ring here, I'll step out and
show you."

He slammed the door, locked it, and set his shoulders against the
panels.

"Luke, keep away," counselled Thelismer. "The boy is just plain
lumber-jack at the present moment, and he's a hard man in a scrap. We
can't afford to have a scene."

"They're going to turn wrongside-out that wad of cotton batting with two
ounces of brains wrapped in it!" raved the State chairman. But the Duke
pulled the politician away, whispering in his ear.

Spinney faced the General, blinking, doubtful, sullen.

The old soldier knew how to attack. He flung his accusation with fierce
directness. "Spinney, you have sold out. You're a traitor. And you're a
thief as well, for you've sold what didn't belong to you. You solicited
honest men, in the name of reform, to put their cause into your hands.
It was a trust. You've sold it."

"I'll prosecute you for slander!" roared the candidate. He hoped his
defiance would be heard by those outside.

"You may do so, but I'll give you here and now the facts that you'll go
up against. That's how sure I am of my ground!"

He shook papers at the man.

"Last night, or rather this morning at one o'clock, to be exact, you met
Luke Presson and members of the State Committee, and for two thousand
dollars, paid to you in one-hundred-dollar bills, you agreed to pull
out. The secret was to be kept until it should be time for the
nominating speeches to be made on the floor of the convention to-day. I
have here affidavits signed by responsible parties who heard the entire
transaction." It was accusation formal, couched in cold phrases, without
passion.

Spinney started. The perspiration began to stream down his face. But in
spite of the staggering blow the fight was not out of him. He thought
quickly, reassuring himself by the recollection that his bedroom door
had been locked, and men were on guard in his parlor. There could have
been no eavesdroppers. This must be a bluff.

"That's a damnation lie!" he shouted.

"Don't you bellow at me, sir! I'm not trying to extort any confession.
But you're wasting time, denying. I'm sure of my ground, I repeat.
That's why I'm talking now. I'm an old man, and I was in politics in
this State before you were born. And there were tricks and tricksters in
the old days. And I knew them. I played one of those tricks on you, sir,
last night. It's the last one I hope I shall ever play, for tricks are
to be taken out of the politics of