root in Benham."

Mrs. Earle wiped her eyes, which were running over as the result of this
combination of confidence and eloquence.

"If you don't mind my saying so, Selma, I never saw anyone so much
improved as you. You always had ideas, and were well equipped, but now
you speak as though you could remove mountains if necessary. It's a
blessing for us as well as you that you're back among us once more."

CHAPTER II.

When Selma uttered her edict that Luella Bailey must be elected she did
not know that the election was only three days off. When she was told
this by Mrs. Earle, she cast about feverishly during a few hours for the
means to compass certain victory, then promptly and sensibly disclaimed
responsibility for the result, suggesting even that her first appearance
as a remover of mountains be deferred to the time when the bill should
be before the Legislature. As she aptly explained to Mrs. Earle, the
canvass was virtually at an end, she was unacquainted with the practical
features of the situation, and was to all intents a stranger in Benham
after so long an absence. Mrs. Earle was unable to combat the logic of
these representations, but she obtained from Selma a ready promise to
accompany the Benham Institute to the final rally on the evening before
election day and sit in a prominent place on the platform. The Institute
was to attend as a body by way of promoting the cause of its candidate,
for though the meeting was called in aid of the entire Democratic
municipal ticket, Hon. James O. Lyons, the leading orator of the
occasion, had promised to devote special attention to Miss Bailey, whose
election, owing to the attitude of the Reform Club, was recognized as in
doubt. Selma also agreed to accompany Mrs. Earle in a hack on the day
itself, and career through the city in search of recalcitrant or
indifferent female voters, for the recently acquired right of Benham
women to vote for members of the School Board had not as yet been
exercised by any considerable number of the emancipated sex.

As a part of the programme of the meeting the Benham Institute, or the
major portion of it (for there were a few who sympathized openly with
Mrs. Taylor), filed showily on to the platform headed by Mrs. Earle, who
waved her pocket handkerchief at the audience, which was the occasion
for renewed hand-clapping and enthusiasm. Selma walked not far behind
and took her seat among the forty other members, who all wore whi