mysterious manner peculiar to politicians.

"What kind of a proposition did that man Hofmeister make you?" he
inquired. "He asked me about you, and I told him you're a crackerjack."

"I'm much obliged," replied Jim.

"No use in back-cappin' a fellow that's tryin' to make somethin' of
himself," said Bonner. "That ain't good politics, nor good sense. Anything
to him?"

"He offered me a salary of seventy-five dollars a month to take charge of
his school," said Jim.

"Well," said Con, "we'll be sorry to lose yeh, but you can't turn down
anything like that."

"I don't know," said Jim. "I haven't decided."

Bonner scrutinized his face sharply, as if to find out what sort of game
he was playing.

"Well," said he, at last, "I hope you can stay with us, o' course. I'm
licked, and I never squeal. If the rist of the district can stand your
kind of thricks, I can. And say, Jim"--here he grew still more
mysterious--"if you do stay, some of us would like to have you be
enough of a Dimmycrat to go into the next con'vintion f'r county
superintendent."

"Why," replied Jim, "I never thought of such a thing!"

"Well, think of it," said Con. "The county's close, and wid a pop'lar
young educator--an' a farmer, too, it might be done. Think of it."

It must be confessed that Jim was almost dazed at the number of
"propositions" of which he was now required to "think"--and that Bonner's
did not at first impress him as having anything back of it but blarney. He
was to find out later, however, that the wily Con had made up his mind
that the ambition of Jim to serve the rural schools in a larger sphere
might be used for the purpose of bringing to earth what he regarded as the
soaring political ambitions of the Woodruff family.

To defeat the colonel in the defeat of his daughter when running for her
traditionally-granted second term; to get Jim Irwin out of the Woodruff
District by kicking him up-stairs into a county office; to split the
forces which had defeated Mr. Bonner in his own school district; and to do
these things with the very instrument used by the colonel on that sad but
glorious day of the last school election--these, to Mr. Bonner, would be
diabolically fine things to do--things worthy of those Tammany politicians
who from afar off had won his admiration.

Jim had scarcely taken his seat in the car, facing Jennie Woodruff and
Bettina Hansen in the Pullman, when Columbus Brown, pathmaster of the road
district and only