"Stephen!" she cried as if indignantly—yet she began to smile.
"Mather keeps fair track of him," said Ellis.
"I hate Mr. Mather!" declared the lady with energy.
"What's the use?" inquired the gentleman calmly.
"Upon my word, Stephen," exclaimed Mrs. Harmon, "if any one in this town ought to hate him, it's you. He's the one man who stands between you and—and everything you want."
Ellis smiled. "People say so?"
"It's true!" she insisted. "What are your friends in politics most afraid of? That he will go in against them! Who can make the best stand against your mayor? Mather, of course! With him as mayor—what then, Stephen?"
"All talk," he answered, still smiling.
"Very well," she retorted. "But if ever it comes to Mather at city hall, Doddridge as district attorney, and my husband on the bench, some people will leave town hurriedly."
"You mean me?" he asked indifferently.