O'Grady's speech, and put his threat
effectually into execution. O'Grady saw whence the annoyance proceeded,
and shook his fist at the delinquent, with protestations that the police
should drag him from the crowd, if he dared to continue; but every
threat was blighted in the bud by the withering blast of a trumpet,
which was regularly followed by a peal of laughter from the crowd.
O'Grady stamped and swore with rage, and calling Furlong, sent him to
inform the sheriff how riotous the crowd were, and requested him to have
the trumpeter seized.

Furlong hurried off on his mission, and after a long search for the
potential functionary, saw him in a distant corner, engaged in what
appeared to be an urgent discussion between him and Murtough Murphy, who
was talking in the most jocular manner to the sheriff, who seemed
anything but amused with his argumentative merriment. The fact was,
Murphy, while pushing the interests of Egan with an energy unsurpassed,
did it with all the utmost cheerfulness, and gave his opponents a laugh
in exchange for the point gained against them, and while he defeated,
amused them. Furlong, after shoving and elbowing his way through the
crowd, suffering from heat and exertion, came _fussing_ up to the
sheriff, wiping his face with a scented cambric pocket-handkerchief. The
sheriff and Murphy were standing close beside one of the polling-desks,
and on Furlong's lisping out "Miste' Shewiff," Murphy, recognising the
voice and manner, turned suddenly round, and with the most provoking
cordiality addressed him thus, with a smile and a nod, "Ah! Mister
Furlong, how d'ye do?--delighted to see you; here we are at it, sir,
hammer and tongs--of course you are come to vote for Egan?"

Furlong, who intended to annihilate Murphy with an indignant repetition
of the provoking question put to him, threw as much of defiance as he
could in his namby-pamby manner, and exclaimed, "_I_ vote for Egan!"

"Thank you, sir," said Murphy. "Record the vote," added he to the
clerk.

There was loud laughter on one side, and anger as loud on the other, at
the way in which Murphy had entrapped Furlong, and cheated him into
voting against his own party. In vain the poor gull protested he never
_meant_ to vote for Egan.

"But you did it," cried Murphy.

"What the deuce have you done?" cried Scatterbrain's agent, in a rage.

"Of course, they know I wouldn't vote that way," said Furlong. "I
_couldn't_ vote that way--it's a mi