Life-long Republicans, as they had always been, they felt that I had
disgraced them, and showed it very plainly. As the standard-bearer of a
party upon whose banners Victory had never perched, at least so far as
my district was concerned, I was indeed the leader of a forlorn and
ragged hope; but my blood was up, and I was determined at least to make
a better showing than any other Democrat had done.
"But it was an expensive ambition.
"Election day rolled around, and I spent the greater part of the time
driving to and from the polling places in my own county. I was
particularly anxious to carry H----, even though all the other counties
failed me. That would soften the blow to the family pride, I thought.
Not a morsel of food passed my lips during the whole of that trying
fifth of November. From sunrise to sunset I never left my buggy, except
once to vote, and at nightfall I was fairly done up. When all was over I
was too tired-out to await returns at headquarters, so I turned in quite
early, only venturing to hope that the fate of Judkins would not be
mine. For Judkins, a recent victim, had been so overwhelmingly defeated
in the spring elections that he had retired from the political arena in
disgust; anathematizing politics in general and the politics of the --th
district in particular.
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