肯尼思和霍普金斯之间的竞争正在升级。一贯吝啬的霍普金斯玩弄各种政治手段，不惜花费重金获得所有可能的选票。露易丝组织的女性政治联盟的各项活动也在如火如荼地进行着。这天，贝丝本打算请管家帮忙招待肯尼思家来的大批客人，却无意中发现了家中新来的侍女竟然是那天与霍普金斯同乘一辆马车的女孩……
The campaign was now growing warm.Mr.Hopkins had come to realize that he had "the ？ght of his life"on his hands，and that defeat meant his political ruin.Close—？sted and miserly as he was，no one knew so well as the Honorable Erastus how valuable this position of Representative was to him in a financial way，and that by winning re—election he could find means to reimbursea himself for all he had expended in the fight.So，to the surprise of the Democratic Committee and all his friends，Mr.Hopkins announced that he would oppose Forbes's aggressive campaign with an equal aggressiveness，and spend as many dollars in doing so as might be necessary.
He did not laugh at his opponents any longer.To himself he admitted their shrewdness and activity and acknowledged that an experienced head was managing their affairs.
One of Mr.Hopkins's first tasks after calling his faithful henchmenb around him was to make a careful canvassc of the voters of his district，to see what was still to be accomplished.
This canvass was quite satisfactory，for final reportshowed only about a hundred majority for Forbes.The district was naturally Republican by six hundred majority，and Hopkins had previously been elected by a pluralityd of eighty—three；so that all the electioneering of the girl politicians，and the expenditure of vast sums of money in painting fencesand barns，buying newspapers and f launtinga Forbes banners in the breezes，had not cut into the Hopkins following to any serious extent.
But，to offset this cheering condition，the Democraticagents who made the canvass reported that there was an air of uncertainty throughout the district，and that many of those who declared for Hopkins were lukewarmb and faint—heartedc，and might easily be induced to change their votes.This was what must be prevented.The "weak—kneed"contingencyd must be strengthened and forti？ed，and a couple of hundred votes in one way or another secured from the opposition.
The Democratic Committee ？gured out a way to do this.Monroe County，where both Forbes and Hopkins resided，was one of the Democratic strongholds of the State.The portions of Washington and Jefferson Counties included in the Eighth District were as strongly Republican，and being more populous gave to the district its natural Republican majority.On the same ticket that was to elect a Representative to the State Legislature was the candidate for Sheriff of Monroe County.A man named Cummings was the Republican and Seth Reynolds，the liveryman，the Democratic nominee.Underordinary conditions Reynolds was sure to be elected，but theCommittee proposed to sacri？ce him in order to elect Hopkins.
The Democrats would bargain with the Republicans to vote for the Republican Sheriff if the Republicans would vote for the Democratic Representative.This "trading votes，"which wasoften done，was considered by the politicians quite legitimate.
The only thing necessary was to "？x"Seth Reynolds，and this Hopkins arranged personally.The of？ce of Sheriff would pay about two thousand a year，and this sum Hopkins agreed to pay the liveryman and so relieve him of all the annoyance of earning it.
Reynolds saw the political necessity of this sacri？ce，andconsented readily to the arrangement.Mr.Cummings，who was to pro？t by the deal，was called to a private consultation and agreed to slaughter Kenneth Forbes to secure votes for himself.It was thought that this clever arrangement would easily win the ？ght for Hopkins.
But the Honorable Erastus had no intention of "taking chances，"or "monkeying with fate，"as he terselya expressed it.Every scheme known to politicians must be worked，and none knew the intricate game better than Hopkins.This was why he held several long conferences with his friend Marshall，the manager at the mill.And this was why Kenneth and Beth discovered him conversing with the young woman in the buggy.Mr.Hopkins had picked her up from the path leading from the rear gate of the Elmhurst grounds，and she had given him accurate information concerning the movementsof the girl campaigners.The description she gave of the coming reception to the Woman's Political League was so humorous and diverting that they were both laughing heartily over the thing when the young people passed them，and thus Mr.Hopkins failed to notice who the occupants of the other vehiclewere.
He talked for an hour with the girl，gave her explicit instructions，thrust some money into her hand，and then drove her back to the bend in the path whence she quickly made her way up to the great house.
Louise was making great preparations to entertain the Woman's Political League，an organization she had herself founded，the members of which were wives of farmers in the district.These women were flattered by the attention of the young lady and had promised to assist in electing Mr.Forbes.Louise hoped for excellent results from this organization andwished the entertainment to be so effective in winning their good—will that they would work earnestly for the cause in which they were enlisted.
Patsy and Beth supported their cousin loyally and assisted in the preparations.The Fairview band was engaged to discourse as much harmony as it could produce，and the resources of the great house were taxed to entertain the guests.Tables were spread on the lawn and a dainty but substantialrepasta was to be served.
The day of the entertainment was as sunny and mild as heart could desire.