Show ar r ut U 0 JD 0 U M N CHAPTER XII continued 12 orve been a dog ha b 0 murmured sadly adly it serves arto erto nie me right of course I 1 have the nerve of a lion bon tamer to uk ask this but will you rou give me another chance nellie will you take ine in back on probation I 1 1 I 1 accept ru ril take yon back not s a sweetheart but as the dear old friend you were before you told me you loved me and asked me to marry you meanwhile you are not to run way away from you must stay here bere and make your campaign for mayor 1 I can never be elected mayor now III tie assured her that suit and the publication of my letters to dorla doris were they love letters elmer no he hung his head 1 I tried to make them sound bound that way but I 1 dont think they were as ax as ones I 1 could have written you under the same circumstances still I 1 suppose silly illy enough to tickle Pilar eltos to death be hard for me to laugh off on take the chance she urged elmer shook his head dolefully 1 I bare not now but you yon announced your candidacy with a blare of trumpets as it were have to enter the light fight now elmer shuddered but I 1 never intended to run for mayor this year he protested lamely 1 I was waa merely announcing noun lioun cing myself as a candidate to ruo run against the incumbent when he came up for reelection election re as I 1 figured he be would now the infernal killjoy kill joy has disappointed everybody by resigning and moving out of the county the city council Is deadlocked over the appointment of his successor find and in order to save cave their faces they have ordered a special election to decide who shall be mayor to fill the term so you see nellie ive got rn an excellent excuse tor for withdrawing now I 1 can say bay I 1 do not care to make a campaign for the term because it will not afford me an opportunity to initiate reforms all my friends will understand you remind me of a small boy who whistles up his courage as he passes the cemetery after dark elmer you know very well that it if you are elected to fill the uner pred red term and make maka good you can be elected tor for the next two year term without halt half trying no I 1 cannot ill make an announcement no in the clarion that upon further consideration I 1 find that my business affairs wilt will not permit of my making the race and accordingly I 1 am withdrawing my candidacy it you do that nellie assured mm blin you might as well abandon all hope bope of marrying me eventually I 1 could never stand a quitter I 1 want you to enter that fight figat even it if you do lose it ile he squirmed in his chair the very thought of it makes me shudder nellie have a heart permit me to withdraw now marry me and go away with me to france or italy anywhere to escape then m when hen the bow blow falls ill not be here to be laughed at al nothing in tills this world can be of surpassing interest for more than nine days and in a year or two from now when we return the whole miserable affair will have been forgotten 1 I dare say elmer in that length of time you will have been forgotten too you yon will have lost your leadership so go essential to your future here you must remain here and build up your leadership then marry me and help me stand it ILI no I 1 had nothing to do with getting you into this jam and have to fight your own way out it if you do da that however the day I 1 find it out ill marry you but it if you quit it if you run fun count me out of your calculations he groaned inwardly you the slightest conception of a womans comans pride elmer nellie went on with motherly tenderness that adventuress is trying to braai break you to run you out of your own country im trying to make you to keep you from being run out the question therefore resolves itself into this who Is going to win you are the only human being who can decide that question and I 1 call upon you to decide it here and now or forfeit nut not only the fragments of my former love for you but my future friendship and respect for you speak up elmer or remain forever silent 1 you win he declared without an instants hesitation 1 I dont care what happens to me provided I 1 do not humiliate you again I 1 can take a licking you know smiling I 1 hope well at any rate in silence that remains to be seen said bald nellie darkly your courage and sportsmanship are going to be tested in a manner of which you little dream our future happiness depends upon how bow well or bow poorly you emerge from that aehl elmer thought of his love letters to doris and shuddered again youre not eating anything nellie challenged him suddenly why you taken a single bitel it if I 1 did rd id feel as vulgar and in sensate an ai a pig he replied cheer up elmer there Is no kell hell well then im up to my ears ear in something juat as hot he eyed her halt balf angrily and youre the little devil stoking the fire nellie halt half rose from her chair and leaned crosa across the table toward him klai me 1 she ghe commanded Ge gergely reely cly An and elmer dEimer obeyed by peter be kyne 0 by peter B kyne kyn bervile up to the day he received from that anonymous los log angeles source the letters he be had bad written his inamorata elmer made no progress in the matter of mapping out his campaign tor for mayor