great exertion was required, that he was,
moreover, a clever, rapid, forcible speaker,
and seemed to be leaving their man very
much behind. And old Croke, who had
been induced to attend a meeting convened
by the Liberals, and who, though from
respectability's sake he had made no open
disturbance, had been dreadfully shocked
at the doctrines which he had heard, not
merely promulgated, but loudly applauded,
was afterwards compelled to confess to a
select few at the Lion that the manner,
if not the matter of Walter Joyce's
speech was excellent. "Our squire," he
said, " speaks like a gen'alman as he is,
soft and quiet like, on and on like the
droppin' o' watter, but this'un du screw
it into you hard and fast, and not content
wi' drivin' on it home, he rivets 'un on
t'other side."

Electioneering matters in Brocksopp
wore a very different aspect to that which
they had borne a short time previously.
Mr. Teesdale had seen from the beginning
that the candidature of young Mr. Bokenham
was not likely to be very dangerous
to his opponent, however liberally he might
be backed by his indulgent father. The
local agent, who had lived all his life
among the Brocksoppians, was quite aware
that they required a man who would at
all events pretend to be in earnest, whichever
suffrages he courted, and his keen
eyes told him at the first glance that young
Tommy was a vacillating, purposeless
pleasure-lover, who would command no
confidence and receive but few votes. When
the Bokenham escapade took place Mr.
Teesdale telegraphed the news to his principal,
Mr. Gould, and in writing to him on
the same subject by the next post said:
"It is exactly what I always anticipated
of young B., though his friends did not
apparently see it. I think it will be a shock
to the L's, and should not be surprised if
our man had a walk-over." Mr. Teesdale
was essentially a country gentleman, and
though he thought Mr. Harrington a " turfy
cad," saw no harm in occasionally employing
a sporting phrase, even in his business.
But now all was altered; the appearance of
Walter Joyce upon the scene, the manner
in which he was backed, his gentlemanly
conduct and excellent speaking had an
immediate and extraordinary effect. The
Tory influence under Sir George Kent had
been so all-powerful for many years that
all thoughts of a contest had been abandoned,
and there were scores of men, farmers and
manufacturers, on the register, who had
never taken the trouble to record their
vote. To the astonishment and dismay
of Mr. Teesdale, most of them on being
waited on in Mr. Creswell's interest,
declared that their leanings were more towards
Liberalism than Conservatism, and that
now they had the chance of returning a
candidate who would do them credit and
be a proper advocate of their views, they
should certainly give him their support.
The fact, too, that Joyce was a self-made
man told immensely in his favour, especially
with the manufacturing classes. Mr.
Harrington, who had paid a couple of flying
visits to the town, had possessed himself of
certain portions of Walter's family history,
and disseminated them in such quarters
as he thought would be advantageous.

"Father were grocer in village hard
by!" they would repeat to one another in
wonder, " and this young 'un stuck to his
buke and so crammed his head wi' lurnin'
that he's towt to three Lards up in London,
and writes in newspapers—think o' that
now!" It was in vain that old Teesdale,
when he heard of the success of his
opponent's move, went about pointing out
that Mr. Creswell was not only a self-made
man, having risen from nothing to his then
eminence, but that all the money which he
had made was engaged in the employment
and development of labour. The argument
was sound, but it did not seem to have
the same effect; whatever it was, it had
the same result, a decided preference for
Mr. Joyce as against Mr. Creswell, amongst
those who, possessing votes, had hitherto
declined to use them.

But there was another class which it was
necessary to propitiate, and with which
Mr. Teesdale was afraid he stood but little
chance. Many of the " hands" had
obtained votes since the last election, and
intended making use of their newly
acquired prerogative. There was no fear of
their not voting; the only question was
on which side they would cast the
preponderance of their influence. This
was soon seen. Naturally they were
inclined to support Walter Joyce, but
whatever lingering doubts they may have had
were dispelled so soon as Jack Byrne
appeared upon the scene, and, despite of
Joyce's protests, determined on remaining
to assist in the canvass. " Why not," said
Jack, " let me have my way; I'm an old
man now, lad, and haven't so many fancies
that I mayn't indulge one, now and again!
The business suffer!" he said, in reply to
something that Walter had said, "the