正在肯尼思对选举议员的事感到万分沮丧的时候，他收到了约翰叔叔将来拜访的电报。他为即将见到久违的老友兴奋不已，也为摆脱恼人的竞选而感到轻松了许多。约翰叔叔和三个侄女如期而至，三个孩子告诉肯尼思，她们会为肯尼思当选而花钱“运作”。她们将对此事如何操控呢？
The Honorable Erastus Hopkins was thoroughly enjoying his campaign.
He was not an especially popular man in his district，andhe knew it.Physically he was big and stout，with a florida face and small eyes that blinked continually.His head was bald，his hands fat and red and his feet enormous.
To offset this Mr.Hopkins wore a silk hat and a "Prince Albert"coat morning，noon and night.His gold watch—chain was huge and imposing；he had a big diamond shirt—stud，and upon his puffyb fingers several rings.He conveyed，nevertheless，the impression that he was more prosperous than re？ned，and the farmers and townsmen were as quick to recognize this as was Mr.Watson himself.
Moreover，the Honorable Erastus was dubbed "close—？stedc"by his neighbors.He never spent a penny on anyone but himself，and being unscrupulousd in politics he was naturally unscrupulous in smaller things of a business nature.But since he had risen from a stable—boy to his present af？uent position he had never been unwise or careless enough to be caught in any crookede action；and while his acquaintances had an inde？nite fear of dealing with him they could not accuse him openly.
It seems strange that such a man should have beenchosen to represent a wealthy and important district in the State Legislature，but politics can show many a similar case.In the first place，Mr.Hopkins was aggressive，and knew political methods thoroughly.He had usurpeda the position of Democratic leader in his community and the others were afraid to antagonizeb him openly.When he was nominated for Representative he managed to dictate，by shrewd methods，the nomination of Thompson，the store—keeper，on the Republican ticket.Thompson owed Hopkins a large sum of money and Hopkins held a mortgage on the stock.Therefore Thompson dared not make a fight，and although the Republican vote was normally the largest in the district，Hopkins had managed to win enough of them to his side to win.
He had been a little anxious about his renomination，because he knew that he had not represented his district very satisfactorily；but when Kenneth Forbes received the nomination on the Republican ticket he felt that "all was over but the shouting"and that he would "win in a walkc."Had it been an issue between the personality of the two men，Hopkins would have had little chance of success；but young Forbes had already raised another issue by his anti—sign speech at the school—house，and Hopkins intended to force that issue and so defeat Kenneth because of the ridicule the latter's position had already brought upon him.
He began to circulate humorous stories about Kenneth's a n t i p a t h ya to sign—boards，saying that the young man demanded that the signs be taken off the Zodiac，and that he wouldn't buy goods of the village grocer because the man had a sign out.
Mr.Hopkins also printed thousands of large hand—bills reading "The Signs of the Times vs.Aristocratic Snobberyb.Vote for the Hon.Erastus Hopkins，the man who believes in advertising."These things had their effect upon all classes of people.There were many good—natured laughs at young Forbes's expense.All this was soon realized at Elmhurst，and had the effect of plunging the youthful aspirantc for political honors into the depths of despair.The campaign was hot against him，but Kenneth made no defense.
At this juncture，with election but three weeks away，hereceived a telegram asking him to send the drag and baggage wagon to the noon train.It was signed by John Merrick，and the boy was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing his jolly old friend again.And the girls？Well，some of them surely must be coming，or Uncle John wouldn't have asked for the drag.
"Now then，the election can g o t o b l a z e sd，"saidKenneth，cheerfully，to Mr.Watson."The sight of somefriendly faces will be a great relief."The old lawyer sighed.His attempt to "wake up"Kenneth had resulted in failure，mainly because the boy had become discouraged so early in the game.Kenneth felt keenly the humiliating experiences he had passed through，and had sunk back into his old moody reserve.
But here was a welcome diversion.The visitors，whoeverthey might prove to be，would afford relief to the situation and brighten the dullness of life at the big house.So both Kenneth and Mr.Watson were with the drag at the station when the noon train drew in.
And there were Patsy Doyle，Beth DeGraf，and LouiseMerrick，a bevya of dainty and sprightlyb girls，alightingc eagerly from the coaches，with Uncle John handing out the grips and packages and giving the checks for the baggage，with business—like celerity，to Thomas the groom.
"We've come for a visit，Ken！"cried Palsy，laughing at his eager delight."Are you glad to see us，boy？And do you suppose old Martha has our rooms aired？""And it's a long visit，too，"added Uncle John，"as you'll believe when you see the pile of baggage.You'd think these minxesd were prepared for a tour of the world.Each one of 'em brought a carload of clothes."But they couldn't phase Kenneth in that way.His sensitive face had not beamed with so much animationa for months.
The guests were helped into the tall drag and merrily they drove the ？ve miles to Elmhurst，not a word of politics being spoken on the way.
