was not one who ever saw a tax-bill, and not many who knew more about those luxuries of life than the delicious flunky, immortalized by Mr. Punch, who says to a brother flunky, “I say, Tummas, wot is taxes?” And he told them his principles and promised to do his best for them, and bade them good-night, and went away leaving them parched and dry and downcast.  And then the other fellow came, and won their hearts and “set them up again.”  Another night he attended another meeting and lost a number of friends because he shone at both ends but not in the middle.  If he had taken a glittering coin or two from his vest-pocket on behalf of the noble working-men there assembled in great numbers and spirituous mood, they would have forgiven him his wit and patent-leather shoes—­and so it went.  Perkins was nightly hauled hither and yon by the man he called his “Hagenbeck,” the manager of the wild animal he felt himself gradually degenerating into, and his wife and home and children saw less of him than of the unimportant floating voter whose mind was open to conviction, but could be reached only by way of the throat.

“Two o’clock last night; one o’clock the night before; I suppose it’ll be three before you are in to-night?” Mrs. Perkins said, ruefully.

“I do not know, my dear,” replied Thaddeus.  “There are five meetings on for to-night.”

“Well, I think they ought to give you the lamps now,” said Mrs. Perkins.  “It seems to me this is when you need them most.”

“True,” said Thaddeus, sadly, for in his secret soul he was beginning to be afraid he would be elected; and now that he saw what kind of people Mayors have to associate with, the glory of it did not seem to be worth the cost.  “I’m a sort of Night-Mayor just at present, and those lamps would come in handy in the wee sma’ hours,” he groaned.  And then he sighed and pined for the peaceful days of yore when he was content to walk his ways with no nation upon his shoulders.

“I never envied Atlas anyhow,” he confided to himself later, as he tossed about upon his bed and called himself names.  “It always seemed to me that this revolving globe must rub the skin off his neck and back; but now, poor devil, with just one municipality hanging over me, I can appreciate more than ever the difficulties of his position—­except that he doesn’t have to make speeches to ‘tax-payers.’  Humph!  Taxpayers!  It’s tax-makers.  If I’d promised to go into all sorts of wilderness improvement for the sole and only purpose of putting these ‘tax-payers’ on the corporation at the expense of real laboring-men, I’d win in a canter.”

“What is the matter, Thaddeus?” said Mrs. Perkins, coming in from the other room.  “Can’t you sleep?”

“Don’t want to sleep, my dear,” returned the candidate.  “When I go to sleep I dream I’m addressing mass-meetings.  I can’t enjoy my rest unless I stay awake.  Did your mother come to-day?”

“Yes—­and, oh, she’s so enthusiastic, Teddy!”