arrival from another) with such success that when I finally appeared
upon the platform to take up the wondrous tale of my party's
perfections, the audience were loth to let Robin go. In six days he
acquired a knowledge of the wants, peculiarities, weaknesses, and
traditions of my constituents which had occupied all my powers of
concentration and absorption for six arduous years. He used to drop into
his speeches little topical allusions and local "gags" which, though
Greek to the uninitiated, never failed to produce a roar: