There was a sob in his throat as Jeff pushed the blade back into the
worn scabbard and rehung the sword upon the wall. But the eyes in his
lifted face were very bright. He too would keep his sword unstained and
the flag of honor flying.

All through the next day and the next his resolution held. He took pains
not to see her alone, though there was not an hour of the day when he
could get away from the thought of her. The uneasy consciousness was
with him that the issue was after all only postponed, that decisions of
this kind must be made again and again so long as opportunity and desire
go together. And there were moments of reaction when his will was like a
rope of sand, when the longing for her swept over him like a great wave.

As Jeff slipped quietly into the hall the door of her room opened. Their
eyes met, and presently hers fell. She was troubled and ashamed at what
she had done, but plainly eager in her innocence to be forgiven.

Jeff spoke gently. "Nellie."

Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Aren't we ever going to be friends
again?"

Through the open door he could see the fire glowing in the grate and
the chocolate set on the little table. He knew she had prepared for his
coming and how greatly she would be hurt if he rejected her advances.

"Of course we're friends."

"Then you'll come in, just for a few minutes."

He hesitated.

"Please," she whispered. "Or I'll know you don't like me any more."

Jeff followed her into the room and closed the door behind him.

Part 2

Two days before the election Big Tim's detective wired from Shelby,
Tennessee, the outline of a story that got two front page columns in
both the _Advocate_ and the _Herald._ Jefferson Davis Farnum was the
son of a thief, of a rebel soldier who had spent seven years in the
penitentiary for looting the bank of which he was cashier. In addition
to featuring the news story both papers handled the subject at length in
their editorial columns. They wanted to know whether the people of
this beautiful state were willing to hand over the Commonwealth to be
plundered by the reckless gang of which this son of a criminal was the
head.

The paper reached Jeff at his rooms in the morning. He had lately taken
the apartments formerly occupied by his cousin, James moving to Mrs.
Anderson's until after the election. The exchange had been made at the
suggestion of the editor, who gave as a reason that he wanted to be
close to his work