"And noo that I may speak freely," rattled on the old man, after a gasp of delight, "I can tell ye how I hae been list'nin' for yer interests till ten o' the clock each forenoon, and the dyvor loons--deil tak' it, and here cooms back one o' the waurst o' the widdifu's." It was the Hon. Calvin Dow and Morrison hurried to meet him. "Sum it short, Uncle Calvin!" "They're going to play straight politics, Stewart." "God save the state--in times like these!" "They're going to admit to seats only the Senators and Representatives who are clearly and indisputably elected by the face of the returns." "The picked and the chosen!" scoffed Morrison. "The matter of the right to take seats is going to be referred to the full bench instead of being left to the legislature--taken out of politics, they say." "Going to be put into cold storage, with all due respect to our eminent justices!" "It means the careful weighing of evidence--and the courts are obliged to move with judicial slowness, Stewart!" "And in the mean time those picked and chosen ones will elect the state officers whom the legislature has the power to name, will have the machinery to distribute all state patronage and to make the legislative committees safe for the big measures. There's no telling when the bench will hand down a decision." "No telling, Stewart!" admitted the sage. "After it has been done, it will be hard to undo it, no matter what the judges may decide as to members." "But we can't throw the law out of the window, my son! On the outside of the thing, the Big Boys on Capitol Hill are playing the game strictly according to the legal rules. The legal rules, understand! On the outside!" Dow's emphasis on certain words was significant. He put up his hand and drew Morrison's head down close to his mouth. He began to whisper. "Talk out loud, Calvin!" commanded Stewart, jerking away. "Keep in the habit of talking out loud with me! I won't even talk politics in a whisper." "It really shouldn't be talked out, not at this time," expostulated Dow, wedded to the old ways. "I have had to burrow deep for it. It ought to be saved carefully--to do business with later! To win a stroke in politics it's necessary to jump the people with a sensation!" "Try it on me! I'm one of the people. See if it will work," insisted Morrison, after the manner of his methods with Despeaux. "They propose to go according to the strict letter of the law." "Important but not sensational." Dow was plainly having hard work to keep his voice above a whisper. "Returns not properly sworn to or not attested in due form by city clerks, returns not signed in open town meeting or otherwise defective on account of strictly technical errors, no matter how plainly the intent of the voters was registered, have been finally and definitely thrown out by North and his executive council, acting as a canvassing board." "Damn'd picayune hair-splitting! Why can't they use business horse-sense?"