一位不速之客想利用《米尔维尔每日论坛报》支持自己的参议员选举，但遭到帕齐严词拒绝，之后他口出恶言，令帕齐对他更加厌恶……
One morning while Patsy was alone in her of？ce，busied over her work，the door softly opened and a curious looking individual stood before her.
He was thin in form，leathery skinned and somewhatpast the middle age of life.His clothing consisted of a rusty black Prince Albert coat，rusty trousers to match，which were carefully creaseda，cowhideb shoes brilliant with stove polish，a tall silk hat of antiquated design，and a frayed winged collar decorated with a black tie on which sparkled a large diamond attached to a chain.He had chin whiskers of a sandy gray color and small gray eyes that were both shrewd and suspicious in expression.
He stood in the doorway a moment，attentively eyeing thegirl，while she in turn examined him with an amusement she could not quite suppress.Then he said，speaking in a low，dif？dent voice：
"I'm lookin'for the editor."
"I am the editor，"asserted Patsy."Really ？""It is quite true."He seemed disconcerted a moment，striving to regain his assurance.Then he took out a well—worn pocketbook and from its depths abstracted a soiled card which，leaning forward，he placed carefully upon the table before Patsy.She glanced at it and read："Hon.Ojoy Boglin，Hooker's Falls，ChazyCounty.""Oh，"said she，rather surprised；"are you Mr.Boglin？""I am the Honer'ble Ojoy Boglin，miss，"he replied，dwelling lovingly upon the "Honer'ble.""I have not had the honor of your acquaintance，"saidshe，deciding she did not like her visitor."What is your business，please？"The Hon.Ojoy coughed.Then he suddenly remembered he was in the presence of a lady and took off his hat.Next he slid slowly into the vacant chair at the end of the table.
"First，"he began，"I want to compliment you on your newpaper.It's a good thing，and I like it.It's what's been needed in these 'ere parts a long time，and it's talked about all over Chazy County.""Thank you，"said the editor briefly，for the praise wasgiven in a perfunctorya way that irritated her.
"The only other papers in this senatorialb deestric'，which covers three counties，"continued the visitor，in impressive tones，"air weeklies，run by political mud—slingerscthat's bought up by the Kleppish gang.""What is the Kleppish gang？"she asked，wonderingly."The supporters o'that rascal，Colonel Kleppish，whohas been occupyin'my berth for goin'on eight years，"he said with ？erce indignation.
"I fear I do not understand，"remarked Patsy，really bewildered."What was your berth，which Colonel Kleppish has—has usurpeda ？""See that 'Honer'ble'on the card ？""I do.""That means I were senator—state senator—which makesany common man honer'ble，accordin'to law，which it's useless to dispute.I were elected fer this deestric'，which covers three counties，"he said proudly，"an'I served my country in that capacity.""Oh，I see.But you're not state senator now ？""No；Kleppish beat me for the nomination，after I'dserved only one term.""Why？""Eh ？Why did he get the nomination ？'Cause he bought up the newspapers—the country weeklies—and set them to yellin''graft.'He made 'em say I went into of？ce poor，and in two years made a fortune.""Did you ？"asked the girl.He shuf？ed in his seat.
"I ain't used to talkin'politics with a girl，"he admitted；"but seein'as you're the editor of this paper—a daily，by Jupe！—you've probably got a head on you and understand that a man don't get into of？ce for his health.There's a lot of bother in servin'your country，and a man ought be well paid for it.Idid jest like the others do—like Kleppish is doin'right now—but the reg'lar voters don't understand politics，and when the howla went up about graft，backed by Kleppish's bought—up newspapers，they turned me down cold.I've been eight years watchin'for a chance to get in again，an'now I've got it.""This is very interesting，I'm sure，"remarked Patsy；"but our paper doesn't go much into local politics，Mr.Boglin，and I'm very busy to—day.""Honer'ble Ojoy Boglin，"he said，correcting her；but he did not take the hintb to leave.
Patsy picked up her pencil as if to resume her work，whilehe eyed her with a countenance baf？ed and uncertain.Presently he asked：
"Has Kleppish got this paper too？""No，"she coldly replied.
"I thought I'd likely head him off，you being so new.See here，Editor—""I am Miss Doyle，sir.""Glad to know you，Miss Doyle.What I was about to remark is this：The election for senator comes up agin in September and I want this paper to pull for me.Bein'as it's a daily it's got more power than all of Kleppish's weeklies put together，and if you work the campaign proper I'll win the nomination hands down.This is a strong Republican deestric'，and to git nominated on the Republican ticket is the same as anelection.So what I want is the nomination.What do you say ？"Patsy glared at him and decided that as far as appearances went he was not a fit candidate for any office，however humble.But she answered diplomatically：