Produced by Al Haines [Frontispiece: He appears on the balcony. There is a cheer that may be heard all over the South Side.] DAVID LOCKWIN The People's Idol BY JOHN McGOVERN, AUTHOR OF "Daniel Trentworthy," "Burritt Durand," "Geoffrey," "Jason Hortner," "King Darwin," etc. CHICAGO: DONOHUE, HENNEBERRY & CO. COPYRIGHT, 1889, BY JOHN M'GOVERN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. COPYRIGHT, 1891, BY JOHN M'GOVERN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TABLE OF CONTENTS Book I - Davy Chapter I. Harpwood and Lockwin II. The People's Idol III. Of Sneezes IV. Bad News All Around V. Dr. Floddin's Patient VI. A Reign of Terror VII. The Primaries VIII. Fifty Kegs of Beer IX. The Night Before Election X. Elected XI. Lynch-Law for Corkey XII. In Georgian Bay XIII. Off Cape Croker XIV. In the Conventional Days Book II - Esther Lockwin I. Extra! Extra! II. Corkey's Fear of a Widow's Grief III. The Cenotaph IV. A Knolling Bell Book III - Robert Chalmers I. A Difficult Problem II. A Complete Disguise III. Before the Telegraph Office IV. "A Sound of Revelry by Night" V. Letters of Consolation VI. The Yawl VII. A Rash Act VIII. A Good Scheme IX. A Heroic Act X. Esther as a Liberal Patron Book IV - George Harpwood I. Corkey's Good Scheme II. Happiness and Peace III. At 3 in the Morning IV. The Bridegroom V. At Six O'clock LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece: He appears on the balcony. There is a cheer that may be heard all over the South Side. Three of the most bashful arise and come to be kissed. The boat drags him. He catches the boy's hand. Her eye returns in satisfaction to the glittering black granite letters over the portal. "It's a good scheme, Corkey." But the bride still stands under the lamp on the portico, statuesque as Zenobia or Medea. DAVID LOCKWIN THE PEOPLE'S IDOL BOOK I DAVY CHAPTER I HARPWOOD AND LOCKWIN Esther Wandrell, of Chicago, will be worth millions of dollars. It is a thought that inspires the young men of all the city with momentous ambitions. Why does she wait so long? Whom does she favor? To-night the carriages are trolling and rumbling to the great mansion of the Wandrells on Prairie Avenue. The women are positive in their exclamations of reunion, and this undoubted feminine joy exhilarates, and entertains the men. The lights are brilliant, the music is far away and clever, the flowers and decorations are novel. If you look in the faces of the guests you shall see that the affair cannot fail. Everybody has personally assured the success of the evening. Many times has this hospitable home opened to its companies of selected men, and women. Often has the beautiful Esther Wandrell smiled upon the young men--upon rich and poor alike. Why is she, at twenty-seven years of age, rich, magnificent and unmarried?