He descended from his throne and paraded along the line, distributing blank ballots with a great show of solemnity. Those which he put into the hands of the Newbury delegates could hardly be called blank, as they had the word “Yes” written clearly upon them. The great chief was determined to reduce the chances of error to a minimum. Presently Frost gathered up the momentous tickets and delivered them into the hands of the chairman. “Four to two against us!” whispered Talbot, as Mr. Smith began to separate the ballots. A squeeze upon his knee was all the answer Sumner vouchsafed. An instant after, they were both intently watching the president, across whose face, bent eagerly over the desk, swept an expression of astonishment and indignation. “I think there has been a misunderstanding here,” he said slowly, as he lifted his eyes to the occupants of the Newbury bench. Newbold returned his look with a stare of fright and curiosity, but Thorne was gazing out of the window. “On one ballot ‘Yes’ had been first written and afterwards changed to ‘No.’ It is possible that I did not make myself entirely clear. I think we had better take another vote.” And he repeated once more the conditions of the balloting. This time all the slips given out were blank. Thorne wrote his, holding it in front of him in the palm of his hand. Newbold peeped over his shoulder, uttered an exclamation and snatched at the ballot, but Thorne repulsed him with a quick uplift of the elbow and dropped the vote in the hat. The chairman sorted the ballots in feverish haste, his cheeks dark with gathering wrath. Then, rising to his feet, he darted a furious glance at Thorne, who met it bravely. “The protest is not sustained,” he announced with an effort at calmness. “What is the vote?” asked Frost. The chairman made unwilling answer, “Five to one.” Pete’s hand fell with a resounding slap on Sumner’s shoulder. “Five to one!” he whispered, exultant; “Thorne voted with us! Isn’t he a corker to do that?” “Five to one,” repeated Mr. Snyder. “It is too bad it couldn’t have been unanimous. I should like to say before we separate that this whole affair seems to me in the highest degree ill-advised and unfortunate. Unless we respect each other sufficiently to trust in each other’s honesty and honor, we have no right to be leagued together. To encourage accusations like these we have heard to-day without incontrovertible proofs to support them is in itself an act of treachery to the League. I hope we shall never be compelled to discuss such a question again.”