Guy listened; they all listened. “Well, good-bye. Thank you. Good-bye. I’ll tell him.” Guy turned from the telephone and faced the others. “For goodness’ sake, speak!” cried Fanny. Guy’s mouth twitched. “I guess it’s all over, Mr. Briggs.” “How much majority in the Nineteenth?” Briggs asked. “Over three hundred against us.” Briggs drew a long breath. “I’m snowed under, buried! This is the last of me! Oh, well!” Fanny burst out crying. “I think it’s a shame, and the awful things you see in Washington who go to Congress year after year, till they’re ready to drop!” She started to leave the room. Guy started in pursuit with the hope of comforting her. At the door she met Farley, entering. “Hello, what’s the matter, Miss Fanny?” he asked. “Oh, go and find out!” cried Fanny, dashing into the hall and up the stairs, leaving Guy disconsolate in the hall. “Come in, Farley,” said Briggs. “You’ve heard the news, then?” Farley asked. “Yes.” “They told me just as I was getting into the cab.” Farley smiled at Helen. “Well, we made a good fight, Mrs. Briggs. Too bad all our work was thrown away!” “It wasn’t, Farley. That is, yours wasn’t,” said Briggs. “And before you and my wife, I can say what I shouldn’t dare to say to anyone else. I’m glad I’m beaten. I’m glad to be out of it. Of course, I am out of it now for good. After such a crushing defeat and with my record, I can never get back.” He saw that Farley was about to protest. “Oh, don’t, Farley! Even if I could I don’t want to. I feel as if all my energy and ambition were gone.” “They’ll come back after you’ve got rested,” Farley remarked. “You’re only tired out. You’ve been working on your nerves for weeks. Now I’m going to say good-night.” He offered his hand to Helen. “Good-night, Mrs. Briggs.” “Good-night,” said Helen. Farley stepped back to let Michael speak to Briggs. “There’s a gentleman in the reception room, sir, that wants to see you. He says he comes from the _Chronicle_.” Douglas Briggs looked at the card. His lip curled. “From the _Chronicle_?” he said, contemptuously. “Well, we mustn’t refuse the _Chronicle_. I suppose he’s come to see how I’ve taken my defeat.” He rose, adjusted his frock coat and threw back his shoulders. “You stay here, Farley, till I come back,” he said. “All right.” Michael followed Briggs from the room, leaving Farley and Helen together. “Mr. Briggs will be all right after he’s had a rest from the strain,” said Farley. “I hope so,” Helen sighed. “It’s a relief that it’s over--such a relief.” “And of course,” Farley went on, “Mr. Briggs will change his mind about going out of politics.” “Do you think so?” Helen betrayed surprise in her tone. “We need men like him in Washington.” Helen did not speak. She held her head down. “Mrs. Briggs!” Helen kept her face hidden.