lie ile was wag much too nervo nervous us too overwhelmed with grav crave apprehensions hen lien lons to focus his mind on this adventure which could only end in disaster ito ho spent his days fishing and his flights eights in gloomy meditation longfellow in hla his hiawatha observes that misfortunes fortunes come not dot lu kly gly the poet might with equal truth have written that blessings come in flocks suddenly came the letter from doris charging him with the perpetration of a newer and more despicable crime and vowing vengeance when tier her time should be up the receipt of the newspaper clipping solved the mystery of the girls letter and while elmer was rejoicing at this evidence of a stay of execution and making up his mind to make the fur fly la in his campaign for mayor now that fate had intervened and given him a fighting chance to win the packet of love letters arrived the comfort that had been his just previous to this was the most extravagant grief to in comparison with the delirious delight that descended upon him now it was the greatest day in history when his paroxysm of delight had in a measure ensure In abated he be proceeded to read the letters in the order of their dates after reading the third letter he shook as with an ague tor for lie discovered that he had indeed asked doris to marry him lie ile essayed to read the fourth letter and groaned stood aloud it was terrible so he burned them all ne ile was waiting outside the bank when nellie came out at five hop into this car and come away with me nellie he ordered or III kidnap you nellie hopped in and they whirled away into the country once clear of the town elmers hand stole over and closed over Ne nellies Illes she jerked it away but he be seized her arm roughly and again possessed himself of her hand which he retained by brute force still he be said nothing so nellie maintained silence presently she spoke to break an embarrassing silence what have you been doing all day elmer ive been singing ret bet you a hundred dollars I 1 know what youve been singing taken what have I 1 been singing the national anthem of slaw slam you lose I 1 dont know ILI it oli oil yes you do it called she informed him without a moments hesitation elmer butterworth clarke took out his big wallet and solemnly handed banded nellie cathcart a hundred dollar bill and nellie took at it when elmer rose the follow following ln morning he remembered that it if lie intended to be mayor of Pilar eltos it behooved him to be up and doing ile he had no time to spare ills first brat idea was to contract with the Pilar eltos silver cornet band to play at his political rallies exclusively thus forcing his opponents to import their music expensively from surrounding towns the extent of his advertising and the elaborate preparations tor for his campaign alarmed and irritated ills opponents the alarm being occasioned by firsthand first hand knowledge that they were being opposed by a young forceful popular man without a blemish on his 1119 character and with an excellent war record ills ilia strength in fraternal circles was well known and of course lie he would get the old soldier vote lu in q T V kiss ki me booby she commanded fiercely its ita entirety entirely the irritation of the enemy was born of an apprehension that it if they were to oppose him successfully cess fully they would have to adopt the pace be had set which predicated the spending of more money than they cared to think about also they would have to make speeches they were incapable of making with a tithe of the ease grace and logic of their youthful opponent their best beat plan lay in ancient political strategy by mutual consent the democratic and nd the republican candidates concluded to retrain refrain from lighting fighting each other and concentrate their fire on elmer to elmer competition was waa the joy of life ile he had been born with the tha winning spirit and he resolved to leave no stone unturned to secure becore his hl objective however he be overlooked one stone nellie cathcart called it to his attention 1 I suppose elmer youre going to spend a couple of thousand dollars to win an office that pays a salary of only one hundred dollars a month 1 I suppose so the confounded job to Is really it ft nuisance but now that im in the race im not going to let a little money stood stand in the way of victory well you had better form the elmer B clarke campaign committee and permit it to spend that money she suggested name the committee and appoint me treasurer you have already spent as much money as a you are permitted to spend under the law it if you spend more you will violate th the purity of the election law it if you win your enemies will check up on you after the election indict you convict you and deprive you of your hard won office lut but I 1 cant pass the hat bat tor for my campaign expenses he protested bevi lid ll ered dered organize your finance committee head the subscription list with a fifty dollar donation and open an account in anse moodys moods bank then send your bills to me and as treasurer I 1 will pay them but how never mind how As trea treasurer that will be my worry you stick to your knitting rut but where here can you get the money ril ill get it somewhere elmer