"Not at all," protested the teacher. "As I view the situation, we have every reason to be satisfied. We have won the skirmish, but the big battle is still to be fought. Moreover, it does not take a very bright observer to see that Mr. Carlton has a very resourceful and determined adversary in Jesse Hudson. He was very much chagrined over his setback this afternoon, and if I am not very much mistaken in my man he will do his best to keep Cleverly from getting the new Naval Repair Station."
Mr. Carlton nodded his head.
"You've sized the situation up to the dot. There's no use blinking our eyes to the truth. I'm up against the hardest fight of my life. While you're with me, gentlemen, I feel your enthusiasm and strength. But when you go away you must not forget that—"
"That you'll be standing all alone against a combination of clever politicians," interrupted Hiram Blake.
The Congressman laughed.
"That's not exactly what I intended to say," he remarked, "but we'll let it go at that."
"Blake's wrong in one particular," observed Smithers.
"How?"
"You won't be alone in this fight."
"No?"