further attacks? No. If he had he'd have told him before the event. A
sort of nausea overpowered him as he remembered that Hutchings had
related how Gulmore had bought Patrick Byrne--and now he, too, had sold
himself. As in a flash Hutchings' weakness of fibre was laid bare to
him. "That's the reason I couldn't find him yesterday." His heart sank
within him. "How could Hutchings have been so--?" With the belief in the
lawyer's guilt came the understanding that he too was concerned,
suspected even. Disgust of traitorism, conscious innocence impelled him
to clear himself--but how? To his surprise he found that companionship
with these men had given him some insight into their character. He put
the question to Simpson:

"Can anything be done now?"

The steadiness of the tone, the resolve in his face, excited a certain
curiosity. Shrugging his shoulders, Simpson replied:

"We've not got a candidate. It's too late to get the party together. New
tickets'd have to be printed. I--"

"Will you accept the candidature?" Reading the man at once, Roberts
turned to the others: "Gentlemen, I hope some one will second me; I
nominate Mr. Simpson as Mayor, and propose that his name should be
substituted for that of Mr. Hutchings. To show that I'm in earnest I'll
contribute five hundred dollars towards the expense of printing the
tickets."

The Professor's offer of money seemed to exercise a magical influence
upon the crowd; the loud tones, the provocative rudeness of speech and
bearing, disappeared at once; the men began to show him the respect of