re of them all, and the general result of all they said would be
known to everybody before morning. It seemed marvellous to him, although
he understood it perfectly, that a few hours after the boxes were opened
the votes should be counted and accredited to the proper man.

He resumed his seat at a table, although there was yet but little for
him to write, and listened to the dry, monotonous voice of Dexter as he
called the vote. The results were still of a variable nature, gains here
and losses there, but on the whole the losses were the larger, and the
atmosphere of the room grew more discouraging. The great state of New
York, upon which they had relied, was showing every sign that it would
not justify their faith. The returns from the city of New York, from
Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, were all bad, and the most resolute hopes
could not make them otherwise.

"'As goes New York, so goes the Union,'" whispered Hobart, quoting an
old proverb.

"Maybe that rule will be broken at last," replied Harley, hopefully.

But even Sylvia looked gloomy. There was one thought, as these returns
came, in the minds of them all. It was that the members of the
Philipsburg Committee had made good their threat; their defection had
drawn from Grayson thousands of votes in a pivotal state, and if he had
ever had a chance of election this took it from him. Yet no one uttered
a word of reproach for Jimmy Grayson, although Harley knew that those
who called themselves practical politicians were silently upbraiding
him. He feared that they might consider their early warnings justified,
and he resented it.

A discordant note, too, was sounded by the South; Alabama, a state that
they considered sure, although by a small majority, would go for the
other man if the returns continued of the same tone. The only ray of
light came from New England, whence it had not been expected. The large
cities there were showing slight increases for Jimmy Grayson.

"Who would have thought it?" said Mr. Heathcote.

But it seemed too small to have any effect, and they turned their minds
to other parts of the country that seemed to be more promising ground.
The voice of Mr. Dexter, growing hoarse from incessant use and wholly
without expression, read a bulletin from New York:

"Great crowd in front of the residence of the Honorable Mr. Goodnight,
on upper Fifth Avenue, and he is speaking to them from the steps. Says
the election of their man is assured. Derides