A day of scandal was followed by an evening of shame;
for to overcome the League the henchmen of Kelly and House had to
do a great deal of counting out and counting in, of mutilating
ballots, of destroying boxes with their contents. Yet never had
Remsen City seen so peaceful an election. Representatives of the
League were at every polling place. They protested; they took
names of principals and witnesses in each case of real or
suspected fraud. They appealed to the courts from time to time
and got rulings--always against them, even where the letter of
the decision was in their favor. They did all this in the
quietest manner conceivable, without so much as an expression of
indignation. And when the results were announced--a sweeping
victory for Hull and the fusion ticket, Hugo Galland elected by
five hundred over Falconer--the Leaguers made no counter
demonstration as the drunken gangs of machine heelers paraded in
the streets with bands and torches.
Kelly observed and was uneasy. What could be the meaning of this
meek acceptance of a theft so flagrant that the whole town was
talking about it? What was Victor Dorn's ``game''?
He discovered the next day. The executive committee of the
League worked all night; the League's printers and presses worked
from six o'clock in the morning until ten. At half-past ten
Remsen City was flooded with a special edition of the New Day,
given away by Leaguers and their wives and sons and daughters--a
monster special edition paid for with the last money in the
League's small campaign chest.
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