was no indication that this would not be granted.

The preparations on both sides became so open, that there was no longer
any effort to work under cover. Philip cautioned his adherents against
committing any overt act. He was sure that the administration forces
would seize the slightest pretext to precipitate action, and that, at
this time, would give them an enormous advantage.

He himself trained the men in his immediate locality, and he also had
the organization throughout the country trained, but without guns. The
use of guns would not have been permitted except to regular authorized
militia. The drilling was done with wooden guns, each man hewing out a
stick to the size and shape of a modern rifle. At his home, carefully
concealed, each man had his rifle.

And then came the election. Troops were at the polls and a free ballot
was denied. It was the last straw. Citizens gathering after nightfall in
order to protest were told to disperse immediately, and upon refusal,
were fired upon. The next morning showed a death roll in the large
centers of population that was appalling.

Wisconsin was the state in which there was the largest percentage of the
citizenship unfavorable to the administration and to the interests.
Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska were closely following.

Philip concluded to make his stand in the West, and he therefore ordered
the men in every organization east of the Mississippi to foregather at
once at Madison, and to report to him there. He was in constant touch
with those Governors who were in sympathy with the progressive or
insurgent cause, and he wired the Governor of Wisconsin, in cipher,