ink o' my reputation. I always have a month of it."

"Not this time!"

"But I've done it for years. Think o' tradition!"

"Tradition be-darned! If you do, I'll have a month of it, too."

"That's pure blarney, Phil. You're not that kind."

"No, but I shall be. See if I won't, if you don't quit."

Jim looked into Phil's eyes and he saw a determination in them that he
knew he could never shake, and, knowing his own weakness, he would
have killed Phil rather than see him in the same plight.

"Man!" he exclaimed in perplexity, "I do believe you would."

"Try me and you'll soon find out."

They sat silently for a time. Suddenly Phil broke in.

"Come on,--what is it to be? Back into decency or a month of hell?" he
asked.

Jim Langford got to his feet.

"Lead on, old chum," he said. "Me for a bath, a shave, a good
breakfast and--honest toil."

CHAPTER XI

Sol Wants a Good Wife--Bad

Phil was busy in the forge one morning, all alone. Sol Hanson, for
some unknown reason, had failed to put in an appearance, and his
assistant was not a little troubled over his absence. Before starting
out to make inquiries, however, he decided to work away until noon,
for it was the day after the Provincial Election, and the results were
expected any minute and were anxiously awaited.

He felt quite confident within himself that John Royce Pederstone
would be elected, for the candidate had received a splendid reception
at all his meetings throughout the Valley, with the solitary exception
of the hometown of his opponent. Furthermore, rumour had it that
Pederstone's party was sweeping the country, so, if there was anything
at all in indications, Royce Pederstone's election was a foregone
conclusion.

Phil had noticed that the nearer the election day had drawn, the more
serious, nervous and unsettled Sol had seemed to grow, as if he
dreaded the possibility of his old master's defeat and was taking it
to himself as a personal matter.

At noon time, Phil went out, took a hurried lunch, then strolled down
to the office of the _Advertiser_, where a crowd was gathered reading
the results from the various constituencies as they were posted up on
the notice-board outside.

Just as he got there, Ben Todd came rushing out of the office, his
eyes jumping, his little hunched body quivering with excitement, and
his long arms swinging, apelike and energetic. He mounted a chair. He
could not settle himself at the start, so all he d