It was not until he was deep into the fourth week of the hurryings to and fro that he began to admit a suspicion which grew like a juggler’s rose once he had given it place.  Could it be possible that these numerous invitations, coming now from all parts of the State, were purely spontaneous?  If not, if they were so many subtle moves in the great game, he could see no possible end to be subserved by them save one:  they were effectually keeping him away from the capital, which was naturally the nucleus and centre of the campaign activities.  Was there something going on at headquarters that “the powers” did not wish him to find out?  Of one thing he was well assured.  Gantry was dodging him, was apparently keeping an accurate record of his movements; for whenever the hurryings permitted a flying return to the capital the traffic manager was always out of town.

These were small matters, but vital in their way.  Failing to keep in touch with Gantry, Blount could never be sure that the policy of the railroad company had been reformed or changed in any respect.  Moreover, his journeyings, which brought him in direct contact with the voters themselves, seemed to have the effect of isolating him curiously in the actual battle-field.  That a hot political campaign was raging throughout the length and breadth of the State was not to be doubted; the newspapers were full of it, and in many districts the fight had become acrimonious and bitter.  But although he was supposed to be in the thick of the fight, he knew that he was not; that some mysterious influence was shutting him out and holding him at arm’s length.

Everywhere he went the cordial reception, the attentive and hospitable committeemen, the packed house, and the generous applause were always awaiting him.  It was as if his progress had been carefully prearranged, like a sort of triumphal procession.  None the less, the invisible barrier—­the barrier which was excluding him from a hand-to-hand grapple with the inner workings of the campaign—­was always there, and he could neither surmount it nor push it aside.

Notwithstanding the hard work and hard travelling, he did not allow the missionary effort and its curious isolation to obscure in any sense the sturdier purpose.  By every means he could devise he was holding his principals up to the mirror of a vigilant watchfulness.  Arguing that the opposition newspapers would be quick to seize upon any charge of corruption involving the railroad company, he read them faithfully.  As yet there had been only innuendoes and a raking over of past misdeeds, though by this time many of the editors were openly claiming that the old alliance between the railroad and the machine had never been broken, and warning their readers accordingly.

Blount winced when he read such editorials as these.  Though he was going about, striving to do his part manfully, and even with enthusiasm, the burden of the cruel responsibility he had voluntarily shouldered was never less than crushing.  His only hope lay in success.  If he could make Gantry and his superiors come clean-handed to the election, there need be no exposure, no cataclysm involving both the railroad officials and his father.