appiness. He had
scarcely been able to believe his ears. Yet here was a definite,
spontaneous proposition to remove the incubus which weighed upon his
soul. Here was an opportunity to redeem the bonds of the Parsons estate
and to repair his damaged self-respect. It seemed to him as though the
clouds of adversity which had encompassed him had suddenly been swept
away, and that Providence was smiling down at him as her approved and
favorite son. His emotion choked his speech. His lip trembled and his
eyes looked as though they would fill with tears. After a brief pause he
articulated that he was somewhat pressed for ready money. Some
explanation of his affairs followed, the upshot of which was that Elton
agreed to indorse Lyons's promissory notes held by the banks to the
amount of $60,000, and to accept as collateral for a personal loan of
$40,000 certain securities of new local enterprises which had no present
marketable value. By this arrangement his property was amply protected
from sacrifice; he would be able to adjust his speculative account in
New York; and he could await with a tranquil soul the return of
commercial confidence. Lyons's heart was overflowing with satisfaction.
He pressed Elton's hand and endeavored to express his gratitude with
appropriate grandiloquence. But Elton disclaimed the obligation,
asserting that he had acted merely from self-interest to make the
election of his candidate more certain.

The loan of $40,000 was completed within forty-eight hours, and before
the end of another week Lyons had rescued the bonds of the Parsons
estate from pawn, and disposed of his line of stocks carried by Williams
& Van Horne. They were sold at a considerable loss, but he made up his
mind to free his soul for the time being from the toils and torment of
speculation and to nurse his dwarfed resources behind the bulwark of
Elton's relief fund until the financial situation cleared. He felt as
though he had grown ten years younger, and without confiding to Selma
the details of these transactions he informed her ecstatically that,
owing to certain important developments, due partly to the friendliness
of Horace Elton, the outlook for their future advancement had never been
so bright. When a month later he was nominated as Governor he threw
himself into the contest with the convincing ardor of sincere,
untrammelled faith in the reforms he was advocating. His speeches
reflected complete concentration of his powers on