But the Emergence proposal proved an exception to the rule. Not a little agitation was apparent among the men and women thronging to the election chambers; and this agitation was heightened by the members of the Upper World Club, who used earthly political tactics by accosting the voters before they reached the polls and showering them with final arguments and pleas. It is doubtful whether these eleventh hour efforts had any effect, and, indeed, the results showed that they might have been spared; but at the time we felt that our exertions had not been in vain, and during the election and the days of suspense that followed, we remained unwarrantedly hopeful. Then came the disillusioning blow. After three days, the election results were announced in the Hall of Public Enlightenment. Out of more than a third of a million votes cast in all Atlantis, our party had polled nearly a hundred and fifty thousand--yet had failed by many thousands to equal the Submergence total. Even so, we were not wholly discouraged. As Xanocles pointed out, the cause of Emergence had never before been able to attract one-tenth as many voters; and we had reason to hope that we would eventually bring the majority to our side. And no sooner had the news of our defeat reached us than we began to plan for further campaigns, for we were determined not to abandon the fight so long as we had breath with which to wage it. Yet in one respect I was already regretting my connection with the Emergence Party. My regrets, to be sure, arose from purely non-political motives, and could not make me alter my allegiance; but they were none the less deep-rooted. To my surprise and chagrin, I found that my campaigning activities were bringing me into disfavor with Aelios. As one of Agripides’ staunch admirers and a devoted member of the Party of Submergence, she looked with growing disapproval upon my association with Xanocles and his kind; and during those little conferences, which we had for the supposed purpose of discussing my “History of the Upper World,” she would take occasion to reprove me mildly and even to suggest that my conduct savored of disloyalty. Of course, I would plead my right as a citizen to espouse any political cause that appealed to me; but she would nod gravely with dissent. “Theoretically you may have the right,” she would remind me, “but don’t you think you are showing remarkably bad taste? Remember, you came into our land uninvited, and have been freely received as one of us, and given citizenship and all the privileges of a native. And how do you show your appreciation? By taking sides with the party that would undermine our institutions; by doing all you can to wreck the very country that succored you.”