“Talk sense, Archie.  What have they done?  What can they do?  Pah!  Girls!”

“Don’t make a mistake, ’Rast.  That’s what I did, before I understood.  When I heard that three girls were electioneering for Forbes I just laughed.  Then I made a discovery.  They’re young and rich, and evidently ladies.  They’re pretty, too, and the men give in at the first attack.  They don’t try to roast you.  That’s their cleverness.  They tell what Forbes can do, with all his money, if he’s Representative, and they swear he’ll do it.”

“Never mind,” said Hopkins, easily.  “We’ll win the men back again.”

“But these girls are riding all over the country, talking to farmers’ wives, and they’re organizing a woman’s political club.  The club is to meet at Elmhurst and to be fed on the fat of the land; so every woman wants to belong.  They’ve got two expensive automobiles down from the city, with men to make them go, and they’re spending money right and left.”

“That’s bad,” said Hopkins, shifting uneasily, “for I haven’t much to spend, myself.  But most money is fooled away in politics.  When I spend a cent it counts, I can tell you.”

“You’ll have to spend some, ’Rast, to keep your end up.  I’m glad you’re back, for we Democrats have been getting demoralized.  Some of the boys are out for Forbes already.”

Hopkins nodded, busy with his thoughts.

“I’ve talked with Latham.  But he didn’t count.  And they’ve bought up Thompson.  What else they’ve done I can’t tell yet.  But one thing’s certain, Doc; we’ll win out in a canter.  I’m too old a rat to be caught in a trap like this.  I’ve got resources they don’t suspect.”

“I believe you, ’Rast.  They’ve caught on to the outside fakes to win votes; but they don’t know the inside deals yet.”

“You’re right.  But I must make a bluff to offset their daylight campaign, so as not to lose ground with the farmers.  They’re the ones that count, after all; not the town people.  See here, Doc, I had an idea something might happen, and so I arranged with my breakfast food company to let me paint a hundred signs in this neighborhood.  A hundred, mind you! and that means a big laugh on Forbes, and the good will of the farmers who sell their spaces, and not a cent out of my pocket.  How’s that for a checkmate?”

“That’s fine,” replied Dr. Squiers.  “There’s been considerable talk about this sign business, and I’m told that at the meeting last night one of the girls made a speech about it, and said the farmers were being converted, and were now standing out for clean fences and barns.”

“That’s all humbug!”

“I think so, myself.  These people are like a flock of sheep.  Get them started a certain way and you can’t head them off,” observed the dentist.

“Then we must start them our way,” declared Hopkins.  “I’ve got the order for these signs in my pocket, and I’ll have ’em painted all over the district in a week.  Keep your eyes open, Doc.  If we’ve got to fight we won’t shirk it; but I don’t look for much trouble from a parcel of girls.”