Читать книгу The 13th District. A Story of a Candidate онлайн

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“But that ain’t all, by a long shot. You know Sprague—Con Sprague?”

“The present incumbent? Of course.”

“Well, you know, Jerry beat him for renomination, or Jim Rankin did it fer ’im. Garwood had promised Sprague to hold the Polk County delegation fer ’im, he says, and, well, Rankin turned a trick at the Clinton convention that euchred Sprague out of the nomination. Course, Jim turned round and tried to square it by throwin’ the legislative nomination to Sprague’s brother-in-law, Hank Wilson; but still, Sprague’s sore.”

“He is?”

“You bet he is. He hasn’t lifted a finger in the whole campaign, an’ I heerd last night from Al Granger, who’s over from Sullivan, that his fellows over there are openly knifing Garwood, and that gives us a chance to carry Moultrie. Well,” McFarlane paused to swallow, “we can carry DeWitt here—it’s your home county—and the majority against us is less than a hundred; we have a good chance in Piatt, an’ they’re shaky about Logan, particularly down in Millwood to’nship. Garwood had a meetin’ there the other day which was a frost—a change of a hundred an’ fifty votes, an’ you’ve got ’em. Why, I tell you, man, it’s the chance of your life. You can win out.”