The Candidate: A Political RomanceAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
General
The Candidate: A Political Romance
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Political campaigns -- Fiction; Political fiction
A whistle sounded, a bell rang, and a train began to rumble, but no one
took note of it save Harley. The two-ten on the branch line to connect
with the 'Frisco Express on the B. P. was moving out, and he breathed a
great sigh of relief. "One gone," he said to himself; "now for the
accommodation freight."
The speech continued, but presently Grayson stopped for a hasty drink of
water. Harley trembled. He was afraid that Grayson was breaking down,
and his fears increased when he saw Plover's eyes leave the speaker's
face and wander towards the station. But just at that moment the
candidate caught the little man.
"Listen to me!" thundered Grayson, "and let no true citizen here fail to
heed what I am about to tell him."
Plover could not resist the voice and those words of command. His
thoughts, wandering towards the railroad station, were seized and
brought back by the speaker. His eyes were fixed and held by Grayson,
and he stood there as if chained to the spot.
Time became strangely slow. The accommodation freight must be more than
ten minutes late, Harley thought. He looked at his watch, and found that
it was not due to leave for five minutes yet. So he settled himself to
patient waiting, and listened to Grayson as he passed from one national
topic to another. He saw, too, that the lines in the speaker's face were
growing deeper and deeper, and he knew that he must be using his last
ounces of strength. His soul was stirred with pity. Yet Grayson never
faltered.
The whistle blew, the bell rang, and again the train rumbled. The
two-forty accommodation freight on the branch line to connect with the
'Frisco Express on the B. P. was moving out, and Plover had been held.
He could not go now, and once more Harley breathed that deep sigh of
relief. Twenty minutes passed, and he heard far off in the east a faint
rumble. He knew it was the Denver Express, and, in spite of his
resolution, he began to grow nervous. Suppose the woman should not come?
The rumble grew to a roar, and the train pulled into the station.
Grayson was faithful to the last, and still thundered forth the
invective that delighted the soul of Plover. The train whistled and
moved off again, and Harley waited in breathless anxiety.
A tall form rose out of the darkness, and a woman, middle-aged and
honest of face, appeared. The correspondent knew that it must be Susan.
It could be nobody else. She was looking around as if she sought some
one. Harley's eye caught Grayson's, and it gave the signal.
"And now, gentlemen," said the candidate, "I am done. I thank you for
your attention, and I hope you will think well of what I have said."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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