the candidate. Tell him."

"Do you mean it?" asks Bob, surprised.

"Yes. Tell him the whole thing."

So Bob did, helped by Genz, who was more or less sulky, of course; and
is wasn't long till I saw how stupid I'd been. Knowles went straight
up in the air.

"I knew it was a dirty business, politics," he said, jumping out of
his chair, "but I didn't _realize_ it before. And I'd like to
know," he went on, turning to me, "how you learn to sit there so
calmly and listen to such iniquities. How do you dull your conscience
so that you can do it? And what course do you propose to follow in the
matter of this confession?"

"Me?" I answered. "Why, I'm going to send supper in to our fellows,
and the box'll never see that closet. The man upstairs may get a
little tired. I reckon the laugh's on Gorgett; it's his scheme and--"

Farwell interrupted me; his face was outrageously red. "_What!_
You actually mean you hadn't intended to expose this infamy?"

"Steady," I said. I was getting a little hot, too, and talked more
than I ought. "Mr. Genz here has our pledge that he's not given away,
or he'd never have--"

"_Mister_ Genz!" sneered Farwell. "_Mister_ Genz has your
pledge, has he? Allow me to tell you that I represent the people, the