for home-made virtue
and the Honourable Giles.

An hour and a quarter of suspense and torture passes, while collars
wilt and coats come off, and fans in the gallery wave incessantly, and
excited conversation buzzes in every quarter. And now, see! there is
whispering on the stage among the big-bugs. Mr. Chairman Doby rises with
a paper in his hand, and the buzzing dies down to silence.

The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has..398
The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has... 353
The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has.. 249
And a majority being required, there is no choice!

Are the supporters of the People's Champion crest-fallen, think you? Mr.
Tooting is not leading them for the moment, but is pressing through the
crowd outside the hall and flying up the street to the Pelican and the
bridal suite, where he is first with the news. Note for an unabridged
biography: the great man is discovered sitting quietly by the window,
poring over a book on the modern science of road-building, some notes
from which he is making for his first message. And instead of the
reek of tobacco smoke, the room is filled with the scent of the floral
tributes brought down by the Ladies' Auxiliary from Leith. In Mr.
Crewe's right-hand pocket, neatly typewritten, is his speech of
acceptance. He is never caught unprepared. Unkind, now, to remind him
of that prediction made last night about the first ballot to the
newspapers--and useless.

"I told you last night they were buyin' 'em right under our noses,"
cried Mr. Tooting, in a paroxysm of indignation, "and you wouldn't
believe me. They got over one hundred and sixty away from us."

"It strikes me, Mr. Tooting," said Mr. Crewe, "that it was your business
to prevent that."

There will no doubt be a discussion, when the biographer reaches this
juncture, concerning the congruity of reform delegates who can be
bought. It is too knotty a point of ethics to be dwelt upon here.

"Prevent it!" echoed Mr. Tooting, and in the strong light of the
righteousness of that eye reproaches failed him. "But there's a whole
lot of 'em can be seen, right now, while the ballots are being taken. It
won't be decided on the next ballot."

"Mr. Tooting," said Mr. Crewe, indubitably proving that he had the
qualities of a leader--if such proof were necessary, "go back to the
convention. I have no doubt of the outcome, but that doesn't mean you
are to relax your efforts. Do you understand