He had found himself at a loss for
words, suddenly.
"Harlan is as straight as a stilya'd, and allus has been," admitted one
of the men, gratefully. He was wondering how much the Duke had added to
the amount.
"All of you think now that a fellow like that will make a pretty good
sort of a representative, don't you?"
They muttered assent.
"Well, why did you back-district chaps come in here yesterday and try to
lick him in the caucus?"
They had no answer ready. They looked at the porch floor, and rasped
their hard hands together and cracked their knuckles in embarrassment.
The old man kept his complacency.
"I'll tell you how it was, boys. You got fooled, now, didn't you? You
let 'em use you like old Samson used the foxes. Now, the next time one
of those disturber fellows ties a blazing pine knot to your tail, you
sit right down and gnaw the string in two before you start to run.
Because a man holds office it's no sign he's a renegade. You'll usually
find the renegades standing outside and slandering him and trying to get
his office away for their own use.
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