do you, Mr. Vice President! So do you! Hey!" He turned quickly. "We
got to have a toast! Doc, you're his brother. I think the honor should
be yours."

Dr. Frank Cannon, looking much more chipper since swallowing the pills,
beamed and nodded at his brother. "It will be a pleasure. Gentlemen,
come to attention, if you will." They did, grinning at first, then
forcing solemnity into their expressions.

"Gentlemen," said. Dr. Cannon gravely, "I give you my brother, Senator
James Harrington Cannon, the next President of the United States!"

"To the President!" said Governor Spanding.

"To the President!" chorused the others.

Glasses clinked and men drank solemnly.

Then, before anyone else could say anything, Dr. Cannon said: "I
further propose, gentlemen, that we drink to the man who will spend
the next four years in the White House--God willing--in the hope that
his ability to handle that high office will be equal to the task before
him, and that he will prove worthy of the trust placed in him by those
who had faith in that ability."

"Amen," said Congressman Matson softly.

And they all drank again.

Senator Cannon said: "I thank you, gentlemen. I--"

* * * * *

But, at that moment, the ubiquitous clatter of noise from the television
abruptly changed tenor. They all turned to look.

"... And gentlemen," the announcer's voice was saying, "The President of
the United States!"

The Presidential Seal which had been pictured on the screen faded
suddenly, to be replaced by the face of the President. He looked firmly
resigned, but neither haggard, tired, defeated, nor unhappy. To the five
men who stood watching him in that room, it was obvious that the speech
to come was on tape.

The President smiled wanly. "Fellow Americans," he began, "as your
President, I wish both to congratulate you and thank you. As free
citizens of a free country, exercising your franchise of the ballot to
determine the men and women who are to represent and lead you during
their coming terms of office, you have made your decision. You have
considered well the qualifications of those men and women, and you
have considered well the problems that will face our country as a whole
and each individual as a free citizen desiring to remain free, and you
have made your choice accordingly, as is your right and duty. For that,
I congratulate you."

He paused for a dramatic moment.

"The decision, I think, was not