Carroll laughed bitterly. “Don’t deceive yourself about any strong chance of my being Oldham’s next mayor. That’s out of the question now. Even if I’m fortunate enough to be able to clear myself of this charge in court, I’ll have a hard job convincing the public that I didn’t send that bomb to the _Chronicle_ office. You ought to have seen how the crowds on the streets acted when I was being brought here. Their attitude was so ugly that I was afraid they were going to take me away from the police and string me to a lamp-post. The people of this town are always willing to believe the worst of a man. You never saw such a community of backbiters. I guess this arrest means the finish of my political aspirations.” “Nonsense!” Hawley returned reassuringly. “Don’t worry about that, Fred. The public may be inclined to suspect you at first, but we’ll soon swing them around to our side again. We’re going to put you in the mayor’s chair, old man, in spite of this little trouble.” “We?” exclaimed Carroll pointedly. “Good heavens, man, you don’t seem to realize your own position at all!” He laid his hand sympathetically upon his friend’s shoulder. “Poor old chap! There’s precious little you’ll be able to do between now and election. Even if I do manage to get out of this mess, your goose is cooked for sure. There isn’t any doubt that they’ll send you to jail for six months for taking pictures without a license. They’ve got a clear case against you, and I can’t see how you’re going to get out of it.” The Camera Chap smiled. “Yes, I must admit that it does look very much as if I’m slated to spend the next six months in practicing the gentle art of converting large stones into little ones. You are wrong in supposing that I don’t realize the position I’m in, Fred.” “Then how the deuce can you be so cheerful?” Carroll demanded. “By jinks, Frank, you’re the most unselfish fellow I’ve ever met! Here you are worrying about me, and trying to cheer me up, when you have plenty of cause to be brooding over your own impending fate.” Hawley shrugged his shoulders. “What’s the use of brooding? I’ve never seen anybody get any farther by doing that. Besides, I’m not absolutely positive that I’m going to jail. I’ve still got a faint ray of hope.” “What is it?” Carroll inquired eagerly. “The New York _Sentinel_,” the Camera Chap replied. “If I can get word to Tom Paxton, I haven’t any doubt he’ll come to my rescue with bells on. The good old _Sentinel_ stands by its men through thick and thin, and, although I don’t quite see how he’s going to work it, I am hopeful that Tom Paxton will find some way of saving me from jail. “The trouble is, though,” he added, “how the deuce am I going to get word to him? Hodgins isn’t going to let me get in touch with my friends, if he can help it.” “But he wouldn’t dare do that,” Carroll protested indignantly. “It is illegal. It is your constitutional right to confer----”