rassed. It wasn't until he was gone that he
found a small bottle of fairly good whiskey tucked into his pouch. He
started to throw it away, and then lifted it to his lips. Maybe they'd
known how he felt better than he had. Mother Corey's words about his
change of attitude came back. Damn it, he had to dig up enough money to
get back to Earth.

He collected, down to the last account. It was a nice haul; at that
rate, he'd have to stand it only for a few months. Then Gordon's lips
twisted, as he realized it wasn't all gravy. There were angles, or the
price of a corporalcy would have been higher.

One of the older men answered his questions. "Fifty per cent of the take
to the Orphan's and Widow's fund. Better make it more than Gable turned
in, if you want to get a better beat."

The envelopes were lying on a table marked "Voluntary Donations"; Gordon
filled his out, with a figure a bit higher than half of Gable's take,
and dropped it in the box. The captain, who had been watching him
carefully, settled back and smiled.

"Widows and Orphans sure appreciate a good man," he said. "I was kind of
worried about you, Gordon, but you got a nice touch. One of my new
boys--Isaacs, you know him--was out checking up after you, and the dopes
seem to like you."

Gordon had wondered why Izzy had been pulled off the beat. As he turned
to leave, the captain held up a hand. "Special meeting tomorrow. We
gotta see about getting out a good vote. Election only three weeks
away."

Gordon went home. He'd learned by now that the native Martians--those
who'd been here for at least thirty years, or had been born here--were
backing a reform candidate and new ticket. But Mayor Wayne had all of
the rest of the town in his hand. He'd been in twice, and had lifted the
graft take by a truly remarkable figure. From where Gordon stood, it
looked like a clear victory for the reformer, Nolan.

He went into the meeting willing to agree to anything. He applauded all
the speeches about how much Mayor Wayne had done for them, and signed
the pledge expressing his confidence, along with the implied duty he had
to make his beat vote right. Then he stopped, as the captain stood up.

"We gotta be neutral, boys," he boomed. "But it don't mean we can't show
how well we like the Mayor. Just remember, he got us our jobs! Now I
figure we can all kick in a little to help his campaign. I'm going to
start it off with five thousand credits, two thousand of them right