disposal. He never hung about the stores or liquor-shop after dark; he
never told doubtful stories, or displayed unusual ability with cards;
neither did he, on the other hand, identify himself with either of the
Bunkerville churches, and yet every one liked him. Perhaps it was
because, although short, he was straight and plump, whereas the other
inhabitants were thin and bent from many discouraging tussles with ague;
perhaps it was because he was always the first to see the actual merits
and demerits of any subject of conversation; perhaps it was because he
was more eloquent in defense of what he believed to be right than the
village pastors were in defense of the holy truths to which they were
committed; perhaps it was because he argued Squire Backett out of
foreclosing a mortgage on the Widow Worth when every one else feared to
approach the squire on the subject; but, no matter what the reason was,
Charley Mansell became every one's favorite, and gave no one an excuse
to call him enemy. He took no interest in politics, but one day when a
brutal ruffian, who had assaulted a lame native, escaped because the
easy-going sheriff was too slow in pursuing, Charley was heard to
exclaim, "Oh, if I were sheriff!" The man who heard him was both
impressionable and practical. He said that Charley's face, when he made
that remark, looked like Christ's might have looked when he was angry,
but the hearer also remembered that the sheriff-incumbent's term of
office had nearly expired, and he quietly gathered a few leading spirits
of each political party, with the result that Charley was nominated and
elected on a "fusion" ticket. When elected, Charley properly declined,
on the ground that he could not file security bonds; but, within half an
hour of the time the county clerk received the letter of declination, at
least a dozen of the most solid citizens of the county waited upon the
sheriff-elect and volunteered to go upon his bond, so Charley became
sheriff in spite of himself.