"—that guides us through the wilderness of the world, and now she has become the bright new star of our better destinies! We must follow her——"
"Dangerous to monkey with female stars!"
"—No man ever loses his way who trusts such women as we have among us."
"Sampson, oh, Sampson, listen to that!" cried the voice at his feet.
"For thirty years I have served one woman faithfully. I owe everything I am and everything I have to this service."
Every man present had a vision of the little, frail, white-haired woman who lay in his house helpless and blind. Never before had he referred to her, but they knew his devotion. He lifted himself in their regard by this one sentence. There are moments when even the demagogue may show the halo of a saint. Fairfield, henchman of Prim, never suspected it, but this was the crowning hour of his life, the one moment when he stood without fear and without reproach like a true knight.
"My advice to every citizen present is that he vote this day for the women who have cast so many ballots for us in their prayers!" he concluded, bowing to their cheers.
Immediately after there was a rush for the polls.
In Jordantown the day passed quietly. The women were in strict seclusion. All the "prominent citizens" were working earnestly at the polls for the cause of suffrage. At last the hour arrived for counting the ballots. The town had gone overwhelmingly for suffrage for women, but the returns were slow in coming from the country precincts, and great anxiety was felt about the issues there. The rumour was current that the farmers were determined not to vote at all.
About seven o'clock some one came swiftly down the courthouse steps, and rushed across to the National Bank Building. In five minutes the square was in an uproar. Men shouted to men: "We've put 'em in! We've put the women in!"