Mr. Crewe
got five or six lines into that editorial before he realized in full the
baseness of Mr. Pardriff's treachery.

"These are times" (so ran Mr. Pardriff's composition) "when the sure and
steadying hand of a strong man is needed at the helm of State. A man of
conservative, business habits of mind; a man who weighs the value of
traditions equally with the just demands of a new era; a man with a
knowledge of public affairs derived from long experience;" (!!!) "a man
who has never sought office, but has held it by the will of the people,
and who himself is a proof that the conduct of State institutions in the
past has been just and equitable. One who has served with distinction
upon such boards as the Railroad Commission, the Board of Equalization,
etc., etc." (!!!) "A stanch Republican, one who puts party before--" here
the newspaper began to shake a little, and Mr. Crewe could not for the
moment see whether the next word were place or principle. He skipped a
few lines. The Tribune, it appeared, had a scintillating idea, which
surely must have occurred to others in the State. "Why not the Honourable
Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton for the next governor?"

The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton!

It is a pleasure to record, at this crisis, that Mr. Crewe fixed upon his
secretary as steady an eye as though Mr. Pardriff's bullet had missed its
mark.

"Get me," he said coolly, "the 'State Encyclopaedia of Prominent Men.'"
(Just printed. Fogarty and Co., Newcastle, publishers.)

The secretary fetched it, open at the handsome and lifelike
steel-engraving of the Honourable Adam, with his broad forehead and
kindly, twinkling eyes, and the tuft of beard on his chin; with his ample
statesman's coat in natural creases, and his white shirt-front and little
black tie. Mr. Crewe gazed at this work of art long and earnestly. The
Honourable Adam B. Hunt did not in the least have the appearance of a
bolt from the blue. And then Mr. Crewe read his biography.

Two things he shrewdly noted about that biography; it was placed, out of
alphabetical order, fourth in the book, and it was longer than any other
with one exception that of Mr. Ridout, the capital lawyer. Mr. Ridout's
place was second in this invaluable volume, he being preceded only by a
harmless patriarch. These facts were laid before Mr. Tooting, who was
directed by telephone to come to Leith as soon as he should arrive in
Ripton from his latest excursion. It was nine o'c