did you ever see a cat reconnoiter recon a hole bole in a fence ile he sticks his head through and it if ills whiskers touch lie he knows he be cannot get his big body through so he climbs over the fence well im going to crawl through this hole without touching my financial whiskers she did she gave the Pilar eltos com commercial mercial trust savings bank a second mortgage for two thousand dollars on the property she had bad bought from elmer clarke and old anse moody bloody charged her ten per cent interest on the loan and refused to make it for more than a year this money she deposited to the credit of the elmer B clarke campaign committee and on the day after the election she paid her last bill closed up her account and had four hundred dollars left and on election day elmer received two votes in excess of the total votes totes cast for ills his opponents it was a stupendous pen dous a swe sweeping epin victory and the politically wise ascribed it to but one thing to wit tremendous public admiration mi for elmer clarkes charkes Cl arkes modesty throughout the campaign lie had not once addressed the like local post of the american legion nor had he appeared at any meetings of it ile he had bad made absolutely no appeal for the old soldier vote either verbally or in print not once had he referred to his war record and cited the tact fact that he had been in the army everybody in allar citco altos had felt certain elmer would wave the bloody bairt and he be had ills disappointed them wherefore in gratitude and admiration they had elected him nellie was far huppler than elmer when the votes were counted elmer had a rather well defined idea that he had labored and brought forth a mouse that he had fought for the sheer love of a fight now that he had a certificate of election he shuddered to think he would have to use it rut cut nellie her plans for his career long since made merely checked off another milestone on the road to the heights and when elmer having taken his oath of office secured a two weeks leave of absence from the city council in order to rest after hla his furious campaign nellie was relieved to be rid of him even for that bilet period elmer eliner betony betook himself again to los angeles but newe did not keep an eie on him this time she knew elmer had had an ample sufficiency clency of wandering in strange pastures and lot the next damson who told sold him a pup would have to be adroit to a degree something more than humanly upon his return elmer devoted himself assiduously to ills his duties as mayor mayon for three months during which period he saw aw as much of nellie as possible then having secured a sixty day leave of absence from the city council be h departed on hl his long deferred trip to muscatine Muscat lne iowa to settle the estate of his big late uncle hiram for some ome mysterious reason nellie wa was very distrait the night ight n before he left in the stuffy parlor of the old tully home they said goodby and elmer was to see tier her go completely out of control for the first ume time in their acquaintance she elie put tier her arms around ills his neck and wept for about five minutes elmer was mystified in vain elmer reminded tier her that he be would wire her frequently long night 1 letters e t ter s th that b he e w would kiil d w write r i ta h her e r d dully ft tl y a and n d e send eod b his als 1 letters tt e b by y a air i r m mall a ll 11 t that h a t he would telephone her every saturday night she refused to be comforted and continued to sob oh elmer you poor boyl yon ton good kindhearted kind hearted decent old thing j 0 she refused to be ba comforted and continued to sob 1 1 I want you to to promise whatever happens come back I t to me darling why of course ill come back to you nellie 1 why I 1 wont ont even look at another girl 1 I dont mean that rm im thinking of s something else no matter what and I 1 want you b b back oil oh elmer I 1 want you to come back ajust j J just as a s soon as the estate Is ig c c closed llo ho ho bo lie he laughed so the way the cat jumps eh youre afraid ill collect my roll and start wandering youre afraid ill wander so co long and so far ill forget you eh hum ural urn I 1 A fat chance twenty four hours after that estate Is definitely closed ill be aboard the rattler headed home but only on one condition 11 1 I know provided I 1 marry you shortly after you return the program how about it sweetheart well it if come back ill marr marry 7 you elmer never have to ask me again all have to do will be to n n name the day ill wire you the date before I 1 start west word of honor now nellie that nothing understand nothing can induce you to change your mind word of honor elmer and will you give me your word of honor that come right back to we me when the estate Is settled 1 I do and I 1 hope my teeth nay may drop out it if I 1 do not and not permit anything anything in all the alie world to make you break your promise id rather be a hungry tramp without it ft place to lay my head bend than break the least of my promises to you she kissed him half a dozen times and thrust him gently out of the door which the she closed upon him and then ran upstairs to tier her room to have a real cry thus did they part TO BE CONTINUED |