fall upon the table, where it
lay. Then there was a half-minute of intense silence in the room. That
for which they had long fought and for which they had scarcely hoped had
come at the eleventh hour. Mr. Grayson was the President-elect. They
could not speak; they were awed.

It was Mrs. Grayson who first broke the silence. She ran to her husband,
threw her arms around him, and exclaimed:

"Oh, Jimmy! It is almost too much for us to undertake!"

But Jimmy Grayson was not afraid. He stood up and Harley saw a glow of
deep emotion come over his face.

"As God is my judge," he said, "I shall try with my utmost strength to
fulfil the duties of this high place."

Sylvia, not knowing what else to do, put her hand in Harley's; and he
held it.

There was a tremendous burst of cheering in front of the house, and a
band began to play. Above the music swelled a continuous roar for the
President-elect, "Grayson!" "Grayson!" "Grayson!" They were all for him
now. There was no need for Harley to wake up the children; the thunders
of applause already brought them, triumphing in a result of which they
had never felt any doubt.

"You will have to speak to the people, Mr. Grayson," said Mr. Dexter.
"It is their right. You are no longer a free man; you belong to the
nation now."

The President-elect went out on the veranda and spoke to them with a
certain solemnity and majesty while they listened in respectful silence.
Meanwhile telegrams of congratulation were pouring into the house from
all parts of the world, and out in the distant mountains men came down
to the camps and spoke to each other about the President-to-be.

Harley's last despatch was sent, the crowd was gone, the other
correspondents were on their way to the hotel, and the people were
turning out the lights, but he yet lingered at the Grayson home. It was
Jimmy Grayson who asked him to wait a moment, and they stood alone on
the dark veranda.

"Harley," said Jimmy Grayson, and there was much feeling in his voice,
"you have been the best friend I ever had, and I am so selfish that I
do not want to lose you. Stay with me; be my secretary. In these later
days the office of the President's secretary has grown to be a big one.
I think that you are the best man in the world for it, and if I am
re-elected you shall go into the Cabinet. You will be old enough then.
Remember, Harley, that it is I who ask a favor now, and it is for you to
grant it."

The hands of the t