帕齐与露易丝兵分两路开始为肯尼思拉选票。帕齐先后得到小杂货店店主和五金店店主的支持，并了解到她未能说服上届落选人安德鲁斯支持肯尼思的原因。露易丝给农民的妻子讲述肯尼思当选的种种好处。她们在第一天的工作便取得了不小的收获。
Meantime Patsy was in the thick of a the frayb.The druggist was a deep—dyedc Democrat，and sniffed when she asked him what he thought of Forbes for Representative.
"He's no politician at all—just an aristocrat，"declaredLatham，a dapperd little man with his hair slicked downe to his ears and a waxed moustache."And he's got fool notions，too.If he stopped the advertising signs I wouldn't sell half as many pain—killers and liver—pills.""He's my cousin，"said Patsy，mendaciouslyf；foralthough they called themselves cousins there was no relationship even of marriage，as Patsy's Aunt Jane had merely been betrothed tog Kenneth's uncle when he died.
"I'm sorry for that，miss，"replied the druggist."He'sgoing to be badly beaten.""I think I'll take two ounces of this perfumeryh.It is really delightful.Some druggists have so little taste in selecting such things.""Yes，miss，I do rather pride myself on my perfumes，"replied Latham，graciously."Now here's a sacheti powder that gives ？ne satisfaction.""I'll take a couple of packets of that，too，since you recommend it."Latham began doing up the purchases.There was no other customer in the store.
"You know，miss，I haven't anything against Mr.Forbesmyself.His people are good customers.It's his ideas I object to，and he's a Republican.""Haven't you ever voted for a Republican？"asked the girl."Don't you think it better to vote for the best man，rather than the best party，in a case like this？""Why，perhaps it is.But in what way is Mr.Forbes the best man？""He's honest.He doesn't want to make any money out of the office.On the contrary，he's willing and able to spend a good deal in passing laws that will bene？t his district.""And Hopkins？""Don't you know Mr.Hopkins？"she asked，pointedly."Yes，miss；I do."And Latham frowned a little.
"As regards the advertising signs，"continued the girl，"I've heard you spoken of as a man of excellent taste，and I can believe it since I've examined the class of goods you keep.And your store is as neat and attractive as can be.The fight is not against the signs themselves，but against puttingthem on fences and barns，and so making great glaring spotsin a landscape where all should be beautiful and harmonious.I suppose a man of your refinement and good taste has oftenthought of that，and said the same thing.""Why—ahem！—yes；of course，miss.I agree with youthat the signs are often out of place，and—and inharmonious.""To be sure；and so you must sympathize witha Mr.
Forbes's campaign."
"In that way，yes；of course，"said Mr.Latham，puzzled to ？nd himself changing frontb so suddenly.
"Mr.Hopkins has taken a lot of money out of this town，"remarked Patsy，examining a new kind of tooth wash."But I can't ？nd that he's ever given much of it back.""That's true.He buys his cigars of Thompson，the generalstore man，and I keep the finest line ever brought to this town.""Oh，that reminds me！"exclaimed Patsy."Mr.Forbeswanted me to purchase a box of your choicest brand，and have you just hand them out to your customers with his compliments.He thinks he ought to show a little cordiality to the men who vote for him，and he said you would know just the people to give them to."Latham gasped，but he assumed an air of c much importance.
"I know every man that comes to this town，miss，as well as any you'll ？nd，"he said.
"The best brand，mind you，Mr.Latham，"said the girl."How much will they be？""Why，the very best—these imported perfectos，you know—are worth six dollars a box of ？fty.Perhaps for election purposes something a little cheaper—""Oh，no；the best is none too good for the friends of Mr.Forbes，you know.And ？fty—why ？fty will scarcely go around.I'll pay for a hundred，Mr.Latham，and you'll see they go to the right persons.""Of course；of course，miss.And much obliged.You see，young Forbes is well liked，and he's quite a decent fellow.I wouldn't be surprised if he gave Hopkins a hard ？ght.""I'll tell you a secret，"said Patsy，sweetly."Mr.Forbesis bound to be elected.Why，it's all arranged in advance，Mr.Latham，and the better element，like yourself，is sure to support him.By the way，you won't forget to tell people about those signs，I hope？That the ？ght is not against advertising，but for beautiful rural homes and scenes.""Oh，I'll ？x that，Miss—""Doyle.I'm Miss Doyle，Mr.Forbes's cousin.""I'll see that the people understand this campaign，Miss Doyle.You can depend on me.""And if the cigars give out，don't hesitate to open moreboxes.I'll call in，now and then，and settle for them."I really think this young lady might have been ashamed of herself；but she wasn't.She smiled sweetly upon the druggist when he bowed her out，and Mr.Latham from that moment began to seek for friends of Mr.Forbes to give cigars to.If theywere not friends，he argued with them until they were，for he was an honest little man，in his way，and tried to act in good faitha.
So the girl went from one shop to another，making liberalpurchases and seeking for every opening that would enable her to make a convert.And her shrewd Irish wit made her quick to take advantage of any weakness she discovered in the characters of the people she interviewed.
When noon came Uncle John hunted her up，which wasnot difficult，in Elmwood，and together they went to the village "hotel"to get something to eat.The mid—day dinner was not very inviting，but Patsy praised the cooking to the landlord's wife，who waited upon the table，and Uncle John bought one of the landlord's cigars after the meal and talked politics with him while he smoked it.
