“My friends, the name of Chase is an old one in Hardiston. A Chase was
one of the first to settle at the salt licks here; a Chase fought the
Indians during those first hot years; a Chase dug salt wells when the
riffles no longer proved profitable. And when the salt industry died, a
Chase was the first to dig coal in this county, and a Chase was the
first to establish an iron-smelting furnace here in Hardiston.

“The Chases have deserved well of Hardiston. They have been honored in
the past; they will be honored in the future. But they should also be
honored in the present.

“My friends, I came here to cast my vote in the city election. I came
home in some doubt as to how I should cast that vote. But I am in doubt
no longer, my friends.

“I shall go to the polls next Tuesday, and I shall ask for a ballot, and
I shall go into a booth; and there, my friends, I shall cast my vote for
Mayor.

“And the man I vote for, my friends, I tell you frankly; the man I vote
for will be--a Chase!”The storm broke; and Amos bowed to it and sat down. But that would not
do. Chase climbed down from the stage to shake him by the hand and thank
him; and others crowded around to do the same thing; and still others
came crowding to storm at him for a traitor. And to them all Amos
presented a smiling and agreeable countenance.

But this small tumult ended, as such things will. The crowd dispersed;
the Rink emptied; and in the end, Chase and Amos walked up the street as
far as the hotel together, separating there to go to their respective
homes.

Next morning, Hardiston buzzed with the news. Strangely enough, Amos did
not show himself in town. He hid at home, said his enemies--those who
had been his friends. He hid at home to escape the storm. That was what
they said; but it was observed, in the course of the day, that those who
went to Amos’s home to accuse him, came away apparently reconciled to
the Congressman’s course of action. They made no more complaint.

One of these was Jack Routt. Routt was an attorney, picking up the
beginnings of a practice. He had ambitions. Other men had been

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