Wycliff obtained from Hugh Maxwell a few facts which he needed, and his caller departed; not, however, without leaving a ten-dollar note, in appreciation of the service which Wycliff was to undertake for him. Wycliff then attended to household duties, and performed little services for the sick ones, who were improving very slowly.
Then he wrote a letter to the Star, advocating Hugh Maxwell’s election as Selectman. The task was a pleasant one. He mentioned Mr. Maxwell’s lifelong residence in Papyrus; his courtesy,—“He is always and everywhere a gentleman;� his honesty,—“Who ever heard Hugh Maxwell’s word questioned in the smallest particular?�—his qualifications for office from a business point of view,—“The man who has built up, from nothing, a good business of his own, has some qualities needed in the public service;� his popularity,—“He has the good will alike of the employer and the workingman.�
Experience had taught Wycliff the folly of exaggeration, and his nomination of Hugh Maxwell for Selectman was recognized by readers of the Star as a correct description of the man, and not overdrawn.
Wycliff’s home duties were interrupted in the evening by another aspirant for political honors—Herman Schuyler, an extensive farmer, and also a dealer in a variety of goods. In one respect Schuyler was the only honest man of means in Papyrus. He had broken all known records by appearing at the office of the assessors of Papyrus, and demanding that ten thousand dollars be added to his assessed valuation.
“I am worth fifty thousand dollars,� he had said to the Assessors. “My property will sell for that, to-day. I am not so mean as to be unwilling to pay a tax on every dollar God has given me.�
Herman Schuyler was the most liberal employer in the town of Papyrus. It was not unusual for him to pay a higher wage to a workman than had been agreed upon, if the workman earned it. But he was accustomed to giving orders, and having them obeyed promptly. He wanted a service from Wycliff, and he called for it very much as he would have ordered a roast or steak at the butcher’s.
“I want to run for Assessor. I want you to write a letter to the Star in my favor. I want you to write it, because there is nobody, not even Congressman Baldwin himself, who can put words together as you can. Understand, now, I am not asking you to vote for me. A man has got pretty low down, in my own opinion, when he will ask another man to vote for him. I want my name placed before the voters in the columns of the Star, and I ask you to do it, very much as I would ask a lawyer to make out a mortgage or a deed for me.�
The speaker was a heavy, square-built man, clad to-night, as he usually was at this season, in a bearskin coat, which he did not remove. When he made a point, in speaking, the square jaws closed like a trap, and he brought a muscular fist down heavily upon the arm of the rocker in which he was seated.
“Well, Mr. Schuyler,� Wycliff replied at length, “I will do my best for you, and it will be a congenial task. Everything that I know of you is in your favor; but I fear that your very honesty will be used against you. Our leading citizens do not want a thoroughly honest man in the office of Assessor. They want the property of the town assessed at only a fraction of its true value, so that the town will not have to bear its just share of state and county taxes. It is strange that men who are leaders in the church and in society, will argue the longest for a dishonest valuation.�
“If I am elected Assessor,� exclaimed Schuyler, and he brought his fist down upon the rocker-arm so that everything about him shook, “I shall be true to my oath. It is strange, as you say, that Christian men will defend the violation of an oath. Every assessor swears that he will ‘neither overvalue nor undervalue’ property for taxation.